Actually, we are still working on the first game. We only get to play for a few hours each weekend so sometimes a game of Global 40 will last 2 or 3 weeks. Luckily, I have a room where I can keep the game set up.
Aside from a number of odd ball placements, I noticed two main differences: 1 > the Soviet Union forces started a lot more spread out across Russia which made Germany’s initial attack a little easier. 2 > the United States had almost no presence in the Pacific. The bulk of the US Navy ended up in SZ 101, plus most of their ground units and air units in East USA. As a result, they decided on a “get Germany first” strategy and almost ignored the Pacific.
That caused Japan to get HUGE. At present, Japan rules the Pacific, including Australia, and is threatening the US West coast. Japan also took out all of China and India.
Germany managed to take Moscow and make the Russians extinct. However, USA and Britain overwhelmed Germany and Italy and liberated Paris. There are no Italian units left and only 3 German units left on the board.
So, on the Europe board, we have a lot of German controlled but unoccupied Russian territory with the US, British and French occupying almost all of Europe and ready to start moving into Russia. Japan rules most of the Pacific board and is threatening the US West coast. Japan also has a small force traveling through the Middle East. They made some landings in Africa, but the Brits spanked them hard. The Brits are strong in Egypt with part of the US Navy there to back them up.
Technically, this would have been an Axis win with Japan getting 6 of 8 VCs on the Pacific board. But when Berlin and Rome fell, we decided to see how this plays out.