Hope for balance

Global 42 is an official axis and allies game. Some might not be aware of it or the fact it was designed for tournament play. It’s been out for several years now. 7 full rounds at which point you count axis controlled IPCs (not counting NOs). If Axis have 125 IPCs on the board they win.

But the point of this thread is about the balance it provides. Granted, it’s almost a totally different game than G40. And many discussions have focused on the idea of balance. Interestingly, I think the turn order is the main reason. Plus it’s kind of nostalgic (when remembering the turn order of Classic/Revised):
Russia
Japan
America
China
Germany
British/UK Pacific
Italy
ANZAC
France

Japan: Starts with 14 planes as opposed to 21. Has the option to conduct a risky naval opener. It may achieve a head start for limited naval supremacy. It could also get India on round 3 if the UK player isn’t careful. However, Japan could easily fall apart due to having 7 less planes and risky opener battles.

Germany: No longer has the Italian can opener threat. This is huge and really changes the dynamics. Germany gets attacked by Russia first, and has to re-cock. German units are in N. Africa and in the Med is a destroyer n’ transport. However, Germany can’t easily go everywhere like it can in G40.

For 7 rounds, the Axis can rampage and win according to the tournament victory rules.

However, if playing according to the regular OOB rules for victory, I think this setup leans Allies but not as much as G40 leans Axis.
Is this a balanced setup as is or would the axis need a small bid, maybe 3-10 IPCs. I think a small bid would make the Global very balanced and probably more fun for both sides.

Do people see Italy as an Axis minor? I don’t, I know it’s the poorest major power in the game but it’s still a major power. My two cents on this debate is you either take Italy and have it support Germany when it invades USSR or you use Italy as a naval power to keep India and UK from linking up or you can take a more questionable route and try to do both.

Had have only 2 global games so far…  but both have been Allied victories.  I have yet to play the Axis as of yet.  both times Berlin fell because A. Demark was lightly defended once the Americans and British had fleets.    and B.  Berlin was lightly defended because all resources Axis resources were in Belgium, Normandy ,  and the eastern front.

When I play the Axis I think I need to make sure I can counter any land invasion in force rather than straight coastal defend.

I think that a Good Soviet Player will definitely defend through turn 4 when the US is in the war in Europe or at least has a fleet in SZ 109 or SZ 110.  I’m not sure that the balance with Japan is all that good since an experienced player can do so much damage with 19 planes in Alpha 2.  But since Japan is so far away from the Soviet union and the axis players waited till turn 4 or later to attack the soviet union,  my view of balance with the Japanese is tainted.

Seems extremely hard to get the Axis to defeat the allies unless they roll extremley well whereas the Allies can roll badly again and again and still pull it out.  This could also be the relationship between IPC’s as the Allies definitely can waste units and rebuild especially the Americans.

I really don’t like the NO’s for America so much.  its just too many NO’s for the US that are very difficult for the Axis to hit.  Maybe remove the Central /Western/Eastern 5 IPC NO .

Again we’ve only done 2 Global games so far.

Hehe - great posts, Sarge.  Good thoughts.

I agree with the thinking here that we should stick to OOB rules for at least a little longer. I don’t mind a few official changes here and there. I always use the errata and FAQ’s that are released after a game comes out due to misprints in the manual or an obvious balance problem (AAP). However, these sweeping changes are too much too fast. Its almost like a few influencial people screamed too early and no one else was able to say, “lets slow down and take a more methodical approach to the changes.”
It seems like we are being caught up in a rushing river and can’t get out. Alpha is evidence that the squeaky wheel gets greased.

I will stick to OOB rules until something official comes out and then evaluate it. If there are a few reasonable changes I will use them, but if it is anything like these Alpha changes, I most likely won’t. I never used LHTR for the same reason.

I would abuse improved shipyards right off the bat. I would make sure that the USA had the only floating major navy in both oceans. No point of having an edge if you don’t abuse it. And Japan can’t get its cites if they have no fleet.