@calvinhobbesliker:
If the allies capture Japan, but Japan still controls 6 victory cities, who wins?
excellent question, i had never thought of this scenario before.
it depends on when japan captures the 6 victory cities. there are 2 scenarios. 1 japan wins and 2 allies win.
the answer can be found on page 6 of the rulebook under “how the war is won” section.
japan wins by “controlling any 6 of these 8 victory cities at the end of a complete round of play”
allies “win the game by controlling the territory of Japan and holding it until the end of the Japanese player’s turn following the capture of territory.”
scenario 1.
at the end of japanese power’s turn they control 7 victory cities.
during the allies’ turns they control the territory of japan but do not capture or liberate any other victory cities.
at the end of the complete round the japanese power controls 6 victory cities and wins the game.
scenario 2.
at the end of japanese power’s turn they control less than 6 victory cities.
during the allies’ turns they control the territory of japan.
during japanese power’s turn they win combat in 6 victory cities but not the territory of japan. allies win the game.
in both scenarios japan controls 6 victory cities but not the territory of japan. it is interesting to see you can have different winners in this situation. an easy way to remember which side is the winner is whichever side completes it’s objective first wins.