Differnt starting dates for the global game

Over a year ago, there was a discussion thread somewhere on this forum (I can’t recall in what section) about GTO’s demise.  As I recall, GTO was supposedly saying that it was shutting down temporarily and that it would return sometime in the following year with a new game that it would be offering in some kind of partnership with Larry Harris rather than WotC.  The details were quite vague, and nothing seems to have come of that initiative…assuming that it was indeed an initiative that had any substance to it, rather than just speculation.

Agree with Ike here: it really depends on what the rest of the board looks like.

Some options from my own experience:
1. If Moscow falls G9 this means Germany has channeled a lot of resources east.
Strong counter for the allies is to land 40+ units in western Europe. Most likely even Western Germany and then push back west (liberating France) and south (taking out Italy). In the meantime Berlin should be maxed out every turn. Of course Japan must also be prevented a win in the Pacific first priority (defensive spending).
If the allies went ‘Japan First’, this option may not be available to you since it requires minimal spending in the Pacific (i.e. a defensive budget rather than an offensive one).

2. If Moscow falls G9 after the allies went ‘Japan First’ (assuming Caïro is still allied controlled), the allies must of course start channeling more untis into Caïro/Middle East than the axis can. And/or into London, depending on what the axis targets are. Hopefully they are able to do so and start pushing the axis back. Alternatively you can try to liberate another VC. If the allies can build up a huge invasion force/shuck from Gibraltar, they have the flexibility to try to liberate Paris or aid the defense of Caïro.
Defeating Germany after Moscow fell with no meaningful allied threat in the west already in place is no small thing to do…

As the Axis I have noticed that hunting down VC’s too aggressively really means putting their heads on the block (like in option 1 above). IMHO for the axis it is best to be patient. Aim to stabilize economic balance and then jump in the gap the allies have left you. A few examples:

3. If the allies go Europe First (while still preventing Japan a 6VC win), Germany best prevent the allied landings at all costs. This takes away a LOT of resources from the eastern front so Moscow should be safe (except when Russia built too much ‘wrong’ units). In Russia, Germany + Italy need to aim for a defensive perimeter as far eastwards as possible in order to be able to contest or defend rich Russian territories.
Japan should secure India if it doesn’t already have it under control and then make a deep strategic calculation (4/5 turns ahead); will it be possible to grab Hawaii/Sydney if the USA defends it with all its resources while Japan goes all-in to take it and hold it? Will Japan also be able to hold all other VC’s? Could Japan ‘trick’ the USA and then suddenly swing east when it is too late or is the USA-player a bit Pacific-ignorant and do you think he/she will continue that?
If Yes, go grab this last VC. Otherwise, just match the allied (USA) forces and offensive spendings in the Pacific and send the rest to contest the Middle East/Africa. From India (Naval Base), Japan can invade Africa in 1 turn. If Japan cannot take it, can Japan convoy it? I once lost too many indian ships too soon and as a result, got convoyed all the way from the Persian Gulf to the Brazilian coast by Japanese submarines…

I could go on and on with options, particularly about allied strategies for late game ‘JF’ course of events and the axis responses but I think other players have more experience with this and I already wrote quite enough for now ;-).

10 to 14 hours.

boy do u feel dumb :oops:

The polling shows an axis favorite as of right now. 4 people voted axis strongly 8 axis slightly 8 allies slightly.

A sub bid for UK makes UK1 smoother against italy sz97. I don’t play LL games without that bid, I’ll just take axis or do something else.

Bidding is a ritual that decides who plays what, so bidding for allies makes sense.

I like most that the game is not as statical as the older world-versions. You have quite a lot of possibilities now.

Furthermore convoys, harbors and airports are nice supplements.

I finished a global game yesterday. I was Ge and It, a friend was Ja, another was UK, ANZAC and FR and another China, US and SU.

Even though my Italian fleet was left alone and a I1 where I lost nothing and gained 5 territories, followed by another couple of good turns for the Axis the Allies won.

The moment the US and SU were at war the megafleet of the US moved to the most eastern territory of the SU and landed 10 land units there, while their bombers took care of the transports and small ships at the Japanese coast (and after that landed next to the land forces in the Soviet Far East). Yes, US bombers can take of from San Francisco, attack the Japanese Sea and land in Soviet Union. Japan had to pull its navy back and with that the game was over. No more expansion for Japan, a couple of relatively bad rolls from Germany and Soviets pumping out hordes of infantry and it was all over.

To balance things a bit more we are going to use the Italian Fix (we thought up that rule and then read in on here too) and use the Japanese extra NO of 10 IPC while not at war (except with China). I don’t think it will be enough so maybe we will even consider super subs for Germany, Warbonds for Italy or Super Factories (what’s the name?)for Japan.

Mind you, we used the new set up as described in Canucks post (less aircraft in the Pacific). The naval base in NSW is logical, but extremely powerful for ANZAC. They get both NO’s on turn 1 and can reach almost everywhere that’s important for them.

I have posted a new R1. Lets play the game!

All that is needed to destroy the RN is the Luftwaffe for one turn when they do not have that much else to do. The Germans losses are limited to a few subs and a plane or two. It is a bit extreme but i understand why it might be needed for balance.