How to handle money islands as Anzac/UK

And behold!  We are back where we started.  To send US forces down to Australia or not to send?  Ti send the whole fleet or not to send?  I still say that I like having America in two places.  Earlier posts have proved that Japan cannot ignore either the north or the south without difficulty.  The best Allied offensive maneuvers rely on mobility, calling your enemy out of his armor, and not allowing the Axis to focus it all in one place.

The main argument for splitting up an American task force is that Japan typically has to deal with both halves.

Japan does not have the resources, units, or incentive to go after you on both fronts.  Just sit back and keep the imperialists sweating because they are spread too far as a result of your threats.

I have three ways of cracking the nut.  My personal favorite, a smaller aerial and low-cost naval force in Australia to counterattack Japanese counterattacks in the Dutch East Indies.  Meanwhile, a larger American navy up north is preventing an equal portion of the IJN and its airforce from moving anywhere.  Japan eventually gets stretched too far and forced to spend more IPCs on the Pacific than Asia.

Another option: the historical approach of hitting Japan at its Pacific core.  The obvious place to go is the Caroline Islands where you can threaten so many places at once.  Iwo Jima, New Guinea, and others can be used as well.  The problem with this strategy is that it requires quite a bit of spending in order to make keep an American fleet safe in the heat of the Japanese forces.

And the last option: the late-war method of subs and bombers.  Spam the Pacific with so many submarines that Japan is getting convoyed uncontrollably and afraid to push around its transports.  Meanwhile, use Russia as a springboard to bomb Japan and Chinese factories as well as get a land war started up north.

These are just a few ways you can hurt Japan.  There are many other great Allied strategies such as the famous Alaskan/Aleutian shuttle line and the lesser-known “Fortress Singapore.”  But nearly all strategies require distraction, pressure, and keeping your cool.  The point is this: don’t just stack all your American navy in one place.  Unless Japan has become inferior in their naval assets or unable to spend on ships, you’ll just spend the whole game doing nothing (unless you manage to get deep enough into the Pacific that Japan cannot rely on blocking you with a single navy in Japan/Philippines/etc.

Hopes this helps you control that beast of a nation.

I usually play as Axis, but in the past the worst problem for me is if the U.S. can gather its starting assets together, maybe a US1 buy, too, all of Japan’s starting isn’t enough to fend it off, so you either have to abandon SZ6, or overspend to keep up, which leaves the money islands vulnerable.

Its why, as Japan, I now prefer J1 and taking out Hawaii and Philippines.  At most you lose a sub, putting the U.S. behind for a change while your other assets shield your transports from the weak Anzac fleet.

@Charles:

And behold!  We are back where we started.  To send US forces down to Australia or not to send?  Ti send the whole fleet or not to send?

All I’m saying is don’t discount the possibility. Every game is different. A flexible attitude will lead to more victory!

Marsh

Amen.

@weddingsinger:

I usually play as Axis, but in the past the worst problem for me is if the U.S. can gather its starting assets together, maybe a US1 buy, too, all of Japan’s starting isn’t enough to fend it off, so you either have to abandon SZ6, or overspend to keep up, which leaves the money islands vulnerable.

Its why, as Japan, I now prefer J1 and taking out Hawaii and Philippines.  At most you lose a sub, putting the U.S. behind for a change while your other assets shield your transports from the weak Anzac fleet.

I agree, but as discussed I generally do a hit and run on the Hawaiian fleet, and end up at Wake with about 1/2 the IJN. I typically lose a sub and dd in the sz26 battle, and also my dd blocker left in sz26 in the US counter attack for a total of 3 ships (1ss, and 2 dds). I still think it is well worth doing though. Hitting both sz26, and sz35 will kill off 47 IPCs worth of US navy, plus the Phil ftr making it 57 IPCs in navy/air. That is more then the spending allowance of the US in the first turn (52 IPCs). These are units that would get away in a J2 or later attack in most cases. Then add the Brit BB and territorial gains and yea it is a pretty damn strong opening move.

Sucker punching the US in the face causes some issues for them, and they will be torn on what side to build on. If they go Pac they are way behind so can’t challenge the Japanese for several turns. They would need to spend most of their income in the Pac for 2-3 turns just to get to even par w/Japan (and the Germans will love it). Yea they can probably send the home fleet up to Hawaii on the first turn as long as the Anz backs them up, but they really can’t do anything once they get there. Maybe move to the safety of Queensland and wait for their supply chain to catch up. The Japanese can just hop scotch to Caroline’s then probably to Philippines where they set up a defensive posture (maybe merging some more of the Imperial navy/air force).

I don’t see the US sending the home fleet over to Europe (something they do on occasion), because then there is no chance in the Pac. So if they want to go Europe they pretty much have to start from scratch because they only have a cruiser and transport. So going Europe means the Japanese don’t have to worry for a long time.

Oh BTW if you really want to F with the US have the Germans hit the US 101 mini fleet G1 with a sub (when you know there will be a J1 attack). If you get lucky the cruiser may not even get to fire, and the transport sinks too.

@ShadowHAwk:

How about combining this with sea-lion?

US/UK will not expect sea-lion with US active so they might overlook it and just think your german build of carrier + destr + sub as a way to get to the med or secure your fleet.
Getting london while US is unprepared might cause them huge issues, go london and japan takes hawai and puts pressure on Anzac, go pacific and london will be in german hands for a long time giving italy the med and quickly over 40 ipcs.

Most would think that Sea lion is off the table w/J1 attack because of possible US interference. Having Germany build some navy G1 just to keep it on the table is a good idea IMO. Taking out the Hawaiian fleet defiantly puts more pressure on the USA, and they do have to choose where to drop their first buy (DC/San Fran or a split).

Yea if the US see’s the possibility of Sea lion they can react, but it could leave the Japanese unchecked if they go overboard. In order to inhibit Sea lion the US needs to react on the first turn. They would need to at a minimum send some starting air units toward London to change the odds of the G3 battle. Like you said if they ignore Europe and go all in pac on the first turn then yea Germany gets a green light, because a US2 build at DC is too late.

Plus it would have a ripple effect on the UK. Even with a minimum G1 naval build, if the US first build is in the Pac and no help is coming then the UK would need to turtle.

@WILD:

Oh BTW if you really want to F with the US have the Germans hit the US 101 mini fleet G1 with a sub (when you know there will be a J1 attack). If you get lucky the cruiser may not even get to fire, and the transport sinks too.

Oh, heck yeah.

Hmm… I’ll have to game out some ideas.  In the past, I’ve even sent two subs down to SZ 91 to guarantee sinking that UK cruiser (to help Italy) even though I know it means Germany will pay for it elsewhere.  Maybe I’ll look through some similar ideas for the U.S.

Have also tried sending a bomber to hit the UK airfield, all but guaranteeing they’ll have to spend a few $$ in order to do Taranto.  Have basically sacrificed the German battleship so I could send both German bombers to hit the UK factory on G1, too.  That was a tough game for him.  Sea Lion was a breeze on G4.

I agree G1 you should strongly consider navy.  I suppose it depends, but without a G1 DOW on Russia, its good to be flexible.  Worst case scenario, I find it very useful to have transports to quickly take Germans against Russia (never mind being able to get more troops up to Norway in a jam) AND to be able to park German ships in SZ 98 and take 6-8 ipc from UK every single turn until the U.S./UK are forced to step in.  A carrier paired with the cruiser and a destroyer and sub is plenty for that.

Most Axis players don’t like navy too much, unless you’re aiming to swing it down to the Med. That can be a strong move. Otherwise, what’s it for? If you’re doing a Sea Lion, you can buy the 10 TTs, next turn buy the CV in SZ110 to protect them.

@WILD:

@weddingsinger:

I usually play as Axis, but in the past the worst problem for me is if the U.S. can gather its starting assets together, maybe a US1 buy, too, all of Japan’s starting isn’t enough to fend it off, so you either have to abandon SZ6, or overspend to keep up, which leaves the money islands vulnerable.

Its why, as Japan, I now prefer J1 and taking out Hawaii and Philippines.  At most you lose a sub, putting the U.S. behind for a change while your other assets shield your transports from the weak Anzac fleet.

I agree, but as discussed I generally do a hit and run on the Hawaiian fleet, and end up at Wake with about 1/2 the IJN. I typically lose a sub and dd in the sz26 battle, and also my dd blocker left in sz26 in the US counter attack for a total of 3 ships (1ss, and 2 dds). I still think it is well worth doing though. Hitting both sz26, and sz35 will kill off 47 IPCs worth of US navy, plus the Phil ftr making it 57 IPCs in navy/air. That is more then the spending allowance of the US in the first turn (52 IPCs). These are units that would get away in a J2 or later attack in most cases. Then add the Brit BB and territorial gains and yea it is a pretty damn strong opening move.

Sucker punching the US in the face causes some issues for them, and they will be torn on what side to build on. If they go Pac they are way behind so can’t challenge the Japanese for several turns. They would need to spend most of their income in the Pac for 2-3 turns just to get to even par w/Japan (and the Germans will love it). Yea they can probably send the home fleet up to Hawaii on the first turn as long as the Anz backs them up, but they really can’t do anything once they get there. Maybe move to the safety of Queensland and wait for their supply chain to catch up. The Japanese can just hop scotch to Caroline’s then probably to Philippines where they set up a defensive posture (maybe merging some more of the Imperial navy/air force).

I don’t see the US sending the home fleet over to Europe (something they do on occasion), because then there is no chance in the Pac. So if they want to go Europe they pretty much have to start from scratch because they only have a cruiser and transport. So going Europe means the Japanese don’t have to worry for a long time.

Oh BTW if you really want to F with the US have the Germans hit the US 101 mini fleet G1 with a sub (when you know there will be a J1 attack). If you get lucky the cruiser may not even get to fire, and the transport sinks too.

Very nice idea, will try it out as Axis this year