I agree, but with the 7.1 setup now it takes Italy an extra turn (or two) to take Egypt. UK always build an extra 2 units on Calcutta every single turn every turn and South Africa every turn. We build max infantry on Calcutta every round and let Japan (basically) go and go all 80% against Germany. Otherwise Russia is doomed. Russia keeps Germany busy in Finland until Russia is in the war then begins to defend Leningrad. The fortresses with 10 infantry really help on defense. 10 infantry in the east on the Russian fortress really ties up a lot of Japanese infantry. 2 fortresses is nearly impenetrable. We also do max lend lease to Russia/Uk/India every turn. Anzac’s throw their navy away every third turn to keep japan busy.
Since the new rules came out no one has been able to take Stalingrad once.
It takes Germany 3 or 4 turns to get ready for Russia in our games. We found that if Russia pounds finland every turn it keeps Germany too busy to get ready for everything (neutrals, convoy boxes, etc.)
UK attacks Norway or Africa and not Europe until turn 8 or 9.
I agree. Now that Russia can hold Moscow the US will have to send lend lease more to Calcutta and build a major factory and still send money to take advantage of the factory.
But if US and Russia have bad die rolls for income good luck with that. Thats why I was saying the lend lease can be to drastic. Talked about that in lend lease improvement posts.
Japan is not being aggressive enough in your games. Are games are going different than yours. True, Italy is delayed a few turns but not much for Germany.
With Japan we make their sneak attack semi worthless (compared to what it can be) if they wait too long to use. If they don’t use before turn 4 there are almost no ships of importance within range for them to hit except Anzac. India navy/planes against Italy gets through sometimes. US builds infantry in the West until in the war to stop a landing there.
Fortresses on cities and lend lease is the strategy for us. Spread out the money on lend lease though. One time Germany inherited 40 IPC that was sent to Russia. It was pretty much game over.
It’s not very realistic to have Japan so strong and the US so weak but it’s really fun. We hate to lose veteran units so we may play Japan too soft the first turn. Seems Japan is almost too weak the first turn with no regular infantry and no regular fighters on the front line (more or less).I’ll try more aggressively with Japan to see what happens. The Japanese sneak attack timing is very important. We might experiment with earlier or later but no one wants to lose so everyone is careful. Our games take about 10 - 15 hours.
The Axis should not get the lend lease. It either goes to the bank or the Allies.
On a 1 the Axis capture all the lend lease. That’s why we spread out the lend lease between 3 empires. One time Russia got 50 IPC from the US because Moscow was in danger and the Axis would have won because Russia couldn’t have taken it back and it would give the 12th victory city needed. Russia got all 50 IPC and the Axis lost, but it was a big gamble. They bought a fortress for 2 turns and max infantry and had 30+ units. You can only make things so realistic when you turn 20,000 soldiers into a 12 sided dice. It’s not very realistic but it’s fun.
The best part of this game is war entry and lend lease in my opinion. Japan and UK are the most fun to play because they have the most options.
I forgot to say that UK takes every neutral they can in Africa and South America that is free and open unless it causes their other territories to become Pro Allied to the Axis (like Portugal). This is another 10 -15 ipc per turn around turn 4. Two infantry can walk around over half of S.A. and take it without casualties. Not very realistic but the rules allow it.
So the 50 icp’s you lend to Russia was a house rule or somethin you just did ? Rules do say only 40 icp’s max.
I should also say India gets their bonuses 1st turn because they are technically at war w/Germany. The extra 5 IPC adds up quick to help against Japan.
Anzac are at war w/Germany too so they can go into S.A. right away and often do. Unrealistic but it’s free IPC.
Rules say never more than half of US production. US gets 100 IPC if you count their N.O. The N.O. does count as production as the N.O. explains if read. Therefore US loans half of their income every round. US gets roughly 95 - 105 IPC a turn. We play US as supporting empire only. They keep convoy boxes free of Axis units and max lend lease and send units to Africa every other turn. Sometimes they will build destroyers for UK navy defense but the Russian navy usually gives the UK their needed defense. US never really does much except keeps the UK and Russia IPC up so it’s easier for them to fight the Axis
Ok missed it in 7.0 rules about half income send. But thats what I’m talking about. If US can send 50 icp’s everyturn then thats just not right. That could explain why the Axis never win in your games.
US can only send half their income to people in the war. The first turn they send 6 IPC to UK, the 2nd turn about 12. I never send anyone more than 20 because roughly every 12th roll a 1 will be rolled! That is why I say lend lease and fortresses on cities are the key (so far).
I actually like playing the axis in 7.1 more than 6.1 even though axis are behind. At the end of the 1st turn Germany is noticeably a bit weaker than in 6.1. Italy is a turn behind now in 7.1 too.
Thats about what we send every turn too. But more than half the time its been going to the Axis which ain’t right.
One mistake in the rules is the Baltic states should be under the same restrictions as Eastern Poland. So if Germany controls the Baltic states at the start of Russia’s turn then it is a DOW.
The Axis roll for each empire getting lend lease. They only intercept on a 1. It’s not possible to intercept half the time, its not even possible to intercept a quarter of the time. The money can get lost OR intercepted about half the time (actually 5/12 of the time) but it’s worth the risk to send 4 different empires 12 IPC each every turn. 24 IPC of it makes it. 8 infantry on the ground that the US doesn’t have to ship over.
@ tigerman - so is there going to be a 7.2 now? the only other rule I saw that was unclear was about fortresses being every round but it’s only the 1st round.
it would be nice if Italy started with a couple of their special units too, but we don’t want to get into that on here.
No 7.2 right now….lets just make this an official change. When a 7.2 does come it will be noted. Officially: Treat the Baltic states just like Eastern Poland.
Last game we played US sent 20 icp’s for 4 turns in a row and Axis got 40 icp’s and 40 icp’s went to bank. So it does happen.
Thanks Tigerman for Baltic States update.
The last game i played was out of 80 sent, 50 was lost to the bank.
Lend-Lease seems too unreliable unless you use optional/house rules.
it may be against the odds but it is possible to roll several 1’s in a row, despite how unlikely. in my current game with my brother, he took norway and when he rolled for the navy i got 1 battleship, 1 destroyer, and 1 sub. that’s over half the Norwegian navy. the last battleship and destroyer was scuttled. needless to say he was very upset. it gave the U.K. a much needed naval boost. the british navy is no longer contested in the atlantic.
