How should Japan try to save Europe?

It seems a great deal of Allied players like to focus on hitting Germany and/or Italy first, leaving Japan relatively unmolested. This strategy seems to weight the game in favor of the Allies, because each major power is able to focus most of their income into the European theater, while for the Axis, teaming up is much harder. I imagine many of you, as I am, are trying to solve the problem of what Japan should do in a 100% KGF and/or KIF scenario.

On turn 1, the US can pull their pacific fleet into sz89, and with additional purchases can be ready for action with a fleet of 2 loaded CV, 6 loaded TT, 1 BB, 1SS, 2DD, and 1CA. Britain can accomplish Taranto and fly 3 fig and 1 tac to British Somaliland from India, and possibly build a factory in Egypt or pull more troops using the Malay transports depending on the board situation. Russia can build 9 artillery and begin marching them to the front. Germany and Italy will have their hands full from the start.

If the Allies make these moves, how should Japan respond?

The most instinctual answer is to simply smash the entire Pacific side of the board, becoming a monster as the European Axis gradually dwindles. This has worked in previous editions because Japan has then been able to save the day by throwing tanks at Moscow. This edition is different, though. Russia is bigger, meaner, and farther away. Japan’s optimal play might be different. Perhaps they should sacrifice rapid income growth in favor of rapid assistance to their partners to the west.

The most obvious way to do this would be to punish the United states for ignoring them, perhaps massing a huge invasion fleet or perhaps conducting a polar express. However, there is little income to be gained in the long run taking this route.

Another possibility would be to start producing massive amounts of land units as quickly as possible, pushing through to Russia and drawing pressure off the Eastern front. China will be eliminated around turn 4 or 5, and then Russia will have a new front to deal with.

Some players have proposed flying in Japan’s massive air force to save the day. There are logistical problems to this plan because of the limited range of the aircraft. The best method I can see that avoids an early DOW is pushing through China to Tsinghai or Sikang, then landing the aircraft next turn, then flying in to Romania. The earliest they could arrive would be turn 5; turn 6 or 7 is more realistic given the propensity of the Chinese to screw things up as much as possible.

A final possibility would be for Japan to fake a standard India crush, then blow right past them and start rampaging on the European half of the board. They could take Persia and Iraq on turn 3 at the earliest, then build 2 minor factories and use them as a base of operations. Depending on the board situation, from there they could put pressure on Russia’s southern flank, help Italy in the Med, start taking Africa, or some combination of these.

Which option is best?

You may feel that a combination of two or more of these would be ideal, but the purpose of this poll is to determine which single Japanese strategy is generally most effective for responding to KGF and KIF.

It sounds like you’re in favor of gaining income rapidly, then hitting the Allies. I’ve found the KEF to be so effective, however, that Japan’s efforts may come too late. Italy, in particular, is hard to defend if the Allies focus on it.

The axis strategy I’m working on now is a combination of Sealion and a J4 India crush.

If America puts enough money into the Pacific, Japan will attack early and take the money islands instead of India. If America puts early money into the Atlantic, Japan will hold off and buy some cover for the Germans to pull out of England and throw everything into Russia without needing to buy more fleet to defend the transports. Germany will maintain the transports in SZ 115 as long as possible, using them to defend Norway and Leningrad using units bought at an upgraded Germany factory.

If America guns for Europe, I’m hoping that Japan can take pressure off the Eastern front using factories in Persia and Iraq and help Italy take out Africa. In this way, Germany can focus on defending itself.

@ Frank T

The only Axis win that my group has seen resulted from a couple oversights that allowed me to Sealion a turn early and then take Moscow a few turns before I should have been able. They retook Moscow, but losing all that cash was enough to cripple them.

It seems to me that if the Axis want to win legitimately, they have to play perfectly for the first few rounds and reach a point where they’re making enough to actually thwart allied invasion attempts. This will result in long, drawn out games as was the case with yours. I can’t see a way for the axis to win quickly unless the Allies make mistakes, but the Allies are pretty easy to play well. With the Axis, not so.

If China and Australia both get out of hand, wouldn’t it be better to deal with Australia first, since China can only defend themselves and it’s much easier for them to do so?

@ Gharen

I intend to try your suggestion about keeping the US honest the next time I play Japan, but I don’t think it’s the only option. If they want to, they can take care of any realistic threat in one turn by building 20 infantry. If Japan masses enough to threaten even that, they can just build another 20 infantry. It doesn’t seem like a long term way of stopping KEF, but it would buy Germany a turn or two early in the game I imagine.

What if Japan did that followed up by an Australia invasion on turn 4 while focusing on eliminating China and then eventually flying their air force into Europe? They would slow the US down, gain income, and round out Fortress Europe quite nicely. Of course, meanwhile, the British are rampaging out of control.

@Canuck12

I understand the goal of threatening the US isn’t actually to take any territory, and I do believe that it’s a good idea, but it doesn’t present a long term solution to KEF.

However, your plan of moving through the Panama canal is something I hadn’t considered. Maybe an even better idea would be to swing around the tip of South America. Japan could take Brazil on turn 4 with their starting navy…

This sounds remarkably similar to a strategy that I’ve been working on but haven’t used in a game yet. I’m glad to hear it worked out.

The options that I presented at the beginning of this thread are in response to the Allies going 100% kill Europe first. If you slowly built your pacific fleet all game I would never send the air force away from the Pacific, but on the other hand Europe would be in better shape than if you had. When I play as the Axis, I view sending that fleet to the Atlantic so that you can build mostly ground troops from the start as the most deadly option and so I endeavor to counter it.