The Japan Playbook

[questioneer]

@Cow:

It is hard to finish a game of global though. Even online where it is faster to move the pieces and play.

Have a whole bunch of games at round 6-8 saved and not finished.

Global is rough time wise to finish. I do my turns fast but still :(

Bingo same here…with the revisions in the new 42 game- which seem pretty impressive…it sounds like this will be the new “IT” game for AxisandAllies.  I’m wondering if G40 will fall by the way side…become more of a novelty game.

[Cow]

You attack as japan in round 1… well what can I say… come and play with me… You play axis I play the allies… I don’t care if you take calcutta…I will be able to fight back…

The land of sparkling happiness awaits you. Challenge accepted, tell me when you get on the triple a lobby and host a game.

[Cow]

made some updates. changed the j1 picture up so it has 2 dd and 3 fighter back at japan.

Played enough J1 dow to know it is better than J2 dow. J3 DOW is a huge hell no for me. The reason why J1 DOW is so good, is simply because you started taking islands and you aren’t going to get blocked from taking more. The sub and dd dead in sz 35, makes the new south wales fleet less intimidating early on while you are taking islands so you hold 2-3 spots no problem.

Also that 3 fighter 2 inf on java from anzac thing… yeah you can kill that with 4-6 ground and 6 air units … then you can get west australia after with 7 inf (naval base FIC or kwangsi). if he can’t kill west australia… put a bunch of air there and move the fleet up and blam you can take new south wales instead of calcutta.

[RedHunter]

Japan DW1 but on Russia not on the UK or the USA…DW 2 or 3 on the USA depending on what is going on. Build a minor in Manchokua(spelling) so you can start pumping tanks into Russia. Oh and roll over China of course. Leave the UK out of it entirely, let them build in India…or let them DW on you.

[Warplayer12]

It´s Manchuria.

[thermomonkey]

Thanks for the work you’ve all done on this.  Cow, can you just clarify a few things please (this is probably me being stupid):

*18) 1 carrier 1 sub 1 cruiser 1 bship 1 destroyer sz 6-> 35
*23) bship cruiser sub sz 6 -> sz 35

Have you just repeated some unit moves here?

Secondly:

*PROS:
*1)+10 IPC, which is what you make for not being at war so you are neutral on Japan income.

Isn’t this a con, as you don’t get the +10 for being at war?

Also, your purchases for J2 - I don’t seem to have enough money for??

• PURCHASE
  *airbase 2x minor factory 1 infantry or 1 airbase, 1 naval base, 1 minor factory (this means you are doing J3 calcutta THIS REQUIRES YOU TO HOLD SHAN STATE THIS TURN WHICH CAN *ONLY BE DONE IF THERE IS NO BURMA STACK AND IF MALAYA IS DEAD AND IF INDIA HAS NO MECH INF, YOU CAN KILL BURMA POSSIBLY TOO IF HE DOESN’T BLOCK YO DROP).

Again, sorry if these are dumb questions!

[Cow]

you have a couple ipc left from your j1 buy, which was 3 tran 1 inf. you should have enough most of the time.

I am not sure if my sz 35 movements were accurate, I no longer keep a fleet off of FIC. I just put it on sz 35.
~
Neutral on income is kind of a benefit, because you start taking dutch islands already and income away from UK pacific.

I like the j1 dow, because it starts taking islands sooner as opposed to later.

I am starting to lean towards not having 3 fighters back in japan, instead keeping a few ships back. all the air up front is pretty good, I think for low luck games I would do this because you can reliably kill yunnan in 1 shot or 2 if it is stacked.

I just like J1 DOW because it can hammer out India by or on turn 5 for japan. I like this, because on the other side of the board germany is doing sea lion or all out russia. Usually sea lion feign, they buy appropriately to defend london and get usa bomber in it, fighter on iceland to go inside turn after.  So I dow russia turn 2 with germany, stack nov turn 3, advance and take russia by turn 7. It turns into a two sided race. USA can reliably stop 1 victory, but he has to do it in time so he can stop the other.
~
J1 DOW takes getting used to and you do have to be aggressive with axis as a whole, as time is the enemy.

[thermomonkey]

Thanks for the reply Cow.  I am definitely going to give J1 DOW a go in my next game as axis.  I’ve noticed here that people seem to combine it with a G1 barb.  Can you not still use J1 DOW in combination with G2 barb?

[Cow]

I do it with G2 barb. I do a sea lion feign to force uk to turtle and not really scramble so much. If london looks good I will do it. In fact if you get london on G3… the allies are super screwed, because usa can’t liberate london while putting a stop to japan.

Usually I’ll end up stacking baltic states G2 and holding nov. try not to commit your tanks to yugoslavia, just strafe yugo so you can get guys a step closer toward ukraine. land 2 air units on italy.

I find the games to be much more exciting, which is the main reason I do it. Lots more action especially early on, rather than going through the usual motions.

As far as if it is the ultimate strategy or not… depends on your play style. I just prefer to expand with japan / being aggressive. For some reason, Japan does better going to war early.

[Cow]

bump

[thermomonkey]

Evening Cow.

Almost finished my first game using this new opener, and I have to say I love it.  Much more interesting game – and I believe massively beneficial for the Axis.  I made a big mistake on G1 (don’t ask) but because America had to commit heavily to the Pacific it wasn’t as disastrous as it should have been.  I believe I could win now by flying all my air over to Moscow which is heavily stacked at the moment, but I want to try and win in the Pacific (which I am close to doing).

I can’t ever see myself doing anything other than a DOW on J1 from now on.  Thanks!

[thermomonkey]

Oh and you are quite right, there is no rush to take India.  I put it off until J5, as I was busy finishing off China.  Also, I didn’t keep any planes on Japan, I held back a few destroyers.  When USA had set up on Hawaii I just put a blocker in sz16 to give me an extra round of buying for the South Pacific before I had to stack Japan.  By this time I was earning about 75 per round anyway.

[Cow]

@thermomonkey

Thank you.

If you are going for the pacific win, have germany attack moscow the turn before you go for hawaii or new south wales for the last VC. A win for moscow doesn’t instantly end the game, but it does mean usa has to invest in the atlantic to stop the europe win @ egypt and london. If that fails then it is up to Japan to win it.

The nice thing is you get two chances as the axis to win a game and when you do go for the win, it is a decisive way to finish a game. There is no questioning what ifs etc, it is about as direct as it gets, because the battles mean something.

[Cow]

bumping for new comers to look at and so the network gremlins don’t eat this thread.

suggestions and critiques always welcome, I do adjust my openers often, sometimes I have nothing in terms of naval in sz 36 (I think it is sz 36, in front of french indochina)  and it goes to sz 35. Stuff like that you can go either way with.

[creeping-deth87]

Cow, would it be possible to not only attack the American ships in SZ35, but also SZ26? This would set the US Pacific Navy back huge, though admittedly you might also lose a number of Japanese ships in the attempt. Is it advisable or is the fleet needed elsewhere?

[Cow]

Whenever I do that, I am looking to take over new south wales in 3-4 rounds or bust. Sometimes you catch people off guard and you get an easy take down othertimes stuff starts flying in from all over the place and you get 20-30%.

It is just a logistical headache because your pieces are spread out. It is just easier for me to play Japan when everything is in South East Asia (dutch islands are there, India - can surprise anzac instead if the allies are not careful, Phil, Burma Road), everything important is there.  So it is just easy to go from Japan to India, because you can hit up so many things along the way… deviating makes things complicated since the allies get more opportunities the more spread out Japan is.

I do want to think everyone for the comments and suggestions to help build this.

[Young Grasshopper]

Just wanted to reserect this thread so I can study it.

[Zhukov44]

Overall, I agree with Cow’s J1 deployment.  What I do different is the ncm.  Rather then keep 3 figs on Japan, send them to Kwangsi (via Kwangtung).  Keep 1 ac 2 dd 1 ss 1 fig in sz6.  In low luck you can substitute a dd for the fig, and send the last fig into China as well.

[Cow]

I keep 2 dds back these days. my j2 varies from game to game.

[Young Grasshopper]

What’s better?

1. A J1 DOW
2. A J2 DOW