How to KJF

I’ll tell you after gencon ;)

@taamvan:

I’ll tell you after gencon ;)

Just one more day Taam and then we will be there  :-D

@RougeOne:

Lately I have been attempting a KJF strategy but it seems like america can barely do anything against the Japanese until round 5-6 and by that time Japan has enough money to defend itself. How do you successfully do a KJF?

First off, that’s accurate.  The USA can’t really threaten Japan until round 5 or 6 in most games, and that’s with the majority of their focus on that hemisphere.  So KJF takes a while.  Gotta have patience.

Do you all suggest KJF in Global? I have never done that. It was my go to strategy in 1942 Revised but seems a little more difficult with the political situations.

You don’t have to kill Japan, you just need to retake one or more of the Money Islands or have China be able to hold the Burma road.  Either of those situations allows the combination of China + UK Pacific + ANZAC to effectively hold back further Japanese expansions.

Be willing to lose units! And commit to it.

If you build up and build up and let Japan preserve their forces, it’ll be a long time before you can really do anything. Just landing their existing planes on newly built carriers lets them keep pace with US builds for some time. Move up to Carolines as soon as you can, possibly with the West Coast fleet. As long as you have a strong enough counter in Haw Sz + air, one of two things will happen.

1. Japan will attack your fleet with overwhelming force but will lose units in the process and also pull it’s air out of position to threaten India/China.
2. Japan will leave that fleet alone and now you’re in a position that threatens a lot of Japanese terr.

You do need to ensure that Japan won’t clear your fleet with too much leftover that it precludes a counter on the US turn. So you might not always be able to take Carolines on US2 (assuming JDOW). But once you do move in and Japan hits you, hit them back. Build a mixture of subs, ac, ftr, and bombers with an odd DD as needed and hammer anything Japan leaves in that sea zone. After a round or two of sinking each other’s fleets, Japan will be hard pressed to keep replacing lost ships/air and still maintain offenses against the money islands, India, and China. US can afford to lose stuff much more than Japan can.

Freed from heavy Japanese threat, India can get a little more aggressive with their builds and moves. London supporting India with air, mech/arm, trns via a middle east mIC will go a long way towards pushing Japan back, especially if US is holding a lot of Jap attention out near the Carolines. India can then step out of it’s capital and start pushing back.

Meanwhile, China just needs to focus on keeping a decent stack and retaking the road ASAP in conjunction with Indian help. Then just march towards the coast as you can.

And if you’re going for a KJF, keep at least 12 of the SFE russians back to threaten Korea/Manchuria while Japan’s dealing with the road, US presence in the Carolines, and Australian/Indian landings in the DEI. Hell, if you’re really committed to a KJF, stack the Russians in Amur on R1 or R2 and dare Japan to hit you. Yeah, you lose 18inf + aa. But you’re forcing Japan’s forces north and away from India and the money islands. Plus you should attrite some of that Japanese air.

The Australians should mainly focus on retaking/holding the money islands while assisting the US as they can with blockers or scramblers for the Carolines.

Japan’s power will be broken once their vaunted air/navy is but a shadow of its former glory. So don’t be afraid to lose ships/air as long as you’re taking stuff with you. You don’t even need to trade even with Japan. US trading fleet/air at a 1-2 or 2-3 ratio can and does work as long as India/Australia are firing on all cylinders, China’s holding the road or at least trading the road, and UK is supporting India with a ME factory. Obviously you’re better off seeking at least 1-1 trades. But Japan only has so much cash to deal with 5 different enemies, something will give.

Hey,

I was playing the USA this time and I did get Tokyo and starve Japan using Convoy’s with the USA on Korea. This was a cat and mouse with USA and Japan, but the USA had the window to move into SZ 6 to land on Korea by Rnd 8/9. Eventually it was basically till rnd 13-17 to totally kill off Tokyo and for the Allies to win the game. Meanwhile Rome was done by rnd 10 and Berlin by rnd 12.

The game was over by rnd 12 with Rome and Berlin gone, but our group plays itself out to the bitter end. The trick was, was to trick the Japanese that the USA had no interest in the Pacific at the very beginning early rnds and was going all out on the Atlantic, by pulling everything as much they can to Washington territory buy and stack up, in till it was time to sway the game to the Pacific in which this case was by rnd 4 USA were in the war. The Germans thought it was a heavy USA invasion coming across to France.

Knowing I was going to do convoys, the majority of my USA purchase was subs ( and enough air to pair up with AC and trans and land units ). These starved the Chinese territories the Japs had when I was in reach to place my USA subs along the coast. Just add up all of the IPC’s along that coast alone incl FIC and Hong Kong. Eventually they had no money to purchase, it was a matter to just keep bombing Tokyo from Korea before move my land units on transports into Tokyo.

It was risky and bold, but this worked well, however the Japanese were also one city away from winning in the Pacific, but in this case two moves too far out of reach.

That game was a proof that Japan can be taken down, even if it’s to the very last city. It all depends as we know what the Japanese is upto, and those good dice rolls, and working with your team mates.

Bravehart.