@Lynxes:
Russia: Karelia is again an important space since it’s worth 5 IPCs and also building capacity. It’s also the gate to Archangelsk. All this probably means that the Soviet player must be more offensive, even more so than in AAR. I think the Russian campaign will be more volatile and unpredictable. I will also expect a lot of involvement from other powers, such as Italian invasions of Caucasus and UK invasions of Scandinavia. Maybe a UK wearing down of Karelia in a first attack without gaining control to prepare for a decisive Soviet attack will be a common move.
Africa: Gibraltar and Egypt are worth a lot of IPCs for Italy and UK. Great that Gibraltar now can be reached directly from the Atlantic, we will see a lot of combat taking place there. Also valuable as an air base vs. the Italians. Just landing forces in Marocco or French West Africa might be inadequate now, so a South African IC will be common, especially if UK finds it too dangerous to build an IC in India. Retaking Egypt will take a two-pronged assault from west and south. And of course getting naval forces into the Med. will be a major first step for the UK and US players to coordinate, so much more naval builds in the Atlantic will be needed, inevitably postponing D-day and giving the Germans more time.
Pacific: Midway, Wake and Solomons are now valuable and the US must very quickly get a presence in the Pacific. Perhaps two whole turns of production on the West coast to get a sizable fleet? Australia will be a US responsibility to divert Japanese attention from or to retake if lost, demanding even more forces. UK efforts will be tied up in Africa and India, and probably keeping India needs Russian help. Perhaps UK attacks in Scandinavia and Karelia will be a trade-off for Russian help in India? Needless to say, keeping Hawaii is a MUST for the US player, and actually takes precedence to all other war aims. This is as it should be and makes perfect historical sense.
Reading about those conclusions make me dizzy :-)
It seems we will get quite a different games with the NOs, from what we’re used to!! Can’t say I’ve come to grasp the full effects of them so far.
However, the first thing to spring my mind is this:
The NOs are constructed in such a way, that if Germany starts to loose ground , the Allied bonuses will be skyrocketing!
Seeing this, wouldn’t an Allied KGF strat STILL be the way to go???
Sure, Japan will pick up some bonuses, but how are you really gonna stop the IND, AUS OR HAW bonus anyway??
The “double” Allied WEU bonus would make up for that by plenty!
Or am I missing something (I probably am :-D :-D )