Germany seems to go fine, especially with the russian troops from Leningrad who will be trapped G3 and won’t be able to make it back to Moskow.
Germany is only three turns away from the russian capital and is without immediate threats to the territories it’s holding.
Maybe your next step could be to declare war to the western allies with Japan.
Howdy. Axis looks solid, of course, they have a dramatic advantage in OOB play.
The italian can opener could be stronger–for a standard G2 they can bring 4 tanks, a few mechs, and air, which gives them 2-3 separate strikes before Italy is used up.
the USA is splitting. Thats good, because Japan has moved everything down south. If US had 100% KJF, you’d can’t leave SZ6/Japan empty (at the end of this next turn)
I move 2-3 of those guys you moved to Anhwe to Kiangsi, because all the other guys who could attack HK have other jobs on that turn in my J2.
Since he hasn’t sent his ANZAC planes to India, taking it may be possible, early. Not sure how many pieces you have to do it with–you’ll need an airbase to bring more than 6 x 4move flyers in.
Japan’s next turn is telling; normally in this configuration (no naval base) ill move my US pieces into strike range of SZ 6, so depending on whether you build the AB or the NB (or neither) this should telegraph whether you intend to take Bombay as your priority. If Japan ends its turn without substantial forces within reach of SZ 6, I’d move my US fleet to 7 or build NB on Wake so that you can’t screen me out. At the least, this move prevents you from bringing all your air to the culminating india battle. That’s the big thing I see here–since you’ve moved all your capital ships south, Japan will struggle to position a counterstrike force on the homeland without some of those assets coming back (and USA goes after you in turn order so you need to be properly set up at J2 end). Once you step towards India, then the pieces can’t come back at all before the USA can interfere/threaten SZ 6. This is especially devastating to Japan, because any new navy has to be placed in a zone that would be under some serious threat.
I assume you are ready to J2, blow him up!
@taamvan so, you think i should J2 DOW on USA or UK/ANZAC(thus all the western allies as the US gets to come in free) Also, i never thought about a NB on wake, that is particulary unfriendly!
@Sire-Fred ya, and I have all of my starting luftwaffe +1 additional SB purchased on G1. Russia can attack my whole stack in the middle, and its basically a 50/50, but my mobile units and planes make it rough for them on the crack back.
As far as I can see, you are ready to J2, delaying that further risks a UK “bunt” (they declare war before you do, breaking the link between DoW and USA, but getting UK bonus for HK+Malaya, plus 2 x 5 bonuses with ANZAC, and they can muddle into your fleet, preventing you from loading your transports)
In an un- or lightly modified G40, I like plan “A”–buy primarily subs with USA, watch Japan move off of SZ 6, and keep him busy. No splitting, 100% KJF. Trading fleet for fleet benefits the Allies. The small allies can set up to mop a damaged Japanese fleet up–ive survived the confrontation with the USA with 3 carriers, 1 undamaged w planes, and a tippd BB, only to have UK and ANZAC mop that substantial force off the map later in the turn.
If Japan doesnt leave at least 1 carrier or spend on more fleet, he will find himself overloaded by a full-court press by all the allied powers on that board. The combinations there are endless (Plan B; Yunnan Stack with Russia help + bid, ANZAC + UK planes stack Java breaking the island spice bonus long game, US bombers fly over land in russia because it kept 20 units east)–but these are all alternative plans to the simplest one–find an unblockable position near SZ6–the Japan player will either have to build against you at a disadvantage, or he would have to abandon the attempt to go all in on Calcutta or Sydney or risk losing control of SZ 6. Keep in mind im not advocating for the US trying to camp on or in SZ 6 with everything, Japan can blow it up from every direction–just that they threaten it or have the capacity to clear it off, which prevents Japan from building there safely, if he doenst recall part of his southern attack fleet. He simply can’t fuel 2-3 factories with ground units when you are putting 20+ subs within striking range of his backfield.
These plans work well because Japan pre-threshold (sub 50 income) is the Axis only real weakness. Rescuing Russia is more costly, and less efficient–the optimal path is to pressure Japan such that taking moscow or calcutta causes them to lose control of Japan’s rear areas.
@taamvan so, its crowded, but i only have 1TT in the main fleet, the other 2 are SZ6. I can probably rely on my opponents to keep splitting their navy purchase between G and J, so i was going to turtle for J2 with prospective buy of 6 MI, 1 NB, and 1 Inf, or 5 MI, 1 Armour, 1 ACC. (i have 42 IPCs) i’m relying on my 2 MCs from J1 to keep the ground and pound going. I’m worried if i J2 DOW that germany and italy aren’t strong enough to hold out for moscow, but sand bagging gets me moscow and than a straight up fight… i would love a critique of this plan!
He appears to have left his russian forces east, for the long game. This makes taking moscow much easier, difficult to fail really.
If you don’t J2, then you have to consider what you’re gaining by one more turn of positioning and building up, vs. moving forward now. Sometimes these plans involve abusing the peace (by passing through the enemy blockers), but if that’s not true, the delay will tend to make the Allies stronger and Japan weaker.
Since you didnt’ go for extra TTs, you may be correct that staying the course is a good move–build on the continent and focus on crushing China. But until you declare war, you don’t need one giant megafleet, its just hanging out waiting for war. Waiting until the last minute to declare total war tends to leave Japan’s income low and make India too strong to take. Their starting advantage is wasted because the relative strength of the allies increases in lockstep in turns 1-4.
There are also alot of yummy pieces on the board to destroy this turn that will be safe next turn. And don’t forget what I said up above, the UK “bunt” is usually a solid move (UK declares war, can move into Yunnan if it wants, moves 1 ship among your fleet, your transports cannot load unless the boys stayed on board. USA stays out 1 extra turn, but UK and ANZAC get 15$ and a whole turn to goof around)
During a classic J1, you can strip out all of UKPACs income, suffocating it. This is a strong Japanese plan, open hard, no factories early, crush UK income. The only problem is you need to defend SZ6 from game start, bigtime.
@taamvan so, if i’m following you, i want to mop up SZ37, 41, 42. Knock out kwangtung to preempt calcutta bonuses, but it seems my TTs get stranded unless i buy a NB for kwangsi and scoop up island money J3. Are the phillipines a priority of SZ6 TTs?
I was hoping to maybe NB kwangsi J2, TTs there and loaded on end of J2, and sail to targets on J3, but i suppose if I DOW J2, i scoop up island money virtually unopposed J3…
Ok, i play again tomorrow night, and, if my opponents play at their same rate of speed, we will get from USSR2 through, hopefully G3. I will check again if anybody has any additions or thoughts, thanks everyone!
Maybe my eyesight isn’t all that great, but I’m having a hard time seeing all the units at this resolution., especially the German ones. How many Germans are there in Eastern Poland? It seems to me like the Russians can hit that force, but I’m not sure, and I can’t readily distinguish the Russian planes either.
One thing I do see though, is a single Russian inf in Amur while there are also 12 Russian inf in Buryatia. I think that’s one too many?
@KaLeu I believe it’s 13 inf, 3 art, 3 tanks… it’s about 50/50 if the Russians bring the house and he is crushed beyond recognition on the crack back. And he has 17 in the big Russian stack and 1 in Amir, which is the total 18 starting
My problem with J2 Dow is that I get in theory + 7 income by taking kwangtung and Borneo. I can kill 53 ipc’s worth of English units. I can kill seven ipc’s of Anzac units. I can get Dutch Indochina for plus 2 ipc’s. I will get Plus 4 I ipc’s in Chinese territory that I would get no matter what. I get plus two ipcs because I can take the Philippines from the United States because they get to come into the war for free by attacking the UK unprovoked, so this means that I am up 15 I PCS for territory but I lose my 10 IPC bonus for not being at war with the US. the United States then gets a $30 bonus because I attacked them unprovoked an additional 20 ipc’s for National objectives. anzac will get + 10 ipc’s for their National objectives this virtually eliminates any advantage I got for killing the English naval units in the Dutch colonies. the United States then uses its bonus income to buy transports and hit the Mediterranean of an already weakened Italy. This then makes the Germans have to bail out the Italian slowing my march to Moscow. Can I assume that J2 Dow makes more sense if I had more transports in better locations?
Imagined you already played, but just to point out some things about your comment
plus 14 in american ships so 67 TUV, which is a nice win for Japan, bc your opponent left that stuff in range
the 30+ for unprovoked war is for the Pacific only version to address the glaring imbalances in that version, so its not used in the Global games
you are correct about the income trade but that trade happens at some point in the game the question is how does Japan exploit that
also correct that with 5 tt you’d be taking spice on J2
when japan declares war, taking malaya blows two of those bonuses its key
but either way you’re set up to pile into asia or india with a huge spearhead of troops
so i hope you J2d and did that awaiting status report…
@taamvan ya, i don’t think i have the stuff to get malaya on T2, which really stinks, no game was played due to december tornadoes rolling through central illinois (where i happen to live), major flash flooding, and road closures… so, hopefully next week i will have an update! I also need to figure out where in the rules it shows that the 30 for unprovoked only applies to pacific only… thanks so much!!!
Well, we barely got to the end of Italy T2, the Japs were fortunate in that we only lost 2 infantry and rocked both battleships. I didn’t lose any planes or naval vessels, but the US has pushed up to iwo jima. The USSR 2 brought the downfall of finland, but i knocked out 2 infantry in the process, as well as reclaiming east poland, also at the loss of 2 infantry. The Mediterranean is looking unpleasant, and the UK has built a complex on Egypt… hit me with your thoughts!
Japan ended w/ 44 IPCs, the Germans will have 48IPCs
As Germany/Italy I would put a blocker in SZ104 and SZ109 postponing the American landing by at least 1 turn.
Additionally any units that are on either normandy, holland and southern france will never be able to counter an invasion as you are spreading yourself thin. I would put a force in France that is able to clear any invasion on the beaches of all the different territories. Therefor try and invest in a number of artillery there.
This tactic works when you can support the counter with enough airforce. Therefor I would try and ensure I have more airforce. Strat Bombers can reach Moscow from Western Germany while you also threaten a bombing run on the fleet in front of Gibraltar.
As for Japan, it looks like the US put itself out of position unless they’ve build a naval base on Wake? They can’t reach Japan in one turn nor can they go to Queensland. There is no new build so you will have the upper hand for 2 turns. Build 2-3 more transports + fill your current ones and take them to the phillipines. Regroup your fleet and you have a force that next turn could go to the carolines (and take Sydney, go back to Japan if the US fleet moves in) or go west and take malaya and press onwards towards Calcutta (although you seem to be moving in there with most of your ground force anyway, so that may not be a necessity)
