J-3 DOW on W.Allies. J-1 buy Poll

IC for Shanghai and two TTs.

I think everyone on these forums has, but if you haven’t then check out Young Grasshopper’s G40 Runthrough video series when he goes over the Japan J1 attack and DOW. If I choose to go a J3 then I am pretty much setting myself up to perform the same move as the J1 but on J3 minus a few changes(the UK BB and Anzac DD and TT probably be either moved or better defended) so those are usually not hit. But it’s still a MiC and two TT’s for me. Also on J2 you will need to purchase at least one more TT, if not two, making sure it’s fully loaded. The tricky thing is, is to try and grab all the money islands on J3 along with Kwangtung and the Philippines while still being able to march inward into China. If Anzac and UK Pacific have 2 Inf on each of those islands you might have to wait until J4 to get your NO for that.

I agree with protest, the mainland and the Islands must be the early focus for Japan no matter what round you attack, and there’s no better purchase with 26 IPCs (with those 2 objectives in mind) than 2 transports and a factory.

Looking for opinions with explanations. Question is: Where do people generally put the factory if purchased on J1 (assume no DOW on UK/Anzac/FIC)? We have also been experimenting with a NB on the first turn in Kwangsi to facilitate the transport shuck shuck and the ability to threaten india instantly.

@wittmann:

IC for Shanghai and two TTs.

Agree in full. Don’t think it’s all that controversial, actually.

@seancb:

Looking for opinions with explanations. Question is: Where do people generally put the factory if purchased on J1 (assume no DOW on UK/Anzac/FIC)? We have also been experimenting with a NB on the first turn in Kwangsi to facilitate the transport shuck shuck and the ability to threaten india instantly.

OK, I think Young Grasshopper explained the reasons quite succinctly above. I prefer the NB on Hainan, personally, but to each his own.

Slow day here at work. No new client requests so here is what this essentially looks like the end of the day. Blue is noncombat. Taking guam and midway to try to get perimeter NO.

Turn 3 DOW. with NB you can go anywhere.

Usually three transports, which keeps all the Allies wondering what Japan is going to do. Building an MIC is telegraphing that you’re going after India and/or Russia, which lets ANZAC and US off the hook somewhat. I have done the MIC build but I usually go with three transports.

I typically follow that up on J2 with four transports and a carrier.

EDIT: Sometimes it’s ok to tell India that it’s going to die horribly no matter what else happens.  :-D

Marsh

I alternate between the 3 trn buy and the 2trn, IC buy. Both are strong imho, they just have slightly different focuses. Grabbing as many of the DEI, Phi, and Malaya on the turn you DOW is usually key towards upping Japan’s income and more transports are needed in order to accomplish that goal.

The 2 transport buy allows you to go after those important territories right off the bat. Early on especially, those transports aren’t going to be bringing many troops to the mainland as they’ll be focusing on grabbing islands. So plunking a minor down early really helps Japan get the troops they need on the mainland in order to control the road longterm as well as eventually push into India.

A 3rd transport bought gives Japan a little flexibility in landing somewhere to disrupt the Aussie NOs. Sometimes an allied player will stack a single island heavily in order to deny the Japanese their NO. Having an extra transport could be handy in those situations. But more importantly a 3rd transport can be the difference in pulling off a J3 India crush and I like to have that flexibility if I see an opportunity. Another strike against the minor is Japan’s lower income at the start of the game. It’s hard to justify fully using all 3 build slots every turn before Japan’s income climbs into the 50-60 IPC range. There are just so many things Japan needs to build and only so much money to spread around.

@seancb:

Looking for opinions with explanations. Question is: Where do people generally put the factory if purchased on J1 (assume no DOW on UK/Anzac/FIC)? We have also been experimenting with a NB on the first turn in Kwangsi to facilitate the transport shuck shuck and the ability to threaten india instantly.

Shanghai for the first MiC Japan puts down. Three mechs per turn after that no matter what. Maybe even 2 mechs 1 armor on the first purchase, depending on what China is looking like and where the USA has been spending their IPCs. As far as the NB goes, it is a strong purchase and a strong placement but I tend to get a 2nd MiC on the mainland first then the NB to try and get a three headed monster of troop spawning going. Usually the 2nd is in FIC or perhaps Hong Kong if the Burma Road is being heavily guarded and dice rolls haven’t been going so well for Japan. Then with the NB you can get a good shuck-shuck system going.

On a side note I do believe that without a J1 DOW then Germany and Italy really have to be doing well on the other side to get some USA income being spent in that theatre. If USA goes full Pacific and is in strong position when it’s at war then Japan without a strong income because of no DOW might have some issues.

If I do build an MIC with Japan I pump out infantry first (takes longer to get there) and then fast movers later on unless I have a definitive early need for fast movers.

Marsh

@MeinHerr:

The Shanghai factory is a major ongoing investment….
Every turn , Japan invests $12 there from the very first turn… in Mechs…

Should USSR march the Siberian horde back to Moscow, would it not be better to “steal” the:
6 Inf+ 1Art from Manchuria–>Jehol
and the 4 Inf from Korea, and utilize the 6 Inf+2Art+tank in Japan and 1 Inf in IwoJima and 1 Inf in Okinawa
all added = 18 Inf + 3 Art+ Tank � ie => 11 TR Loads

Lets say , that we spare 4 Inf from Manchuria to keep going into Northern China… , that brings it to 9 TR loads.

Japan starts with 3 TRs… � On J1 - 2 TR loads are used

If buy is 2 more TRs in J1 , they use 2 more TR loads

if J2 buy is 4 TRs … , that is 4 more TR loads.

Leaving 3 TR loads remaining… that still have to be used. �

In reality , there are 5 TR loads remaining… ( i use the 2 Inf+ AAA from Carolines) , as well as the Palau Inf and Manchuria AAA also… � since the Carolines Inf usually die when the US comes in.

Yes, the Mechs are mobile…. and catch up with the front line troops…, but is the investment worth it? Esp when so many troops are staying unused.

Lets say for 4 turns Japan produces ( 12) Mechs… that is $12+ $48 = $60

This is 3 CV+ 2 Subs equivalent… that Japan loses out on.

To me, 3 TR buy is a better investment than an mIC… Unless the plan is to help Germany get Moscow… by invading USSR from the rear.

I don’t get a lot of this, I understand trying new things… but is the Mechs on Minors a broken strategy for Japan?

Land units for Japan exist and are purchased for many reasons like fighting Calcutta, China, and Russia. Land units don’t exist for the sole purpose of loading massive amounts of transports, there needs to be diverse spending in my opinion. Maintaining a transport fleet of 5, plus 2 factories in Shanghai and FIC is a great balance for all the objectives Japan needs to accomplish to be successful. I’ve never heard of an Allied counter that is forcing us to rethink factory and mech purchases for Japan. Sure we can add up all that money and describe an alternative purchase of units, but just because this amount of mechs and factories could buy us this amount of aircraft carriers and subs doesn’t mean we should. If the 5 transports get sunk for what ever reason, I want to be able to get land units on the mainland while I rebuild those transports, and I’m screwed if I don’t already have factories pumping out mechs. How would buying just transports instead of factories win the Axis the war?.. both factories and transports have value the other doesn’t.

Factory for the reasons already mentioned and the transports to jump on all the $$ islands when its time.

Why 2TTs? What troops are you going to put on them J2? Japan has 3inf 2art 1arm removed J1 leaving 3inf 3aaa.

2TTs mean you’ll be relegated to shipping AAA to the mainland or picking up some inf from the islands unless I’m missing something.

@simon33:

Why 2TTs? What troops are you going to put on them J2? Japan has 3inf 2art 1arm removed J1 leaving 3inf 3aaa.

2TTs mean you’ll be relegated to shipping AAA to the mainland or picking up some inf from the islands unless I’m missing something.

The TT in SZ 6 picks up a Inf, Arm. The transport next to Manchuria picks up a Inf and Art from Manchuria. There is a third transport two sz’s away from Japan with no NB next to it. By my count there should still be two art left to go on turn 2.

Hmm, that’s not what I do. SZ19 TT picks up inf+arm from Japan and lands them on the 3IPC territory.

SZ20 TT lands two units on Korea.

Perhaps it doesn’t work very well???