Leon leaned back in his chair as he waited for the others to join. They weren't long in coming.
"Glad I was able to make it," Rainbow said as she connected. "I thought I'd never get done cloud busting today."
"At least you didn't have to respond to yet another series of false Changeling reports," Shining said, sounding annoyed. "All of them, false. No Changelings or any evidence of them."
"Practical joke?" Leon asked.
"If it is and I find them, I'm throwing them in prison and charging them with deliberate misuse of public services. Actually, since the Royal Guard is essentially the military, that would be too lenient."
"And if it's just panicked ponies?" Rainbow inquired.
"In that case... I don't know. Ever since the attack on Canterlot, sightings of Changelings have been coming in. More often than not, no truth to any of them; most of the time, it's just a pony whose silhouette was mistaken, or a cat or dog out at dusk."
"I am sorry to hear of your troubles," Luna commented. "I intend to enforce the laws that are already in place regarding claims that mislead the military, as well as of public services. Unfortunately, I have uncovered that a pranking spree has been going around all around Equestria, and it has to stop. Last week, there were three calls to the Manehattan fire department, each one claiming that there was a fire when there wasn't. And, for another... well, a poor colt in Ponyville had the police come to his home, having received a call claiming he was holding somepony hostage. Sadly, we did not catch the culprit of that last incident - of any of those incidents, actually - and no doubt these urchins have been laughing behind their hooves while the authorities run around trying to catch them."
"Sounds like a bad day," Eddy said.
"Try a week. I'm sick of having to deal with this particular kind of lawbreaker. The last incident is especially infuriating... what do you humans call it?"
"Swatting," Leon supplied. "SWAT teams being basically heavily armed police, intended to deal with hostage situations and crooks armed with automatic weapons." Sighing, he went on, "It's only a matter of time before someone is shot by mistake, the way things are going."
"Exactly. The Royal Guard is still on alert for trouble. Hopefully, this mess can be solved soon."
"Are all Changelings bad?"
"Oh, no. Not all. In fact... no, I can't risk talking about... oh, heck with it. This is private. We have Changeling agents working for us."
"That's new."
"And controversial," Shining added.
"And controversial," Luna echoed. "Captain Armor isn't popular with the idea. However, as a loyal soldier of the Crown, he'll put up with it."
"The things I put up with for Equestria," Shining mumbled. Leon thought he could hear a note of amusement. "So, what's the set-up for this game?"
"Second World War, somewhere in spring, 1942," Leon said. "Axis vs. the Allies, Germany and Japan against the USSR, Britain, and the USA. Each nation takes its turn. You'll see what it's like."
"Okay. Am I correct in assuming each of us gets a country?"
"Yes."
"Good luck getting any one to play Germany," Rainbow said. "I read about what that maniac Hitler did, and..."
"Yeah... it was terrible, to say the least," Leon agreed. "More so than any of us can appreciate. However, the game almost never plays out exactly like it did historically. And since history, and the country, are under your control, you could make it so that Hitler was assassinated by one of his generals, the way he was in the novel, For the Fatherland. I think a lot of people have moral qualms about playing Germany in this kind of game."
"Well, if you put it that way, I guess I could put up with it. I assume Leon is playing America and Eddy is being Britain."
"How did you...?"
"I'm not entirely ignorant of where you guys live, you know," the cyan pegasus said. "Figures you'd both play as your own countries, same as I'd play Equestria, if this game were set in our own world."
"That leaves us with Japan, Germany, and the USSR," Shining said. "What does USSR stand for?"
"Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which is the official name of the state translated into English. It's real abbreviation is SSSR, but I can't pronounce the name it stands for."
"I see. Assuming Rainbow sticks with Germany, who is playing as the other two nations?"
"I might be willing to play as Japan," Luna answered. "I'm not the biggest fan of either the Soviet Union or Communism, in spite of the fandom's opinions to the contrary."
"You sure?" Leon inquired. "They worship the sun there, not the moon."
"I and my sister are not deities, as I've told you before; nor are Discord or Tirek. And neither of them are demons, as is the alternate belief."
"Then why has Equestria worshipped the both of you in the past?"
"Our long lives and magical powers might have lead to the misconception. As my sister ruled Equestria for over a thousand years, many such misconceptions have formed. I must admit, its flattering," Luna added, sounding blushful. "But it gets annoying when I keep getting letters asking why I haven't answered their prayers, despite having answered endless times in other letters that I cannot hear them. Anyway, its the only country left free to have a monarchy; the alternative is to chose a nation that both murdered their royal family and killed more of their own people than fell in World War I."
"Ok, than means I'm playing the Soviets then," Shining said. "Can I do the same thing with them as Leon suggested for Rainbow regarding Germany?"
"Yep," Leon said.
"Good."
"Ok, so we're all ready to play?" Luna asked. After receiving an affirmative answer from the others, she went on, "In that case, I'm starting the game. I'd advise everypony and everyone to switch to a team-based chat. Here we go."
Leon made sure to adjust the chat channel he was on. In the meantime, a large sign with a Russian soldier - standing next to an equally large USSR spelling - appeared for a couple seconds as the Soviet theme began to play, before the sign disappeared and was replaced by a poster asking the current player whether or not they were going to spend IPCs on Weapons Development.
"Russians have the best music in the game," Leon remarked.
"What should I do?" Shining asked.
"Skip it," Eddy said. "You almost never roll a six and even when you get one, you don't get the tech you really want for yourself."
"Okay. Now it's asking me what units to buy."
"Go full infantry," Leon said. "Russia, early on, is the tank in this game."
"By tank, do you mean like a pulverizing steamroller, or as in I take a ton of damage?"
"The... second one might be... slightly more accurate?" Leon said shyly.
"That sucks."
"Yeah. There used to be a rule in the older editions of the game, called USSR Restricted; it kept Russia from attacking at all on it's first turn."
"I'm assuming that isn't the case here?"
"It isn't."
Shining purchased the units, then the game went on to the combat move phase. "Okay, what should I do? Looks like I have a lot of options here."
"Best idea is to attack Finland-Norway," Eddy suggested. "It'll give me direct access to you via transport, and I won't even have to move them to another sea space. Of course, you could attack Eastern Europe or the Ukraine, but both are easy to lose when the Germans come knocking, and they take their turn right after you do."
"Right. How much force should I use?"
"Take a couple tanks, your fighters, and three infantry from Karelia."
Shining did so. "What about attacking Manchuria?"
"Not a good idea. Infantry are weak on offense, and you'll likely lose Manchuria when the Japanese start kicking."
"I see. What about my submarine?"
"Wait until the non-combat phase to move it, and the transport in the Baltic. The Soviet navy plays next to no role in this game, except to help keep German ships and planes off England proper."
"Right. So that's my only combat for this turn?"
"Basically. Don't worry, the game heats up fast."
The game moved on to the combat phase. Shining clicked on Finland-Norway. The screen switched to one displaying the forces of the two sides, each on an opposite end of the board. Numbers up to four were displayed, with the units each aligned under one. The three Russian infantry were on the one tab, their tanks and fighters on the three. The Germans were lined up accordingly with differences being made for their defensive role. Tanks were better at attacking than defending, and infantry and fighters were stronger on defense than on offense. For example, infantry only inflicted damage on offense when the attacker rolled a one on a die; they did damage on a two or less on defense.
The first roll for the Soviets was less than optimal; only a couple hits, both from tanks and fighters. However, the Axis didn't have much in the first place, and they only scored one hit in return, which Shining put on one of his infantry. The casualties of both sides exploded, ending the round. The second round saw the annihilation of the German forces entirely.
The scene flipped back to the world map. The Finland-Norway territory had turned reddish-brown, the color of the Soviet Union.
"That was only the first round," Rainbow typed in the chat. "I'll get you next time!"
"I'm assuming that it's now the non combat phase?" Shining asked.
"Yes," Eddy answered. "Oh, you can't keep planes on a territory you just captured; those will have to go back somewhere; best place is probably Karelia."
"Right." Shining moved his planes, and put most of the units on the Russia territory - his capital - in Karelia. He also moved two of the infantry to the east into one where three of his other infantry units had been positioned, northwest of Manchuria. "Anything else?"
"Not much; Just move your sub and transport to the tile surrounding my homeland. Just skip to the place units phases... oh, and leave at least one or two units in your capital, or the Germans may be able to capture it with a parachute drop, and then you'd be in a world of hurt."
The white unicorn placed his units on the board - six infantry in Karelia, two in Russia - then received 26 IPCs as income.
"Germany's turn," Leon noted. "I wonder what Rainbow Dash will do?"
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"Okay, my turn," Rainbow said to herself. She bought three tanks and some infantry before skipping to the combat move phase.
"I'd highly advise destroying the British fleet," Luna suggested. "That will keep them from invading you, and give you time to smash the USSR. As for the Soviets, move most of your armor and available infantry to take Karelia."
"I might be able to take it, but they'll take it back unless I get really good rolls of the dice."
"But you're crippling them, and you have more IPCs to start out with. Move your naval units to take out the British fleet in the Mediterranean, and invade Egypt."
"Not much to invade with; we're even in Africa. But still..." Rainbow moved her units according to how Luna had suggested. "Might cost me a lot of the air force.. what was it the Germans called theirs? The luftwaffle?"
"Luftwaffe; it literally means 'air weapons.'"
"Yeah. They say things weird."
"They'd say the same thing about us and Equestrian, or English, as humans call it."
"No way! But anyway, which battle should I click on first?"
"The one just off the British Isles."
Rainbow did so. The battle was mostly against a number of transports, as well as a Soviet submarine. The first German rolls knocked out a couple British transports. The British, in turn, scored a hit as well, which she reluctantly put on a submarine of her own. The second round wiped out most of the units; however, the enemy submarine submerged, which took it out of the fight while preserving it for later use. The blue pony smiled. It always - or at least usually - felt good to win, and this was no exception. The remaining naval battles went her way, although she suffered a hit on her battleship.
In Anglo Egypt-Sudan, however, the British were able to take out her infantry, and since she hadn't taken out either their tank or infantry in turn, she had to retreat. She growled when she saw Eddy type, "Better luck next time," in chat.
Finally, she clicked on the Karelia. Although she was outnumbered, her tanks gave her better firepower than the Russians. Several Soviet units were taken out of the battle in the first couple rounds, but the Russians got a couple hits of their own in each one, wiping out four German Infantry units. The third round saw another two German casualties, with most of the remaining Soviet resistance destroyed. The fourth round finally wiped out the enemy entirely, although another German infantry became a casualty.
Karelia switched to a German gray. Rainbow sighed. She hadn't had many infantry left after that battle. If it had lasted longer, or if Shining had gotten luckier with his die rolls, her tanks would have been taking the hits.
She moved more of her ground units toward the USSR, and she moved her planes back into German territory before collecting a decent income. She smiled again. The turn hadn't been everything she'd wanted it to be, but it turned out pretty good, all things considered.
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"Right, navy taken out, and severe damage done to Russia," Eddy murmured on his turn. "'Least we don't have to worry about a Nazi Africa."
"Good thing, too; I'm so frustrated with the rolls I got just now," Shining said irritably.
"Well now, let's see..." Eddy brought three more transports, a tank, and an infantry. "That'll do for starters. Now, on to the insanity."
Eddy immediately attacked Libya with the tank and infantry in Anglo Egypt-Sudan. He followed up by using his bomber to attack Germany itself in order to bomb its IPCs. He sent his fighter in India to attack a Japanese transport in its range.
"Hopefully this will suffice."
"Hopefully," Leon echoed.
"Hey, cheer up; its me."
The Englishman switched to the combat phase itself. The bombing run against Germany paid off; he rolled a six, meaning Germany had just lost six IPCs, enough to by a single tank or two infantry, while Rainbow's anti-aircraft fire from the anti-aircraft gun on that territory.
"Nice one!" Shining said approvingly.
"Ought to help you a little, I think."
The battle for Libya was not so quickly successful. "Oh come on," Ed shouted in frustration after three turns had passed without anybody hitting anything. "How about one of you dipsticks hit something?"
"Could use some of 'The Few' right now, couldn't you?" Leon joked.
"Yeah I could. Finally," he said, as his tank finally scored on the lone German tank facing him. The enemy failed to hit him in return, and Libya's gray color switched to British tan. "Miserable little gits."
"They got the job done in the end."
"Yeah. Still, that could have been better."
Eddy switched to the battle between the fighter and the transport. Eddy managed to hit it on the first round, although the enemy unit rolled a two, which was close enough to a one to make him feel uneasy. It was always embarrassing when a transport was able to kill a fighter, or any powerful unit, especially if the transport didn't die in the process.
"That ought to delay them a bit," he said.
In the non combat phase, he fumed at the fact that he wasn't able to send a large number of reinforcements to Russia. He was able to ferry a tank from Eastern Canada to Finland-Norway; Rainbow hadn't sent any units to kill the transport in the sea zone next to the eastern side of the Dominion. The fighters weren't going to be of the greatest use in England, not unless the Germans were to invade, and they didn't have any transports nearby, and even though they had a bomber, it could only transport a single Infantry unit at a time, and Rainbow wasn't foolhardy enough to send a single unit to attack Britain. Moreover, they would take as many moves to attack Western Europe from the Scandinavian land as from Britain itself. He moved them accordingly.
He didn't have much navy left to move. A transport was sitting in the sea zone next to India. He moved it to a zone next to Australia. It could still be attacked, but it was better than just leaving near India to die anyway, and it would give him additional options in regards to the two infantry on the island continent.
He placed his units on and around Britain; he had no industrial sites anywhere else. That was the trouble with Britain in this edition of the game; it was too stretched out, and the only place reinforcements could be placed, at least initially, was the British Isles. Other industrial sides could be set up - India was usually the ideal place - but it cost eighteen IPCs that could be used to purchase units, crippling British production on the turn it was built. India was also at very heavy risk of being captured by the Japanese, hence one reason some people playing the United Kingdom didn't bother building one... and no other territory initially controlled by Britain was suitable.
He collected his income, and hoped Leon was ready for the blow coming his way.
---------------------------------------------------
"Hmm, a low amount of production compared to everyone else, save the Soviets, and a large military," Luna thought out loud. "I think it's obvious what the game designers had in mind."
"Attack everypony in sight," Rainbow stated.
"Basically. However, there's so much to do." With her starting money, Luna purchased a transport, a tank, and three infantry, leaving one IPC for the next round. With that, she began looking earnest at her options.
The main problems were the British in India - the fighter there had just killed one of her transports - as well as the American fleet off Hawaii. American units were also positioned in China - to represent the Chinese who were still battling the Japanese - and the Soviets had five infantry, on two separate spaces, that could be brought to attack Manchuria, with two more coming to reinforce them. Although she had a large military, she had the problem of being made vulnerable from one direction if she attacked in another. Of course, the Soviets were already in big trouble, and they'd have to put most of their units on the line in the west to correct the situation. And the British could hardly mount an attack of their own. Even assuming their attack was successful, they'd almost certainly lose the units when she counterattacked, and then they'd lose India anyway.
The British, then, could wait. The territories of China and Sinkiang, however, could be munched up within the next two turns easily enough. And the Soviet Far East was looking rather ripe for the plucking.
Sorry, Shining, she thought as she moved numerous units - including her sole bomber - to attack the territory next the Soviet Far East one. I'll Invite you to dinner tonight after I raise the moon, I promise. For China, she used her fighters and moved in her infantry. Finally, she moved two battleships, a carrier and fighter, and a submarine to assault the waters off Hawaii.
When she was satisfied, she clicked on the battle for Hawaii first. Leon's force consisted of a single submarine, a carrier, and a fighter. Her own force scored two hits. However, rather disconcertingly, every last shot of the American force struck its target. She took the hit on her submarine and then had the bad choice of having to put a hit on each of her battleships or else face losing her fighter or carrier. She decided to put the hits on her battleships, which took two hits to sink in the game. Leon ticked off his carrier and submarine. When Luna attacked again, she hit the fighter, which this time failed to score a return hit.
Satisfied with the results, she clicked on China. The two American infantry and fighter were outnumbered badly. They were wiped out in the first round, though they got two hits of their own, which she placed on her infantry.
Finally, and somewhat reluctantly, seeing how the poor Royal Guard Captain was already in deep trouble, she clicked on the Russian territory she was attacking. The Russians didn't stand much of a chance. They got picked off, and, with what seemed to be the usual Soviet bad luck in the game, got only one hit in return, on a Japanese Infantry.
With the combat decided, she began moving her forces as needed. She took the tank on Japan and placed it in Manchuria. She also took a couple infantry - one each from Okinawa and the Philippines - and moved them onto Papua New Guinea in preparation for an assault on Australia next turn.
With that, she placed her units on or around Japan and collected her income, which was pleasingly higher than what she'd started out with.
Not a bad start for me. If we can keep this up, Rainbow and I could very well win.
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Okay, well, kinda expected that to happen, Leon thought, thinking of the battle off Hawaii. Now show what America can do.
He skipped weapons development - despite having the highest income of any player currently in the game - and went on to purchase a couple submarines, a transport, and two tanks.
He sent his entire air force, as well as the battleship and transport off the coast of the Western USA, to crush the Japanese fleet off the shores of Hawaii. He also loaded up a tank in a transport of the shores of the Eastern USA and sent it off to the shores of Algeria, where he off-loaded it.
"Prepare to die," he typed before clicking on Hawaii.
The first round saw his fighters score a hit, and the battleship and bomber scored a hit each. The Japanese returned fire, scoring two hits. One of these he put on the transport, which was unable to fire offensively anyway, the other on his battleship. Luna took the hits on her fighter and carrier. The second round saw the elimination of the Japanese force, which knocked down one of Leon's fighters in return.
"Never waken a sleeping giant," he couldn't help but type in chat.
"The wrath of the Rising Sun awaits you," Luna typed back.
The battle in Algeria went well. After two rounds of misses, his tank scored on the German infantry, which did not hit him back.
"Operation Torch has proceeded on schedule," he typed.
"Can't say that I liked the idea of Jerry in Africa," Ed replied. "Don't have to worry much about them being there for now."
Leon, now in the non-combat phase, looked long and hard at China. Sinkiang was going to fall, of that there was little doubt. However... he shifted one of his two men there to India. That would ensure the Japanese were slowed in Sinkiang, and India would be better fortified, and perhaps withstand an assault. He shifted his planes back to the Western USA. He placed his units - all of them - in the East, moving the infantry in the west eastward; the faster Germany went down, the better. The Japanese mostly relied on their planes and infantry, and infantry were weak compared to any other unit in the game, save transports, while planes had to move back to a previously occupied space once a territory was captured, leaving the new conquest open for a counterattack. However, Germany's best units were its tanks; until the armor factory known as Germany was put out of commission, the USSR would be under siege.
This is why the game is called Axis and Allies, he thought. The Allies have to work together in order to win. The Axis need to rush early on, or they get swamped by the Allies' superior industrial capacity. he noted, in his mind, that Germany and Japan had hardly cooperated at all; the Pearl Harbor attack had induced Hitler, against his will, to declare war on the United States. Japan would probably have attacked the US even without a Nazi-driven Germany to distract the western powers.
Leon collected his income, after which the screen switched to view a newspaper and a graph that allowed the players to see how they had done. The USSR - unsurprisingly - had gone down a considerable peg. Britain had risen slightly, and the US had fallen a little. Germany and Japan, on the other hand, had both gone up, Japan more than Germany, which had lost three territories to the Allies and any chance of taking over Africa any time soon. Japan was the only country to have not lost any land at all.
"That was a fun round," Luna said via chat. "But sadly, the next one will have to wait. I've got to raise the moon and see to court tonight."
"That's okay, Princess," Shining said, switching to their original channel to speak directly to her. "Duty comes first."
"I'm glad you understand that. Thanks for the game, Leon and Edward; it was great!"
"You're welcome."
"See you around, Princess. Enjoy the night!"
"I will. And it's all thanks to you, my friends. Good night, all of you."
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