OK, Japan’s opening move is often a more fluid situation due to 3 nations moving before Japan.
Opening Buy:
3 Trannies, 6 INF.
I am not going to be specific to the piece here due to fluid environment. Going with some general principles…
1. Take out UK fleet off Kwangtung. This was the India fleet. It took out a Japan tranny to slow down Japan in Asia, and will inflict losses as it dies. East Indies fleet will be tasked with destroying these forces. If India fleet is still near India, or headed for Australia, then the East Indies fleet still takes it out.
2. Pearl. Unlike Classic where skipping Pearl can be a viable Japan strategy, in Revised it is essential. Use Bomber, Japan BB, Caroline AC with figs. Avoid sub if possible. That is your block of UK Australia fleet.
3. Bury Landings. Land the Japan tank and 1 INF in Bury if it is not stacked. If stacked, wait for J2 to land (with BB support).
4. China. Take out China. This is an ESSENTIAL task for Japan in J1. NOT AN OPTION! Be sure to take it with MAXIMUM forces to reduce casualties. You need to keep your AF alive, but you also have limitted land forces in Asia to start, so don;t squander them. Give your opponent only ONE roll against you.
5. India. If UK went to Africa with their India land forces, take India. Otherwise, bide your time. Wait until you have additional land forces available (probably via tranny) and available AF to support the attack.
After J1, start pulling back in the Pacific. You can;t go head-to-head with the US, you will lose. You need to get more IPC’s, and weaken Germany’s primary opponents: Russia and UK. To do this you need trannies and land forces (tank and INF in even builds to match tranny capacity)
If Russia pulls back in Asia, pursue them with a minimum of INF, and maybe 1 or 2 ARM for added defense strength. This is the Northern Prong of your 3-prong attack. Supporting the Northern Prong requires trannies in SZ60.
Your main avenue of attack should be via China, the Central Prong. This is supported via trannied forces into Manchuria from Japan (trannies in SZ61) as well as forces trannied from your islands to land in Kwang and Manchuria. Your massed Japan FIGS provide your offensive punch here, being based 1 territory behind your front land forces (in Manchuria in J1, in China after you take Sinkiang, and then to Sinkiang after you take Novo and Kazakh.)
Your third avenue of attack is in Southern Asia, the south prong. This is forces going from FIC to India, then to Persia. From there you can split to attack Kazakh, Caucuses and Trans Jordan. The South Prong is almost exclusively supported by your navy and trannied forces from the islands. Once India is secured, Japan is probably up against their build limit, so an FIC IC is needed (which can be used to send ARM to either the southern or central prong).
Tertiary attacks:
About J3, your main fleet is out of business. The US is probably deep into KGF and has no ships in the Pacific (or their ships are all on Western). The UK Pacific/Indian Opening fleet is dead or gone (may still have sub/tranny in deep south pacific). If UK still has presence near Australia, send 1 BB and 1 AC with 1-2 figs and 1 loaded tranny south toward Australia. Take out the remaining UK ships, then take Australia. If you fail, resupply from nearby islands and attack again (1 INF at a time on subsequent attack to maximize BB use). After Australia, take New Zealand. Doing this, you are still in a position to defend against any new US presence in the Pacific while staying offensive against UK.
After Australia and New Zealand, evaluate your position with those forces. If the US is still all in against Germany, you have choices. Otherwise you take those ships for defense against US. If US is still on Germany, decide if you need those forces on the Southern Prong. 2 moves puts those land forces via tranny as wel as the figs and support shot for use in the Middle East. The next makes them available for all of East Africa. Fill those trannies and head for UK’s money… You can also head for Brazil. But watch those Allied Atlantic forces. Anything from SZ12 can block your Brazil landing in 1 move. From anywhere south of Scotland they can block you in 2 rounds (and it takes you 2 rounds to get there from NZ). You can though still feint on Brazil and reach South Africa in 2 rounds from NZ, potentially diverting Allied navy from Germany in the process. Evaluate the board carefully…
Alaska:
From J3 forward, you MAY need to get the US’s attention to help pull forces off of Germany. The quick answer for this is to send a tranny (with capital ship(s) for protection from SZ60 to Alaska IF it is open. US has to counter with at least a few land forces. If he doesn;t, abort your Asia strategy and move EVERYTHING you can get to Alaska the next round AND build an IC there… FIGS, land units, naval protection… EVERYTHING that can reach! Now US HAS to py attention to you, and ALL of there forces will be heading your way. Hold as long as you can, or until US starts ignoring your incursion, then back to Asia.
Hawaii:
Hawaii should only be taken for one reason, and only if the threat is ACTUAL (as in the bombing is in progress)… to prevent the US from attacking your tranny fleet with bombers based out of Hawaii. If they base a bunch of bombers there, go in hard and fast and take them out. Otherwise, ignore Hawaii until you have NOTHING else you can do with the forces that can reach it. Even then, think twice about taking an extra round to get those forces to where they ARE of use. Hawaii is a non-entity.
Mediteranean:
This is an area that Japan should only be in AFTER the Axis has already effectively won the game. Any Capital ships and trannies in the Indian Ocean should STAY there. Use your island forces, forces transported OUT of Asia (be careful doing that) and build forces from the FIC IC to take over Africa first. The only way you should move into the Med before you control 2/3 of Africa is if the Suez is open and the Allies have presented a fleet in the Med that you can attack and destroy with a high degree of success. Otherwise, moving to the med takes you too far away from your IC’s to re-supply, and your actions there are wasted.
Good enough for ya?
