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After my victorious game with Japan with equal settings for me and the AI, I decided to try to challenge myself with the Soviet Union with 200% transport, +50 supply and +2 battle help (after some thinking I did realize the Axis troop quality was higher than that of Allied forces - especially the russians´) for the Axis powers only.

I decided to go all-out on armor - producing and researching nothing but armor while minding the "rule of five" when it comes to research times. Strangely, in this game, even though I had evasion levels 2 higher than the Axis armor land attack, I still suffered many casualties in the battles, and the total dominance without casualties that happened with japanese infantry did not happen.

Anyway, I had FoW and Advanced Supply on this time. The Germans came on, and I formed my steel wall of armor to defend the Motherland - infantry and militia units were inconsequential cannon-fodder. The Germans were stopped in Leningrad, and that+s what counts, and even though the Germans blitzed to take Kharkov, an armoured counter-attack took it back.

The germans ground to a halt, and in the Winter I was able to smash and drive back Army Group Center from Smolensk, ending the threat to Moscow. The Germans tried penetrating with their armor a couple of times, but thanks to Advanced Supply, I was able to cut them off and leave them stranded, out of supply in enemy territory - and destroy them on the next turn. Classic!

The Germans still had a lot of troops, but I brought more and more units and started pushing westwards, and the whole war seemed to progress pretty historically towards its final conclusion in Germany, where the Western Allies and myself both attacked the last German army in Western Germany, with me having the honours of finishing and gobbling up the last German troops in Denmark.

It was pretty enjoyable, and restored much of my faith in the game. I´m ready to try the Germans, or who knows, maybe even PBEM!

I decided to go all-out on armor - producing and researching nothing but armor while minding the "rule of five"

whats "the rule of five", sounds like something I seem to be negleting! (unless you mean making 5 units at a time)

For every 5 units you build (are on the map or in production) the cost of research goes up 1.

IF you only a a portion of a "set of 5" there is a prorated chance you can make the breakthrough with one less research point. I call it a "round off roll" as it gives you a chance of only needing to reasearch the next lower "group of 5" cost when you have a "group of 5" partially completed and the number required to make the next breakthorugh is "rounded up".

Interesting to know this, Paul...in the future, when I am cranking out the units but not in a real hurry with the research, I will keep this in mind.

As an aside, I tried Germany now, on Challenging.
Conquered most of Europe, did a Sealion in ´41, and attacked the SU simultaneously at the traditional front as well as in Caucasus through Persia. Knocking out those 6 resources from the Russians probably sealed her fate - not to mention I sent two corps into Siberia to disrupt their resources there!

Eventually the Soviets crumbled before the might of my artillery (this was the focus of my research and production this time), and Leningrad fell followed by Moscow. I scored an autovictory a bit before this, but obviously dismissed it and played on.