Structure of the Game

[joegrundman]

There are two theaters in the game. European and Pacific.

Each theater has three fronts.

In the European theater, the fronts are:

The Eastern Front is east of a line that comes down from the north, between Norway and Sweden, following the border of Germany and Poland, then along the eastern borders of Hungary and Rumania down to the black sea. Also the border of Russia and Turkey/Persia.

The Western Front Is all that is west of that line, and north of the line that extends across the Spain/France border, the south coast of France, around northern italy and through the southern border of Hungary. In addition the Atlantic Ocean is all part of the Western Front

The Mediterranean Front Is Spain, the Mediterranean, and Adriatic Sea, Italy, Yugoslaviaa, Rumania and southern Balkans, Turkey, all of the Middle East and North Africa

In the Pacific Theater, there are

The Asian Front China, Siberia, Manchuria Korea, Mongolia and Japan
The South East Asian (SEA) Front India, Burma, Thailand, French Indo-China, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Formosa, Philippines, the Indian Ocean, Java Sea and South China Sea.
The Pacific Front Most of the action is here, normally. Hawaii, the carolines, the solomons, the bismarcks and Papua New Guinea and the wide Pacific Ocean make up the Pacific Front

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There are 4 turns per year, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter

The game starts in Fall 39 with Germany at war with France, Poland and the British Commonwealth and Japan at war with China. The game ends when Japan, Germany and Italy surrender, or when Britain and Russia surrender and the US signs a peace treaty (a rare event, normally only seen when an experienced player decides to ungenerously batter an inexperienced one). Or in winter 1946.

The four seasons have weather which is an important consideration.

Spring - Mud in Russia, prevents exploitation by non-Russian forces and generally limits offensives
Summer - Monsoons in the India/Burma/Thailand/French Indo China severely restrict movement
Fall - moderate cold in Siberia
Winter - Very harsh weather in Russia, still quite serious in Western front and european Med front. No Seaborne invasions in winter in western or eastern front. A very important fact.

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At the beginning of every year and the start of the game there is a Year Start Sequence(YSS). At this point, Basic Resource Points (BRPs) are calculated for the coming year, Resource Points (RPs) assigned and Diplomatic Points (DPs)

[joegrundman]

The game has a certain rhythm, which is worth understanding.

Poland invariably lasts only for the first turn.
In winter 39 Germany and Italy may attack in the west, but it is more common, and probably better to wait until spring 1940, unless a very detailed plan has been worked out.

Starting the attack in winter 39 means foregoing a proper build up of forces which can mean a tenacious defense of france can go on into fall or winter, and the same for norway.

So normally Italy and Germany attack the west in Spring 1940. Unless Britain declines to help defend france, france will hold out until summer 1940.

The axis have to decide at this point what it's main focus will be. Most games feature a barbarossa rather than a sealion. Barbarossa begins best in Summer 1941, giving two full turns of action before weather effects kick in.

So the axis have three turns between the fall of france in summer 1940 and the start of barbarossa to do some extra damage - which could be bombing of britain (including researching heavy bombers for a super bombing campaign), attacking spain and gibraltar, overwhelming the suez defense, cleaning up the balkans, or various combinations.

There are two opportunities for Sealion. Fall 1940 (the spearheads perhaps even Summer 1940 simultaneous with the capture of paris)

or in spring/summer 1941 after the u-boats and bombing have weakened britain and after more dds and bismarck have strengthened germany.

Or even after the taking of gibraltar enable the italian navy to participate

It is good for the axis to have a plan from the outset

The American and russian mobilization slowly changes the balance of power, and round about mid 1942, the allies find they have initiative.

It's difficult to launch a full invasion of france before spring 1944 since it is only then that sufficient DD, AAF and ground forces have been built to ship over so much that Germany can't hold it back. But it's possible.

Germany is very strong, but it's weakness is it's fairly low Unit Construciton Limit, which can be further damaged by oil shortage and bombing. The relentless russian attacks in 1943 start creating more losses than germany can replace, and after the second front is opened the losses start piling up. Eventually Germany has not enough units on the board to defend wit.

The Pacific War has a different rhythm.

The tensions and mobilization of Japan and the US are an interesting subgame in its own right. In general Japan will attack Pearl Harbor between Summer and Winter 1941.

Pros and Cons - the winter attack is the favourite one since it is for a start 2 turns later, which counts when turn of surrender is a factor, and secondly the attacks are expensive in terms of resources (brps). Immediately after the winter comes the 1942 YSS and Japan's brps get refreshed with all her fresh conquests improving the deal. Japan can thus easily afford a fresh round of offensives in Spring 1942 to complete her vital conquests.

Summer 41 has the substantial advantage of striking with greater suprise and a much greater chance of sinking 1 or more carriers (i lost all 3 last time i was hit at this time) - and the balance of carrier power is all important until late 43 when it shifts permanently to the allies. If Japan maintains carrier superiority it means japan can continue on the offensive. The disadvantage is that the clock for Japan starts ticking earlier, 1 less CV will be available for the strike (made up for by juicier targets), and japan will run out of brps long before winter arrives, possibly forcing a delay in launching important ships like Yamato

Fall 41 is a mid point in this - but all CVs can be used.

Anyway, under the typical winter strike, Japan hits Pearl, sinks about 4 or more BB3s, must take the oil of Brunei and Palembang, wake, guam and needs to get a foothold in the Bismarcks before allied reinforcements arrive. Also, Japan will have a strong interest in getting hold of jungle/mountain chain on the Burma/India border, and shutting off the land supply route from burma to china, which otherwise allows china to be used as a base for bombers.

Japan's happy time ends pretty quickly normally, unless the US loses some carriers. Summer 1942 is often the last turn for Japanese offensive operations

The Bismarcks, solidly defended, are very tough to crack, and much of the mid game is about that. Finally though they do and then japan has to look to defending an inner perimeter based around Philippines, Truk, Palau, Guam.

Once those go, it's time to consider kamikazis. It sounds straightforward, but the devil is in the details. Who best utilises naval forces will win a turn here and a turn there.