I am I need of some pointers with dealing with the Pacific/naval warfare in general. Every game I have ever played of AA revolves around the Allies ganging up on Germany
and hoping the Japanese can’t assist with taking down Russia with the Pacific being ignored almost completely.
What ways can you force your enemies hand into dealing with the pacific? What are some of key moves for either side to gain a strategic advantage? Also, how do you use submarines so they are effective? I hear people buy them a lot but I am not sure why. Is just that they can’t be hit with aircraft? Sorry if these are dumb questions but the Pacific has kind of remained an enigma to my playgroup so it gets ignored. Trying to fix that.
Interesting question. Not sure how to manage this using the official rules, but here’s an idea off the top of my head: creating a house rule that would give the Axis some kind of bonus or advantage if Germany and Japan can link up by having Germany advance into Persia via the Caucasus (or perhaps via Egypt and the Trans-Jordan) and having Japan advance into India via Burma. I think Germany and Italy and Japan did in fact sign a secret protocol (I have the details in a book at home) which divided the world into spheres of influence between them, with the dividing line placed somewhere in the Indian Ocean and with the two zones extending east and west from there up to the west and east coasts of the American continent.
People buy Subs because they are an aggressive and cheap naval unit, which require a Destroyer(usually more expensive) to counter.
Think it is simple economics as to why Subs are bought. The best policy though is to have a bigger fleet than your opponent and make him ome after you and beat him.
Games have different rules, but those with VP cities would require some fighting over, so I suggest one side grab one and make the other side come after it! Any good?
After the last two posts, I’m not sure what the question is really asking. I thought you wanted a strat.
All three Allies have to make it a fight against Japan for things to become interesting out there.
Russia: 4inf, 2 tanks or 6inf, 1 tank. The Russian 5 (Yakut/Far East/Buryatia), should stack in Yakut and make preps to swing around into China from Evengi. The Kazah inf should move into Schezwan. People like sending 1 Russian FTR to guarantee the life of the Egypt fighter (this fighter will retreat on R2).
UK: 2FTR, 2Art, 1inf. Get your 2FTRs to WRus so on UK2 they can go to India if needed. Attack the EI fleet with the 2CA,CV,2FTR,SS. If you feel lucky, bring in both transports to invade EI. Otherwise NCM them to help stack India. (Second option here is to invade Borneo, invade Solomons, kill Japan DD/Trans with CV/FTR).
US: CV, Trans, 2DD, Art. If the UK took the Solomons, land all your airforce/move naval there. If they didn’t you need to take the Solomons if the Japanese fleet is not stacked nearby (only move if it will take two turns for Japan to get to you). (the CV/2DD/Trans can go EUS or WUS, EUS helps take heat off Russia, while WUS is aimed for going for the the money islands).
The goal here is while you “give up” territory in the North, your Russians will help strengthen the middle while India builds up in the South with the US providing the backdoor threat. This 3 pronged attack forces Japan to decide who is the priority (they can’t handle all three fronts).
But you just can’t let Germany have a free pass on Russia either. After your first UK buy, you need to start saving money/make effort to take the heat off Germany. If you sent everything to WUS on US1, then you need to consider a drop in the Atlantic for sure. Russia needs to survive to R5/6.
Now, from a Germany standpoint, the easiest way to force the allies to get away from you off the start is this:
1 Bomber, SS, 5inf, 2art. You can sub the SS for 2 more inf or a tank, but I think the inf would be better.
If the Russian FTR heads to Egypt, look at taking Gibraltar by killing the CA (only use 1 inf), hit the EUS fleet with both SS from SZ9, and hit the BB of the UK coast (don’t use both subs unless you are going to take Iceland and hit WRus as well). The rest of your attacks should focus on Ukraine (if lost), Karelia, and WRus (if possible, do the math to see how much this favors you).
If you don’t do WRus, keep a FTR and 2 Bombers in Germany (for SBR protection) and at least 2FTRs in France. With your remaining subs/BB, you provide protection against KGF and force the KJF. But, this can slow you down against Russia, so you need to be willing on G2 to consider another SS while getting your FTRs to the Russian front. Hopefully with the German Bombers/SS/BB/CA (assuming your BB/CA isn’t a UK1 target), you should have enough coverage to force them into KJF (this can be especially helpful if the Russians weren’t planning on this and didn’t support Schezwan/other Chinese territories).
As for Japan, you won’t know which way to go until the UK makes its move. Germany needs to set the table for this. If the Allies still want to go after Germany in this setup, consider yourself having a free pass as Japan. Get to India/China ASAP. Hope this helps/what you were looking for.
I’ll keep those tips in mind.
