Most impactfull option

[mavraam]

I like to play the Allies with all of the pro Axis options set and play the Axis with all of the pro Allies options set to get a better challenge.

Which option (other than FOW) do you guys think has the biggest impact on the game?

The reason I'm excluding FOW is I'm more concerned about how it affects the play balance (Axis vs. Ally)

My vote goes for War in Siberia with a very close second to Scorched Earth. I've found that turning WIS off (so the Siberian Army is free to shift west and defend Moscow) has such a big impact that it basically negates an early attack on the Balkans.

With this option on, I was able to attack the Balkans immediately after taking France which brings the Russians in very quickly but also give me a capital I could build troops in very close to Moscow. I could then blow by Moscow and quickly secure the cities east of it making a quick end to Russia once I took Moscow.

Now with it off, the Siberian Army can delay and even push back my forces if I go this route. Therefore, I can't affort to attack the Balkans untill I've taken the time to build a much larger force. This delay usually allows Russia to Anex the Balkans and take away my easy Capital launching point.

Scorched Earth also has a huge effect because it deprives Germany of a lot of valuable resources and makes it take much longer before you are out producing the Russians. What do you guys think has the most affect?

[Otto v. Bismarck]

when i first went through your post,

i got a bit confused:

but then - is it possible that when you are refering to the "Balkans" you actually mean

the baltic states? that would make more sense imho.

balkan is the mountainside which dominates southeast europe, while the baltic states are lithuania, estonia and latvia.

please don`t be offended, i`m just trying to make things clear, i don`t wanna seem supercorrect!

and yes, war in siberia has - to me - the biggest impact when conquering russia, for the scorched earth effects don't hurt the ai so much

when you'r making a direct approach to moscow without going for the southern resources.