Why play '39-'41?

[Palantir]

Here's a question for you guys.

Why play the years 1939-1941 in strategic WW2 European games?

Isn't it a foregone conclusion of how those years will go?
Is there any doubt that Germany will take every country they historically did?
Doesn't it all just come down to late 1941/ early ‘42 and where Germany is in Russia?

It seems that in most of these games you are simply going thru the motions until that late '41 period. There may be those odd times of being able to take the UK or maybe the canal but those won't be the "big" moment in 90% of the games.

No matter how much I like how cool a new strategic game sounds & want to play it when I think of actually playing it I now get that "worn out feeling" of oh brother, first I have to do turn after turn after turn of overrunning everything else before the game gets "interesting." Because Poland, Norway, Holland, etc. are not going to defeat Germany-realistically it all comes down to Russia.

I know that you can just play scenarios of '41 - '45 but what I'm talking about is what's the (your) goal / objective (beside just the fun of playing the game) of playing the early years in a '39- '45 strategic game? Is it to see how few units you can lose as the Axis, how fast you can take the West? Is it worth playing hundreds of turns (’39-41) just to get to a place to take the Suez Canal (maybe even months depending on the scale).

This is has become an issue for me as I used to love to play games of this scale since I saw myself as being able to change the course of WW2. However, it came down to the same thing, the long tiring road to get to “that point” in Russia. It really didn’t matter if I took Norway, took the canal or even the UK it always comes down to “that point.” If you didn’t defeat Russia early well then…

So, what’s your take on playing these games & what’s get you motivated now to take the long road there?

(Of course games vs. human opponents may be different & more exciting but overall the same outcomes)

[KG_RangerBooBoo]

I guess it depends on the level of game and how you play it. I've managed to get my butt kicked out of Norway playing the Germans in HPS's First Blitzkrieg. Playing Panzer Campaign France '40 is challenging. Higher levels seem to lose the appeal though.

[KG_Jag]

There are a handful early battlefronts that can be interesting--with or without "what if" options. Battles in Finland, Norway, France and Greece (especially before the German arrived) all come to mind--along with sorta-Europe Crete. Not sure how big of a battlefront you need to go from operational to "strategic".

Of course when you go to the sea and the air you the Battles of the North Atlantic and of Britain.

[Palantir]

(War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is what had me start this thread. It is a “part” of WW2; I was seeking something to give me some "ummph" idea / reason to play an entire game of WW2. I used to play TOAW’s scenario- “Europe Aflame” all the time but then…)

Maybe by calling it as: "playing the entirety of WW2." (At least the European part)

Any game that you just play part or certain years of WW2 is fine as the above game; it has intermediate goals, losses & victories. But playing a game from 1939 on to its conclusion is what I'm focusing on. There can be some good struggles in Norway, Greece etc. but none of those will defeat Germany or, really destroy its ability to attack Russia (or can they?).

It seems just a chore to wade thru it all (now) putting 100's of units & supports in their proper places & all the planning & time... knowing that as Germany I'm going to take everything anyway & end up in Russia to settle the matter- it's like just going thru the motions to the inevitable. And that's what bothers me, there has to be a "reason" to go thru all those turns and moving all those units just to end up exactly where I'd be if I just skipped all the early years and started with a '42 -'45 scenario/campaign again like WitE.

An overall WW2 game designed to start at that @date would have German units stationed in the West/Norway/Med and along the "front lines" in Russia - exactly the same as if I had waded through 1939-41.

So again- what motivates you or anyone to play those early years when the outcomes are predictable? It does bother me that I now see it as a chore when it used to be dang fun.