Take Hawaii

the U.S. will seem to be facing an immenent invasion and may panic. Of course, taking Asia is still your first priority, but with some luck you can seriously disrupt the American effort to enter the war in the Atlantic.

of course u cant even expect a noob us player to be worried of 2 marines on hawaii and if u dont kill off the atlantic force immediately it can be built up, already halfway there starting out :D they regroup on the western coast the invasion thought is halted bc besides the us’s huge economy allowing like 6-7 tanks a turn if u r sorry enough to make it to land like alaska but that sounds like a great overexagerration. i could be wrong, yeah hawaii is the base of ops for the pacific fleet but if it falls they only lose an ipc if i remember right :wink: and u know it will always be there if they want it back

I like to take Hawaii on turn 2 as Japan (if possible) rather than turn 1. It’s best to focus your forces on turn 1 against China and India and even Soviet East Asia if you’re feeling bold. Japan has the worst economy and needs to boost its economy quickly. Taking India, China and SEA will increase you 7 IPCs from when you started while taking China, Hawaii and India will increase your economy by only 6 IPCs.

i like to bomb pearl harbor, but other than that i keep the pressure by Japan on the russian mainland. Taking a transport (even as cannon fodder) means 4-8 fewer troops landing on Manchuria in the coming rounds. Over two rounds it is worth an IC. Hawaii would be nice, but it can wait until a firmer foothold has been secured with the mainland, and even Alaska may be threatened more easily (with more Allied dismay, as well as a usually disproportionate action - leaving the Atlantic theater alone for a while).

EmuGod, against veteran USA players, you either have to Pearl Harbor on J1 or never. Reason being is that either USA can put up a “super defense” (1 carrier w/ 2 ftrs, 1 sub, 1 BB, 1 trns) or more likely retreat back to the Atlantic. And the German player will be mighty angry if he now has to deal with an extra US ftr, BB, and transport! :P

Woo-hoo Broke 1600 post :D

@TG:

EmuGod, against veteran USA players, you either have to Pearl Harbor on J1 or never. Reason being is that either USA can put up a “super defense” (1 carrier w/ 2 ftrs, 1 sub, 1 BB, 1 trns) or more likely retreat back to the Atlantic. And the German player will be mighty angry if he now has to deal with an extra US ftr, BB, and transport! :P

Woo-hoo Broke 1600 post :D

America cant afford to buy a battleship, a carrier, a sub and a transport all on turn 1.

i believe that the reference is in addition to purchases.

No, I’m talking about the Pacific fleet that America has (which is very valuable in rebuilding the Atlantic fleet). However, without Pearl Harbor, you can’t cut off the American escape route through the Panama Canal.

But I was suggesting that Japan attacks Pearl Harbor on turn 1, which forces the Americans to retaliate against the remaining fleet there, or do nothing agaisnt it.

Sorry about the mess up :oops:, sorry but when you said “Take Hawaii J2,” I thought you were not implying of Pearl of Harbor. But chances are even if you attack Pearl Harbor on J1, America will still probably retreat to the Panama Canal rather than risk another open engagement with the Imperial Navy.

I will take Hawaii if and only if Russia or UK has no planes parked in Yakut. Those planes can take out my undefended trannies if I move two battleships to Hawaii and my fleet isn’t strong enough to hold back an American counter if I leave a battleship behind to defend my trannies. So I’ll hit Hawaii seazone with a battleship, sub, and fighter(and maybe a bomber depending whether or not I need it for a mainland Asia attack).

Don’t worry, I don’t think the Allies would dare park planes in Yakrut, leaving them vulnerable to a Japanese counterattack and the fact that those planes can’t put pressure on the German Fronts.

Kurt is right, as Japan you need to watch out for Allied planes in range of the Sea of Japan. Even if they are there, it is usually sufficient to leave behind 1 battleship, leaving enough for a Hawaii victory.

Personally, I like to attack the US fleet at Hawaii, and capture the island as well on Japan1. It makes a US counterstrike more costly for the US, and I have never seen the US take Hawaii back, so the troops can be hauled off to SFE, Australia, or Alaska on Japan 2.

I have tried to find an alternate reasonable J1 choice, but it seems that its really hard to beat an free punch at half of the US fleet.

I find any excessive move against US by Japan before USSR falls is just allowing USSR to be too big a problem for Germany. Appart from the fleet around it, Hawaii is a distraction, unworthy of the troops Japan needs to have moving through Asia.

I don’t know, that 1 extra IPC sure comes in handy, especially if you’re playing with 2-hit BB’s :P

@EmuGod:

I like to take Hawaii on turn 2 as Japan (if possible) rather than turn 1. It’s best to focus your forces on turn 1 against China and India and even Soviet East Asia if you’re feeling bold. Japan has the worst economy and needs to boost its economy quickly. Taking India, China and SEA will increase you 7 IPCs from when you started while taking China, Hawaii and India will increase your economy by only 6 IPCs.

Depending on what the Allies do T1, of course, attacking all those places at once seems like a bad idea. Unless the 3rd attack is very small, I don’t think Japan should attempt more than 2 major attacks T1–the reason is manpower–while the Allied forces in Asia are weak, on T1 so are the Japanese. Very often I’ve seen it happen that a player attacks China, Ssinkiang (or SFE) and India all at once and either cleared territories and not had enough INF left to take them, had to choose between losing a FTR or not taking the territory, or straight up lost after a couple bad dice rolls and had to retreat. I think its better to attack in just 2 places and pretty much know you are going to win and be set up for next turn’s attacks than to take a gamble and split your forces hoping for some good luck.

As far as the Hawaii attack, I think when you Pearl Harbor you should always try to sieze Hawaii at the same time–this prevents the Eastern USA FTR from participating should the Americans counterrattack on their turn. Use 1 INF from Japan, 1 from Wake Island, land them on Hawaii. Use the FTR from the CV against Hawaii as well. Use all available ships (except the Phillipines TR) against the USA fleet at Hawaii + the BMR from Japan and the FTR from Philippines (who can just barely make it). I think using both BBs is optional, you really only need 1 unless you fear counterrattack. Attack in China w/ 2 INF from Manchukuo, 1 INF from Kwangtung and your 3 remaining FTRs. You should take it w/ 1 INF.
On noncombat land all planes ( the Hawaii plane must land on the CV, the BMR should land on Manchuria, the China planes can land in Burma or Manchuria or split between). P/U 1 INF from Philippines, 1 INF Japan and land them on Manchuria. Move the 1 INF from Kwangtung to Burma. Place the 2 TRs and 3 INF you built on Japan. Next turn you will be able to land 4 INF, 1 ARM in Asia and can commence really kicking butt…

I think Japan can be one of the most dynamic & exciting countries to play, but don’t overextend yourself and start losing battles–your German ally is counting on you to steadily drive in against USSR, and having to rebuild shattered armies is a good way to let him down…

Just some thoughts…

Ozone27

Sounds good. Bring one BB if you are planning on taking Hawaii. Bring two BB’s when you don’t take Hawaii to have solid forces to defeat a US counter-attack.

To me, I just don’t like taking Hawaii. First, you lose one transport of infantry to the Asia continent. Second, the one IPC doesn’t realy benefit Japan nor does it affect the US war effort. If you are afraid of a counterattack, bring in the second BB (especially if there is 2 hit BB).

Also, the Japan player has to be smart. If Great Britain bought an AC for its first turn purchase, the US will probably end up landing its fighters onto it. So, that tells you that there will most likely be no Pearl Harbour counter.

@Candyman67:

Also, the Japan player has to be smart. If Great Britain bought an AC for its first turn purchase, the US will probably end up landing its fighters onto it. So, that tells you that there will most likely be no Pearl Harbour counter.

correction: there will most likely be a less effective Pearl Harbour counter. Depending on the player - 1 ftr to the AC, the other, a bomber, BB and transport may counter PH (at a terrible loss, but at least 2-3 planes and ships should go down, depending)

Yea, well whenever I’m playing on the Allies team and see Japan moving against USA early on, especially to the extreme of trying to take Hawaii, I’ll knock on my parter’s leg under the table and give them the “oh man, this game’s in the bag” look. Every move towards UK or USA is heat taken off USSR and that is as close to “beginning to win” as I could ever describe.

But, that’s just the way I operate.

When I’m USA, Japan can just have Hawaii and Midway. That’s not where the war is and whatever they put on those islands and whatever they lost to earn them is thankfully stuff I don’t have to contend with when I have taken the northern passage and taken Manchuria.

America can afford a few set backs. Japan can’t.

Well, I’m also a support of taking Hawaii. The main setback I see is that 2 inf don’t go into the Asia mainland on the first turn. This isn’t as bad, as the first two turns, you mostly just want to maintain a foothold in Asia without taking too many territories. A conservative play style allows Japan to be much more aggressive mid-game. By T2, that transport can unload itself onto Manchuria without any loss of ATB (this really shouldn’t be a problem if you stick to a VATB type purchasing plan). Also, 1 IPC, no matter how small does matter. In six turns, Japan makes 6 IPCs, but more importantly, USA is down 6 IPCs. And such moves can be the meaning between life and death.