US Strategy

Hey I’m new here to the forum. I just felt like sharing a US strategy that worked for me at my last game of Pac 40. Me and my group have been playing for a few years now but we have only played 2 games of pac 40. The game ended with a turn 4 capture of Japan by the US and this is what I did.

On the first turn buy one carrier and save a dollar, placing a fighter and tac bomber on it. Then move the whole fleet to Hawaii as well as the bomber from the Phillipines, if still alive. Also move one inf from Hawaii to WUS (may take 2 turns if trans sunk J1), the goal is to get 6 inf in WUS while spending as little money as possible. On the second turn buy 5 transports, 4 art, and 1-2 inf depending on if Japan took Phillipines J1, this should give you 6 trans total. Then on turn 3 buy 4 bombers. Move the fleet at Hawaii and the transports loaded with 6 inf 5art and 1 tank at WUS to sea zone 7 if possible assuming Japan doesn’t destroyer block. By turn 4 you can hit the sea of Japan with 2 CV, 1sub, 1des, 1CA, 3fig, 3tac, 1BB, 6-7 bombers. The aircraft on the carriers can land in Hawaii and the aircraft on Hawaii can land on the carriers. The bombers can land on Midway. You can hit the seazone 6 with nearly 60 attack points guaranteeing you 10 hits in 1st round of combat, assuming reasonable dice. Even if Japan scrambled fighters they’d need 15 to match the US. Japan would need its whole fleet and a little more air support to successfully defend the seazone. By turn 4 the US can have a sizable land force hit either Korea or Japan itself depending on what the Japanese defended. The only problems I see is India falling before that, or Jap destroyer blocking slowing the US down. I think this is a good way for the US to take the fight to Japan. Let me know what you guys think if you think this is a feasible strategy.

i have been planning on trying a strategy of spending 1/3 of my income on bombers and 2/3 on subs
so, 57 income results in
5 subs and 2 bombers a turn, with an extra 3 ipcs that you can use to buy a tranny every 3rd turn with an infantry

not sure if this will work, but hell, there have got to be a ton of good strategies we haven’t thought up yet

suicide transports, they can take islands such as iwo jima so you can put airbase on it if J doesn’t retake
then your navy, with little AC’s and a lot of destroyers
then perhaps some subs, not to much, to disrupt convoys

Ok, so apparently the Allies can’t back off the Japanese? Here is something that worked in the other axis and allies games that i played.
1: First build a destroyer and aircraft carrier for the US, putting two fighters on the carrier. Then get any remaining naval units to rendezvous with the carrier fleet. This will be fleet one. Britain should put an IPC factory somewhere in Australia (out of the line of fire). If it has one, then build a battleship and destroyer. Again cart remaining naval forces together. This forms fleet two.
2: If Japan goes for the islands, hit their transports with fighters and bombers. If they go for carriers or Battleships/cruisers, hit them with subs. Next turn, Britain should fortify Australia for a immediate naval landing by Japan. America should invest in more carriers, fighters, and destroyers. After a fleet is built, send it outside Japanese attacks.
3:Japan should be about to take the rest of the Pacific fighters. Have all the side make transports with a infantry and tank each, or a infantry and artillery.
4: Have the fleets attack the closest islands with the transports and battle fleets. Japan should be kicked off their recently captured island. If they have stacked their naval in one sea zone, work around it until you have numerical advantage. America should work its way to Iwo Jima or Okinawa and then build bombers. Get those bombers within range of Japan.
5: With the bombers, pummel Japan so it can’t build any more ships. America should focus on bombers while Britain should focus on destroyers and cruisers to counter the Japanese heavy sub doctrine. Once the Japanese navy is pretty much FUBAR, then go taking the islands back, along with liberating the Asian mainland.
6: Once Japan is stuck on its island, go in for the kill. It will take a couple of attempts, but once you get their forces below 50%, then it becomes easier for you to win.

I build oodles of Aircraft Carriers as the Americans.  Just throwing them into the Japanese Navies whenever they can and replacing the losses works pretty well, sooner than later the naval balance will shift decidedly for the allies.

@Panzer4life:

Ok, so apparently the Allies can’t back off the Japanese? Here is something that worked in the other axis and allies games that i played.
1: First build a destroyer and aircraft carrier for the US, putting two fighters on the carrier. Then get any remaining naval units to rendezvous with the carrier fleet. This will be fleet one. Britain should put an IPC factory somewhere in Australia (out of the line of fire). If it has one, then build a battleship and destroyer. Again cart remaining naval forces together. This forms fleet two.
2: If Japan goes for the islands, hit their transports with fighters and bombers. If they go for carriers or Battleships/cruisers, hit them with subs. Next turn, Britain should fortify Australia for a immediate naval landing by Japan. America should invest in more carriers, fighters, and destroyers. After a fleet is built, send it outside Japanese attacks.
3:Japan should be about to take the rest of the Pacific fighters. Have all the side make transports with a infantry and tank each, or a infantry and artillery.
4: Have the fleets attack the closest islands with the transports and battle fleets. Japan should be kicked off their recently captured island. If they have stacked their naval in one sea zone, work around it until you have numerical advantage. America should work its way to Iwo Jima or Okinawa and then build bombers. Get those bombers within range of Japan.
5: With the bombers, pummel Japan so it can’t build any more ships. America should focus on bombers while Britain should focus on destroyers and cruisers to counter the Japanese heavy sub doctrine. Once the Japanese navy is pretty much FUBAR, then go taking the islands back, along with liberating the Asian mainland.
6: Once Japan is stuck on its island, go in for the kill. It will take a couple of attempts, but once you get their forces below 50%, then it becomes easier for you to win.

In pacific 1940, ANZAC can’t build a BB and DD. Britian itself is reducd to India and BC in a few turns.

I am having AAP40 coming via California via Ebay. So I don’t know what is on the map. I am just saying, that strategy worked on the 50th university edition. So let me get the game, play it a couple of times, and i will come up with a way the Allies beat Japan.

Admiral, the problem with the US attack strategies on Japan is the Japanese player sees it developing several turns out. By the time you get a fleet together and into home waters India has already fallen and Japan is already moving toward or attacking Australia.

Panzer, you make several assumptions that may be true for Anniversary but aren’t for Pacific 40, namely IC building and strategic bombing. Strategies that worked in other versions simply don’t have the time to develop in Pacific 40 because of the different set of victory conditions for those games. The J1 attack is vicious and robs the allies of assets they need to slow Japan which puts Japan on the fast track to victory. By the time the US has enough forces in position to contest Japan it’s already over. You’ll see when you get your copy and get a dozen games or so under your belt.

What is making the J1 attack so good? Do they have a OP fleet? or do they have the invincible air fleet? I think that it is possible for the Us and the Allies to win the pacific if both players a new to the board and its layout. When I got the revised edition of AA, my brother would always win as the axis. We switched roles and he would still win. But when i got the anniversity edition, I was able to have the Soviet union hold the German lines while the UK and America bang up the Western German front.

the main advantage of the J1 attack is that you can destroy 3 allied transports at the start of the game freezing all allied attempts to capture east indies or reinforcing anywhere else.

Admiral, the problem with the US attack strategies on Japan is the Japanese player sees it developing several turns out. By the time you get a fleet together and into home waters India has already fallen and Japan is already moving toward or attacking Australia.

I think a good british player can hold India for at least turn 4 which is all the time US needs for a large scale invasion of Japan/korea.

@The:

Hey I’m new here to the forum. I just felt like sharing a US strategy that worked for me at my last game of Pac 40. Me and my group have been playing for a few years now but we have only played 2 games of pac 40. The game ended with a turn 4 capture of Japan by the US and this is what I did.

On the first turn buy one carrier and save a dollar, placing a fighter and tac bomber on it. Then move the whole fleet to Hawaii as well as the bomber from the Phillipines, if still alive. Also move one inf from Hawaii to WUS (may take 2 turns if trans sunk J1), the goal is to get 6 inf in WUS while spending as little money as possible. On the second turn buy 5 transports, 4 art, and 1-2 inf depending on if Japan took Phillipines J1, this should give you 6 trans total. Then on turn 3 buy 4 bombers. Move the fleet at Hawaii and the transports loaded with 6 inf 5art and 1 tank at WUS to sea zone 7 if possible assuming Japan doesn’t destroyer block. By turn 4 you can hit the sea of Japan with 2 CV, 1sub, 1des, 1CA, 3fig, 3tac, 1BB, 6-7 bombers. The aircraft on the carriers can land in Hawaii and the aircraft on Hawaii can land on the carriers. The bombers can land on Midway. You can hit the seazone 6 with nearly 60 attack points guaranteeing you 10 hits in 1st round of combat, assuming reasonable dice. Even if Japan scrambled fighters they’d need 15 to match the US. Japan would need its whole fleet and a little more air support to successfully defend the seazone. By turn 4 the US can have a sizable land force hit either Korea or Japan itself depending on what the Japanese defended. The only problems I see is India falling before that, or Jap destroyer blocking slowing the US down. I think this is a good way for the US to take the fight to Japan. Let me know what you guys think if you think this is a feasible strategy.

Can’t japan hit the fleet in hawaii with its navy?

@The:

Hey I’m new here to the forum. I just felt like sharing a US strategy that worked for me at my last game of Pac 40. Me and my group have been playing for a few years now but we have only played 2 games of pac 40. The game ended with a turn 4 capture of Japan by the US and this is what I did.

On the first turn buy one carrier and save a dollar, placing a fighter and tac bomber on it. Then move the whole fleet to Hawaii as well as the bomber from the Phillipines, if still alive. Also move one inf from Hawaii to WUS (may take 2 turns if trans sunk J1), the goal is to get 6 inf in WUS while spending as little money as possible. On the second turn buy 5 transports, 4 art, and 1-2 inf depending on if Japan took Phillipines J1, this should give you 6 trans total. Then on turn 3 buy 4 bombers. Move the fleet at Hawaii and the transports loaded with 6 inf 5art and 1 tank at WUS to sea zone 7 if possible assuming Japan doesn’t destroyer block. By turn 4 you can hit the sea of Japan with 2 CV, 1sub, 1des, 1CA, 3fig, 3tac, 1BB, 6-7 bombers. The aircraft on the carriers can land in Hawaii and the aircraft on Hawaii can land on the carriers. The bombers can land on Midway. You can hit the seazone 6 with nearly 60 attack points guaranteeing you 10 hits in 1st round of combat, assuming reasonable dice. Even if Japan scrambled fighters they’d need 15 to match the US. Japan would need its whole fleet and a little more air support to successfully defend the seazone. By turn 4 the US can have a sizable land force hit either Korea or Japan itself depending on what the Japanese defended. The only problems I see is India falling before that, or Jap destroyer blocking slowing the US down. I think this is a good way for the US to take the fight to Japan. Let me know what you guys think if you think this is a feasible strategy.

Also, how can 4 bmrs go from WUS to SZ6 in 1 turn?

Also, how can 4 bmrs go from WUS to SZ6 in 1 turn?

W/ airbase bombers take 4 moves to seazone 6 from America then two moves back to wake for a total of 6 moves.

And yes the Japanese fleet can hit hawaii but that’s assuming they kept the fleet at Japan, which is unlikely and if they did since fighters can scramble from hawaii they would take huge losses and they could be counterattacked from bombers on the mainland.

@The:

Also, how can 4 bmrs go from WUS to SZ6 in 1 turn?

W/ airbase bombers take 4 moves to seazone 6 from America then two moves back to wake for a total of 6 moves.

And yes the Japanese fleet can hit hawaii but that’s assuming they kept the fleet at Japan, which is unlikely and if they did since fighters can scramble from hawaii they would take huge losses and they could be counterattacked from bombers on the mainland.

How is it only 4 moves from WUS to SZ6? Which territories/sea zones do you pass through?

@The:

W/ airbase bombers take 4 moves to seazone 6 from America then two moves back to wake for a total of 6 moves.

Well, he means it’s 5 moves.  Airbase = 1 move, then 4 bomber moves, with 2 remaining, is the way he’s looking at it.  (I look at it as 7 moves)

But Wake is 4 moves from Z6 (not 2), unless he means Iwo, which is 2.

You can get a strat bomber from WUS to Z6 to Iwo.

Oh yeah I meant Midway not wake, since Midway is two spaces away from seazone six and has an airbase it can land just fine.

You can’t get from WUS to Z6 to Midway, can you?  I count 8 spaces.

You can’t get from WUS to Z6 to Midway, can you?  I count 8 spaces.

8 spaces using 2 airbases allows the bombers to take of and land for free so they can do it in one turn.

@The:

You can’t get from WUS to Z6 to Midway, can you?  I count 8 spaces.

8 spaces using 2 airbases allows the bombers to take of and land for free so they can do it in one turn.

You don’t get an extra movement if you land on an airbase

You don’t get an extra movement if you land on an airbase

O really :|
I didn’t know that. I was under the impression that you treated any island with an airbase as if it were a carrier so that as long as you made it to the seazone you could land.