China Strategy

Thanks man.

@variance:

This is not a comprehensive list, but as far as I know the following list probably accounts for ~90% of games and is pretty much the RUSSIA PLAYBOOK as I understand it:

build all infantry (optional: bid soviet infantry), march everything to Moscow, fly in Allied fighters, die slow. Hope the allies can save the day elsewhere.

same as #1 but send some units to Iraq or (not ‘and’) Finland to try and increase income.

build inf and mech R1 (optional: bid soviet infantry), buy time at Belarus, march far east troops home, fly in Allied fighters, check your battle calculator and buy artillery when its time, counterattack

build tanks R1 (optional: bid artillery on Eastern front), threaten counterattack to delay Barbarossa, take no sh!t from Italy, march far east troops home, counterattack opportunistically

build 3 mechs R1 and send planes to Yunnan (optional: bid fighters in moscow and stalingrad, and/or inf in yunnan and artillery in suiyuyan, shensi, szechwan, kweichow); far east troops go to Buryatia then Amur then Manchuria (optional: bid artillery out east), die, but watch Allies kill Germany

Gargantua, Cow, and others have discussed these in the past

This is actually a really good post; with a pretty complete breakdown of viable options.  Those are the primary concepts.

@taamvan:

Simon33,

Yes, we set up at the game shop at 10AM when it opens, and end around 5-6PM.  Game 111 is tomorrow at 10AM.

Wow. How many rounds does such a game go for? Typically, the first round goes for about 1.5-2 hours in my experience. Later rounds might be under an hour but I can’t see getting to 10 rounds in this time unless you play significantly faster than my experience.

Hi there,

concerning SZ 95,

Contra: you can bring in less fodder.

Pro: every hit is a kill, nothing could be repaired if dice go bad.

Cheers.
N.

@Dafyd:

I think that any question when we are trying to improve our skills is a good question…especially if we are really trying to learn.  The Hessian and ShadowHAwk are right.  The key to the Pacific are the two power fleets of Japan and the U.S.  The U.S. must go after the Japanese fleets.  Carriers loaded with planes are very important as well as the subs and detroyers.  As a side mission and with the permission of your Soviet ally, land troops in Siberia and help take back Soviet territories from the Japanese if they have begun to starve out the Soviet Far East.  It takes resources from the Japanese and can alter the attention of the Japanese player a turn or two if they are interested in defending Korea or pressuring the Soviets.

Good stuff here.  I’m a fan of 3 part attacks on Japanese fleets.  As an example:

Japan leaves a chunk of its fleet in SZ42 (off Java) for whatever reason.  They’re not worried about an attack because America doesn’t have the fleet off of Queensland to come after them.  What I’ve done in those situations is attack with the American ships, then follow up with India planes and Anzac ships/planes to finish them off. You’ll lose your American ships, some India planes and Anzac ships/planes, but if you wipe out half of the Japanese fleet it’s brutal for Japan because, as dominate as they can be, they can’t afford to lose too many major pieces.  America can lose a mini fleet and replace it; Japan cannot afford to be spending multiple turns rebuilding its fleet.

didn’t have time to read all of it, but one thing that has probably not been mentioned;

when germany is capable of taking moscow, then, it is time to retreat, if you alow his stack to kill you in moscow, and then turn south, it is hard to defend cairo, if you retreat from moscow, and force him to keep his stack there, then that stack will not turn south. at this point you will prolly only collect like 8 ipc anyways, while your army should be worth at least 250 IPC, prolly like 300, do not let him kill it for half the number of IPC, then it is far better to let him get moscow, and keep retreating, forcing him to either build a completly new army to attack cairo over land, or to alow you back into moscow at some point.

What Japan does in the north really depends on what Russia does.
If they pile up all 18 infantry on Amur, then do like Wittmann said, pound them good and quick. Except for the 6 guys in Mongolia, that basically opens up all the Russian far east territories for Japan to walk into over the next few rounds. Almost like free IPCs for Japan.
If Russia withdraws all troops to head for Moscow, which I have seen happen, that leaves you free to use most of those troops in Manchuria and Korea in China or other places you might need extra troops. Just leave a few there on the border. Then after 3 rounds or so, when the Russians are too far west to hinder you, walk some troops up and start taking Soviet territories. Of course, you will have to deal with the 6 Mongolian/Russian troops but that shouldn’t be too difficult.
If Russia only withdraws some of the far eastern troops, like say he leaves 6-9 infantry in Amur and heads the rest toward Moscow, that usually means he wants to guard his eastern territories but isn’t looking to be aggressive toward Japan unless a blatant opportunity comes up (like Japan withdrawing all troops from Korea or Manchuria and leaving them totally open). In that case, as Japan, I would simply leave the troops there on Manchuria and Korea and consider that area a “non-combat zone”, meaning there is simply no fighting going on there. You could possibly take a couple of the troops to use elsewhere, but you don’t want to weaken youself too much or Russia might take advantage. Yeah, it sucks leaving so many guys just sitting there, but you have to keep Russia honest. Plus, at least you start with those guys and any new stuff can go to your campaigns elsewhere.

@TheWarNoob:

So I get the overall concept of what I am supposed to do, but what about specific unit strategies. What I like to do is:

G1 is buys 3 subs and a minor IC for Romania, and then move as many units as possible towards the Russia front, primarily in the south.

After that I try to dedicate at least 47 IPCs each turn to Russia, in the form of 5 infantry and 5 artillery to be placed in Germany, and then 3 artillery or infantry in Romania. What ever I have left I try to use to defend the west.

Once I take the factories in Ukraine and Novgorod, I build 3 tanks there every turn. I don’t ever bring Italians in Russia unless they do well in Africa and can come through Iraq.

Is this a sound strategy, or do I need to change it somehow? Any critique is very much appreciated.

With the new convoy disruption rules, it might be wise to purchase an aircraft carrier instead of submarines. Still buy the factory, but station fighters on the AC and move into seazone 109. This will be more effective, especially if you keep the battleship and cruiser alive.