Me and Wiking had a game with me as Turkey joining the allies and Wiking as Spain joining axis, starting -39. Wiking was nearly killed by France. With some hindsight we should have waited with joining the alliances until later. But he survived both France and a british landing in southern Spain.
I had a tougher time once the germans came through the balkans. I had no chance of holding them back and was quickly defeated. But before then I shipped a division to the Jerusalem area where the italians had landed and helped the british to encircle and drive them back out.
Both of us would have needed more buildup time. I my case to build fortifications. once the germans broke through they advanced faster than my troops retreated so I had no chance of holding them back.