Japan gets killed

@andrewaagamer I have not heard of such a document, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Hi Argothair! Cool to see your reply! Would be fun to see this in a real dual! Actually that would be the best way to proof certain ideas! ;) but for the sake of the forum discussion we can battle in words! I will share my comments on the points you make.

First of all I do agree that England should spend a considerable amount of money on building up a fleet. This will one way or an other revert pressure from the USSR to the west. Germany either need to build planes to deadzone the Atlantic, or it has to build a defense of infantry. Like in the real history a treat of an invasion already ties down a large force, but at some point you will need to execute it. Norway is still a good starting point. The downside of building the fleet early is that no fighters are going east to support the Indian contingent. This will take pressure off Japan.

Next to that England has to build infantry and artillery in India to at least maintain the stalemate with Japan in Birma. The role of England in the East would not be so big, but it can maintain itself. The pressure on Japan need to come from the US. But it can grab one of the money Islands when it sees a chance. Overall this means that Japan will take longer to conquer. But with Russia getting more support the Allies have more time. More time is equal to more chance to win.

I think the factory in Egypt would be an ok investment. Especially if Germany leaves it alone. Though i doubt if it is a better investment then a fleet in the Atlantic. The Allies need to spend their IPC’s wisely. It can not do both. It could serve to send a few units to help defend Moscow or Caucasus. Though i believe it would be too less by the time it is needed. I like the idea of making a second front in Europe. That can be more effective because Germany need to spread his armies. If you only fortify Moscow Germany can stack into one big army.

Also i agree with your argument about Russia taking Karelia with force if Germany puts down 4 inf in every border territory. But this depend a lot on the outcome of R1! Did Russia get diced in the opening round? Then there are not enough troops in West Russia! Did Russia get a bid? Or did Russia do a Ukraine straffe? What did Russia buy first turn? There is a big chance (i don’t know a percentage) that Russia can not even take Karelia without being wiped out! If Germany would have bought 10 inf as i had suggested and spend the rest on offensive pips, then Germany could have bought 2 tanks. That means Germany had 12 to 13 tanks in range, plus at least 6 inf (2 from Norway plus 4 from Belo Russia plus anything from Baltic), plus 5 or 6 planes. The chance is huge that Karelia is deadzoned! So you should have had luck with the dice and smart with bits and buys to make this work! And it will be tricky still! Even if it works, Germany would take West Russia in stead, and also Russia would not be able to maintain 26 IPC.

What i do not believe is that Russia is able to send units east. Because Germany comes in too strong. For Russia to survive the first 6 rounds against Germany it needs every unit it can get. Even if England decides to build a fleet and harass the coastal territories, then it takes time before this gets some momentum. Overall this means that more inf stay behind to guard the coast. Here i think you overstate the possibilities of England and underestimate the possibilities of Germany. If it wants to maintain its stalemate in Birma, then it can not build much more then about 6 units in Europe. Or it need to buy inf only, which is an army without teeth. At the other hand Germany stays at at least 40 IPC to turn 6 even if they don’t do well. That is because whatever England takes from Germany, they either take back, or they compensate with Russian IPC’s. Most probably making 40+ every turn. By turn 6 the more and more Inf need to stay in the West to fight England. Then around that time it need to be clear whether operation Barbarossa was successful. By that time roughly 50 to 60 inf had been send East. Giving Germany a good possibility to take Moscow. Plus, if the German plan was successful it can continue the pressure with the Caucasus factory.

So i do believe the battle is won between turn 6 and 8. Then it need to proof if Germany was successful in taking Moscow without loosing other terrain to much. And you are right with you comment that it matters with how much Army Germany has left after the sack of Moscow. Are that 20 tanks or 4 tanks? If Germany lost his entire stack of inf but kept the offensive force, then it is not too difficult to swing South and take India and Egypt. After that the Allies go down hill, or does Germany has a few tanks left over and does it need to start build up a force while it need to fight England at the same time? Then probably it is a down hill battle for Germany, which will not get any help from Japan.

At the side of Japan i’m not so sure whether you are right about how quickly it will fall. Obviously the fighters need to stay at sea or close to sea. Japan starts with one bomber and should purchase at least one more. The bombers have a great reach and can both threaten sea zones and help doing some territory trading.

So, the main focus for Japan is defense. It does mostly naval purchases. And you are right that after a couple of turns Japan can not keep up with the US anymore. That shouldn’t be the 4th turn but later if you do it well. That is because the US need to sail their ships across the ocean first. And further: Japan starts with a little head-start, so it has an advantage over the US with a couple of turns. Its best bet is to deadzone the important zones around the Japan with cheap subs. That is cheaper then a balanced fleet, so it can hold of the US fleet for 1 or 2 turns longer than it otherwise would. However, once the US fleet is defensive stronger than the Japanese is offensive, all hope for Japans naval ambition is lost. It can probably buy itself an other turn by retreating a zone closer to Japan. After that it can do two things: wait and see how it will be destroyed, or be opportunistic and attack the US fleet. A lot depends on how the board looks like. Japan might be able to kill all ships except for planes, or just decimate the US fleet. Whatever Japan does, it is not allowed to loose its planes! At the turn you decide to strike, you should be wise to purchase a IC on the mainland, because after that there is no shipping troops possible anymore. This should be about the sixth or seventh turn, depending on a number of factors. Those factors are besides luck and skill, chooses in purchases and early attacks, like the SZ37 attack.

After Japans fleet is gone, Japan need to turtle even more. If the game is in favor of the Axis, then Moscow should have been fallen and Germany starts to pressure England. Japans only income comes from the mainland now. And the US might be busier helping defend India against Germany then it is to sack Tokyo. If that is what is happening, then those are bad days for the Allies. If the situation is that Germany did not take Moscow, while the UK/US are taking territories in the mainland from Japan, while building transports to threaten an invasion of the Japanese homeland, then it are dark days for the Axis!

In a OOB scenario i’ll put my money on the Axis for sure. With any bits the odds might change in favor of the Allies. Also a lot depend on luck in the first round. If Russia looses too much units in the opening round, and the UK doesn’t kill a ship in a SZ37 attack, you might reconsider whether KJF is feasible! But if you see the opposite happening, then KJF strategy can be a very good alternative!

Yes i agree. Ive played this game on triple a as the axis vs allies on easy AI, and it took me awhile to subdue usa (the only allied power left). I eventually did, just for the fun of it, (i think around turn47)(probably never going to do that again!) :-D But it took a painstakingly annoying lot of time and build up, even though axis controlled almost everithing. The japanese built a factory in brazil and just kept bombing the us, while germany built up ,took eastern canada, built a factory there, and eventually took Washington. With 63 fighters , 27tanks and 21 infantry, and 12 bombers. Then planes flew to canada, and a german tank took West usa and west canada on next turn by blitzing. The one thing i dont like about playing this game against AI,(i dont know about other ones yet, havent tried playing them), i had to built up a HUGE force as germany cuz i wanted to be sure to take usa. Because it seems like to me the computer is trying to “hack” almost every single roll for his favor when he ends up in a predicament :-), and i end up losing battles as the axis that i should have won guaranteed, were it a normal table board game. Having the computer roll for you, and rolling dice yourself is not the same thing :-D

There usually is a fairly safe spot to land the bomber.

Assuming the US gets one hit and you lose your 4 move ftr you can end up with a sub/cru left there, and the cru blocks some moves, but even if US wants to go after your bomber that exposes their battleship.  It’s not usually a trade they’ll want to make that early, especially if they were planning on bringing the BB to the Atlantic to help with a KGF.  The surviving cru also becomes the “easier” 12 ipc target to hit with potentially less risk of a counter depending on where the J ACs are.

I’ll typically plan on landing my surviving J ftr with the bom so I have the freedom to move my two carriers where ever I want, then I gauge the results of Pearl and figure out if I really need the ftr with the bomber or do I need it elsewhere.

I don’t think I have ever seen Japanese planes over Britain in an A&A game. Pretty interesting strategy.

One thing I don’t see being said is that the allies get a bid. Where did their bid go? Also don’t go all out against Japan with allies if Japan builds all fleet first turn. If Japan builds an industry and transports, then I’d say KJF is very viable. Russia can’t stand alone against Germany, so what you need to do is build 3 infantry and 2 fighters a turn with UK. On UK’s turn when you see that Moscow will fall in 3 turns pull out of India. You will reach Moscow before Germany attacks, and with your 15+ infantry added to Moscow for defense means Germany can’t hope to take it. The key is going to be having US take out Japans fleet, or take and hold one of the main islands by turn 4. Germany is going to be a bloody monster, and so you shouldn’t build any fleet with UK. Just build fighters for UK and units in India. There is no way India can fall to Japan unless Japan compromises his fleets power by building transports and ground troops, which means that the islands will be easy takes.

An IC buy for Japan really depends on what the allies do. If they go all out against Japan, then an IC is a waste of resources since you will need all the money you can to build navy. All Japan is trying to do is stall for time in the pacific while Germany is the one that needs to win the war.

This can depend on how the R1/UK1 went (and how much your “valued” axis ally screwed you)
Assumptions: EI Fleet wiped out, UK CA survived, UK FTR in India, 2UK FTRs in WRus, Buryatia or Yakut is stacked, 1 Russian inf added to Schezwan. Aus Transport w/2inf in SZ30 (to reinforce India UK2). Burma inf retreats to India
You assume that the Allies are focused on knocking out Japan first.  Buy 2 Trans/CV (I do also like 3Trans/3inf) for this situation.
Combat:
If Yakut stacked, send 1inf into Buryatia. If Buryatia stacked, 3inf/FTR from Manchuria, Bomber/FTR from Japan.
Send Shanghai’s 4inf into Anwhei, use Manchuria FTR (use FIC FTR if hitting Buryatia).
Send inf/art from Hong Kong, inf/art from Phillipines, inf/tank from Japan, 2inf/art/FTR from FIC and BB to Yunan.
NCM/Placing buys:
You need to consider having both CVs in position to have FTRS and protecting your transports. Your Caroline fleet/SS need to pull back.  Place the SS at Borneo.  Caroline Fleet can go to FIC and/or Japan.  This is just one of several routes to go, but if India/EI fleet is not the focus of the allies, then you just need to use your two transports and FIC to land in Burma (buy 2trans/IC for EI).  Leave the Russians completely alone and hit China where you can for IPCs.  You shouldn’t be able to hit India J2, but you can make them regret they didn’t think more about India when they had an opportunity.
The great thing about Japan is you have options.  Just beware of a US buildup in the Solomons…they want to take Borneo or the Phillipines from you.  Don’t chase, just have a counter that won’t frak you.

Don’t attack PH. This is even more important to not do if you lost your EI fleet.  Attacking PH will knock Japan out of the game instantaneously because you will lose that fleet as well.