Can France Declare war on China? and Vice Versa?

@surfer said in Can US upgrade Japanese Factory after capture:

Nope. You can only upgrade factories on territories that you originally own/start with.

Actually a power can only upgrade on territories originally controlled by that power.
That does not necessarily include territories a power starts with.
For example Japan starts with Manchuria, that is originally controlled by China.

I think a very important component to strafing is understanding how it can rapidly move units beyond their normal movement range - which has been displayed in the G1 Yugoslavia to Romania example in prior posts.

It would be impossible to get the units from Greater Southern Germany to Romania on G1 without understanding strafing.

Of course, the units could simply step into Hungary and still be in position to strike at Eastern Poland.  However, you sacrifice the utility of clearing out much of Yugoslavia and thereby helping Italy by not understanding the mechanics of the “Strafe”.

Russia can also employ a Strafing strategy that would trade resources (generally Russian infantry) with Germany in a way that blocks a German blitz or denies the Germans the use of a minor IC.

In example:

Russia withdraws its stack to Bryansk in response to a German stack in Eastern Poland, inviting a German blitz of
Armor and some Mech into the teeth of 30 infantry, and another half dozen armor and artillery supported by Ftr and Tac.

Germany, unwilling to risk its Armor without protection, elects to blitz a single armor to Ukraine, waiting on a stack of Mech to arrive as reinforcements in Eastern Poland.

On the subsequent Russian turn, the Russians strafe into Ukraine, which is currently owned by Germany with 2 Infantry, 2 Ftr and 1 Tac.  Russia prevails, losing 1 Inf.  Effectively, Russia has denied Germany the use of the Ukraine IC, and traded a 3 IPC INF for a 6 IPC ARM.

On the subsequent German turn, Germany claims Ukraine for good, losing 1 Inf in the process.

Total cost for the Russian strafe:  6 IPC for Russia, 9 IPC for Germany + losing a turn of production out of Ukraine that can immediately threaten Moscow.

That, is the value of a strafe from the Russian perspective.

The list goes on, but understanding the strafing technique helps develop the early round strategies to keep pressure or alleviate pressure depending on the nation you play as.

Later in the game, understanding the strafing strategy can completely ruin your opponent and potentially tilt the scales in your favor to an economic stalemate or quickly end a game for a player not cognizant of the strafing applications.  From experience, this becomes a significant strategy to understand in the Pacific theater in application during the mid to late game.

A final input, is a variant of the strafing is a can-opener applied by Italy.  Italian units, due to their turn in a round, can open a door for a German blitz that Russia planned on having blocked.  Italy typically accomplishes this with Mech/Armor and a Bomber whereby opening a flank can ruin Moscow’s day.

The US has a variant of this if Germany leaves Berlin undefended whereby the US seizes Denmark, and the UK sails through the straights to land on Berlin.

Neither of these are true strafes, but they employ the same strategy of taking territory or denying territory in unconventional ways.

@Europe:

In the event that you purchased more units than you can
actually mobilize due to production limitations, you must
return the over-produced units to the box (your choice of
units), and the cost of the units is reimbursed to you.

i never noticed this rule before. it opens up an interesting overpurchase tactic.

never say never in the world of Axis and Allies.  I’m pretty sure I’ve found a way, but as stated, has enough drawbacks of its own.  I could show you in a friendly game.  8-)

It really depends on which method you prefer.
A G1 attack can catch the Russians a little off guard and take advantage of their defenses still being relatively thin. The downfall is that Germany’s offense will also be a little thin and be more prone to Russian counter-attacks.
A G3 or G4 attack allows Germany the maximum build up time before Russia can declare war and can make for a much stronger punch into Russia’s borders all along the line. I often wait until G4 because you can hit Russia on 4 fronts (Romania > Bessarabia, Hungary > E Poland, Poland > Baltic States, Finland > Karelia) and have a very strong front line after the battles - harder for Russia to counter attack. The downfall of this is that Russia also gets 3 turns of build-up so they will have more stuff for you to fight. Generally, Germany will still have more than Russia, but if the dice don’t favor you, your front lines could get really ate up by the time you reach Moscow.
A lot depends on what USA does when they get into the war. If they go 80%-100% Europe, your Russian offensive could peter out fast because you have to fend off an American invasion or try to bail out Italy. On the other hand, Japan should be doing very well in the Pacific and you may get an overall Axis win that way.
If USA goes mostly Pacific, then you should be very successful in Russia. The UK will be busy trying to fight Italy and your U-Boats while you pour tanks into Russia and steadily grind them back. However, If Japan plays poorly, it’s possible the USA could wrap things up in the Pacific early enough to still come over and cause trouble for you in Europe before you can take Moscow. Then it’s the dreaded TWO FRONT WAR for Germany.

Way to go!!!,also there are people here who can give you a quick answer.
Keep us in mind, and Good wargaming.

@Zallomallo:

Yes, an act of war by Japan on UK or ANZAC(and maybe France?) puts them at war with the US.

It does not put them at war.  It allows them to declare war.  There is a rather large distinction, as Japan can end the turn in seazones with US ships (or attack seazones with both US and UK/Anzac ships, ignoring the US ships) that are still friendly to them until the US declares war on the combat move of its next turn.

Japan declaring war on France has no impact whatsoever.  Japan can declare war on france and as long as they don’t attack FIC, they’ll continue to collect their National Objective.  Even if they do attack FIC, japan only loses their objective.  It does not permit the US to declare war.