Are the FAQ updates needed?

Hi Logic and a warm welcome to the forum.

The axis certainly have the advantage, even with the FAQ additional units, so I suggest you swap sides next time and see whether the allies still win.

Let us know what happens!

Cheers
PP

Bit of second guessing here, Logic, but the following comments might help:

@Logic:

Germany presses Russia and wins a little forward, but runs into a wall in Moscow and loses over time its strengths.

Germany starts the game with far more firepower than Russia. The trick is to consolidate that overwhelming force on the eastern front, rather than dissipate it trying to defend multiple territories. Then move that overwhelming force against Moscow without being distracted. For example, sometimes Russia’s dispositions at the end of its first move allow Germany to occupy Leningrad in force in turn 1.

However, Germany can clear the UK navy out of the western hemisphere in its first turn, which I would always do, so as to give myself time before an allied fleet is off the coast. So in G1 air goes west while land goes east.

@Logic:

Japan wins naval battle after naval battle over USA, but the US can rebuild its fleet faster and eventually wins.

The axis will not win the war by Japan focusing to the east. They can win it by Japan going west against India and Russia. Japan has a valuable role to play against Russia. It can get infantry from Tokyo to Caucasus in 3 moves (from memory - not looking at the map). Tanks in 2 moves. Some naval builds to keep the US at bay and allow capture of the money islands, but take Russia before major investments in Pacific naval.

But even then Japan is less likely to get to Washington than Germany to London for the second allied capital. So minimal naval builds to hold the US off may continue to be the strategy, allowing investment in Japanese bombers against London, say.

@Logic:

In the meantime, UK gets big and starts pushing Japan back by deploying troops in India.

The UK can only build one unit per turn in India. If Japan focuses west it can often get an early opportunity on India. That factory then contributes to capturing the Caucasus.

@Logic:

The Axis eventually gives up because they lag behind in the economic game.

The allied strategy is to survive long enough for their economic advantage to allow them to build the firepower they lack at the start of the game. So the axis strategy is the opposite - to use their additional firepower at the start to rob the allies of their economic advantage asap. Taking out Russia bridges the economic gap. The money islands, China and the Philippines are easily taken in the first couple of rounds meaning that if Russia falls the axis are probably ahead economically.

The 1941 map favors fighter tricks to a ridiculous degree. This is because Moscow and Berlin are only 3 moves away from each other! That means UK/US fighters can attack Berlin from a defensive position in Moscow (provided they have a place to land after). Likewise, Japanese fighters can attack Moscow from a defensive position in Berlin (again provided they have a place to land.) That’s quite different from most other A&A maps, where Berlin and Moscow are generally 4 moves or more away from each other. Basically in 1941 what you want to do is fly fighter support from the inactive theater to the active one and “camp” on that friendly capital, until you can bring ground forces in range of the enemy capital you are targeting. For practical purposes the two capitals in question are always Moscow and Berlin, because of the way production is distributed it’s very hard to go anywhere else. If the Allies are lucky, patient, and well coordinated, it is possible to take Tokyo with the Americans, but only at the cost of giving up Moscow, which is very hard to recover from, again because of the way production is restricted.

Remember that the income on this map is very low relative to the ipc value of the starting units, so the territories you are fighting to control (most are 1 ipc or less), are usually not even worth a third of the cost of a single infantry unit. Often your best move is not to attack or trade territory at all, but instead to conserve your forces for the only battles that actually matter, i.e. the ones that get you closer to control of an enemy capital. Sometimes on this map, the best thing you can do during the purchase phase, is simply to save your money, so you can buy more effective units the next round like Aircraft or transports.

The reason the board is seen as Axis advantage OOB is because Germany has the potential to break Moscow all by itself, before the Western Allies can get sufficient fighters their to defend it, before Japan is even involved, and certainly well before the British or Americans can threaten Berlin as a way of countering the play. Of course the Germans might fail in that attack, or lose focus and grind to a halt right before they are able to deal the death blow, at which point things kind of reset. But that’s the reason why the faq suggests giving the Allies a boost.

The Allies do have a few potential attacks in the opening round that can help stall the Axis, but the swings on those are pretty dramatic and often you end up losing more than you gain. After the initial German rush towards Moscow, being extremely conservative and deliberate with all your moves and purchases, is the only way to really get ahead in 1941.

@Private:

The UK can only build one unit per turn in India. If Japan focuses west it can often get an early opportunity on India. That factory then contributes to capturing the Caucasus.

how many can they build in australia each turn?
this was news for me, is it mentioned in the rulebook?

@tsaa:

how many can they build in australia each turn?
this was news for me, is it mentioned in the rulebook?

Not sure what you’re asking being in the rulebook (units per turn, or where plants are), but there is an Industrial Plant is clearly printed on the board in Australia, (though I place an Industrial Plant in Australia as a reminder that it’s printed on the map too)… as stated in the rulebook under the “Mobilize New Units” phase (pg 20), plants can only produce the number of units equal to the value of the territory it is in… so Germany has a value of “4” in 1941, four units a turn can go in Germany… Australia has a value of “1” in 1941, so the answer is one unit a turn can be produced there.

Wolf has it right tsaa.

Logic - have you played as Axis yet?

I was just double checking the 1941 FAQ and as it turns out, my 1941 rulebook (that came in my box) is already updated with all the changes in the FAQ, including the additional setup forces… so that’s good… only thing “wrong” I discovered was my BOARD is wrong!  The production track at the top of the board incorrectly shows the US should start at 15 when it should start at 17 (though my setup charts for the US do say 17).  Oh well, I guess this will be corrected when I take the board to the printers to have a bigger one made! lolz.

I am glad to hear the unit changes have been made.
Annoyed to hear the map is still wrong!

That’s great Logic!

Of course, when you next play allies, your axis opponent will try the same things, so you’ll have the pleasure of working out how to counter.

Many hours of fun await you!  :-)

Cheers
PP