Two stupid questions about capture of France and alpha

In the Global game, France starts with 19 IPCs (add 2 for French Indo-China).  Yeah, it kind of sucks for France.  With them going last, they never get to use their money.  Germany almost always takes France on G1 and on the rare occasion they don’t, they weaken France enough that Italy steps in and takes it.

I tried an alternate scenario game once and made France part of the Axis with Germany and Italy.  It was kind of cool buying French units for a change.

@johnnymarr:

2. Alpha is for Global only.

Not true.  Alpha was designed using global, but it was planned from the outset to replace the theater specific setups as well, especially as it was a cure for Pac40.  However, since it began as a fix for Pac, and then began to address Global, it has rarely, if ever been tested for AAE40.

Krieg and LH have requested feedback from the theater specific games to confirm balance.  Based on their posts, it is desired that the setup be the same for both.  It has repeatedly been mentioned to replace Anzac europe unit switches (1 uk infantry in place of 2 anzacs in egypt)

Don’t look at it as France’s money.  France is more like a glorified neutral nation that has units all over the board and the ability to move around to other zones. (All other neutrals generally lose all their units the instant they enter the war, so they rarely (or never) get to move out and about the board.)

Rather, look at the money as Germany’s one time bonus for taking Paris.  Germany can chose not to take Paris for the bonus, and miracles do happen, Paris could defend itself.  But I think it is more likely that this money was intended to compensate Germany for Round 1 losses and so Germany can customize their attack strategy (Barbarosa or Sea Lion?) etc.  I highly doubt the money was ever intended for France to use.

Letting France produce is like a handicap system for axis and allies. If you are that good as the axis, you leave France to make the game challenging ;)

I tried a few ideas for OOB to use the Mech and Armor elsewhere, in-game outcomes varied from the plan that “looked good on paper” :)
The goal was to use the quick movers against Russia early on and grab France round 2, figuring that France is much closer to German Production than Moscow is…however, the first real attempt to capture failed, and it was down hill after that.

Another time I left France for round 2, they built a carrier landed their fighter on it and made knocking out the British fleet very hard as UK also built up the fleet…again, I was going Russia first and didn’t have a sea lion threat…as I was trying to think outside of the box.

Since I like to try many approaches, I can tell you from my experiences what is “obvious” to other players, France should be taken round 1. When left for Italy (OOB) steps can be taken to force Germany to grab it round 2. I will however continue to experiment in hopes of a Eureka moment that can shake up tournament play…(laments how the internet has served to educate axis players and prevent large shake ups)

In short, France should only be left intact as a courtesy for the unfortunate player stuck playing France as their only country.

*OOB stands for Out of box rules.

I could be undefeatable by anyone currently living on planet Earth and never skip a sacking of France on Germany 1 or failing Germany 1, at least whacking him good and doing it with Italy. (Although, with at least 4 fighters there, I highly doubt I would let Italy even try.)