We played two games over a 3-day weekend in August and had a BLAST! Can't wait until our next game. . .but it looks like I will have to wait until December for that (maybe we can get 2 games in again?)
In the first game, Joe and I were the Allies and John and Brian were the Axis. They executed a well thought out plan to invade England in Spring 1940 (even before France fell) which caught me completely by surprise. The Germans took Holland and Flanders in Winter 1939 and Guderian with 3 transports and 3 paratroopers landed in Southeast England facing light resistance in Spring 1941. Much of the BEF was in France, Norway or getting shipped to Egypt, so England was only lightly defended. I did not think an invasion of England possible until after France fell - so it really caught me flat footed. Nevertheless, it took them a year to clear the country, but by Spring 1941 Britain was forced to evacuate to Iceland and Canada. We continued to play the game until Spring of 1942 because I was curious how weak the Axis would be facing Russia later with reduced forces and if the Allies could still win the game. I think the Allies would still have had a chance, but Turkey joined the Germans in 1941, and that finally put the last nail in my coffin to turn things around and I called in in Spring 1942 (late Friday night). Without Turkey joining the Axis, it would have been interesting to play out as Russia was super tough at that point and able to fight in Turkey and hold the Germans near the border - without the Turkish front they would have been even more scary. In the long run, however, the loss of England may put the Allies too far behind the 8-ball to catch up. Lesson - If German transports, landing craft and paratroopers are getting built out of the gates - do not neglect your British defenses. . .
In the Second game Brian was the Allies, I was the Russians, and we faced John and Joe as the Axis. I think the Axis got off to a tough start in 1940. Brian brilliantly defended Norway and kept France from falling until Summer of 1940. The delays in taking Norway and France I think threw Axis production off and did not give John enough PP to do all of the things he usually likes to do. Nevertheless, it was a good game, with Joe and I slugging it out on the Russian front and Brian and John going at it in the West. The Allies won on VPs in the Spring of 1943. Brian had taken back all of North Africa and had landed in France. Joe made it just to the gates of Stalingrad in Summer 1942, and then got pushed back out of Russia. By Spring 1943 I had taken back Kiev, Smolensk and Riga. Brian's Allied air force was very scary by the end of 1942 with something like 5-6 heavy U.S. and British bombers poised to bomb German production away - it really drew off German airpower from the Russian front and I think is an important investment the Allies need to make. . .
