How did playtesters miss J1 attack?

Thank you for the clarification. :)

The new setup flops everything on it’s head.  You NEED to have a gameplan when you make your turn 1 buy.  If you buy three transports there needs to be a reason, and not just you want to take everything.  I have a plan I want to try out that involves 2 turns of all transport buys for a J3 attack, but I haven’t tried it yet

@Lozza007:

Hey chaps,

I’ve been looking over these threads for a while now and am keen to work on my Allied strategy.  Also used to play a bit through www.days-of-infamy.org with AAP a few years ago.

So what’s the update on Japan taking Hawaii in the first couple of turns and then working its way south towards NSW on J4?  Has this been discredited at all, with blocking ships perhaps?

Similarly, what are the thoughts on staying alive as UK in India/China?

I’ve only played the game once as I don’t own it yet, but I was rather shocked to see how much firepower Japan can bring to bear on J1.  The J1 attack certainly seems optimal given the IPC/Allied unit/Japan income tradeoffs.  The only plan that seems to get the US into the war quickly and effectively seems to be a northern route, out of Midway or Hawaii and attacking Japan’s new builds and maybe Korea.

I’ve modelled some naval combat a bit and found that the US player only has any hope of victory in the first few rounds if it can nibble off bits of the Japanese fleet.  Fighting battles with extra Japanese air power (i.e. more than the 6 air units from the Carriers) results in disaster, and any battle that sees the US lose the core of its fleet (Carriers, Battleship etc) is a win for Japan - just like in original AAP.  By the time you rebuild and get in position again, Japan has matched you $ for $ and it’s a stalemate.

A couple of questions too (since I don’t have a copy of the rules):

can you build ports and air bases on newly captured territory? (ref: Japanese port in Midway) can you build Industrial Complexes on newly captured territory? (ref: US Factory in Korea).

The latter is important as I can’t understand how a US Factory in Korea would survive if it was built 1 turn after Korea was captured - Japan would surely have units nearby to retake it, or just bomb it to uselessness?

Cheers!

Lozza007

On J1, Hawaii can be hit with 3 inf, 1 art, 1 tank, if 1 tac is scrambled to prevent bombardment. The defense is 1 bmr, 2 inf, 1 ftr. Both have an attack total of 9, so let’s say both get 2 hits. Then it’s 1 inf, 1 art, 1 tank vs 1 inf, 1 ftr. Each get 1 hit, so it’ll be art, tank vs ftr. Thus Japan can take Hawaii with 1 tank. However, since it used all 3 transports, it can’t take the philippines or any DEI. Thus, the US gets 61 ipcs, and unless Japan moves most of their fleet to that sea zone, the transports will die. After US1, hawaii is defended with the entire fleet in the sea zone, 3 inf, 1 tank, 1 ftr, and 1 tac, while most of the Jap fleet is in the Phil SZ, unable to reach Hawaii.

China and UK will die if Japan plays properly. The key is to delay them long enough that the US and ANZAC gain naval and air supremecy in the Pacific. After India falls, Japan collects 78 ipc’s, to US’s 55 and ANZAC’s 15. However, since the US and ANZAC should have naval superiority by now, they can easily attack the DEI, PI, or perhaps Mal or Kwangtung, since they can take control of it and build a major factory. In order to achieve naval supremecy, the US should take Iwo, allowing them to hit SZ6 from WUS with bombers. This will probably catch your opponent by surprise.

The southern route also works to grab the money islands, which forces the Jap navy to block, allowing you to destroy them piecemeal.

For your questions: Both are no.

Well, Kat, here is the dilemma:

If you allow Japan to take Hawaii, the following turn Japan swings down to Australia.
Add up the victory cities: 2 starting cities, Phillipines, Hong Kong + Hawaii = 5 total.
Sydney is 6. No need to slog through to India.

If you surrender Hawaii on J2, Japan could conceivably win the game outright on J4.
J3 fresh troops from Japan land on Hawaii. New Zealand falls. Don’t forget Australia does not get to scramble fighters because they are considered a continent, not an island.
Third CV returns to Phillipines to help with ANZAC attack.
J4 fresh troops arrive in Hawaii; existing troops shuttled to Queensland or New Zealand, depending where ANZAC defends.
At best Sydney holds out until J5.
As Japan I could send out DD screens to delay US counterattack.
Also, if Hawaii falls on J2, virtually every fighter in Asia I have will be in Hawaii by J4.
The scrambling rules allow ALL fighters to defend sea zone around Hawaii.

US got 17 IPC the first turn, and 22 IPC the next turns because of NO Phillipineas.

That’s what I used my carriers for when I made this attack. I was attacking the jap carrier group and I knew that I was basically going to lose every unit. So as I lost two airlplane I would then damage and take the carrier as a casualty. That away if I did have something survive it could land or I still had a carrier at least. That was the battle where my friend said that offensive carriers couldn’t take two hits.

@the:

…even though they have no attack value?

I guess it helps to think of the AC of having an attack value of zero. This means that it can be in with the combat move. (Also transports have an attack value of zero, but must be chosen last.)  Things that do NOT have an attack value are: AA guns, Naval Bases, Air Bases, Industrial Complexes.

I agree with a J3 attack at this point. And yes, I also believe that there will likely be no ‘Pearl Harbor’ attack on the US.

The Carolines are an ideal spot to stage the IJN. I like to have the bulk of the fleet there and another group off the coast of China to support that efforts against the Brit holdings in the DEI and Kwangtung. Also, staging at Truk pretty much cuts the US off from doing anything useful to help the Brits for the first few turns as well as threatens the Aussies enough to force them to build ground troops for defense.

Given that the US will have spent only 39 or so IPCs by the time of the Japanese DoW it’s impossible for them to have anything to withstand the full weight of the IJN at Truk. That means that if they want to survive the will likely have to be back at the West Coast or someplace else out of the way. That adds another turn or so to the timeline before the US can intervene effectively to help relieve pressure in China/India.