Pacific UK Strategy

The UK is pretty weak in Pacific.  I have played this game many times and Uk always gets the short end of the deal early.  The best thing the UK can do is defend and hold on to calcutta as long as possible.  Take the DEI quick to get the bonus IPCs that thos islands give.  Japan has to decalre war in order to capture them and make sure the UK has a couple of infantry to guard the dutch islands.

Help protect the Burma road for china.  6 ipcs that china gets is very importaint and can help them hold out against japan a little longer.

Depending on what japan does…whether they go for a usa attack, or british attack…japan has a LOT of aircraft.  If japan was to bring the full strength of its air to asia and attack on the 2nd or 3rd round…the UK will find virtually iompossible to fend off a full strength japanese attack on calcutta later.  Japan should build a nminor complex in asia…allowing tanks and mech inf to roll all over china.

Truth be told…playing the uk in pacific is not easy.  The uk will defending early and often until the usa can get into the fight and start relieving pressure on the uk as the usa will dominate the main pacific ocean and then threaten japan itself.

try this on for size…set up the board game…and play the game solitaire with YOU playing all powers…set up strategies and plans with the power your are playing for the current turn…

believe it or not…its possible to do…

i have played Pacific, Europe and Global solitaire and it made me a decent player when i play against others…

since the UK is what you were really concerned about…take your time when the UK comes up to bat…look at what you have done so far and figure out a good opening move…

The usa will gear up and get into the war a little late…the anzacs can also capture rich territories and capture importaint islands so that the japanese have to fight for them…and dont forget the National objectives…follow them to victory.

I haven’t played Pac stand alone for a long time, but I agree that playing defense is generally the UK’s only choice. With that said don’t be afraid to be aggressive w/UK if the Japanese slow-boat it (haven’t attacked by J2). It could be worth a DOW on UK2 if you can kill off part of the Japanese ground force in China, and remember that UK/Anz only get their NO’s if at war.

If Japan is taking its time and doesn’t DOW by J2 for some reason (maybe they want to eliminate the Allies one at a time starting W/China) think about attacking them on UK2, only if you are in position to kill 5-6 Japanese ground troops in China (Yunnan), and/or can weaken the Imperial navy in some way.

Generally the ground war in China goes: Japan takes Yunnan J1 (but won’t have much to hold it). China try’s to take it back C1 (Burma road NO), and if successful the Japanese might over compensate and bring most of its ground troops in a counter attack on Yunnan J2. If the Japanese make what I would consider a mistake by not declaring war on UK, and stacks the front (Yunnan) w/inf/art then declare war and take them out UK2. You would need to have some inf in Burma/Shan, and maybe have purchased a couple mech for India UK1, and use your air power. The Japanese are hard pressed for ground units in Asia, so if you can kill off much their ground units making China a quagmire for Japan then this will slow them down. You would need to also be in position to take the rest of the DEI for income along w/Dutch New Guinea (Anz NO) to get your NO’s for UK/Anz by declaring war.

I know this would hold the US out for another turn, but not really because the US would still DOW end of US3 and get their NOs. They just couldn’t make any attacks until US4 (unless the Japanese attack them on J3). For this scenario to take place the Japanese would have to have been planning a J3 attack. If you attack UK2, then Japan might not attack the US on J3, which would allow the US to also get the Philippines 5 IPC NO that they normally wouldn’t get if they lose the Philippines on J3. Hope this makes some sense to you, I know the the political situation can be difficult, and everything depends on what the Japanese do.

@WILD:

I haven’t played Pac stand alone for a long time, but I agree that playing defense is generally the UK’s only choice. With that said don’t be afraid to be aggressive w/UK if the Japanese slow-boat it (haven’t attacked by J2). It could be worth a DOW on UK2 if you can kill off part of the Japanese ground force in China, and remember that UK/Anz only get their NO’s if at war.

If Japan is taking its time and doesn’t DOW by J2 for some reason (maybe they want to eliminate the Allies one at a time starting W/China) think about attacking them on UK2, only if you are in position to kill 5-6 Japanese ground troops in China (Yunnan), and/or can weaken the Imperial navy in some way.

Generally the ground war in China goes: Japan takes Yunnan J1 (but won’t have much to hold it). China try’s to take it back C1 (Burma road NO), and if successful the Japanese might over compensate and bring most of its ground troops in a counter attack on Yunnan J2. If the Japanese make what I would consider a mistake by not declaring war on UK, and stacks the front (Yunnan) w/inf/art then declare war and take them out UK2. You would need to have some inf in Burma/Shan, and maybe have purchased a couple mech for India UK1, and use your air power. The Japanese are hard pressed for ground units in Asia, so if you can kill off much their ground units making China a quagmire for Japan then this will slow them down. You would need to also be in position to take the rest of the DEI for income along w/Dutch New Guinea (Anz NO) to get your NO’s for UK/Anz by declaring war.

I know this would hold the US out for another turn, but not really because the US would still DOW end of US3 and get their NOs. They just couldn’t make any attacks until US4 (unless the Japanese attack them on J3). For this scenario to take place the Japanese would have to have been planning a J3 attack. If you attack UK2, then Japan might not attack the US on J3, which would allow the US to also get the Philippines 5 IPC NO that they normally wouldn’t get if they lose the Philippines on J3. Hope this makes some sense to you, I know the the political situation can be difficult, and everything depends on what the Japanese do.

It is hard to have UK units in Burma for a T2 attack on Yunnan. Normally if Japan is waiting for a T3 declaration then they will have 21 planes that can hit Burma. Also Japan gets the 10 dollar bonus for not attacking french indo china and not declaring war on US if you declare with UK. The biggest problem you get from attacking with UK T2 is that US doesn’t get her 40 dollar immediate bonus if attacked before Turn 4 that Krieghund says are now in the official rules.

@theROCmonster:

It is hard to have UK units in Burma for a T2 attack on Yunnan. Normally if Japan is waiting for a T3 declaration then they will have 21 planes that can hit Burma. Also Japan gets the 10 dollar bonus for not attacking french indo china and not declaring war on US if you declare with UK. The biggest problem you get from attacking with UK T2 is that US doesn’t get her 40 dollar immediate bonus if attacked before Turn 4 that Krieghund says are now in the official rules.

The US receives 30 IPCs, not 40.

Marsh

The UK is in a rough spot in Pacific. It’s difficult to talk about strategy for a specific Allied power in this variant, because all the powers must work together and each power is just a piece of the puzzle, but I will try to address just the UK.

You must be wary of Japan’s strengths, a massive air force and a massive navy. With a naval base on Hainan, India is two moves away from Japan. This means that you must have sufficient forces within one move of India proper that are sufficient to hold off a naval assault on Calcutta. (Forces beyond this capacity can venture into China once you are at war with Japan.)

If Japan can hold Yunnan and land its airforce there, the entire Japanese airforce can hit India. This means that Japan cannot be allowed to hold Yunnan, but this is difficult to prevent if Japan truly throws everything at taking and holding the province. (Fortunately, taking and holding Yunnan typically means that a naval assault on India itself is delayed by at least one turn.)

Because you are making less money than Japan throughout the game, you must have help to hold if Japan goes for a “fast India kill” approach. Ideally, you will get reinforcements from ANZAC in terms of fighters and possibly some ground forces. At the very least, the ANZAC fighter and infantry in Malaya should be brought into Burma and then to India as soon as possible. Ideally, ANZAC fighters from Australia should also be brought in for the defense of India.

While you have a respectable navy, it is not a match for Japan’s. In this variant, the UK typically uses its navy in three ways:

1. To block a Japanese attack on the “money islands” (Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes)
2. To prevent Japan from getting support shots during an amphibious assault on India itself.
3. In conjunction with naval forces from ANZAC and the US, providing a 1-2-3 punch on Japan’s forces as a counterattack.

The exact nature of your naval movements depends on which of Japan’s movements you must counter. It’s helpful to think of it as “how many turns can I slow Japan down if I do this…” – you must hold until the US can come into the game and put pressure on Japan.

You must exploit Japan’s weaknesses, namely:

1. Lack of ground forces on the mainland.
2. Limited logistics – Japan can only build in bulk in Japan.

As a general rule, you should ALWAYS kill Japanese ground forces if you can do so without weakening the defense of India. Japan’s limited logistics and light ground forces on the mainland are factors working in your favor. (This general rule also applies to China and, to a much lesser extent, ANZAC.)

Japanese factories on the mainland are very common occurrences because of limited logistics. When these factories are built on Chinese territories, don’t overlook the possibility of 1-2 punching them in combination with the US and ANZAC to take the territory and thus automatically destroy the factory.

Stray Japanese transports should always be killed if possible, but your air force is small and limited in range if you want to stay within range of India for defense. (Don’t overlook the possibility of using French Indochina as a landing base for your aircraft following an attack on Japanese transports.)

An early declaration of war against Japan can allow you to kill vulnerable Japanese fleet elements. The possible advantage here is that once Japan is at war because of your declaration of war its transports cannot be loaded in a hostile sea zone. If you can delay an assault with forces that could be loaded onto enemy transports, this may be an option for you. (Remember though that this allows Japan to attack you without bringing the US into the war!)

How you play the UK early in the game depends heavily on how Japan plays. If Japan’s first action is to load up transports and head them to the Carolines, you can figure that you have some slack before the storm hits India and you should probably make your first build a more aggressive one (possibly a tank, a mech, and a fighter) that can threaten Japan on the mainland and cut his income from territories in China by blitzing and killing Japanese infantry…

On the other hand, if Japan’s first build is transports you have to consider the possibility that those loaded transports might be hitting India two turns from now and you have to build more defensively (typically three infantry and two artillery with the UK’s starting 17 IPCs).

Once the US is in the war, your primary job as the UK is to not get killed AND to counter Japan’s moves on the mainland in conjunction with Chinese forces, but that is typically several turns into the game.

I’m sure other folks have some thoughts on this matter.

Marsh

Do any of you consider uniting the ANZAC and British Fleets?