Game favors Axis and is unbalanced

[epower]

In my recent game as Japan only, I doubled up infantry weapons and mobility until both were at level 2. After that it was all over in China since the extra movement points negated the nasty, nasty terrain effects. Didn't know China was so rugged. Never fight a land war in Asia, Indeed! I'm considering a house rule forbidding double chits until the industrial modifier reaches a certain level. Alternatively, maybe only one research area can have 2 chits. Some room for tweaking certainly.

While implementing such a thing would be very tricky, I agree with zzmzzm that accounting for Germany's critical oil situation might help with balance. Barbarossa had to happen in 1941 or there wouldn't be another chance for offensive operations on that scale since Germany were projected to be out of oil by Fall of 1941. Perhaps a German failure to take Grozny and Maikop in 1941 or early 1942 should result in a movement penalty for mechanized units and a reduction in supply. I'm talking to you, Rommel and Von Manstein!

On the flip side, if the German player can interdict the Volga by taking Astrakhan or Stalingrad then that interruption of oil flow should have a highly negative effect on the Soviet economy. Maybe having supplied units on either side of the Volga would be enough to choke off the Soviet oil supply.

Some food for thought is Marshal Timoschenko's secret speech to the Supreme Defense council in November of 1941:

"If Germany succeeds in taking Moscow, that is obviously a grave disappointment for us, but it by no means disrupts our grand strategy. Germany would gain accommodation but that alone will not win the war. The only thing that matters is oil. As we remember, Germany kept harping on her own urgent oil problems in her economic bargaining with us from 1939 to 1941. So we have to do all we can to (a) make Germany increase her oil consumption and (b) to keep German armies out of the Caucusus."

[boudi]

ORIGINAL: boudi

From my point of vue, with 1.03.00 version, against an average or a good axis player ( i think that i'm an average player, not good, but not too bad) and at mid 1942, it's more or less unplayable for the Allies.

Mid 42' i lost Leningrad, japaneses took Vladivostok after DOW Soviet Union, China is out of the game, it was very easily destroyed by the japanese army with the support of its air force, Japanese fight now in Burma. Germans tooks Egypt, then Palestin, Irak, and they are now at Teheran. By Soviet union Germans took Caucasus with all oil fields. i don't know how India will be defended, attacked by rear and front.

The US army is long, long, too long to be ready for saving anything...

Soviet Union and China are far away too weak. I will see what will be the game later, in 1944, but at this time : unplayable.

Unfortunately, even with the last patch the game is still unplayable for Allies.
UK is undefendable if Germans use its Luftwaffe against it. German fighters kill easily all British fighters and German bombers destroy all British units. I think that the game is very unbalanced about aerial warfare : the german air superiority is too strong. Where are the Spitfire ? When my fighter fight agaisnt a BF109 it lost 3 points, the german only 1 ? Then German tanks with their two hits capacity finish the job. UK Is lost in may 42.

Soviet units still have 2 lost against 0 for each counter attack attempt.

USA can't do anything, it's impossible to give them a decent army 6 months after Pearl Harbor....

I noticed that allied side suffer a crual lack of HQ. SU has only 2 (the third is easyly destroyed during the 1st turn of Barbarossa) and UK only one in the european theater. It's too less, and a HQ is horribly expensive. I think that the problem should come from the diffrence of HQ number. Allies do not have enough, or Germans have too much, Or maybe a HD gives too many advantage.

Unplayable. Of course, it's only my point of vue.