Played my buddy at his place, not finished so it remains setup until we can continue. I was the Allies, it is round 6 and I still have Moscow and India. It was my Buddy’s first 1942 game, although he is experienced at Global.
Germany just traded the buffer states with Russia and refused to go after Moscow hard (can’t ask him for a briefing yet because we are still playing). He did build a large fleet in the Med and lots of subs in the Atlantic, but because Russia was holding their own and didn’t need lots af allied fighters, the American’s were able to kill all the subs, make landings in Africa, and provide the muscle for UK to build transports in the English Channel.
The German fleet in the Med is trapped and the Allied fleet in the Channel has alowed UK to make a soft landing in Norway. With US help and UK fighters from London, the Allies were able to kick the Germans out of Africa. Back and forth fighting over Egypt and Trans Jordan has kept the German fleet from entering the Indian ocean, and a UK factory in SA was enough to make the Germans give up the advance south.
I tried the UK attack on the Japanese fleet in sea zone 37, and it failed… UK lost everything and the Japanese was left with a battleship and a fighter. So against an ultra agressive Japan player, that loss would have been devistating. However, my experience from my first game on defending India and Moscow helped along with his shyness when going for the throat (I don’t understand why in both my games the Japanese players are not bombing the India factory). Anyways… I will never try the SZ37 raid again.
At this point in the game, Japan is pressing toward Moscow by going through China and the Soviet far east territories, but they are ignoring India. I have not yet been able to deal with the large Japanese fleet off Tokyo, and his factory in Manchuria is pumping out tanks. Hopfully my position in Europe and my 3/2 income difference can hurt him before Moscow falls. I have many Russian infantry there and the Allies ability to fly fighters for the defence of Moscow will help when everything goes down, but He will loose many units and with my landing force established… I might be able to rebound if Moscow falls (gotta start thinking about taking Berlin).
One thing I want to say is… even though I haven’t built a single unit on my SA factory in 2 turns from when I placed the IC, I feel that spending that 15 IPCs was insturmental in discouraging the Germans to press down into Africa. Even if the factory stays empty all game, I feel the purchase was worth it because it would have cost more in total Allied units and time for logistics in order to keep Germany out. The threat of new units spawning in South Africa was enough to protect the African territories, because in both my games after purchasing the SA IC the Germans retreated and it only cost UK 15 IPCs.
