The Japan Playbook

In out current game I plan to take India on turn 3.

J1: Build transports and troops. Get FIC
J2: Build Airbase in FIC and also build a port in SZ36. Move planes to FIC, Move 12 troop adjacent to sz36
J3: Attack India
J4: Get money islands

Is this a good plan? Germany (played by another player) will try a Sealion on G3. Has anyone tried to do this before? How would you handle China since a lot ground troops are moved to India and probably lost.

@Fatespinner:

In out current game I plan to take India on turn 3.

J1: Build transports and troops. Get FIC
J2: Build Airbase in FIC and also build a port in SZ36. Move planes to FIC, Move 12 troop adjacent to sz36
J3: Attack India
J4: Get money islands

Is this a good plan? Germany (played by another player) will try a Sealion on G3. Has anyone tried to do this before? How would you handle China since a lot ground troops are moved to India and probably lost.

I personally prefer to get the money Islands first before sacking Calcutta… you can suppress India with bombing and convoy raiding while you get the Islands, and than go back for Calcutta.

Taking the money islands as soon as possible is a good option. UK has moved nearly all troops to Burma (8 inf). So I will attack Malaysia and FIC J2 and take two money islands. This allows me to decide on J3 if I want to take India without Shan State and thus only six fighters or take the remaining islands and attack Yuannan with all forces and kill the UK and Chinese ground forces. It all depends on the enemy move in UK2.

The good thing with Japan is that you can be really flexible and fast, if you take care where you place your units, but at the same time it is possible to make deadly errors in the early turns. Chinese+UK can overrun you if have spread your forces. Japan does have only few ground forces and so many fronts. You should be prepared to leave one front undefended to handle one front/problem per time. If the US fleet convoys Japan then you have to spent at least one turn to handle the problem and /or build minor IC on the main land.

You have to spread you fleet to protect your transports from US/Anzac planes and naval attacks and this can prove to be really difficult.

You should throw the sneaky ANZAC DOW against Japan in your playbook too for future reference.

@Fatespinner:

In out current game I plan to take India on turn 3.

J1: Build transports and troops. Get FIC
J2: Build Airbase in FIC and also build a port in SZ36. Move planes to FIC, Move 12 troop adjacent to sz36
J3: Attack India
J4: Get money islands

Is this a good plan? Germany (played by another player) will try a Sealion on G3. Has anyone tried to do this before? How would you handle China since a lot ground troops are moved to India and probably lost.

This would be a great strategy if it really takes out India on Turn 3. I think a lot of things have to go right (meaning Allies’ mistakes) for it to work. For an adjustment to the plan, 3 transports and 1 artillery (not troops) should be your J1 build. Also, in this plan do you DOW on the Western Allies on J2 in order to clear Allies’ blockers? Just one destroyer in SZ37 would critically hurt Japan as you just spent lots of money on Naval and Air Base (30 IPCs for bases. There will be no other money because you lost the 10 IPCs for not being at war with the US)

Also, how or when are you capturing a landing place for your planes from FIC? When I play the Axis, the Allies’ shove everything. Yunnan is stacked every round so that’s not a landing place. The only other landing places besides your 3 carriers (6 planes + 2 bombers = Maybe not enough planes) for your Airbase planes on FIC to land is Burma or Shan State. Again, I see a smart UK player denying both spots for planes to land.

@Ichabod:

This would be a great strategy if it really takes out India on Turn 3. I think a lot of things have to go right (meaning Allies’ mistakes) for it to work. For an adjustment to the plan, 3 transports and 1 artillery (not troops) should be your J1 build. Also, in this plan do you DOW on the Western Allies on J2 in order to clear Allies’ blockers? Just one destroyer in SZ37 would critically hurt Japan as you just spent lots of money on Naval and Air Base (30 IPCs for bases. There will be no other money because you lost the 10 IPCs for not being at war with the US)

Also, how or when are you capturing a landing place for your planes from FIC? When I play the Axis, the Allies’ shove everything. Yunnan is stacked every round so that’s not a landing place. The only other landing places besides your 3 carriers (6 planes + 2 bombers = Maybe not enough planes) for your Airbase planes on FIC to land is Burma or Shan State. Again, I see a smart UK player denying both spots for planes to land.

Exactly that happened. Burma and yuanan were stacked. Blocking all landing points for me. I was also blocked.

Now China and the us have the North and I am toast.

I’ll have to think about the merit of buying the 2 extra bombers G1 rather than G2 outside of a G1 DOW context. What do you see it as?

@Fatespinner:

In out current game I plan to take India on turn 3.

J1: Build transports and troops. Get FIC
J2: Build Airbase in FIC and also build a port in SZ36. Move planes to FIC, Move 12 troop adjacent to sz36
J3: Attack India
J4: Get money islands

Is this a good plan? Germany (played by another player) will try a Sealion on G3. Has anyone tried to do this before? How would you handle China since a lot ground troops are moved to India and probably lost.

How does this work when UK Pac puts a blocker next to Malaya?

@simon33:

I’ll have to think about the merit of buying the 2 extra bombers G1 rather than G2 outside of a G1 DOW context. What do you see it as?

I actually think it’s the opposite - G1 is the only play that renders the two extra bombers questionable.

As Germany you have the choice of going after Britain or Russia. If you do a G1 you have made your choice. Yes, you can still do Sealion while at war with Russia but I just don’t think it’s a good idea.

If you don’t do a G1, you are giving your play a certain ambiguity that forces the Allies to contend with your potential to go for either. To play up the dual threat, you should buy units on G1 that will help you no matter which way you decide to go. This points towards air and fleet purchases, since more land units won’t help you fight Britain.

Now the only question is which air and fleet units to go with. Bombers, fighters and destroyers are obvious choices, but a sub will work too because you can use it to help blow up the remainder of the British fleet in the Atlantic on G2. A bomber is a unit that will definitely not sit idle since you can stratbomb no matter how the Allies react, so it’s a good choice.

Today I decided to try a VERY aggressive J1 attack (and aggressively play the Axis in general, for instance, Germany used its bombers on London instead of SZ 110/111 and everything succeeded anyway) so, along with most of the moves you’re used to, I attacked the Hawaiian fleet, too, and went for ANZAC’s destroyer/transport (50/50 shot!).  It went OK, maybe well, only more time will tell (we’re starting J2 on Monday)

Result was all the usual Japan attacks succeeding, making 40 ipc at the end of its turn (no national objectives), UK-Pacific is making 10 ipc after losing Hong Kong and Borneo, and, after its counter attack, the U.S. has zero planes and its only ships are the ones it bought on US1 and its transport in the Atlantic.

I’m not so sure about taking the 50/50 shot at ANZAC’s destroyer/transport instead of sending it to Hawaii.  I missed and was sank, but more importantly think the extra hit to take on the U.S.’ counter attack on Hawaii would be more worthwhile.  The U.S. lost everything on its counter (including his bomber and fighter from Central and East) but that was bad luck and should have been more successful.  Japan has a wounded battleship left.  Interestingly, I couldn’t take hits on my carrier’s lightly because if I did, my opponent would have retreated and I would lose my planes anyway.

Purchase: 2 transports, 1 minor industrial complex for Kiangsu
J2 plan is to take Malaya, hit China, send new transports south, buy tanks and a bomber(s), and J3 gets me the money islands and a factory on Malaya, buy more tanks and some fleet(?), J4 is Calcutta and buy fleet cause the U.S. is showing up.

Sea attacks:
SZ 37 (UK battleship) cruiser and two bombers
SZ 35 (Phillipines) carrier from Caroline Islands, and SZ19’s battleship, sub, and destroyer
SZ 62 (ANZAC) 1 destroyer from Caroline Islands
SZ 26 (Hawaii) all of SZ 6’s non-transport fleet

Land:
Borneo (1 inf)
Phillipines (2 inf, 2 art, 1 fighter)
Hong Kong (2 inf, 1 art, planes)
French Indo-China (2 inf)
Yunnan (2 inf, 1 art, planes)
Hunan (2 inf, planes)
Anhwe
Chahar

What did Russia do with Amur?

@KGrimB:

What did Russia do with Amur?

No idea how I missed this question… Russia had already moved 6 west towards Moscow and the other 12 holding one back.  I seem to recall trying to bait him into attacking Manchuria or Korea but he didn’t go for it.

As for Hawaii, I’ve tried it a few times and have cooled on it.  Its viable but I simply prefer not to.

My first choice is most all the same choices I usually make with a J1 (Hong Kong, Borneo, Philippines) with an eye to turtling Calcutta (bomb J2/J3, convoy with subs J3/J4+), and worrying about taking it J6 or later so I can focus on keeping the money islands, closing the Burma road and gobbling up China so I have the option to help take Moscow, and making sure ANZAC doesn’t grow.

This means Japan’s fleet can mostly hang out on the Philippines for J4-J6 once the U.S./ANZAC fleet becomes a threat.

These days, Japan’s buy is fast movers for the mainland factories and carriers for the fleet, since Japan already has plenty of planes to land on them.

Doing this, the past few games, Japan ends up making over 60 a turn by end of J3 and the U.S. has a hard time threatening since I make up the difference in income via using the huge advantage in existing planes to build up my fleet or to threaten his.

Example: last game Japan’s fleet was at Philippines, with some more planes on Japan.  U.S./ANZAC parked at Caroline.  Both huge fleets (all of Japan’s original ships, and a total of 6 or 7 carriers).  But the advantage in planes/carriers meant Japan sank everything they had with carrier planes landing on Paulau and Japan Island planes landing on carriers.  He lost around 200 ipcs of ships.

I am sure it has been done by others, but no way am I reading 20 pages worth of stuff.  I actually have just started experimenting with a J1 that includes Hawaii like you weddingslinger, the way I did mine was to send all SZ6 planes plus the 2 dd and sub from 6 along with other usual J1 attacks.  I would noncom carriers off of wake and land planes there, the key for me is that I would leave a dd alive in Hawaii even at the cost of my planes so as to stop the San Fran fleet from coming for my carriers.  It seems to work fine but your fleet is just so poorly positioned on J2 it seems awkward.  Im not sure if this will be included in my standard J1, but I like the ability to kill an American cruiser while I can and would love to trade planes if he is willing to scramble.