The Japan Playbook

[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.
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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.
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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

[Guest]

I’ve tried it a couple of times now and IMHO a J1 attack on Philippines, Borneo, Hongkong, FIC, Yunnan, Chahar, Anhwe, z37, and z62 with fleet stacked off carolines is a great way to scare the allies into focusing on the pacific, while keeping UK Pacific and ANZAC broke for a while.  The distraction of USA gives the axis a lot of leeway on the Europe map.  Take Malaya J2 and try to get America into a naval arms race.

[Young Grasshopper]

In regards to #62, Japan will lose a destroyer, 2 air units and an aircraft carrier for a transport and destroyer. I don’t like their odds on the ANZAC or US counter…. so those units are gone, and even if they sink an ANZAC crusier in defence, is it for a good cause in your opinion?

[Cow]

sometimes I just 1v1 dd vs dd, if you win you get a transport to boot. :)

[WILD BILL]

An early Japanese attack is probably an axis advantage in most cases, but I think the allies can respond (longer learning curve). As the US player not having to wait to get your hands dirty is also liberating. Many FTF games we start get to the 4th-5th turn then get delayed til the next day (sometimes next week) because of time.

“You’ve kicked my A$$ all over the board for 3 hours, and now that the US & Russia are just getting started and you have to go home WTF”

Getting everyone into the war first or second turn seems to make the game flow better IMO regardless of what side your playing. Actually as the allies I’ll make the first move on Japan if they don’t act and I see a benefit (UK2 for sure). So as Japan waiting past J2 is kind silly, because the UK will be DOW on UK2 anyway to get bonuses etc….

At times our group will wait, and build (super stack) which can also be fun, but takes a damn long time to get to those epic 50+ unit battles and generally works against you as axis. Sometimes it’s better to just go for it in riskier battles, the dice are going to do what they do so live or die.

Good thread Cow, although you seem to boast a pretty good winning percentage with early J attacks, I think the game is more interesting for both sides. Most believe axis have an advantage and allies need a bid anyway so why not push it.

[Guest]

@Vance:

I’ve tried it a couple of times now and IMHO a J1 attack on Philippines, Borneo, Hongkong, FIC, Yunnan, Chahar, Anhwe, z37, and z62 with fleet stacked off carolines is a great way to scare the allies into focusing on the pacific, while keeping UK Pacific and ANZAC broke for a while.  The distraction of USA gives the axis a lot of leeway on the Europe map.  Take Malaya J2 and try to get America into a naval arms race.

But they might lose all 3 fighters and the cruiser sinking it.

[Cow]

For dice games, competitively, J2, you can smooth out a bunch of battles with a bit more fodder.