Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: ThunderLizard2

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ORIGINAL: HamburgerMeat

I think the problem is partially due to the fact that it is easier to play the axis at a decent level than the allies. Simply double research chit advanced tanks, ground attack weapons, S&I, and go to town. As long as you're basically on schedule for barbaossa, and youve been steadily advancing in China, you're in good shape to win.

As the allies, you really cant afford to make big mistakes for the first three years. You have to balance the use of rivers and terrain vs maintaining a solid line at crucial points. You have to research the "right" techs. And when the US comes up to bat, you have to strike so hard that the germans/japanese have no choice but to turn around.

Knowing how to use the allied toolkit is much harder. But they do have the tools

What's your strategy for Allies?

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I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. I have been playing 2 WAW games, one as Axis and other as the allies. My game as Axis chased off my opponent, simply because I was overwhelming the allies in Europe and Asia and it's was only March of 1940. I'm not really that good of a player yet as Axis it was pretty easy to take on the initiative and not get stopped. Now in my game as the Allies I have just been throttled by my opponent. The French literally collapsed in January-february, the British BEF I evacuated before they could become cannon fodder for the Axis. THe morale for the French drops incredibly fast for little or no reason once the germans crossover into France. Once the Maginot line is flanked it's over in France. And there certainly is not enough PPs to invest into a military that could hold off the germans for more than a couple of turns.

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The French literally collapsed in January-february

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The Japanese are conquering China easily enough

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ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

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The Japanese are conquering China easily enough

It might be that the supply rule changes are not having enough of an effect on the Japanese, but I would be interested to hear what the situation in China is like a bit later on in when the Japanese have pushed a little further as they'll likely need a bit more careful supply management (when there is typically lower occupational supply for them) to be successful.

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ORIGINAL: zzmzzm

Now I learn the China can use the fighter-HQ exchange to accelerate the HQ speed, but it is too gamey.

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ORIGINAL: elxaime

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ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

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The Japanese are conquering China easily enough

It might be that the supply rule changes are not having enough of an effect on the Japanese, but I would be interested to hear what the situation in China is like a bit later on in when the Japanese have pushed a little further as they'll likely need a bit more careful supply management (when there is typically lower occupational supply for them) to be successful.

I'd guess against a skilled Axis PBEM player the Chinese still have zero chance. The Japanese have two years to concentrate on them with a tech advantage. Due to its early weakness, the US is really no threat until 1943 or so in terms of advancing into the Japanese home areas and the extra economy Japan gains from conquering most of China reduces the MPP gap considerably (not to mention the experienced 12 and 13 strength Japanese armies that can be thrown against India). In the two PBEM so far post patch as Allies, the Japanese more or less are in position to attack the USSR from behind by mid-1942. Usually a good guide to whether a strategy is perceived as a winner is that each opponent adopts it, and the all-in to squash China seems a low-risk high yield approach.

What might be looked at are two aspects.

First, an early all-out Japanese advance into the depths of China would not just have alarmed the Communists in Yenan, but also Stalin and the potent "China Lobby" in the USA, which was an exception to the general pre-war American isolationism. Thought might be given to impacts on their war readiness. Second, it might be worth considering similar "backs to the wall" type events that could trigger, similar to how the UK gets US tanks if Cairo is approached or the USSR can move industry in land. A deep advance and serious threat probably also would have led to the collapse of the Chinese Nationalist government and its replacement by some sort of salvation front. China was no match for the Japanese in WW2 but they were also not the pushovers they often seem to be in the game. The Japanese had more problems with supply and partisans than seem portrayed as well. Whether the Yellow River flood of 1938 has significant impact (aside from civilians) is debated, but it shows the lengths the Chinese were prepared to go. If China wasn't the USSR, they also weren't France 1940.

The idea is not to make an all-China approach impossible, but to make it more of a trade off than currently. Consequences to USSR and USA readiness and some additional triggers may be what is needed.

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ORIGINAL: zzmzzm

I know these points, but I don't think China can hold Chungking till autumn of 1942 . If you have time , we can start a Pbem to testfy it . In autumn of 1942, America navy is not strong enough to attack Japan effectively.