So guys, i did some test games… did a lot of maths YET AGAIN and I think I did the necessary adjustments for the final changes. First of all, here are the objectives and the setup changes in its final forms. I will also give you some elaborate explanation, especially when it comes to one especially huge change, namely these +4 Infantry in India. But first things first, the Scenario:
You could basically just take these two pages and try the scenario out yourself! However, if you are interested in my tests and how I came to the conclusion that this setup is now balanced, read on. I did actually do more games than these, but those might be the most crucial ones:
Game 1: Japan tries to pump as many troops into Asia as possible, then tries to block the US off. Still try to use their transport to exert as much pressure on Asia as possible.
After the attack, US crippled, lost more units in China than expected though
End of turn 1, no way to keep India as the British, let’s see if the additional units in China can make an impact. I bought 2 transports + 1 Inf to ship as much as possible to mainland Asia.
Japan gets 0 IPCs from NO, Us lost their transport, so they won’t be able to snag a Japanese Island
After the US turn: China’s attack on Suiyuan failed (makes up for their hit back luck on the Japanese’s turn, US built a Pacific fleet, pushed forward it’s fighters. The US went pretty hard on defending India and sent its fighter from Egypt (assuming it survived with the additional two Infantry there). Although Japan advanced into mainland China, China still has 8 infantry now. Let’s see how the other turns turn out. The US meets 3 objectives, getting +15 IPCs.
There I saw that I might have made a mistake as the US player: Japan can attack Midway with its carriers and destroy the two bombers stationed there. Japan can send two carrier there with 4 fighters, so they can consolidate there. HOWEVER, after doing the maths, the US has a 84.4% chance of sinking the Japanese fleet there and destroying two carriers.
When I saw this, I almost cried tears (maybe an exaggeration) because this situation resembles an actual attack on Midway so much. The Japanese get one NO if they control Midway, they put their aircraft carriers in a dangerous situation and the US player will take advantage of this. This seems as historically accurate as an abstract board game can be!
I think on turn 2, it gets really interesting: I do another purchase to exert pressure on Asia:
This is what a t2 attack on India would look like:
The odds are 85.5% in Japan’s favor. Without a British fighter, they would be 97.2%, so a crushing victory. If the Russians sent down 2 Inf, and no fighter from the British, they would be 81.9% in favor of the Japanese… These are not good odds for the Allied player. I am thinking about altering the setup even more, but assuming Britain gets 3 additional Inf there, this is a pretty heavy change.
The Russian front looks more interesting:
Here, Japan has to decide whether they want to push North with all their Infantry or send more into China (which I did here, therefore the 4 Infantry in Manchuria
This is how the map looks like at the end of the Japanese’s turn:
As expected, India fell and the Japanese player is free to attack Africa. Maybe there has to be an IC in India after all (like in all following editions of Axis and Allies). It might sounds overpowered, but then keep in mind that Britain can only build 3 units there. And since the US goes Pacific, there is only Britain that has to help out the Russians against Germany and Italy. And every IPC they spend against Japan instead of the European theater makes Germany happy.
My conclusion so far: Japan can still press very far into India and even Africa. There is like no to little air force at that stage in this area to interrupt even unprotected Japanese transports. China’s and Russia’s front seem interesting. Japan could ignore China and push pretty hard into Russia, but it means having to continuously deal with a strong China, which is something that would be very historical and also cool – because so far, China posed no real threat and was just a speed bump for Japan for its way to Moscow. The US could move out to take a Japanese island, but it also means encountering a strong Japanese naval force. In total, Japan’s naval force is still stronger, but due to getting more Nos, the US could outproduce Japan (again very historical), but it means committing to the Pacific. I think historical frontlines cannot be fully achieved here, Japan will stretch out further than in reality, but that is okay for the reason that the Axis has to gain some ground in order not to be at a total disadvantage IPC-wise.
Idea: Give India an IC: The British can opt to produce units there but it will take away pressure from Europe. That way, there is a chance to protect India, but it comes at a high cost. In addition to that, an IC there could also be of use for Japan if they conquer it. So this IC could be a double-edged sword (as opposed to the OOB setup and a British IC bid placement there which is actually a gift for Japan because Britain cannot defend it)
So my next game will test an IC in India and its potential influence on the game. It is my aim to give both sides a fair chance at defending or taking India respectively.
This is a screenshot after Japan’s attack. For the sake of simplicity, I didn’t do any attacks in China and just moved all planes into position. Let’s see what the odds are in specific situations.
Situation 1: British reinforcement with 3 Infantry.
I call this the conservative approach. I also thought about sending two American fighters to Australia, but since Japan goes before Japan, they won’t be able to reach India in time.
Even with a 2 Infantry setup change + IC, the fight would look as follows:
The odds for a Japanese success are at 98.8%. In addition to that, Japan could move its aircraft carriers in SZ 60 in position and their new transports in the SZ. That means, even if they do not attack this round, they’ll be able to send 3 more Infantry, 1 Artillery and 4 more fighters to India for a R3 attack. This is devastating. How can I possibly create a balance here without nerfing Japan too much?
Let’s assume Japan wasn’t that lucky in R1 and a plane and Russia reinforced India with two infantry. In addition to that, Britain kept their fighter in Egypt.
Situation 2: Reinforcements from Russia + fighter + fighter loss from Japan
In this scenario, the fight would look like this:
The odds for a successful attack are still 95%… This is still devastating. How can this be solved? Yes, Japan focuses on India only here and neglects China Russia and the US, but what could they possibly do? The US could make a lot of income because of its Nos, but they cannot (yet) attack Japan’s navy. Russia can mostly only block and since Japan can still use its fighters to keep China busy, there is also no major offensive by the Chinese in sight. So Japan doesn’t really miss out on a lot if they chose to rush India. And after that, they can produce 3 units a turn there.
However, I still think an IC in India is necessary to allow the British player reinforcements there and make the pacific Theatre more dynamic. So how can we even out this situation? There is one last attempt.
Situation 3: Russian reinforcements + British fighter alive + Japan lost 1 fighter + 4 infantry bid in India
Okay, this situation assumes the British got lucky and Japan lost a fighter against their destroyer. It also means that Russia invested in India and Britain spend 9 IPCs on the Pacific. If all of this happened, the odds for a Japanese attack would be as follows:
The odds for a Japanese win are now only at 45.9%. Finally there is a way to stop Japan’s India rush, but there are also many factors that both sides have to take into account:
Japan neglects all other attacks, although, as we have seen, this is not that detrimental for them as one might think
Russia has to dedicate infantry to the Pacific – Infantry that they will sorely miss against Germany.
Britain has to dedicate their fighter from Egypt and have to spend 9 IPCs… also something they will sorely miss when they start rebuilding their fleet.
The good thing for the Allies is though that the US is in a better shape in the Pacific with each passing round.
So for now, I will go with a setup change as high as giving the British 4 additional Infantry in India. It sounds like a lot, and it certainly is, but hopefully my experiments made clear that this is the least one can do to stop an India rush and give the Allies a chance to fight against the Japanese in the Pacific.
However, there is one more scenario I have to consider: What if the US player still goes Germany first and ignores Japan? Wouldn’t the additional forces in Asia not slow down Japan too much now? Let’s do a final experiment:
Situation 4: Heavily reinforced Allied Asia but US goes KGF
I will do this without starting a new game. The US will still start with 15 IPCs because of their Nos, however, Japan will only collect 5 (or even less if they decide on going for an India rush). But if they see that the US withdraws from the Pacific, they can start in R2 to achieve all their Nos, giving them 10 IPCs and eventually even 15 through their NOs once they control Hawaiian Islands. The US on the other hand will only get 5 IPCs and 10 once they secured Morocco Algeria. So Japan is given an IPC advantage over time that will hopefully compensate for the fact that their initial expansions are limited.
So, all in all, I will go for the following and final setup changes until someone proves me wrong and points out something that I have missed:
• New National Objectives
• Added 2 British Infantry to Egypt
• Added 4 British infantry to India
• Added Industrial Complex to India
• China starts with 1 Infantry in each of their starting territories, except from Yunnan, which starts with 3 Infantry and 1 Fighter
