I bought this game about a month ago as I've always wanted a game on this subject and I rather like WiF even with its flaws. I tried playing through a solitaire session and found it to be an Allied walkover.

The trouble lies in the fact that the Allies start with a similar level of production (67% before the Axis lands in the USA, equal thereafter) and number of units (80%) as the Axis powers. This allows the Allies to crush either Japan (on land) or Germany/Italy (at sea) separately using the advantages of internal lines of communication while the Axis have the logistic nightmare of conducting an intercontinental invasion against highly defensible terrain before the clock runs out.

The Axis have approximately 22 turns (3 years, 8 months) to completely conquer North and South America (assuming the Allies buy 2 nuclear tech rolls per turn). If playing the shorter game (where the Axis start with a few minor allies) it's only 15 turns (2 1/2 years), no small task even with a major force advantage (which they don't have).

If the great time pressure wasn't enough Allied units are almost always better quality (Germany just edges them out on land) then those of the Axis. For example a P-51 has greater range than an ME-262 (fair enough) but the same air-to-air rating (Yeah right!) making it a better all round fighter. And by 1948 American jet fighters are better in all respects than those of Germany, after all, as we all know, Germany was never into experimenting with advanced designs and hence would inevitably have being overtaken, NOT!

So has anyone found a way that the Axis can win with the rules unchanged? The most tasteful solution to me is to increase Axis production to the level they would have had, if they had indeed taken over the rest of the world. This would be Germany 50/15/75 (Mineral/Oil/Factories), Italy 15/10/25 and Japan 31/6/31. I played another solitaire game with these production levels and the Axis getting their minor allies but running the full (22 turn) game. It was still an Allied victory but only a marginal one and could well have gone either way, plus it was a stand up fight and from the Allied perspective it was like the Russian front "Every time we kill one of those bastards another steps up to take his place".

I also bought the "SS Amerika" game when it came out and it had similar problems (superior Allied production and units), bought to you by the same people responsible for the "Fresno Gaming Association". I know some people will say that the Axis could never win and hence the game should reflect this. However that's sort of like saying that all the black chess pieces should be pawns so that the "good guys" will always win, fine if you're into that sort of thing but it doesn't make for much of a game and you'd be a bit miffed if you'd paid $80 for it!