Naval base + fighter scrabling strat for the US Pacific!

[gsh34]

(side note: I had been tabbing back and forth between TitusAndronicus’ high res map and this post and accidentally clicked the ‘X’ and closed the post tab and had to start over when I was almost done….I really hate when that happens.) :x

Ok, let me try this again.

US1
Build one Naval Base, one Destroyer, 2 fighter/tac combo for the Pacific.  Spend the rest as you see fit (mabe a transport or sub or spend it on the E. US)

Move everything to SZ31 and Wake from SZ10 (W. US), SZ26 (Hawaii), plus fly the fighter from the Philippines to land on the Carrier in SZ31.  One carrier fighter and two fighters from Hawaii land on Wake.  Bomber from W. US and C. US land on Wake.

SZ31 would look like this:
1-Battleship
1-Crusier
1-Carrier with one fighter and one tac
1-Destroyer
1-Sub
1-Transport

Wake (with airbase and purchased naval base):
1-Inf
1-Tank
3-Fighters
2-Bombers

If Japan thought about a J2 attack on this fleet, they would have to include the three fighters that can scramble into SZ31.  The US would have a total of 10 units (12 hits total) with a defense of 31.  And, if they attacked and the battleship and carrier survived, they would auto-repair on US2.

Granted, Japan’s fleet and air force is plenty big enough to kill that and have units remaining, but in the games I have played, they are not in position to do it easily On J2.  Most of the time, I’ve seen them go south toward India with the bulk of their fleet and can’t hit it convincingly.  The follow on move to this is to advance to Guam and build a Naval Base there because with three naval movements from Guam you could stretch from SZ5 in the North (Siberia), to Malaya, Java, Borneo, Celebes, Northern Territory of Australia, Queensland of Australia and everything in between.

Something I want to point out about my builds are that they always include a Destroyer plus fighters/tacs in subsequent rounds.  They can travel in tandem from the W. US, to Wake, to Guam.  The destroyer is needed because in order to scramble aircraft, there must be a naval battle.  Should Japan come with subs, the destroyer will allow the fighters/tacs to scramble and sink them, thus, protecting the islands from an amphibious attack.

I’m not saying this is an unbeatable strat.  This is highly dependent on what Japan does.  If they are in a position to kill your US fleet at Wake on J2, keep that in mind.  However, if they are not in a position to kill it on J2, you have the option of moving to SZ6 off of Japan.  This threatens Japan and Korea.  I think this is also a good strat to use when splitting your US money after the bonus kicks in.  One destroyer plus three fighters/tacs only costs 38-41.  Just about a good 50/50 split between the two theaters.

The biggest plus I have found by doing this is it gives the Japanese a headache to deal with immediately in the game should they contemplate starting war with the UK or ANZAC on J2 or J3.

Take this advice with a grain of salt as always.  If something like Sealion was successful, one would then concentrate on the Europe side of the board.  However, if this strat presents itself, give it a try.

Discuss away, I haven’t seen anyone talk about this strat yet and I am curious as to the response I’ll get.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

I had something similar done against me once. I was an annoyance. Mostly i ignored the Americans though and continued my India run.

It was effective in that japan had to keep its transports in very well gaurded squares. Like japan itself and malaya. Really helped china out.

A couole turns later you can take islandslike the Carolines with the aussies then move in defensively with the americans to take advantage of the airbase

[calvinhobbesliker]

Obviously, this strat would not be done if the bulk of Japan’s fleet is in Z6 or 33, but otherwise it seems good. I may try this in my upcoming game

[gsh34]

@calvinhobbesliker:

Obviously, this strat would not be done if the bulk of Japan’s fleet is in Z6 or 33, but otherwise it seems good. I may try this in my upcoming game

Correct.  It depends how and where Japan positions its fleet on J1.  I don’t necessarily think that it would work if it was begun on a later round.  Say round three or four.  By that time, Japan will be a much larger power and have its fleet in order (unless it is maybe by India or something).  The whole point of this is to get the US going in the Pacific immediately before Japan has its act together.  Once the strategy is up and running, it is imperative that Wake be kept or else you lose the scramble ability for at least a round or two.  Same for Guam if advancing that far works out.  The whole point is to create something similar to a European schuck-schuck that will deliver units into the Pacific every round (and quick).  If Japan chooses to concentrate on the US, then other things should open up for what the UK and ANZAC navies can do.

[calvinhobbesliker]

So in this strat, the US goes all Pacific?

[gsh34]

It’s flexible.  You want to protect Wake and Guam enough that Japan has no realistic chance at taking them. Even falling back to Wake if needed.  If you start this out on J1 because Japan allows it and then they turn and go 100% against you, then yea, you probably would need to buy a destroyer and all aircraft for their scramble ability.  If they ignore you for a time and go to India, then you could do it for less.  Basically, I see them spending 38-41 ipc/round in the Pacific on the cheap side.  Some rounds they may spend more if the player sees it fit to do so.  The good thing about this is that once the war bonus kicks in, it may give you a chance to split your income almost 50/50 so that you aren’t totally ignoring either theater.