Upgrading industrial complexes

I think the issue comes from the China Rules in the Pacific 1940 rulebook (page 10):

“Some of these territories begin the game already under Japanese control. They still are considered Chinese territories for purposes of original ownership.”

So the only place Japan can ever build a major complex is Korea.

Kiangsu is a Chinese originally owned territory. That is why you can not build there. Japan can only build a Major in Korea.
If you press edit on AAA, you can give yourself the 20 IPCs back or replace it with units to that value.  If you were playing a serious game, you could not do this, as you would have to place the IC on Korea(if you had a Minor there, of course).

@wittmann:

Kiangsu is a Chinese originally owned territory. That is why you can not build there. Japan can only build a Major in Korea.
If you press edit on AAA, you can give yourself the 20 IPCs back or replace it with units to that value.  If you were playing a serious game, you could not do this, as you would have to place the IC on Korea(if you had a Minor there, of course).

It also explains why the territory reverts to chinese if another allied power were to take it.

Hijacking the thread! In TrippleA, if all chinese territories are conquered by the axis and are Axis controlled during one round, then liberated by the allies, doesnt china get to place troops again?

It applies to the board game as well, but yes; China has no capital and thus its original territories are always liberated by the other allies, not captured.

@DiscoKnekt:

Hijacking the thread! In TrippleA, if all chinese territories are conquered by the axis and are Axis controlled during one round, then liberated by the allies, doesnt china get to place troops again?

BOOM goes the dynamite… you are right!!!

To solve your refund problem, there is a tab in TripleA at the top of the screen Game >Enable Edit Mode > Add Units.

Provided your opponent is cool, you could do this at your place units phase, or during a subsequent turn. This way at least you don’t lose 20 ipcs on a wasted upgrade that you can’t use.

I think “originally controlled territory” was a pretty poor choice of words in the rulebook, since everyone who reads that confuses the distinction between ‘originally controlled territory’ and ‘starting territories.’ A clearer way to say it might be to add an extra parenthetical line “(only if the territory has your national roundel printed on the map.)”

TripleA does us a favor, acting like a tutorial of sorts, and preventing common mistakes that might otherwise dramatically alter the game. I think we need an official digital game, for reasons exactly like this. Until it comes along, TripleA can be a very useful way to learn a new board.

speaking of which, Larry Harris is now a major partner of Games Table Online. And apparently he is in the development stages of the ultimate online/board game

If Larry gets the ENTIRE A&A series on GTO I will become an online player!