@Hobbes:

@bryanbr:

If you are playing victory cities then the game is horribly unbalanced.  It is too easy for the Axis to get the 9 cities.  Leningrad, Moscow and Calcutta are easy pickings by the Axis by turn 5 to 6.

IMO, if both Moscow and Calcutta fall by turns 5/6 then you don’t know how to play the Allies.

Actually, it is quite possible if turn 1 (1) the US transports are sunk off of EUS, (2) the British navy is decimated, (3) the British fail badly on the 1st turn 65% chance attack on the East Indies Japanese fleet.

Those are all either very likely, or quite possible.

Combine those with a bad Russian turn 1 failed attack on the Ukraine, the loss of Karelia by turn 2 to 3, and Moscow easily falls depending on how few British fighters are in Moscow on turn 5.

@Hobbes:

@Varn:

I’m not so sure Russia can survive, period. This game is even more pro-Axis than the 1st Edition.

On KJF the whole point is that Russia will fall to Germany, the question is when.

Of course, but the point of my post is that with the weakness of the Russians (relative to other versions) and the 10 to 15 tank stack that the Germans can have on turn 3, can the Russians survive to turn 5 without at least 4 to 6 British fighters?

I don’t believe that Russia can hold without the British fighters.

It just seems impossible for the Soviets to survive without at least 4 to 6 British FTRs, first in West Russia, and then when Moscow is flanked by the loss of Karelia or the Caucuses, moving the British FTRs back to Moscow.

Moscow by round 4 to 5 typically has:

25+ Soviet Infantry.
2 Soviet FTRs
4 to 6 British FTRs
2 AAA
2 Tanks
1 Artillery

As usually the game is a strategic USSR withdrawal, but without the British FTR support the German tanks more easily threaten Moscow quicker than I have seen in other versions of A&A.

@Hobbes:

Several players have expressed the need for the Allies to have a bid on Spring 1942, 2nd Ed. for reasons of game balance. I personally haven’t felt the need for it so far but I’m curious to see what may be the most ‘common’ bids, please feel free to add suggestions to where to �place them (1 UK infantry on Egypt, 1 artillery on Caucasus, etc.).

If you are playing victory cities then the game is horribly unbalanced.  It is too easy for the Axis to get the 9 cities.  Leningrad, Moscow and Calcutta are easy pickings by the Axis by turn 5 to 6.

I like an allies bid of at least 10.

IMO, the two most critical plays for the Allies bid is either (1) support the EUS fleet with a 2nd destroyer, or (2) support the British attack on the EI Japanese fleet on turn 1 with a destroy or a sub, and an artillery for the amphibious attack on EI.

You shouldn’t waste an allies bid on the Soviets.

Of these, I believe (2) is more critical.

If the Japanese don’t lose that EI fleet, then I have found that Calcutta easily falls by round 4-5.  So the game really is decided on turn 1 by a 65% percent attack by the British on the EI fleet.  That percent has to be raised, or the game is very tilted to the Axis.

@Hobbes:

I sent the Russian fighter to Egypt and did an SZ37 attack with the UK. Germany got a carrier for the Med. Japan killed the Russian stack on Buryatia and did a botched attack on Hawaii. US went Pacific.

It sounds like the Japanese player was just incompetent.

Under no scenario do I see Japan attacking Hawaii if the US is putting the right amount into the Pacific.  If in KGF, the US needs to support the pacific with enough to prevent the loss of Hawaii.

Has anyone stacked 2 to 3 anti-air artillery units in Moscow?

If 5 to 6 German/Japanese planes attack, then it seems like good odds of shooting down 20 IP of planes before combat even begins.

@oztea:

Giving USA like 2 more INF in each of the continental territories would solve everything.

Rather than 12 production worth of INF, it makes more sense to give the USA a DD off of EUS so that they don’t start the game with no fleet.

The 2 German subs are a near lock to sink the US fleet.

I honestly don’t know what the designers were thinking by giving the Germans complete control of the Atlantic until turn 3.