Russia must control ALL original Russian territories to collect any of those +6’s. If Russia controls ALL original territories plus some German ones, you should be in the end game. Actually, 95% of players probably would have resigned as the Axis by then, so this point is moot.
I appreciate your (original poster) criticisms regarding starting setup and territory IPC values. I have many of the same questions myself sometimes.
But this is all irrelevant to me, because I like to play a variety of opponents. To play a variety of opponents you need to play OOB rules (or widely accepted house rules). It’s pretty unorthodox to change a lot of territory values, especially changing 2’s to 3’s, like in Ukraine. Making Ukraine a 3 gives the potential to build TEN units a turn on that territory.
I think there was more thought put into making this game than you give them credit for. And as I say to other critics, thanks for your 2 cents, but if you know so much about making a good WWII game, why don’t you make your own?
That said, I, like you, am baffled at some of the setup. ANZAC being a big playable power (who easily collects 18 for several turns at game start, and is as strong as Italy) is baffling to me. India being able to pump out 5 or 6 infantry a turn is baffling to me (I don’t recall from history a huge production of men and war materials from India, used to dominate Africa, the Middle East, reinforce Russia, or move mass armies into China).
Like you, I wish the game was a bit more historically accurate. And I scoff at the point that many make, that if it was historically accurate the Axis would always lose. That is not true. There were MANY factors in WW2, that had they gone the other way, we would all be speaking German or Japanese right now. (Unusually harsh Russian winters, Midway, Battle of Britain, the list goes on) So I don’t subscribe to the theory that we need to throw the Axis a bunch of bones to give them an equal chance to win.
There are MANY important factors in WW2 that really can’t be feasibly simulated, and so Axis and Allies is a generalization, approximation, etc and the focus is on playability and fun. On these 2 points, Mr. Harris has hit a home run.