Ten little questions concerning both rules and strategies

@Shaniana:

1. When a transport drops land units without a fight on the sea, I can still scramble the drop ships and its battle ship friends. As an attacker, is it possible to send five bombers with the drop ship to prevent them from being destroyed by scrambling fighters, even though the bombers are not participating in any combat and are not entering a hostile territory?

Yes, you can send units into a SZ where there is a potential scramble during combat movement, even if they may end up attacking nothing at all if the defender chooses not to scramble.

@Shaniana:

2. Fighters from UK Island cannot participate in any battle in the Med, or am I blind? I have read often that if no Sea Lion seems to be imminent, the British can attack the Italian fleet with everything, including fighters from their main isle.

The UK can send 2 fights from London to SZ97 because they can land in SZ97 on the UK carrier (assuming you don’t send it elsewhere). The planes starting inside the Mediterranean already can simply land on Malta and do not require the carrier.

The UK’s strategic bomber starting on London can also reach Italian targets and land on Malta

My answer to question #2 should help you understand #3. It is easier to sink Italy if you play with a bid and place UK sub in SZ98. If you don’t like bids and/or if Germany sinks SZ91, your options become riskier.

@Shaniana:

4. Is it useful to drop Europe from the Atlantic as long as I cannot bring enough marines to hold it? Usually, to ease the pressure on Russia, I will do it, but the German just needs few inf and some air to retake it. It does not keep him much and it does not gain me anything. I prefer to drop in southern Europe, but to drop into any country that borders France or Western Germany seems somehow pointless to me

I generally find that dropping men in Normandy doesn’t do much to help. If Germany can’t take it back immediately, then Norway is a good option. Simply sending fighters to Moscow (by way of the Middle East or north Asia) has worked better for me.

@Shaniana:

5. How do you sink the German navy in the Baltic Sea in the first few rounds? I have read that written often that I should do it. However, I can only bring bombers (unless I buy a carrier which obviously I cannot in the beginning turns) and even submarines cannot pass the straight, can they?

This seems like an unrealistic goal for the early game. The Allies have higher priorities in most cases (keeping London/Cairo safe).

Submarines can’t pass through the Danish straits if Denmark is controlled by a hostile power at the start of the turn.

However, later in the game, the US may be able to take Denmark, and that would allow UK ships to pass through immediately afterwards.

@Shaniana:

7. ANZAC has to do something with its money. It is suggested they buy subs and transport in this forum often. However, if they sail all alone, one Japanese ship and/or bomber can easily take them out. After invading the empty islands far away from Japan, they cannot do much more. I find it useful to get fighters and then land them on the US islands on the front line that have an airbase. But even then ANZAC is not making much of an impact.

Generally speaking, it’s okay to send Allied transports on suicide missions in the Pacific (especially the Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Celebes). This will force Japan to send out transports of their own or else lose significant IPC.

If the Allies reach a point where their fleet is too strong for Japan to sink, then you may be able to guard at least one transport at a time. However, don’t move you fleet too far if there’s a danger Japan could outmaneuver you and steal Hawaii before you can get back into position to counter attack.

EDIT: Didn’t read closely enough … if you’ve already secured the DEI and Japan’s contained, then switching to air is good (to defend Moscow, Calcutta, Cairo, or Chinese stacks depending on what you need).

@Shaniana:

10. Even if I am only �bridging�, I cannot hop on and off from a friendly (allied) transport, can I?

Troops loading an transport under the control of a friendly power cannot both load and offload in the same turn.

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Your other questions are more debatable/complex.

With regard to #6, sometimes those Far East Soviet troops mean the difference between Moscow holding or falling … but they could also tip the balance in containing Japan.

With regard to #8, I believe more players use them in Mediterranean, but not everyone.

With regard to #9, this depends entirely on context. I don’t think this will be your optimal move very often, but perhaps others will disagree.

@wheatbeer:

@Shaniana:

7. ANZAC has to do something with its money. It is suggested they buy subs and transport in this forum often. However, if they sail all alone, one Japanese ship and/or bomber can easily take them out. After invading the empty islands far away from Japan, they cannot do much more. I find it useful to get fighters and then land them on the US islands on the front line that have an airbase. But even then ANZAC is not making much of an impact.

Generally speaking, it’s okay to send Allied transports on suicide missions in the Pacific (especially the Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Celebes). This will force Japan to send out transports of their own or else lose significant IPC.

If the Allies reach a point where their fleet is too strong for Japan to sink, then you may be able to guard at least one transport at a time. However, don’t move you fleet too far if there’s a danger Japan could outmaneuver you and steal Hawaii before you can get back into position to counter attack.

Building destroyers and subs when you are bored helps to keep the us fleet strong.

Wouldn’t ANZAC need some infantry, for defense? If they spend their money on ships and start sending troops away to the islands, Japan may gather its fleet and transports and sail south early.

@Herr:

Wouldn’t ANZAC need some infantry, for defense? If they spend their money on ships and start sending troops away to the islands, Japan may gather its fleet and transports and sail south early.

It depends on what turn Japan declares war on the Western Allies. Typically the US fleet can provide any necessary potential blocking and US planes provide extra potential defense. If Japan keeps the US out of the war and had transports in range, I try to reserve ANZAC’s starting ships for blockers. I’ve never seen Japan send enough transports to unblockable SZs (54/61) to threaten NSW before the US entered the war. Your experience may vary, I was just giving basic answers, not discussing every contingency.

It is definitely wise to keep enough men in South Australia to keep Japan from getting a landing zone anywhere on the continent though. So there will be turns here and there where buying surplus ground makes sense for sure.

@wheatbeer:

It is definitely wise to keep enough men in South Australia to keep Japan from getting a landing zone anywhere on the continent though. So there will be turns here and there where buying surplus ground makes sense for sure.

So do you put men in every territory in Australia? I usually have a fair amount of units in New South Wales and Queensland, but nothing in the other territories.

Not every territory.

Generally I keep any men not needed for amphibious assaults on the territory South Australia (unless Japan can attack there or they are needed elsewhere for some reason). They are one step from the capitol if they need to retreat and they can counter-attack Western Australia if Japan lands there.

If Japan wants to take NSW, holding Western Australia first tends to be helpful because so much air power could land in range on the capitol. This also lets strategic bombers reach NSW from the Caroline Islands (or other locations if you build a surprise airbase).

I like your list of questions, I’ll give some more suggestions on the three questions that Wheatbeer said were debatable.

6.  Do you usually retreat your Russian marines from the very far east to be in Moscow in time? You could, on the other hand, combine them with your Mongolian marines, add a bomber and do something useful against the Japanese.

I usually retreat most of them to Moscow to help hold Moscow around R6 or so.  Leaving a few infantry behind does help keep Japan from picking up all those 1 point territories.

8.  Do you use your British fleet in India or do you support Cairo and the Med with them? Does this just depend on whether Japan declares war in turn 1?

I find that usually Japan will crush any British ships around India with the ten or twenty aircraft that are usually buzzing around.  So promptly forming up a fleet around Egypt to threaten Italy is my usual use for that fleet.  Take Persia turn 1, crush the Italian troops around Ethiopia turn 2, move up to Egypt turn 3, then start looking for Italian territories to pick off.

9.  Does a harbor on Wake Island sound reasonable? I have not seen it suggested here. But from there, I can reach Japan, and all my newly build US ships can reach Wake in their first round. And it is one move closer to the battlefield in the West/South.

I wouldn’t place naval facilities on Wake or Midway, those two islands are much easier to invade than Hawaii due to only being two moves from sea zone 6 instead of 3 moves on a single path like the Hawaii sea zone.  I have seen my opponents playing Japan take Midway and then place a naval facility on it.

@Degrasse:

9.  Does a harbor on Wake Island sound reasonable? I have not seen it suggested here. But from there, I can reach Japan, and all my newly build US ships can reach Wake in their first round. And it is one move closer to the battlefield in the West/South.

I wouldn’t place naval facilities on Wake or Midway, those two islands are much easier to invade than Hawaii due to only being two moves from sea zone 6 instead of 3 moves on a single path like the Hawaii sea zone.  I have seen my opponents playing Japan take Midway and then place a naval facility on it.

Yeah, I have a problem with buying new air or naval bases. Yeah, they can really help you out but if they are captured, they can help your enemy out just as well. I hate the idea of spending $15 then having it used against me. Not that I never buy them, I just have to really think about it.

These are good questions, but they get into big picture strategy which make them tough to answer definitively.

I can give some partial answers and hope that others will fill in the rest and alternative opinions.

1. The Allies often maintain a higher economy and so they can afford to take some small net losses (especially in the Pacific) so long as the Allies are slowly but surely tearing down Japan’s economy. If the Allies already have control of the DEI, I would simply ferry ANZAC planes to Calcutta and Moscow and not worry about trying to get ground units onto the Asian mainland. However, that isn’t the only way to play.

2. UK/ANZAC are very unlikely to challenge Japan’s navy without US help.

3. My experience is that the US should go Pacific until Japan is stalled and shrinking. There big exception may be in a Sea Lion game where the US has the chance to threaten to sink Germany’s transports after the invasion.

4. I don’t know. But the Soviets can send air to Calcutta any time they want since there is no penalty or delay for the USSR to declare war against Japan. However, if the USSR is not at war in Europe, then any support to Calcutta must go through China (because they cannot legally fly over or march through territory on the European half of the board until they are at war with Germany and/or Italy).

I see many good players send ANZACs starting fighters to Calcutta (landing on the Sumatra or Java if its safe).

If Japan single-mindedly pursues an early Calcutta crush, then they will be weak in the north and you may be able to convoy raid them or steal Korea.

@Shaniana:

Thank you very much for your answers so far. Some are easy to understand, to some I still have further questions. And, after playing another game, I came up with some new ones.

1. I am still not sure what to do with ANZAC. The suicide missions with transporters and marines have given me some of the islands � I liked it, but it did not play any role in not losing the game in the and. Owning the Islands made no difference. Then, I conquered sometimes even Asian mainlands, Korea, I think. Japan easily got it back. I lost a marine and the transport ship, and I got three credits for the land, makes minus 7. He lost an anti-aircraft cannon, which he did not need, and I forced him to use some of his troops, but still, this did seem unuseful somehow.

2. Is it possible to use the ANZAC �fleet� and the ANZAC money to buy more ships, combine them with the British Indian ships and make a fleet strong enough so that Japan cannot crush it easily? Thus, the US could throw in everything into Europe and I would still not lose in Asia too soon?

3. Has experience told you it is better to go into the pacific or Europe with the US? Or is it impossible to say? In the 1942 version, it seems that most of the time, a �Europe first� is crucial for winning.

4. Is it theoretically possible to prevent Japan from taking India in round three if Japan undertakes every effort to get it? I cannot block them because we have peace, so he stands with his troops next to India in the end of round two. He then attacks with so many aircrafts� even if I just buy marines or anti-air, the battle calculator calculates that I lose all the time. I cannot bring troops or planes from ANZAC� I cannot send Russian planes because of neutrality, can I? And I don�t know it anyway in Russia�s first turn. I could bring some troops and planes from Egypt, but that makes it very easy for Italy and does not guarantee me success in India� any ideas on that? Or is it just something I have to accept and use the advantage that gives me with the US? Can I then still do �Europe first� with the US?

5. Attacking the Italian fleet proved to be a good idea. But then he rebuilt a transport ship in his first round. I attacked again, thus slowing him down further. But I had not left much of a royal airforce, either, due to scrambling German planes. In his second round, he got a new transport ship, which I could not attack any more. Thus, I slowed him down a bit, but eventually he came, and because I had to rebuild some fighters in the UK, Italy simply one Northern Africa. So � stop after the first attack? Buy no new fighters in the UK?

6. Might it be wise not to plant anything in the first US round (if not at war) to prevent the Axis from seeing where you are going? You are then slower, of course, because otherwise your ships in the Pacific could already move…

My 2 cents for you from my experience of our group’s AA-meetings (<-not as bad as it sounds ;-)):

1. I personally find that with the ANZAC you must be extremely careful. You should ofc start taking DEI-islands, together with India right away from the start whenever you can (I prefer Java first, followed by DNG). Be patient whenever the Japanese threat is directly pointed towards you. In this case build only units that can defend Sydney (inf, mech, FTR!) but always build 3 defenders a turn. No fancy allied strategy will work for ANZAC once Sydney falls.
If the Japanese seriously plan for Sydney they will take it but you can make them pay, requiring them to come at you with virtually everything they have, dislocating their biggest asset (IJA) for a number of turns.
  Once Sydney can rely on some 60 defense factors (I prefer to have 24 of them come from Australian FTR), OR Japan is obviously no threat to you (very rarely) you are safe enough to start switching to offensive builds, primarily contesting the Japanese soft under belly, the money islands, each and every turn.
Small reminder: US FTR and STR can easily fly into Sydney, helping its defense and at the same time project threats for Japanese ships into multiple sea zones around the DEI.

2. Like Wheatbeer said, very unlikely. I always prefer to combine the ANZAC ships with the USA-fleet and as long as there is no dirdect threat to Sydney, use the growing amount of Australian FTR to protect the US fleet even more (scramble, land on empty CV they send in, etc.).

3. Some of my friends go Europe first-and-100% (even sending the pacific fleet into europe via a navel base in Panama US1) and I must say it is extremely powerful.
Others went (almost) 100% Japan first and gained too little (combined IJN and IJA outmatches US invaders a long time), allowing to let Germany run amok.
I’d say Germany first is a must, whilst never neglecting the pacific at the same time (keep spending 10-20 IPCs in the Pacific theatre every turn, more if Japan threatens you directly). Same as ANZAC: think ahead multiple turns making sure Honolulu and Sydney will remain safe or can be retaken easily (or even traded for another VC prize if necessary). This is easier than attacking deep into  the Japanese perimeter, as the IJA is out of range (you must make that a certainty!). All offensive actions must be taken outside the destructive reaction-range of the combined IJA and IJN. Remember: the IJA-and IJN can strike anywhere, but not everywhere at the same time. Hit them where they aint until you have built up too strong for them. With a Germany first strategy this may take as much as 7-10 turns.

4. Never bothered to try. What the allies could-do seems to much of an over-stretch to me this early in the game.
Just make them pay and hit them where they aint at the same time. The USA can raid their convoys safely (11 IPCs per turn to be taken in the sea of Japan), take Carolines, Marianas, the other small islands the IJA can otherwise use later against you (by attacking you and then land on them). UK should seriously consider to declare Calcutta an open city to preserve its army (retreating beyond Japanese aircover), with the aim to retake Calcutta after Japan takes it, or wait retaking it when the IJA backs off. The longer the IJA is busy chasing the UK-forces-that-might-retake-Calcutta, the better for the allied cause (USA has free reign over the rest of the pacific).

5. Buying FTR in the UK, SA, Canada is always a good idea. they can defend everywhere (even in Moscow if needed) and are very flexible. You can comfort yourself that Moscow is likely to survive if germany has scrambled a few times into the med because these planes are no longer able to attack Moscow, or defend against the invasions of the western allies. I am a big fan of preserving the UK armed forces in Africa, so I declare Cairo an open city whenever need be (handing it over on a plate), planning to take it back the turn after or a little later (remember to build 1 or 2 fast units a turn in SA!). It is ugly but better than loosing both Cairo AND your army. Usually the UK can maintain a strong enough airforce so that any TRS used by Italy go a 1 way trip to Northern Africa only (after which they are killed due to a lack of protection from scramblers). Purchasing TRSs every turn to keep funneling troops into Africa is not good for Italy because they soon face the combined invasion fleets of the USA and the UK at Gibraltar and then Italy wishes to have bought more inf to defend agains them.

6. Not sure what you mean but if you mean simply not to buy anything, sure. Just keep in mind once you are at war you are limited at 10 untits per IC so don’t cut you own fingers ;-). On the other side, if you just buy a lot of aircraft, always handy, they are so flexible that they can go wherever you want. Might even place them in New York and then fly them into Hawai by ‘surprise’. After all, you will need more than your starting forces once war breaks out (especially if the Japanese refuse to declare war on you).

@Shaniana:

@ItIsILeClerc:

2. Like Wheatbeer said, very unlikely. I always prefer to combine the ANZAC ships with the USA-fleet and as long as there is no dirdect threat to Sydney, use the growing amount of Australian FTR to protect the US fleet even more (scramble, land on empty CV they send in, etc.).

Even if I go for a Europe First and there is no US fleet (or just a small one which Japan outnumbers)?

Nah. Not much experience as an ally here but I’d think this is the biggest threat ANZAC can ever face. I think whatever you do with your ships in this scenario must be avoiding anihilation. Either join the UK fleet (if Japan ever allows it), use it as speed bump to buy a crucial turn if Japan comes for Sydney or keep it safely away from Japanese striking range at all times, threatening to kill small fleets/un- or inadequately protected TRS. I think buying ships in this scenario isnt going to help because the IJN + IJA outmatches it so enormously. Better fortify Sydney with all possible IPCs.

@Shaniana:

@ItIsILeClerc:

The USA can raid their convoys safely (11 IPCs per turn to be taken in the sea of Japan)…

How is that done? If I send in Subs, he can destroy them with few planes and one anti-sub-ship. If I send in everything, I might loose some ships to his kamikazee?

First of all, you sail in during the NCM, so kamikazes will not be available to Japan. If they just leave a screen to force combat, attack with planes + 1 or 2 subs, so no kamikazes are allowed either. AFTER emptying the seazone like this you sail into it with the big guns during the NCM. If they leave too strong a naval force, their assault on Calcutta is probably protected by too few  naval forces.
Raiding their convoys can be done if Japan cannot attack your raiders or is outnumbered when attacking. If your subs are raiding and he has no destroyers near, Japan can build a destroyer, loose the IPCs and then place the destroyer. In the USA turn you can then decide to withdraw the subs or attack the destroyer(s).

Anyways, as long as your Naval forces are inferior to the IJN + IJA, you can hit the Japanese where they aint but avoid a direct confrontation so withdraw when they approach. Usually the IJN alone is not strong enough to attack the US fleet without support from the IJA, especially if you can shelter in a sea-zone where you can also scamble (Carolines with Aussie-FTR!).

From my experience, Patience is key in the pacific if you are going for Germany first. Hit and run while building up (at least a CV or 2dd or 2ss or a fully loaded trs per turn).