Pearl Harbor - yes or no?

much latter, Hawaii, Australia, India…then things like that

LOL that just sounds funny

Yes I know it sounds like a Porno term.

In Classic, it almost works even better, since the “retreated” Japan fleet, plus additional units moved in to defend it in the retreat sea zone, are then within striking distance of almost anything they want to hit: Austrlia, New Zeland, Alaska, Western US, Mexico, SFE, Alaska, Midway, Hawaii.

And any new navy/consolidation by the US in the Pacific is within striking distance of that same Japan fleet.

Yes but I think you overestimate the importance of Austrailia/NZ/Hawaii and the Eastern Pacific Rim to Japan, and to that extent I think you would be under able to respond given slightly abherrant dice rolls. Further you seem set upon the idea that the US should build a fleet and even with good dice by Japan the US can take the fighter and get it in Europe and have a huge advantage.  If over the span of say 8 turns the US builds even 1 additional ftr and bmb then they can attack Germany in WEuro and Berlin with 10-12inf 4ftrs 2bmb bb.  This gives them ~6hits round 1 whereas normally they’re looking only at 3-4.  IMO this is a huge difference and borders very close to inviting a mid round attack on a Fortress Europe stronghold by the Allies unless you over garrison these terriorites which in turn will mean less Russian committment in the West which will allow it to hold off or even push back the Japanese in Asia.  Ultimately you end up with a very strong Russian Asian presence which prevents you from ever going to Africa which in turn deprives you of the IPCs needed to win.

The second possibility is even worse and this is that Japan gets bad or good dice.  Should Japan roll bad then obviously a counterattack is possible or the loss negates the effectiveness of this move.  Should Japan get “good” dice say take minimal loss while getting two hits, the US can and it should be assumed kill off its carrier ftr in order to retreat the sub so that they can trap the Jap Navy in Pearl to attack it.  The best defense against a Pearl counter is to be doing well enough in Africa so as to not give the US the ability to risk its units and thus the game in such a risky counter attack.  In other words anytime I’ve seen Pearl get counter attacked by the Americans it was always b/c of either two things.  First the Japs rolled bad or two b/c the Germans got mauled in Egypt.  Either way however the solution is to not fear the US at Pearl but to make them fear Germany in Europe.

I don’t bother taking Hawaii on J1, it is only 1 ipc and slows down the necessary Jap push in Asia. A smart US player will ignore this, and the possibility of Jap strat bombing the west coast isn’t too great a concern until much later in the game (when the game should already be decided). A smart Jap player will be better off strat bombing USSR - becasue the bomber(s) will be in position to assist other endeavers such as a possible capture of Moscow. However, if I am trying for economic victory as the Axis, I will likely take it (perhaps turn 7).

I always adhere to the El Jefe Directive…

this is “TOP SECRET”, …

so don’t tell anyone else, …

but this is it…

“It depends… .”

Do not divulge this…

under penalty of…

me licking the soles of your feet!

what about the BB of the W.US and the tranny

You said that all fighters (3) must have a way to land at the end of the turn. If I designate both FTRs to land on the carrier, that’s all I can get, whether they’re destroyed or not. Now I did some play testing with the CD ROM game of A&A and found out that you don’t need to designate which ftr lands on the carrier before the battle actually starts. Only after the battle do you decide where the planes must land. So if you plan to land 3 planes on the carrier and 1 is destroyed, then you can land the remaining two on the carrier.

Of course I could be wrong and this may just be another bug in the A&A CD version (which isn’t the first time). Can someone shed some light on this?

I’ll only go after Hawaii if the UK or Russia hasn’t landed any planes in range of the Sea of Japan. If that condition has been satisfied I’ll attack the Hawaii Seazone with 2 bb’s, carrier, bomber, fighter, submarine and attack Hawaii with 2 infantry and a fighter. I suppose if you are really feeling aggressive you could hold the sub out of the combat and on non-combat move it off the coast of Mexico to block the US Pacific Fleet…but I never do this…too risky if the dice go bad at Pearl.

Such a move gives Japan some options and places pressure on the USA. USA must now defend Western USA from a possible attack…giving Germany a bit extra time. The optimal move on J2 is to take Australia from there you can hit New Zealand and take the Jap fleet into the Atlantic, take Brazil and put some more pressure on them USA guys.