On June 11th, Wayne, Bob, Tim, Eric, Steve and myself got together for a lovely game of Axis & Allies 30th Anniversary Edition. Being that this was the month of June and it was also the 67th anniversary of D-Day it seemed appropriate to play Axis and Allies. The following countries were randomly chosen:
Wayne - United States
Bob - Great Britain
Eric - Soviet Union
Steve - Germany
Tim - Italy
Bruce - Japan
With the anniversary edition of the game it was no longer necessary to completely wipe out the other side by occupying all of their capitals nor was it necessary to obtain x-amount of industrial production points to be declared the winner. Instead, the way to win was to occupy a certain number of "victory cities" as highlighted in red on the board map. The Axis started off with 8 victory cities and the Allies started off with 12 victory cities already in their possession. To win the game either side had to obtain at least 15 cities by 1:00am or whoever had the most cities by that time would win. Finally, we included our own rule that if any capital of either the Axis or Allied side had been captured then it would be considered "sudden death" and the other side would win automatically.
Unlike our other games we have played, Axis and Allies is a team game, and as such the Axis side consisted of Tim, Steve and myself. The Allied side consisted of Bob, Eric and Wayne. Each side therefore got together for a council of war and discussed the best strategies to obtain the most cities and hold them throughout the game. I know for the Axis side, the best cities for the taking were situated in the Pacific with Shanghai in China, Honolulu in Hawaii, Melbourne in Australia and Manila in the Philippines. Russia certainly had a fair share of victory cities for Germany to take but the Axis side felt that the Nazi's would be hard pressed to hold them. So our strategy going forward was to take the Pacific cities first and foremost and hold them at all costs. If Steve as the Nazi's were able to take Leningrad or Stalingrad then we considered that to be icing on the proverbial cake. Also, we wanted Tim as the Italians to actually "do something" than just sit around and twiddle his Fascist thumbs! So, we decided that Tim's sole objective was to take on Britain in Africa and seize the whole of Africa for the pleasure and benefit of the Axis.
From what I could gather from the Allied side, it appears it was to hold the line against Germany by the Russians, build up American forces in the Pacific to take on Japan's navy and have the British under Bob's heavy hand build factories in India for a conquest or reconquest of Southeast Asia and beyond. Bob came up with some interesting operational names which unfortunately I cannot remember but was something like Operation "Rubber Chicken" and other sorts of asinine names. Clearly, it was propaganda of the highest order.
For the Axis, the entire operational tempo fell on the Japanese to perform a "divine" miracle in the Pacific. Thus, I struck fast and furious over the Americans at Hawaii and in the Philippines. I also moved against the American supported Chang Kai Chek forces of Chinese that were threatening Japan's hold on the Asian mainland.
Shanghai fell pretty quickly but unfortunately the American's held out against supieor forces of the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army in the Philippines by initially holding onto Manila. I made a long shot attack on Hawaii by easily destroying the American fleet at Honolulu but was unable to capture the island. The haughty and happy Americans under the auspices of Wayne tried to unnerve me with his smiles even as I was sinking his battleship. Clearly, from the Japanese point of view the Americans had gone mad!
Steve as Nazi Germany, attacked the entire Russian eastern front to bottleneck Eric around Moscow and Stalingrad. This he did pretty much on schedule and with his usual gusto and bravado. Steve also carried out an efficient U-Boat attack on British and American shipping with satisfactory results. Tim on the other hand performed exceptionally well with his moronic Italians as he was able to take Egypt and Gibraltar from the highly bombastic and propagandistic British. With the English wiped out in Egypt, Africa lay ripe for the raping!
Eventually, Manila did fall to the Japanese by the second round of play and the Axis gained 2 cities for a total of 10 victory cities and the Allies lost 2 cities for a total of 10 cities as well. It was now a tied game and the war could swing in either direction.
The allies were not to be outdone however, as Wayne actually rolled a six for Research and Development and then rolled the die for "Shipyards" which naturally increased America's ability to outproduce the Japanese by a factor of magnitude larger than anything the Japanese could compete against. I believe it reduced his naval costs by 3 thus making expensive ships easier to purchase and produce on the cheap. Bob also decided to build a factory not only in India (which was expected) but also in the Dutch East Indies (which was not expected). I suppose it was a brilliant move just in case India fell to the Japanese then the British could build right next to it for a total of four units at one time. Or he could combine forces with his Indian factory and produce a total of 7 units in one fell swoop. Overall, I found it a great idea albeit a rather provocative one by the Allies.
Eric's Russians took on a slugfest with the Germans on the Eastern Front. For a round or two the Russians lost and then won back and then lost again the city of Leningrad. Both sides had bludgeoned themselves over Leningrad and by the third or fourth turn they were licking their wounds and building up forces for one last Armageddon like battle for control of the far northern city that clearly lay in the political sphere of the Germans. Eric also tried to take Manchukio from the Japanese in the Soviet Far East but failed miserably and expectantly I might add as the Japs were able to defend with troops and aircraft. Overall, Eric was roughed up and made one last attempt to take Leningrad from the Germans. It was a mighty battle and had time not worked against the Allies, Eric might not have attacked so soon. Nevertheless, he did attack Steve's Nazi's at Leningrad and came within one tank of taking the city from the Axis. If Eric had accomplished his goal then the Axis would have been down one city and perhaps lost the game for sure.
Bob's British were on the warpath in Asia after losing so bad in Africa. He had finally positioned himself to strike back at Vietnam but again time was running out and so was left to merely build up instead.
Wayne too had finally built up his naval forces and was making their way back to Asia after Japan nerely obliterated the Chinese on the Asian mainland and held their own against Eric's Russians. I kept my naval forces centrally located in the Pacific away from both the American and British submarines and battleships. This rather conservative strategy, as insisted by the Italians under Tim, kept the Japanese fleet in a sustainable position for a defense in depth strategy and allowing the Japanese mainland to defend herself more readily from an American fleet ready to pounce on Tokyo.
It could be argued by the Allies that if they had a little more time then the full force of their economic power would tighten like a noose around the Japanese Empire for good. However, we were playing till 1 am and the Axis made good on their plans and actually held 10 cities much to the allies chagrin. Thus, it was a tied game!
And really, as far as the Axis were concerned if it was a tied game then it was the Axis that were truly victorious! I think we can all agree, civilly, that it was the Axis that performed better than the Allies. As the Chinese might say "Better Ruck Next Time!"
