Can Axis and Allies be played with two players, and does it require all countries to be picked?
Axis and Allies only works well if all five countries are in play, on their correct teams.  If you have five players, this is easy to do.  If you have fewer than five, here are the recommended sets:

4 Players


Soviet Union, United States (Allied)
United Kingdom (Allied)
Germany (Axis)
Japan (Axis)


3 Players


Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States (Allied)
Germany (Axis)
Japan (Axis)


2 Players


Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States (Allied)
Germany, Japan (Axis)




If you insist on playing without one of the countries in the game, you'll be in for quite an unbalanced game.  Assuming that unplayed countries cannot be entered, here's some of what you're in for:

Soviet Union

With the Russians out, most of Germany's industry is freed up to:


attack Britain itself,
maraud the Atlantic,
and take out all of Britain's colonies in Africa, India, and further east


This would be a devastating game for the British player in particular and the Allies in general.

United States

Without the industrial might of the Americans, Britain would face Japan alone, leaving them no resources to throw against the Germans.  (This one I've actually tried -- it's a mess.)  The war tends to break into two separate wars: Britain vs. Japan in the east, Germany vs. Russia in the west.  Both of those wars are imbalanced in favor of the Axis Powers.

United Kingdom

This might be the closest to a balanced game with one power removed.  Taking Britain out of the game would remove the entire rim of the Indian Ocean: Africa, India, Australia, and all the various places in between.  The US would miss having a staging point in Great Britain, but they can use Morocco or Norway instead without too much difficulty.  Japan wouldn't have the British harassing their southern flank, but they also wouldn't have as many production points to gain in the south, either.

Germany &amp; Japan

Removing either Axis Power completely unbalances the game.  Without Germany, Russia has nowhere to go but east into Japan's holdings.  Without Japan, Britain has no threat to their eastern territories and can easily focus all their firepower on Germany.