How many of the 9 are European players?
Currently, there are 9 axis and 23 allied.
I'm not sure how many of any of them are European.
Starting 3 pm Eastern is friendlier to European pilots, less friendly to Australian pilots.
For the US, I think it is approx. a wash. This is based on last scenario, we ran at 8 or 9 pm Eastern. Some US players said they were happy because they could make 8-9 but not 3. Some weren't happy because they could make 3 but not 8-9. Numbers of each group seemed similar.