The first Axis and Allies game made in 1939!

The majority of this content was inspired by Imperious Leaders Global 1939 setup. This edition is tailored to be utilized on the OOB Anniversary Edition Board. With several modifications, Great Britain is now 2 separate territories (Scotland and England) and Japan is now two separate territories (Hokkaido the northern Island and Greater Japan) also the sea zone of japan is split into two 62a and 62b these territories are nearly split naturally and don’t hinder the game performance. see Pictures below.

These rules employ all of the rules for AA50 including the optional rules. These new existing rules are added and supersede and replace out of the box AA50 rules where applicable.

Winning the Game
Victory Cities
On the map are 21 victory cities, all crucial to the war effort. The selection of the 21 victory cities was based on the historical importance of the city at the time. “Importance” could be measured in terms of strategic location, industrial base, resources, or other important strategic factors.

At the end of the United States player’s turn, check to see if either side has won the game based on the victory city condition you are playing to.
Default “Surrender with Honor” 17
Option 1 “Projection” 15
Option 2 “Total War” 21
If your side controls enough victory cities to achieve the preset victory condition, you all win the war. Otherwise, start a new turn and continue the conflict.

Order of Play: Starting Income
Wartime IPCs: are the Sum of all territory IPC values under that Nations Control
Germany: starts with 24 IPC gain income from Finland and Romania if not conquered each round
France: starts with 10 IPC
Soviet Union: collects 20 IPC at war with Finland. (neutral till turn 3) Wartime IPC at 28 + more depending on the outcome of Finnish war and other Neutral Conquest.
China: 0
Japan: starts with 17 IPC
United Kingdom: starts with 34 IPC
Italy: starts with 12 IPC
United States: collects 20 IPC (neutral till turn 4) Wartime IPCs begin at 37

General situation:
Germany:
Begins at war against Poland (limited to no ground forces on Franko/German border able to participate in attacks against Poland Turn 1), also at war with France and England.
Neutral with Russia until round 3.
Total War: The German war economy increases by 10 IPC starting on turn 4.

Italy:
Is neutral until they activate earlier (declare war), or when Paris Falls (defeat of France). Italy can attack neutrals and avoid a general war, but cannot enter or fly over British or French territories.

Japan:
Begins at war with China.
England and France declare war on Japan if they invade into any Neutral, English, or American territory (this includes passing through sea-zones).
May enter into an agreement to split the territories East Indies and Borneo with England if England agrees to close the Burma Road.
Enters at war with England if England activates a Pro-allies territory of East Indies or Borneo.
America will declare war on Japan if Japan enters into any US control territory or sea-zone.

France:
Begins at war with Germany.
When France falls (when Paris Falls), the territory of Algeria is turned into Vichy French and the territory belongs to the Germans and Germany is allowed to place 2 Infantry into Algeria the French forces there are removed from play if any. All remaining French forces that existed when Paris falls, are under British control except naval. These remaining French forces are considered Free French. All other territories that did belong to France are now totally under British control and Britain then collects the income for these territories.

French Naval disposition:
Procedure: Roll one d6 for each French ship:
1 = Scuttled by English
2= interned (remove from play)
3= interned (remove from play)
4= interned (remove from play)
5= German ship
6= German ship

England:
Begins at war with Germany.
British controlled units may not enter any French territories, except France proper while France remains unconquered.
Neutral with Japan unless Japan declares war or enters into any British Territory or Sea-zone. If Japan enters into a Neutral Pro-allied Territory then England and France declare war on Japan.
Enters at war with Japan if England activates a Pro-allies territory of East Indies or Borneo.

Russia:
Neutral until turn 3 with Germany and Italy.
May attack any neutral territory and pro-axis territory without entering into war with the axis.
Non aggression pact with Japan until turn 4.

China:
Begins at war with Japan.
May only move forces in and out of Chinese territories (Yunnan, Chinghai, Suiyuan, Ningxia, Hupeh, Fukien, Sikang, Kiangsu, and Manchuria) may also enter into the English territory of Kwangtung if taken by Japan.
Every two territories under Chinese control can build one infantry. If they count an odd number, the fraction allows China to produce a unit equal to 4 IPCs if Burma Road is open.

United States:
The United States remains neutral unless attacked until turn 4.
If any Axis player gets inside a sea zone adjacent to any US-controlled land territory or island, the US player will go to war with all Axis nations.
US national production starts at a total of 20 IPC. Each new turn once at war the income grows and they can Lend-Lease income to UK. Starting on turn 5, the Soviet Union can receive this aid (lent on turn 4, received on turn 5).
Once the United States enters the war on turn 4 or sooner, her income continues to grow each turn, until it reaches a total of 60 IPC. No matter what; the maximum amount of Lend-lease support is capped at 15 IPC to both UK and the Soviet Union during wartime.
During her neutrality, Original American pieces remain in setup and cannot be moved. Only newly built naval or air units can be moved and only to sea zones or territories adjacent or within her national tokens as printed on the map.

Summary of Income:
Turn 1: 20 and no Lend Lease
Turn 2: 20 and up to 5 Lend Lease
Turn 3: 20 and up to 10 Lend Lease
Turn 4: 37 and 10 Lend Lease
Turn 5: 37 + 5 and 10 Lend Lease
Turn 6: 37 + 10 and 15 Lend Lease
Turn 7+: 37 + 15 and 15 Lend Lease

Lend Lease:
American aid to UK and/or the Soviet Union must go to purchase non-infantry types of units. The money is allocated on the American turn and spent on the following UK or Soviet turn and placed in an off map box known as a lend lease mobilization box. All aid has a one-turn delay, so the Soviet Union won’t see any money until her 5th turn.

Losing your Capital:
When you lose your capital, you immediately lose IPC equal to the value of the territory from your previously collected income total. Other Cities and Factories within your territory are still able to produce units. If a nation is reduced to only their capital city and this is taken then all saved IPCs are handed over to the conqueror.

Scorched Earth:
Any territory under attack that contains a factory and is captured results in the destruction of this unit. The new controlling player may build a new factory however. Exception: Cities never lose factory capability

Production Capacity of Cities/Factories:
Victory Cities now have the ability to produce units up to a certain capacity equal to the territories IPC value this rule applies to the purchase and placement of new factories in a separate territory. For example, Egypt which now has the Victory City of Cairo has an IPC value of two so its production capacity is equal to that. Following the production capacity chart, Egypt can only produce units that reach that capacity limit. Example infantry have a capacity of one so Egypt can produce a max of two infantry or in the case of destroyers which have a capacity of two; Egypt would only be able to produce only one and then reach the maximum capacity.
Repairing ships also take up part in the total territory capacity.
All cities are considered to have ports and naval yards, but do not add to any additional movement points to units like Global Rules do.
New Victory Cities to add are Cape Town in South Africa, Cairo in Egypt, and Tobruk in Lybia.

Factories:
Factories are allowed to be built in territories with an IPC amount of 2 or greater. These follow the same production rules as Victory Cities.

Burma Road:
Consist of the territories of India, Burma and Yunnan. If all remain entirely out of Japanese control, the Chinese may purchase any type of unit for China (up to an IPC value of 4) if an odd number fraction occurs with total territory sum. This unit must be placed in Yunnan. Japan and Britain may enter into an agreement closing the Burma Road to China if they agree to no hostilities between UK and Japan. This then will allow Japan and UK to split the money Islands for the resources.

Fortifications:
Fixed Fortifications are placed on Four areas of the map French/German border on both sides, Gibraltar, and Finland/Karelia border on Finish side. These fortifications increase Infantry and Artillery Defense to 3 but only if attacked at these border areas. An attack into France from the sea will not qualify the use of the defense bonus. In the event of multiple attacks into a territory by land such as attacking Germany from both Northwestern Europe and France the defense bonus automatically is applied.

Repairing Units:
Battleships, Carriers, and Tanks now take two hits to destroy. Can house rule to OOB hit points and Cost if desired. Any damaged units must be returned to a City/Factory to be repaired at a specific cost. Units returned to a factory or sea-zone containing one and are designated to be repaired are not repaired until the next turn of play by the owning faction. if an enemy nation that attacks these areas while repairs are being made the owning unit is still considered damaged during combat.

Impassible Areas:
Afghanistan, Himalayas, and the Sahara Desert are off-limits to land units. Air units may pass over them only in NCM phase.
The Americans and British cannot enter the Baltic with airpower unless they control one side of the Danish straights.

Scandinavia:
Attacks against any part of Finland and Norway are only for one round of combat due to the rugged nature of the terrain/weather.

Interception, Escort, and Scramble:
Limited to only 1 Fighter or Tactical Bomber. Similar to the 1940 Global rules.

1939 Setups:

Germany: 24 IPCs
Eastern Section of Territory: 7 Inf, 2 Art, 2 Mech, 2 Tanks, 2 Fighters, 2 Bombers, 1 AA
Central Germany: Industrial Complex, 2 Inf, 2 Paratroopers and transport, 1 Fighter
Western Section of Territory: 7 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter, 1 Tactical Bomber, 1 AA.(The ground units can not attack into Poland Turn 1.)
Slovakia: 3 Inf, 1 Art, 2 Tanks, 1 Tactical Bomber, 1 AA gun
Black Sea SZ 5: 1 BB, 1 CA, 1 DD, 2 SS, 2 Transport
Sea Zones: 3, 6, 9, 11, 1 SS each
Sea Zone 8: 2 SS

Minor-Axis Allies: Income goes to Germany(Minors can not move from starting territory by Germany until turn 3 at which point they are under German control)
If Allied players attack these territories this does not enter them into war with the Axis.
Ex:(Russia attacks Finland does not enter them at war with Germany)
Finland: 6 Inf, 1 tank, 1 Art, 1 Fortification on Finish/Karlia boarder
Romania: 8 Inf, 2 Art, 1 Mech, 1 Tank
Argentina: 2 Inf

Italy: 12 IPCs
Italy: 6 Inf, 2 Art, 1 Tank, 2 Fighters, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA gun
Libia: 3 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Mech
Italian East Africa: 2 Inf
Sea Zone 14: 1 BB, 1 CA, 2 DD, 1 SS, 1 Transport

Japan: 17 IPCs
Japan: 4 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Mech, 1 Fighter, 1 Tactical Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA gun, 1 Paratrooper and Transport
Manchukuo: 5 Inf, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter, 1 Tactical Bomber
Kiangsu: 3 Inf, 1 Fighter, 1 AA
Hokkaido (Northern Island of Japan is its own Territory): 1 Inf
Iwo Jima: 1 Inf
Okinawa: 2 Inf
Formosa: 1 Inf
French Indo China: 1 Inf
Caroline Islands: 2 Inf, 1 Fighter
Sea Zone 62: 1 BB, 2 CV, (with 1 Fighter and 1 Tactical bomber each), 1 CA, 2 DD, 1 SS, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 62a (Western Side of Japan is now its own territory): 1 DD, 1 SS, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 51: 1 BB, 1 CV (with 1 Fighter and 1 Tactical bomber), 1 CA, 1 DD, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 61: 1 CA, 1 DD, 1 Transport

French: 10 IPCs
France: 6 Inf, 2 Art, 2 Tanks, 2 Fighters, 1 Factory, 1 AA, 1 Fortification (on Franco-German border)
Trans Jordan: 1 Inf
Algeria: 2 Inf
French West Africa: 1 Inf
French Madagaskar: 1 Inf
French Central Africa: 1 Inf
Sea Zone 7: 1 DD, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 13: 1 CA, 1 DD, 1 Transport

United Kingdom: 34 IPCs
England: 3 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Tank, 2 Fighters, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA gun, 1 Paratrooper and Transport
Scotland (Now its own territory): 1 Inf
Egypt: 1 Inf,1 Mech Inf, 1 Art, 1 Tank, 1 AA
Gibraltar: 1 Inf, 1 Fortification
Anglo-Egypt Sudan: 1 Inf
Rhodesia: 1 Inf
Union of South Africa: 1 Inf
India: 3 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Factory, 1 AA gun
Kwangtung: 1 Inf
Burma: 2 Inf
Eastern Canada: 2 Inf, 1 Tank
Western Canada: 2 Inf
New Zealand: 1 Inf
Australia: 4 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Fighter, 1 Factory
Sea Zone 1: 1 DD, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 2: 1 BB, 1 CA, 1 DD, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 8: 1 BB 1 DD
Sea Zone 12: 1 CV (with 1 fighter and 1 Tactical Bomber), 1 DD
Sea Zone 15: 1 DD, 1 CA, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 27: 1 CA
Sea Zone 35: 1 CA, 1 DD, 1 Transport, 1 Escort Carrier (with 1 Tactical Bomber)
Sea Zone 37: 1 BB
Sea Zone 39: 1 DD, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 41: 1 DD, 1 SS, 1 Transport

Soviet Union: 20 IPCs
Karelia: 5 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Fighter, 1 Factory, 1 AA gun
Archangel: 1 Inf
Belarus: 2 Inf., 1 Art, 1 Tank
Ukrainian: 1 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter, 1 AA gun
Eastern Ukraine: 2 Inf
Moscow: 2 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Mech, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA gun
Caucasus: 4 Inf, 1 Factory, 1 AA gun
Kazak: 1 Inf
Buryatia: 5 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Mech, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter
Novosibirsk: 1 Inf
Sea Zone 4: 1DD, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 5: 1DD
Sea Zone 16: 1 SS
Sea Zone 62: 1SS

United States: 20 IPCs
Eastern USA: 2 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Tank, 1 Mech, 1 Fighter, 1 Major factory, 1 AA gun, 1 Paratrooper and Transport
Central USA: 2 Inf, 1 Tank
Pacific States: 2 Inf, 1 Mech, 1 Bomber, 1 Major factory, 1 AA gun
Philippines: 2 Inf, 1 Art
Mexico: 1 Inf
Panama: 1 Inf
Hawaii: 1 Inf, 1 Tactical Bomber
Alaska Range: 1 Inf
Sea Zone 10: 1 BB, 1 CV (with 1 Fighter, 1 Tactical Bomber), 1 DD, 2 Transport
Sea Zone 19: 1 SS
Sea Zone 20: 1 DD
Sea Zone 50: 1 DD, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 53: 2 BB, 1 DD, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 56: 1 CV (with 1 Fighter, 1 Tactical Bomber), 1 CA, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 57: 1 SS

China:
Yunnan: 3 Infantry, 1 Art, 1 Fighter
Chinghai: 3 Inf
Suiyuan: 2 Inf
Ningxia: 2 Inf
Hupeh: 2 Inf
Fukien: 2 Inf
Sikang: 2 Inf

Pro-Allied Neutrals:
(If an allied player enters into any of these Pro-Allied countries the units in that country become that players to control).
Brazil: 2 Inf, 1 Art
Persia: 1 Inf
Central Congo: 1 Inf
East Indies: 1 Inf
Borneo: 1 Inf
New Guinea: 1 Inf

Neutrals:
Norway: 1 Inf
Balkans: 4 Inf
Baltic States: 2 Inf
West Poland: 4 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Fighter
East Poland: 3 Inf
Northwestern Europe: 1 Inf

Unit Changes:

Infantry C3 A1 D2 M1 CAP1. If paired with Artillery attacks at 2

Paratrooper C4 A1 D2 M1 CAP1 Airborne Attack 2 similar to Sub sneak attack Unless a AA gun is defending. For airborne drop a paratrooper must be loaded in a territory with a city. Also able to NCM to another City in a transport plane.

Mechanized Infantry C4 A1 D2 M2 CAP2 Blitz with Tanks. Can tow Artillery 2 spaced in NCM

Artillery C4 A2 D2 M1 CAP2 Paired with Infantry. Can be towed 2 spaces in NCM with Mech

Tanks C7 A3 D3 M2 CAP3 Blitz . Can absorb 2 hits

Damaged Tank Repair Cost of 2 at Factory A1 D1 M1

Transport Planes C8 A0 D0 M6 CAP2 Drops 1 Paratrooper. Must Drop Paratrooper within 4 spaces, can only pick up troopers at cities.

Fighters C10 3 A3 D4 M3

Tactical Bombers C10 A3 D2 M4 3 Paired with a Tank attacks at 4. Tank remains a 3

Bomber C12 A4 D1 M6 4 Strategic Bombing

Transports C7 A0 D0 M2 CAP2

Subs C6 A2 D1 M2 CAP2 Sneak Attack 2. Wolf Pack of 3 or more can Sneak Attack at 3:1 ratio of Subs and Destroyers

Destroyers C8 A2 D2 M2 CAP2

Cruisers C10 A3 D3 M2 CAP3 Bombard

Battleships C20 A4 D4 M2 CAP5 Bombard

Damaged Battleships Repair Cost of 3 at Factory A2 D2 M1

Escort Carrier C9 A0 D1 M2 CAP2 If paired with TB can use ASW. Only Carries 1 Airplane

Carrier C14 A1 D2 M2 CAP4

Damaged Carrier Repair Cost of 3 at Factory A0 D1 M1. Only carries 1 plane while damaged

AA Gun C5 A1 D1 M1 CAP2 Barrage a territory adjacent to it for a 1 or less.
Can be taken as casualties. Can be towed with Mech 2 spaces in NCM

Factories C15

V1 Rocket C4 A0 D0 M4 CAP2 Can only be purchased by Germany. Only launch against Cities/Factories roll a Die and the number present is total damage produced similar to Strategic Bombing Raids. Can not be intercepted or shot down by AA.

http://www.mediafire.com/folder/nnarmpf2afc5n/Documents

[1_1565659913670_Global 1939 Anniversary setup.docx](Uploading 100%) 

Tanks!  8-)

The purpose of this thread is to share the backstory that I am using in a home-brew, card-driven modification of the board game Axis & Allies, which I have discussed elsewhere. I thought the folks on this forum might have some interesting suggestions.

The modification uses (for now) the HBG 1936 world map. The map is beautiful, but the choice of projection means that huge areas of the play area are irrelevant.

Based on numerous playthroughs with my gaming group, I have revised the map so that we can include a greater number of participants and extend the fighting to parts of the map that are often disused. (Please note that these modifications reflect the play patterns and preferences of specific groups of people. They will not be appropriate for everyone.)

I have tried to write the material in a unique style that simulates a 1930s radio newscast, so forgive the unusual tense.

Credit to Dr. Mike Bennighoff of Avalanche Press for ideas on Greece and the Dutch. Much of the content related to naval issues is taken directly from “The Cherry Trees Spared,” a speculative history of naval treaty discussions on Changing The Times, an alternate history electronic magazine, author unknown.

The Story

The War to End All Wars did nothing of the sort. Even as all went quiet on the Western Front, Russia was still mired in a long, bloody process of unwinding that would drag on through 1922. The Greco-Turkish War opened in May 1919 and is still being fought. The Entente soon dissolved in acrimony as the three major Mediterranean powers � Great Britain, France, and Italy � squabbled over how best to divide both the nearly-spoiled German and fast-crumbling Ottoman pies.

Thinking to head off a prohibitively expensive arms race between themselves, five great powers (the aforementioned trio, joined by the United States and Japan) convened in Washington, D.C. to reach agreement on how to apportion German�s High Seas Fleet. (In June 1916, British inspectors at Scapa Flow narrowly averted a plot by German Rear-Admiral Ludwig von Reuter to scuttle his storied command.) The delegates also discussed restrictions affecting naval shipbuilding.

The negotiations achieved little in the way of tamping down rising tensions. Nor did they succeed in turning swords to ploughshares, as some had intended. Instead, the British achieved their aim of preserving the Navy List by agreeing to transfer the lion�s share of Germany�s fleet to the French � much to the chagrin of Italy and Japan. American acquiescence was secured only because Clemenceau agreed to immediately end his country�s occupation of the Rhineland.

Over the next decade-and-a-half, the tonnage of the world�s major navies grew by leaps and bounds. Virtually all of it was devoted to battlewagons. Absent the imperative to reduce the weight of armor and guns and without a surplus of hulls requiring conversion, few design bureaus saw any reason to commission aircraft carriers. The sole exception was in Italy, where, following a state visit during which he observed British planes simulate an attack on an ex-German dreadnaught, Mussolini insisted that his navy build one of its own. Interest in submarine technology similarly waned amidst continuing enthusiasm for the all-big-gun warship.

Fleets are expensive. When the global depression began in 1929, the pain was all the keener. Desperate for change, millions turned to the opiate of fascism. From Lisbon to Warsaw, military men promised to restore the dignity of the working man. First, they turn on alleged enemies within; then, on enemies without. War was once again made to seem glorious. It worked too well.

In the West, tensions came to a head over the Abyssinia Crisis. When Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, the League of Nations did nothing. Within less than a year, the Italians pacified the country and installed their viceroy. Feeling that Mussolini�s ambitions must soon force his hand and urged on by critics in the fascist Mouvement Franciste, Albert LeBrun decided that he must act. With the backing of the British, who closed the Suez Canal, France blockaded Italian Africa.

The French and British press predicted that Italy would take humiliation sitting down, but in a burst of martial ardor, Il Duce ordered Admiral Domenico Cavagnari, commander of the Home Fleet, to make steam for Tripoli. Fearing that a general melee would expose the weaknesses of the Regina Maria, Cavagnari opted to launch a surprise attack with the small air group borne by Italy�s lone carrier, Leonardo da Vinci. The admiral anticipated that his fighter-bombers would do only light damage, thereby salving Italian honor without provoking an invasion of Savoy. Instead, the Italians traded some two dozen aged biplanes for one battleship and the newest and largest cruiser of the Marina Nationale. Immediately, both sides lurched backwards. Terrified of French retaliation, Mussolini sacked Cavagnari even as the Suez was hastily reopened.

The Tripoli Raid provoked a paradigm shift in thinking about the future of naval operations. Because huge investments had already been made in battleships and battlecruisers, only some of the major navies of the world were in a position to exercise the full range of their options. One immediate solution, at least, was to refit every warship with anti-aircraft guns. The British, Japanese, and Italians chose to build more carriers. The United States expanded an existing programme of airship construction, increasing the size and carrying capacity of new models so that they could serve as launching platforms for up to six fighters. The airships would act as sheepdogs for their precious capital ships. They would be supplemented by large numbers of land-based fighters and torpedo bombers. The Dutch pushed their existing lead in fire-control technology.

Great Britain now strikes a conciliatory tone. Too many young men never came home after the last war. Whitehall, chastened by the Roman Affair, says it will seek to accommodate the �reasonable� ambitions of certain continental powers. The Opposition charges that British government is craven. Yet, still mired in economic depression and anticipating Japanese aggression in Asia, the Empire can ill afford another general conflagration in Europe � all His Majesty�s resources must be diverted east, to Fortress Singapore.

Across the Channel, the LeBrun government has barely survived the backlash from one-time political allies who charge that he has betrayed French honor by failing to punish the Italians more sternly. But French coffers are empty, and the air force antiquated. French generals vacillate between assertions that they can easily sweep aside the Italians and disturbing confessions that, should they fail to do so, Hitler would surely pounce. Realizing that he must fend off pressure from his political right but in no position to sort out his army�s crisis of confidence, LeBrun has reversed French policy on Spain, opening supply lines to the Republican cause while at the same time ordering the Arm�e d’Afrique to the Libyan border in a deliberate show of force.

In The Hague, a long-standing policy of austerity is being hastily abandoned � and none too soon. Fear of German and Japanese aggression has yielded an impressive expansion of United Netherlands naval and air power, and in the East Indies, a credible fleet (anchored by fast battlecruisers) takes shape to delay any task force the Emperor might send until the British arrive. Still, it is the army that will bear the brunt of action if war comes again to Europe, meaning that the French and British commitment are of utmost importance.

In divided Spain, the Nationalists are on the offensive as the country convulses under the twin blows of Red and White Terrors. Rapidly consolidating his authority over the Moroccan Protectorate in early July, General Francisco Franco secured both Italian and German assistance � most critically, a commitment of 22 Junkers Ju52 aircraft to ferry his colonial troops to Seville. Now, with a string of victories behind them, these battle-hardened units drive toward Madrid, opposed only by a hastily-assembled and militarily ineffective Popular Front. Spain�s moribund empire has likewise fractured: Peru and Cuba have declared for the Nationalists while leftist officers have seized Puerto Rico and – with timely assistance from French Indochina – narrowly aborted a coup attempt in the Philippines.

To the west, in Portugal, Ant�nio Salazar is coming to grips with the fact that his trans-Atlantic empire has seen better days. Ambitious rivals in Spain and Italy are accomplishing great things in the name of fascism, while Portugal can only leak at the seams. A recent naval mutiny has underlined the fact that not all Portuguese are reconciled to the Novo Estado � as if the Great Depression had not already badly damaged regime standing. Hundreds of thousands of Portuguese have departed Europe to try their luck in Africa and South America. As a result, Salazar’s secret police report that constitutionalism, and with it, the cause of independence, is winning adherents both at home and in Brazil, the jewel in Portugal’s colonial crown.

Distance from likely adversaries has preserved the peace in much of Portugal�s still-extensive overseas empire, but the reactionary clique that recently seized power in Spanish Peru is reportedly sanctioning the intrusion of Spanish settlers into Portuguese territory. Meanwhile, neighboring Argentina has embarked upon a program of naval expansion that Lisbon will be hard-pressed to match. Worse yet, war has broken out in the Chaco, pitting Portuguese client Bolivia against Argentine-backed Paraguay. Bolivia is by far the larger and wealthier of the two combatants, but Paraguayan successes have been virtually unmitigated, requiring Portugal to subsidize the Bolivian war effort at a time when she must already spend heavily to keep the flag flying in Rio de Janeiro.

German fortunes are once again at high ebb. Inch by inch, the Reich redeems the bloodlands of Mittel Europa, rejecting the conditions imposed at Versailles. Adoring crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands hail the Fuhrer who promises them one thousand years of glory. Successfully staring down her Great Power rivals, who did nothing to arrest her increasingly warlike behavior, Germany has risen as a phoenix from the ash heap of the Great War, leading the Continent in industrial output and completing a comprehensive remilitarization. Now, the noose tightens around the necks of the old arbiters of European power. In October, Germany and Italy signed the Rome-Berlin Axis, a dagger pointed at the heart of the Mediterranean, while in November, Germany concluded Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan, squeezing the Soviet Union between them.

For his part, Il Duce preens over the �imminent success� of the Nationalist cause in Spain. He speaks grandly of "eight million bayonets� that will punish French aggression, ignoring the acid remarks of a German minister who cautions that the Italians must remember to see that these are fixed to rifles. The attack against the French went very well indeed � so well that, after an initial fit of nerves, Mussolini sees no reason why fortune will not continue to bestow her favors. Like the Germans, the Italians have an axe to grind. From 1915 to 1918, they paid the butcher�s bill but gained very little for it. The Mediterranean is already a British lake. Italy has acquired a brace of new colonies in East Africa, along with the foothold of Adalia in Asia Minor, but it is clear to everyone, not least Mussolini himself, that even this is not enough. Noises from Rome suggest that Italy may soon make demands of Greece on behalf of the oppressed peoples of Albania, though it is in the Eastern Desert of Libya, against the Frenchman over the border, where the next great conflict will soon come to a head.

Though it contributed little to the Entente victory twenty years ago, Greece has been fighting a war of its own � first against the Ottomans, then against the Turks. Deft diplomacy by the Greek king, Alexander, secured critical European assistance long enough for Greek armies to secure Eastern Thrace, Ionia, and Constantinople before pushing as far as Trebizond on the Black Sea. The war resulted in virtually complete achievement of Greek irredentist aims (the Megali Idea) by 1923 � but at a catastrophic cost in lives and money. Since that time, Greek troops, always too few in number, have struggled to stamp out Turkish resistance for more than a decade-and-a-half. The Greek economy is in freefall, with predictable results for her military: the army has little, the navy nothing, and the air force even less. Many conscripts arrive at their units without boots or rifles. More than half are not Greeks at all, but Armenians, Georgians, Jews, Circassians, and White Russians. Ethnic massacres are still commonplace, and neither Smyrna or Constantinople, two of the three most important cities in the Greek-speaking world, have yet been rebuilt. Greece cannot go on in this manner for much longer. Either she must have the renewed assistance of Britain and France, preoccupied by their own troubles, or else accede to the demands of the Italians and the Soviets and hope that their hunger is sated before too much is lost.

Josef Stalin, having completed a years-long purge of the Soviet Union�s political, military, and intellectual establishment, is now minded toward expansion, both ideological and territorial. One day, Moscow arranges to sustain the Republicans in Spain; the next she plans an expedition into Sinkiang or sends the Black Sea Fleet to bombard Trebizond. Recently, the Kremlin began border negotiations with the Kalmar Union. Stalin�s pretext for demanding concessions on the Karelian Isthmus is fear of his neighbors� aggression. This paranoia has already been borne out in the Soviet Far East, where, as winter snows begin to fall, the Red Army has clashed with the Kwantung Army two hundred kilometers outside Vladivostok.

The Kalmar Union, with its seat of government in Stockholm, is a modestly prosperous nation centered on the Baltic Sea. Although merely an observer to the cataclysm of the Great War, Sweden profited handsomely: when the Russian government collapsed, the Swedish Royal Army led White forces to victory in Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. The fledgling states that then emerged hardly required the instructive example of the Polish-Soviet War to encourage mutual participation in a compact aimed at preserving their hand-won independence. Since that time, ongoing border disputes with aggressive neighbors in both Warsaw and Moscow have predisposed the Union to cooperation with Germany. Border skirmishes with the Poles tapered off following the death of Josef Pilsudski, but conscripts have been called up and military spending increased more than five-fold in the last year as the Soviets talk of revision. Recalled from holiday in India, Field Marshal Baron Carl Gustaf Mannerheim has been tasked with strengthening the line of fortifications that bears his name.

The Japanese are the great wild card of these halcyon days. In less than a half-century, they have risen to challenge European power in the Orient, defeating the Tsar in a short, sharp war and then thrusting deep into the rotten heart of China. Chiang Kai-Shek�s Nationalist armies won him his first great victory of the war at Tai’erzhuang in April, where he marshaled more than a quarter-million troops, but it is far from clear that the Kuomintang can sustain this momentum.

The Japanese now have a choice to make. Do they take advantage of Russia�s distraction in northern Europe to redress the loss dealt them at Lake Khasan? Will they pivot west, finishing what they started in China? Or will they heed the encouragement of a growing clique of young officers and strike out for Manila, Batavia, and points south and east?

Amidst this disorder, the United States slumbers. President Roosevelt’s has been unable to convince his countrymen that much is at stake beyond their two shores. Even as the number of “incidents” with Japan rises steadily, it appears that the U.S. will stand by as the world burns�

If any A&A players have Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, then go onto Azeroth(USA east) add ghr3 to your friends list.  Message me and I can host this exciting variant!

Is there anything out there where somebody created a Russia/Chinese/Middle East vs US?

i agree with SS russia and africa arnt really involved in most games to begin with

Looks very good Thunder :D :D :D ! Will we be able to buy the game when it is done? If so, where? Thank you for your work!

@Guerrilla:

heck, I have seen 4 man

What about Star Trek’s 3-D chess?