Industrial Complex in India

Only build the IC in India after Japan has clearly made it’s main focus.

Most games I see Japan doesn’t take India on the first turn.

I actually have found the I complex in India to be fruitful, assuming certain things havened:
1. either russia or american presence has increased since the start
or
2. Japan’s forces have been preoccupied eastward.

Note that since India is worth 3 its very hard for japan to take it over once it gets going. So, if you can survive the first round of having it…it’s worth is.
However, I rarely use India that way when i play. I much prefer to build i complexes in northern africa (anglo/egypt sudan area). I know one player suggests building in S. africa but that’s just plain too far away, you are much better off building close to southern germany at the expence of 1 production capability. This way, you can prevent germany from taking over africa AND have a great offensive vehicle towards southern germany, AND be close enough to Russia to protect some of it from Japan! Really it’s the perfect place for an I complex - just takes longer to build up a decent sized army.

@waraxis:

Most games I see Japan doesn’t take India on the first turn.

Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve played at all, but the few games i have played, Japan took India.

@rottnpeach:

I much prefer to build i complexes in northern africa (anglo/egypt sudan area). I know one player suggests building in S. africa but that’s just plain too far away, you are much better off building close to southern germany at the expence of 1 production capability. This way, you can prevent germany from taking over africa AND have a great offensive vehicle towards southern germany, AND be close enough to Russia to protect some of it from Japan! Really it’s the perfect place for an I complex - just takes longer to build up a decent sized army

This is a good idea if you can take out Germany’s trn and Afrika Korps-otherwise, they’ll have a chance to counterattack.

i like rottnpeach’s idea of the egypt IC. it gives the brits the option of building trannies on the safer side of the suez, and they can ferry whatever units the brits build over to S/Eur

@someguy577:

The India factory can always be held for the first few turns. The biggest trick is sending two russian tanks to sinkiang or persia. Between them and whatever the USA has in china you will take india back before UK’s next turn, and then they can produce in India immediately. I doubt your opponent will attack India round one after a few games with this strategy. You can also try variations with sending a russian fighter to India round one or sending the British transport to the Burma sea zone to act as a blocker instead of picking up the iraq infantry.

my own thoughts…
By Trying to fortify and counterattack the Indian zone to keep it out of the japanese hands you waste away Russia’s Offensive power… 2 tanks could mean life or death especially if Yakut is hit…if I was japan and saw an IC great Iwon’t worry about Asia I’ll smack north withall my power and the british can try there puny production to stop me… The Germans have it better because the Brits will want to stick there 3 on the IC in India the cannot assist the Americans in serious shuck (they can don’t misunderstand me but they cannot do much)…And the Russians first turn is focused on the Indian area(you might as well hit africa)…that gives the Germans less resistance… if the japanese want to they can terrorize the americans and waste the US’s money on driving them from alaska pitting the Allies farther down… Maybe the Axis isn’t this way in thinking but playing with it could win the game for them…

MY VIEW:
It is not worth the allies money, Time, and Brains to waste on a factory in India

i like rottnpeach’s idea of the egypt IC. it gives the brits the option of building trannies on the safer side of the suez, and they can ferry whatever units the brits build over to S/Eur

A complex in Egypt sounds nice at first (better than on in SA IMO), but how can you prevent Germany from taking it in G2?

Well … UK could give up India and move both infantry and the fighter to Egypt, plus move the Syria infantry to Egypt. This would enable UK to keep it in round 2 (depending on what Germany purchased on T1). I don’t suggest this … but, it is possible.

UK would have 1 ftr, 3 inf, and 1 arm correct?

On G2, I can storm in with (and mind you, this without bidding) 5 infantry, 1 arm, and ftr/bomber support (depending on where you landed your planes G1). That’s more than enough to destroy UK forces in Egypt and make out with a free complex. :)

Yes … you are correct in that situation. But this will only happen if Germany has transports. Which some times don’t exist after T1 (depends on the Germany’s & UK’s moves). And technically any ship(s) in E. Med. SZ could be attacked on UK1 by the fighter from India and the bomber from UK. Or the bomber could attack any lone transport (like the German transport in the Baltic SZ, if it moves to W. Spain SZ to drop troops in Africa). So, it could be done.

(Not to mention the diversion from Russia).

if germany is going to take egypt, then they’ll probably do it on G1, or i do anyway. and if they do, then youre obviously not going to build one there. but if they dont, then you can have russia hold down the fort in india, and send your fighter to egypt. but if your concerned about still losing egypt, you could move the IC placement over to Syria-Iraq or to Persia

But what’s the use of producing only 1 unit per turn?
Also even with 4 inf, 1 arm, I could still use the overreaching arm of the Luftwaffe to take Egypt G2.

the point of a UK IC on continent is more for defense rather than conquest. all the UK would capture anytime early would be Libya and Algeria. then you could build one armor per turn on the mainland for russian defense/attack japs/or prep for Med invasion fleet. im trying to keep germany honest w/ S/Eur. Med invasions of europe are rare, so then can leave it virtually undefended. if you keep putting stuff for an attack from africa, so would the german player, thus diverting assets from the easter front with Russia. or you could use a Persian IC to invade via the Caucasus

The way I see a lot of games develop it’s a race between Japan trying to weaken Russia enough so Germany can take her and the UK/USA getting their act together and getting enough troops/ threat of invasion to keep the Germans honest in WEu and the east.

When I play as Japan I usually focus on Russia first and the reason behind that is because the weaker Russia is financially the better for Germany. Also, it forces Russia to divert forces to the east or else get swept in from behind. The Americans can keep the four IPC in China/Sink because the only threat they have there is the fighter to take out transports sometimes I forget to give protection. But India and the US Asian presence is secondary to putting tremendous pressure on Russia from the east.

Of course if India builds an IC, that becomes a primary target earlier on because of the ability two or three rounds down the road to launch counter attacks into the Japanese rear. Two front wars are bad.

The IC’s are good in much later rounds.

The India IC on UK1 is a valid move. Of course you must be sure you can hold it or its a waste. Done correctly it can be a real nightmare for Japan and Germany.

When I play the Allies I like to have an IC in Asia because it means rapid deployment of forces to the theatre of battle. India is a nice choice because it can be held turn 1 with minimal effort, and it has a capacity to produce 3 units.

Key points in building defending a India IC.

• Retreat all available forces from Egypt zone to India.
• Naval units in India SZ or Burma SZ will block Japanese amphibious support or reduce Japanese air support on the mainland for a J1 attack.
• Land the UK stationed airforce in Karelia on UK1. On UK2 land them in India.
• Russian armor in NOV can retake India on R2 if necessary (not likely).
• Try to bring the inf from Australia on UK2 or 3 for reinforcement.
• Build it on UK1 or not at all.

Cheers

Do you think the 1-2 punch of a UK Ind IC(output 3 units per turn) and a US Sin IC(output 2 units per turn) is preferrable to a lone UK Ind IC? That way they protect each other. Five(5) additional inf or arm per turn for Allies in Asia is a handful for the Axis. With 1 USSR inf shipped east each turn and UK(and possibly US) shipping ftrs to Asia each turn that’s a lot for Japan to handle.

However, this does take away from the 1-2-3 punch v Germany.

If I was playing as Japan and I saw a IPC on each turn in India on UK1 and in Sinkiang on US1 I would spare no expense to go after them both at the result of a detente on the Russian front.

Granted UK could bring over anything that survived the German assault on Africa or the infantry from Syria, but Japan can still take India on J1. This leaves USA to either launch counter to try and retake it so on UK2 they can reinforce or to simply pull back troops into Sinkiang from China in order to defend their newly minted IC.

Granted Russia could help by either moving forces over to help defend or by launching a strike on say Manchuria but in the beginning if J gets a few transpors and goes heavy INF and lands most fighters in Manch, the Russians will be hard pressed to take it and J will have adequate support to take the IPCs in both India and Sin.

Plus this means a much slower overall attack on Germany which maybe gives her another turn to build which means another 11 or so INF for the attack on Russia without having to worry about the US/UK attacks on WEu or the landing troops in Fin/Nw or Karelia.

I think the IC on India is feasible for UK player (I know people have their differences regarding this so it’s an individual thing) and if you can defend it then it’s a great deterrent to the Japanese sweep into Asia. But as for something in Sin, I think that’s more of a later round deal when Germany is being handled and the UK territories in Africa are back in their hands thus giving them the economic output to deal with Germany with minimal US support (UK and Russia) and thus allowing the US to start something against the Japanese from the mainland as well.

Just my thoughts…

@guerrilla:

@someguy577:

The India factory can always be held for the first few turns. The biggest trick is sending two russian tanks to sinkiang or persia. Between them and whatever the USA has in china you will take india back before UK’s next turn, and then they can produce in India immediately. I doubt your opponent will attack India round one after a few games with this strategy. You can also try variations with sending a russian fighter to India round one or sending the British transport to the Burma sea zone to act as a blocker instead of picking up the iraq infantry.

my own thoughts…
By Trying to fortify and counterattack the Indian zone to keep it out of the japanese hands you waste away Russia’s Offensive power… 2 tanks could mean life or death especially if Yakut is hit…if I was japan and saw an IC great Iwon’t worry about Asia I’ll smack north withall my power and the british can try there puny production to stop me… The Germans have it better because the Brits will want to stick there 3 on the IC in India the cannot assist the Americans in serious shuck (they can don’t misunderstand me but they cannot do much)…And the Russians first turn is focused on the Indian area(you might as well hit africa)…that gives the Germans less resistance… if the japanese want to they can terrorize the americans and waste the US’s money on driving them from alaska pitting the Allies farther down… Maybe the Axis isn’t this way in thinking but playing with it could win the game for them…

MY VIEW:
It is not worth the allies money, Time, and Brains to waste on a factory in India

want to Add one more thing…. you can build it sucessfully on T4 but you had to have a feally crazy lapanese player (wasplaying AaA Iron Blitz Edition…)

Why don’t 4 or 6 of you pair off(Brit Ind IC v JapexBrit Ind IC) and play a game to help settle the question?

The only way an IC in Egypt will work is if (1) GER attacked Egypt from Libya and lost both the tank and infantry; and (2) GER has no transports left after G1. Thus, GER has no way to get additional troops to Africa – short of purchasing transports (which will give the UK the extra time to produce infantry).