I'm summarize what happens in a game turn:
Game starts in Fall (autumn) 1938 and lasts to Summer 1945, unless
someone wins before then. Each turn lasts 3 months of game-time --
Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Each turn has four phases. The
year is important as combat ratings of the major powers change
annually.
Phase 1 is the resource allocation/diplomacy phase - players use
this phase to buy new units (4 types - infantry, armor, air and
naval units) and place them on their supply centers (main bases).
They will also make alliances with other players if they wish.
Alliances are not permanent - they can be broken, meaning you can
backstab :P
Phase 2 is the air phase
Phase 3 is the naval phase
Phase 4 is the land and redeployment phase
For phases 2 to 4, I have abstracted the actual moving and combat
for the game into ‘stances’ – the game moves much faster this way.
Also less stress for me to ‘referee’ :D
Players assign an overall stance each turn. There are three
stances.
Defensive - no attacks, units adopt defensive posture
Limited offensive - opportunistic attacks while trying to minimize
losses
Victory or Valhalla (VOV) – aggressive 'do or die' attacks, losses
tend to be much higher!
You may specify the major and/or minor power(s) you'd like to
target, if applicable. How your units are placed/positioned is very
important.
Example of a Fall 1938 turn (German player)
Air – VOV vs Lille ground forces, limited offensive vs
Belgium
Naval - defensive (Berlin)
Land – limited offensive vs Lille, Belgium and Hungary
As referee, I will then game out the air, naval and land phases and
try to carry out your instructions as far as possible... I will
then inform players of the results and changes (territories
taken/lost, forces destroyed etc). Finally, players will get a
chance to redeploy their land and air forces at the end of the
turn.
Next turn then begins...
Players (teams) win by capturing all territories (unlikely since
there are over 150), or they reach certain victory point (targets)
or force other teams/players to surrender. Or the game reaches Fall
1945 then we total VPs... I will say that from my experience
playing and testing this game, a lot of the fun is in the actual
play, suspense and making/breaking alliances with other players.
Sure it’s great to win, but I like to think the journey is equally
if not more important :)
The time commitment for players shouldn't be too
much of a problem since I've abstracted a lot of things to make it
play quite quickly, especially with the 'stances'.
Players focus on building stuff, alliances, assigning 'stances' and
reployment, which probably can be done within 30 to 45 minutes for
one turn, once you get the hang of the rules... most of the combat
calculations and overall coordination fall on me (the referee)
lol.
The game starts in Fall 1938, just after Germany annexed the
Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) and is preparing for more
conquests.
Britain and France 'allowed' Germany to annex the Sudetenland but
will not tolerate any further German aggression.
Italy is neutral but friendly toward Germany
Russia is neutral and suspicious of everybody
USA is neutral and isolationist (minding her own business)
Japan is friendly with Germany and Italy and at war with
China
This is the historical backdrop... so obviously Germany is very
powerful, with large land and air forces, Britain has the world's
largest empire but is very weak on land forces, and China has a
large army but poor quality troops etc. So you have to tailor your
strategies according to which country you end up with! :)
Hope that answers your questions. If there's any/more interest,
I'm happy to email rules, maps and spreadsheet for your
perusal.