Yes, it’s in the FAQ.
http://www.wizards.com/AvalonHill/rules/AA_Pacific_1940_2nd_Edition_FAQ.pdf
Why wait as Japan?
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We finally played our first game last friday and I have to say I had my worst outing in any AA game. I played as UK and ANZAC. Japan did not attack in round 1 but consolidated their forces in China, Kwangi and FIC. Caroline Island was left with 1 infantry and no ships so a fleet with 1 battleship, 2 carriers, 1 crusier, 1 destroyer 1 sub and 2 transports were sent heading towards India with almost all of Japan’s planes.
My first mistake was not asking USA to move the destroyer to Malaya to stall the advancing Japan fleet. My second mistake was buying 1 aircraft carrier. Since Japan sent such a big fleet with so many planes south for KIF, there is no way UKs fleet will survive. In hindsight seeing this move i should have bought all land. On J3 India was taken over. My third mistake was not remembering UK’s +5 NO in round 1 for Malaya and Kwangtung
Thinking back, even if I did not commit these mistakes as UK, would this have made a difference with Japan sending such a big force (the amount of planes and hitting at 4s now with tactical bombers) down to India and USA starting with 34 IPC in two rounds of play since Japan attacked on J2? The boost in income to USA comes at the end of USA2 and real forces from this boost gets on the board on USA3 and to Hawaii on USA4. With Japan buying at least one carrier per turn and not spending any on airforce, Japan will still have a superior naval force into round 4 and beyond and by this time India will most likely have fallen.
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@Frontovik:
so you get +1 move at harbors? but japan is 4seazones away from honolulu
And the seazone that your ships are in does not count as a movement space, and the harbor does not count as a seperate seazone.
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Even in India gets taken by Japan all is not lost. If Japan commited so much to achieve that (and Brits buying all land) then they are less likely to win against US, China and ANZAC. ANZAC can take Carolines and Dutch islands. US can mass their fleet and get ready to strike.
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I just played a game yesterday where I was Japan, and I can now see a of advantages to waiting at leat one turn before attacking.
Although it is fairly easy to destroy the US fleet if Japan attacks on thier first turn it is also very easy to destory it if Japan attacks on its second, third, or even forth turn since the US is only making 17 IPC each round.
Japan initial position has limted abilty to attack ANZAC and UK forces and resource rich dutch territories. However it is vital that these are taken. Besides the US western cost the east indies are the most vlaue peice of realistate in the game. If Japan waits a turn or so it is a much better position of taking these territories and capturing the very strategicly important mayala penisula which can become quite a thorn in the side of Japan if not dealt with quickly.
Lastly, China is no small threat and if Japan wants to retain control of shanghai and hong knong let alon conquer china they are going to have to contribute a large amount of resources to that front. Waiting a few turns might give you more time defeat china before you have to start dealing with the navies of the world.
Although I have taken Hawwai aswell as manila and hong kong and had aquired a large amphibous assault force that could have either gone after India or Sydney, two blunders convicned me to surrender on the fifth turn. The first 3 turns it looked like I was going to win, but by the end I was regreting my early attack
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Today I played my fourth game. I was Japan and the allies were played by one person.
I wanted to check if waiting to DoW is worth the while. I waited for two turns and concentrated everything on China and a build-up on the Carolines. China was getting smashed quite a bit, because I used about half my airforce with my ground attacks.
After my second turn the Brits attacked me! It cost me two transports and a couple of smaller ships. Also they reinforced the Chinese with some inf. ANZAC couldn’t do much and because of the massive build up in the Carolines they were quite scared and put their IPC in defensive troops.
In my third turn I had the luxury to only concentrate on the Brits (and China). ANZAC wasn’t posing a threat and the US wasn’t in the war yet. So I destroyed about two thirds of their fleet and captured Hongkong and Borneo. It did cost me some ships. After that I was slowly advancing in the Dutch Indies and invaded New Zealand from the Carolines. I played a cat and mouse game with the US, so they never got to a full assault. My Caroline fleet was too powerful (largely because of the airbase with at least 6 planes sitting on top of it).
We ran out of time so we decided that the last major sea battle would decide which side won. The British fleet (BB, CV + fig + tac, sub, DD, CL, 2 bom) fought my western fleet (2 BB, CV + 2 fighters, tranny, DD). I won with a damaged BB left. By that time I also had all the Dutch Indies and all of China. And none of the allies had any NO.
So I won that one too, so it can be done, of course. Although I don’t what would have happened if the Brits hadn’t attacked and had another turn of a large income and captured another Dutch island.
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Although it is fairly easy to destroy the US fleet if Japan attacks on thier first turn it is also very easy to destory it if Japan attacks on its second, third, or even forth turn since the US is only making 17 IPC each round.
Actually I think the US is making 22 (they get a +5 bonus for holding PI). Similarly, the Brits are getting their +5 for Malaya/Kwangtung. If the Brits push and take 2 of the DEI territories on UK1 I think Japan is left with no choice but to attack by J2. If the Brits can take the last of the 4 islands for their 2nd bonus I dont see any way for Japan to easily dominate the sea of SE Asia. Of course if the Brits move to take those islands they are exposed to Japanese attack piecemeal (which further encourages Japan to hit them).
So far, I think a J2 attack makes the most sense, but of course that is dependent on what the Allies do. If the Allies dont take any over action in the DEI, then Japan might do well to hold off until J3 when she can have all of her duckies in a row.
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Although it is fairly easy to destroy the US fleet if Japan attacks on thier first turn it is also very easy to destory it if Japan attacks on its second, third, or even forth turn since the US is only making 17 IPC each round.
Actually I think the US is making 22 (they get a +5 bonus for holding PI). Similarly, the Brits are getting their +5 for Malaya/Kwangtung. If the Brits push and take 2 of the DEI territories on UK1 I think Japan is left with no choice but to attack by J2. If the Brits can take the last of the 4 islands for their 2nd bonus I dont see any way for Japan to easily dominate the sea of SE Asia. Of course if the Brits move to take those islands they are exposed to Japanese attack piecemeal (which further encourages Japan to hit them).
So far, I think a J2 attack makes the most sense, but of course that is dependent on what the Allies do. If the Allies dont take any over action in the DEI, then Japan might do well to hold off until J3 when she can have all of her duckies in a row.
Exactly, it will be a cat and mouse game. How far does each power put there neck out to sucker the other into attacking them. If UK/AN go after the islands then japan should declare turn 2. If the UK pulls back to india with navy and buys a spare destroyer or sub, then maybe japan should wait. If there are a few vunerable transports out there for the UK to attack, perhaps they should. I know I plan on landing 1 or 2 strat bombers in Siam J1 after moving the inf into FIC to bait the UK into attacking me. If they do, great, if they don’t, I have 1-2 bombers that can reach SZ 56 or SZ 39 J2. Eh, would probably leave 1 Inf there just to kill a UK plane, maybe both.
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What if japan just kills China for the first 3 turns and gets in position for American entry by a large pile of pieces right off FIC, then India would fall on turn 4-5.
Japan kills one enemy at a time knocking out 2 before turn 6, then the showdown with USA?
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That will only work if UK doesn’t grab the indies, else UK would have the same income as Japan!
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@Imperious:
What if japan just kills China for the first 3 turns and gets in position for American entry by a large pile of pieces right off FIC, then India would fall on turn 4-5.
Japan kills one enemy at a time knocking out 2 before turn 6, then the showdown with USA?
I have played 2 games as Japan and from what I have seen, their is really no reason to attakc early unless the allies make some huge mistake, like the US puts its whole fleet in Hawwai and you have enough units in range to kill it all.
Any decent attack in the south pacific take 2 to 3 turns to set up anyways.
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@Imperious:
What if japan just kills China for the first 3 turns and gets in position for American entry by a large pile of pieces right off FIC, then India would fall on turn 4-5.
Japan kills one enemy at a time knocking out 2 before turn 6, then the showdown with USA?
ANZAC and Britain can attack when they want. So you will have to be very careful where you put your trannies and stuff. And America can deploy where they want, if Japan has most of their units in the west. But it is worth to try, I think.
And indeed, Britain’s income will skyrocket (37 after UK2) and ANZAC will have 15. Britain could build a fig and 9 inf!
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And indeed, Britain’s income will skyrocket (37 after UK2) and ANZAC will have 15. Britain could build a fig and 9 inf!
yah UK is really powerful if you let them control the dutch indies
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full attack on J1
UK loses battleship, you can put IC on kwantung earlier, phillipine bomber, US transport and allto of other stuff -
And then you face a US with more income that you posses, a fleet that is only half your size but still a significant force, plus 3 other enemies.
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And then you face a US with more income that you posses, a fleet that is only half your size but still a significant force, plus 3 other enemies.
first of all, US fleet is a fraction of japanese and it would take about 153 rounds for US fleet is same size of japanese, with US income of 55 and japanese of 40
anzacs can’t do thing entire game
lock burma road, and you killed chine
UK gets about 1 inf a round (lock the convoy) -
@Frontovik:
full attack on J1
UK loses battleship, you can put IC on kwantung earlier, phillipine bomber, US transport and allto of other stuffI haven’t actually played a game yet (hoping for two next week), so this is all still speculation, but it makes sense to me.
I would much rather have a factory at Malaya than Kwangtung. It is closer to India and Australia, and has the capacity for a major factory. Japan waits until J2 or J3 for an attack, which keeps the U.S. at a lower income and allows Japan to hit China harder. Then the Malaya factory is used to hit India, China’s southern territories, valuable islands, and maybe even ANZAC.
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@Frontovik:
And then you face a US with more income that you posses, a fleet that is only half your size but still a significant force, plus 3 other enemies.
first of all, US fleet is a fraction of japanese and it would take about 153 rounds for US fleet is same size of japanese, with US income of 55 and japanese of 40
anzacs can’t do thing entire game
lock burma road, and you killed chine
UK gets about 1 inf a round (lock the convoy)Burma road can have over 15 allied units on it at the end of turn 2, burma road will be HARDER to close with an early war declaration. US navy should be comparable within 2 turns of collecting the large income as the only thing she has to buy is boats, while japan is buying transports, factories, men, etc.
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US navy should be comparable within 2 turns of collecting the large income as the only thing she has to buy is boats, while japan is buying transports, factories, men, etc
Are you kidding? Every time the US buys a CV its 37 IPCs to fully outfit it. For the Japanese, its 16. Japan has soooo many aircraft lying around that she can’t even effectively use them all. You can easily pull 3-4 ‘sets’ off the board to form the airgroups for the CVs.
Even that aside, the US will certainly need more than 2 turns to come anywhere NEAR parity. Assuming Japan spends 10-20 a turn on ground forces that still leaves 25-30 or so a turn (more later) for naval and air forces. The US makes 55 after the fall of PI therefore the US is making up 20-25 per turn. Believe me, Japan has WAY more than a 40-50 IPC edge in starting forces…
Once Japan’s income begins to rival the US income its over. By doing, Britain is largely out of the war and the Anzacs have a tough time mounting any form of a credible threat.
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And America can deploy where they want, if Japan has most of their units in the west.
With the FAQ, this does not appear to be the case. From what I can tell, the US cannot put units in any ‘neutral’ country (which would include the UK/Anzac territories). Assuming Japan is smart, even stacking a navy with a future ally (if allowed) doesnt really help because Japan can simply choose to attack the UK/Anzac forces and ignore the US forces.
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Please see my new post about playing the game as the Allies (lost) 1 on 1 with a familiar opponent, without national objectives.
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