US Europe
This one is a trickier proposition than the other countries. US has to balance both the European and Pacific theaters. Too little US help in either theater can easily mean an axis win no matter how well the rest of the allied countries were played. The balance could be 3-4 turns focus in one front to tilt the odds in the allied favor before switching to the other front. Or it could be split between both. US needs to pay attention to the map as a whole and project what the situation will be in either front turns and turns in advance. The odds can quickly tilt in the axis favor and the US needs to be able to read the situation and put the cavalry in motion early since it’ll take a couple turns for them to get to the front. You can’t predict a dicing or a huge mistake/oversight, but do the best you can to see everything else coming.
For the European side of things you’ll need transports to land troops. But more importantly you need a fleet to cover those transports. A British air base in Gibraltar can really help US get the fleet protection they need. US fighters can land there a turn after being built and they have the reach to go all kinds of places from there, same with any fleet based off of Gibraltar. An early target for invasion should be Norway. It’s separated from the rest of the German forces by water, it’s an IPC swing of 11 (-5 NO bonus for Germany, -3 terr income for Germany, and +3 terr income to US) , and the US can put a minor and maybe an AB or NB as needed.
Finland is right next door and is another place US can lay down a factory. Being able to produce 6 units a turn that close to Germany can really hurt the axis. Also, allied fighters in Norway (with an AB) or Finland can reach Moscow in one turn. If Moscow’s in danger of falling, US can lay down up to 6 fighters a turn and get them to Moscow the next turn. If Moscow’s already gray, than Novgorod can potentially be captured as it isn’t far from the US position.
Landing directly into Normandy is a little riskier as German factories can build units right there and it’s not as big of an IPC swing as Norway. But it has the added benefit of already having a factory present and the protection of allied air scrambling from London to protect the fleet. This could be a major consideration if the Luftwaffe is still going strong.
Another way the US could impact the European front is just convoy raiding any axis terr in Europe that you can while concentrating in the Pacific. You can set this up with subs so the US will still have a big impact in Europe without having to commit fresh ground forces each turn. Norway, Normandy, S. France, Italy, and the Balkans can all be raided. This generally will affect Italy a lot greater than it will Germany. But it’s something to consider. Mix it up by raiding Italy to death while invading Norway and/or Normandy.
US Pacific
In the Pacific the US needs to build up a strong enough fleet to go toe to toe with Japan. The best defensive fleet mix is a carrier + 2 fighters, 4 hits to take with 10 punch on defense. So get working on building those up. But don’t overlook the need to get destroyers as fodder and ship blocking. Add a couple subs to the mix for taking out Japanese blockers and raiding. US doesn’t need many transports in the Pacific, leave that mainly for the Aussies.
A common mistake that people make with US is moving their fleet up to soon. I’ve done this myself countless times and it sucks. And it sounds like your US players have made this mistake in your games. Japan starts with a larger navy than the US and has a MUCH larger air force. Japan has 21 air units at the start of the game. And they will make mincemeat of any allied fleet that gets too close too soon. Until the US has the ability to at least turn any massacres into an actual battle, just keep your distance and keep consolidated.
Hawaii and/or Queensland are common staging grounds for the allied fleet in the Pacific. Queensland is my personal favorite early on as it threatens each of the money islands. Don’t forget that the Japanese might still be able to kill an allied fleet even if you stay out of range of his ground based air. This is where ship blockers come into their own. Subs don’t stop ship from passing through a seazone, so destroyers are your cheapest blocking unit.
Worried about the Japanese annihilating your fleet? Ship block them with a dd. Based your fleet in Queensland and worried about Japan taking Hawaii? Throw out a blocker in sz25. Plus it keeps any builds from the west coast safe as they move south to join the main allied fleet. Don’t have any transports and want to ensure Japan doesn’t take the islands? Throw out blockers. Worried about a Japanese invasion of India which you can’t hold against? Throw out a blocker and buy another turn to get reinforcements there.
The war in the Pacific can literally be won by allied blockers stopping or slowing down the Japanese advance. This is especially true if US has split it’s money or is putting the bulk into the Atlantic. Plus it encourages Japan to go after them which exposes their forces to attack in turn. If it’s an air only attack on your destroyers, you’ll get some hits on his air and start whittling his trump card. If he sends a ship+air, than you can kill his ship(s) on your turn. Death by a thousand cuts. Keep draining his forces, whittle him down, and force him to replace losses instead of building up.
Generally speaking US can better afford to replace losses than Japan can. US has a greater economy and Japan has to balance naval builds with ground units to contest Asia/take India. Because of this don’t be afraid to lose your allied fleet if you can expect to trade close to 1:1 with Japan. You can build a new fleet pretty easily. Japan has so many direction they need to go that it’s tough for a cash strapped country to match the US builds. Just keep the European situation in mind before you trade fleets though. If Germany’s curb stomping and the allies desperately need US help in that theater than you need to make a choice on whether to trade fleets or not.
If the USN can safely go to the Carolines than that’s where you need to go as soon as you can. If US takes it, than the Aussies can land 3 fighters onto the Carolines to add more defense. With that harbor, allied transports threaten the entire Chinese coast, Japan, Korea, and most of the money islands. And now you threaten any Japanese fleet builds! This really throws Japan on the defensive and can be a huge move. As it can free India to turn it’s attention west if Japan withdraws to Sz6.
If US is looking to go offensive; subs and bombers are a pretty lethal combo. The subs will serve as your fodder and the bombers can give you that extra punch you need to tear through the Japanese fleet. Fleets are stronger on defense than on offense, so you’ll need a numbers advantage in ships or back up your fleet with a large ground based air force if you go toe to toe with a defensive Japanese fleet. And once Japan has been beaten back it’s time to buy subs, subs, and a couple more subs.
Unless Japan makes a mistake and leaves Tokyo open, don’t plan an invasion of Japan. Just raid them to death and let any ground forces in China (if they’re still alive) wither on the vine while US focuses it’s attention on Germany. Subs will raid pretty much everything in Japan’s economy which means India and China should eventually be able to kick the Japs off the mainland. If you can, sometimes a minor in Korea or French Indo is possible. Depending on the strategic situation, it might be worth doing. Factories in either/both spots have helped me win the war before.
