Playing Germany in the 1939 scenario I can clearly see my doom (in form of the red army) coming long before "barbarossa" ever happened. 
This is due to the Russian having all the time to prepare and rearange whereas the German has to hunt across the map trying to achieve at least a good size of the historic gains in order to gain enough resources and IC to stand a chance vs. Russia.
Problems:
1. Gamespeed
Germany needs it slow and some Pause time esp. in the beginning - Russia wants it fast due to boredom - result Germany stressed (making research/diplo/resource mistakes) missing major developments.
Once it is time for France Russia sits across its border with Finnland, Baltics and Afghanistan "red" (End 1939!)
2. Balance prob
Knowing, that the only "real" threat comes from the human player makes life easy for the Russian and very hard for the German. (AI is a Prob as well - Finnland goes down to easy without competent leadership)
3. Backstab
Knowing the aproximate course Germany needs to take, the Russian (at least in our "missbalanced" game) has the option to attack as soon as Germany takes on the West
What are your experiences?
- do you modify the scenario (and on what terms) to create a "fair" competition
- what house rules do you use in a two player scenario?
As it stands I know I will lose against the Russian right from the start. (micromanaging the axis - if they even join - nations is another pain...)
This is due to the Russian having all the time to prepare and rearange whereas the German has to hunt across the map trying to achieve at least a good size of the historic gains in order to gain enough resources and IC to stand a chance vs. Russia.
Problems:
1. Gamespeed
Germany needs it slow and some Pause time esp. in the beginning - Russia wants it fast due to boredom - result Germany stressed (making research/diplo/resource mistakes) missing major developments.
Once it is time for France Russia sits across its border with Finnland, Baltics and Afghanistan "red" (End 1939!)
2. Balance prob
Knowing, that the only "real" threat comes from the human player makes life easy for the Russian and very hard for the German. (AI is a Prob as well - Finnland goes down to easy without competent leadership)
3. Backstab
Knowing the aproximate course Germany needs to take, the Russian (at least in our "missbalanced" game) has the option to attack as soon as Germany takes on the West
What are your experiences?
- do you modify the scenario (and on what terms) to create a "fair" competition
- what house rules do you use in a two player scenario?
As it stands I know I will lose against the Russian right from the start. (micromanaging the axis - if they even join - nations is another pain...)