Yeah ok i guess i was a bit of a tosser but now i've figured it all out. You've really just got to jeep trying different things, but making sure to concentrate on France and predicting their placement is the way to go. Challenge 1 on the other hand i've yet to figure out...

I had a very tough time with level 4, too. Eventually I figured out that you need to supply your ally with reinforcements. If you give them all of your 360 reserves, and any other of your forces, they'll be able to use them effectively, while you attack eastward. I ended up beating it in 23 turns. I was quite proud of myself.

So I am playing level 4, and Russia keeps taking over my territories. I've ended up encircling a small enclave of territory they captured from Germany via Scandinavia (I was sending troops from Scotland) and every couple turns they take over another of my territories. Is this normal?

It took more turns than most people, but I didn't really think it was hard. Basically, I put most of my reinforcements into Scandanavia for my ally, and by the time I had taken France and part of Germany, the ally had mopped up everything else.

I just played it for the first time and beat it in 19 moves.

15 seems pretty achievable as I played a little sloppy. I'm pretty sure if I play it again, I could get a lower turn count.

For everyone that is wondering what my strategy was, I moved those two 50 sized armies north immediately and then attacked France with my two starting spots, deploying on the right one. I kept retrying the level if I didn't take both territories in France (with luck, it can be taken first move). After that, I just took the Norway bonus(with the big stack, let the AI keep his bonus until the enemy is about to break it) from my AI and stopped the initial denmark advance while moving my big force up north. I ended up leaving the Sweden bonus for my AI and I accidentally transferred about 50 troops to my AI, which turned out quite nice because the AI helps you get your Card Pieces which can get your Airlifts out quicker and also he bonus breaks the other AI pretty well. Then from that initial start, I just slowly worked the AI in France while breaking inner bonuses and taking the spanish peninsula. My advance through Italy was VERY slow, you can tell where you need to go by the size of the bonuses. My airlifts were to Barcelona, then Lapland, then Brest (all of the airlifts were to myself, and to places where there was either a big stack (the first 2) or quick expansion needed). Then while just knocking his big armies down, I expanded south and took him over. The AI was trying to make a move in the middle but residual troops did the job. Overall, I played kinda sloppy and made some mistakes in expansion and I could have defeated him quicker.

Main Points:

-Move North Quick with your extra 100 troops.
-Airlift to yourself in places where you see his big stacks
-Always be bonus breaking and expanding
-Your AI is your friend, he is there to get your card pieces faster
-Don't be afraid to attack your ally when needed
-After you get the France, Spain, Portugal bonuses..focus North to knock down his other big armies.

I hope this helps others in their attempt to beat level 4/lower their turn count.

Took me couple trys thinking i was getting crushed early on, but on my 3rd try i decided to play it through, and found out it wasnt as hard as it seemed, just took time. Key to winning for me was to simply take out his bonuses, while reinforicing your teammates troops as much as you can. little by little try and take over territories you can keep like spain and italy, and he will die down...

For some reason when I tried this level, using the airlifts with the 120s didn't occur to me. :P This made it take 2 tries to win. Pretty much what's already stated, smash the bonuses, overextend like it's actually a good thing. Concentrate your armies on one goal, then move to another, then another, then another, then another...