US first 2 turns

When I go after Japan, I don’t commit much beyond my starting units as the US to Africa. As the US I think it’s usually better to go after the islands ASAP and before trying to destroy the Japanese fleet. If I am a) getting desperate, the Axis are winning big or b) think I can make a high odds attack on Japan’s navy, I can take Wake Island and buy all planes. This allows me to shuffle fighters to bring more into the fight.

The first turn buy for the USA in a Pacific Campaign depends if you can counterattack PHII and if Japan even did PHII. Obviously, people will vary on what is best.

A) Japan did PHII and there’s no counter. I buy 2 carriers and a fighter. The US has 3 fighters at the start of their first turn so at the end, they have 2 loaded Carriers. Total: BB, 2 CV, 4 VF, DD, transport.

B) Japan did PHII and there is a counter. I might buy a transport, sub, carrier, and fighter. There’s more flexibility here because you don’t know for sure what will survive the counter and you need to replace the transport you use for fodder that is almost certainly dead. Total: whatever survives the counter + DD + whatever you built.

C) Japan skipped PHII. I would buy a carrier and 3 subs(or 2 subs and 1 transport, some might get a battleship). Check if you can take the Solomons safely on the first turn. Total: BB, 2 CV, 4 VF, DD, 4 SS, transport.

My goals when Island Hopping usually are:

1. To get a fleet to the Solomons quickly that can withstand a Japanese attack that turn. From the Solomons I can hit any island worth money and Tokyo itself.

2. From there, if necessary, I build up. If I can, I’ll grab an island as long as it doesn’t lose me my fleet.

3. Philippines, East Indies, and Borneo all make excellent places for factories and they should be built there if I can defend them.

4. From here, I can either neutralize or destroy the Japanese fleet. I can build much closer now so it’s easier to do. When the IJN is destroyed or irrelevant, I can start transporting from my factories to the mainland.

Have you tried other US strategies? Often, I don’t even consider sending America after Japan unless they had a rough first turn, skipped PHII, or I can counterattack PHII. More traditional US play would be liberating Africa and then either shipping in the Baltic or Med.

If you are determined to go after Japan with the USA, alot depends on what you do UK1.  Here are a couple ideas…

1. on UK1, attack the sub in 45 with your fighter from the India fleet and your sub.  Then land your fighter on the USA carrier.  At the same time, attack Borneo and New Guinea with 2 inf each.  With the UK carrier…either block the Japs by parking it in SZ 36…or move it towards Africa with the intention of linking up with the USA fleet later on off East Indies (at that point you will land 2 usa fighters on this carrier for extra defense.  This deployment is a big pain in the a** for Japan.  If the Japs are a strong player, they can still kill your Pearl fleet if they come after it with everything.  However, I find most players will either spread themselves thin by retaking Borneo and attacking your UK trannies or they will skip Pearl altogether (giving the USA a head start).  The great thing about this opening is it weakens Japan and forces Japan to sacrifice some units but it’s still very flexible for the Allies…ie you can still concentrate on Europe if you want to.

But the biggest advantage is since you land the extra fighter on Pearl, it’s much more likely that the Japs will lose key units if they attack Pearl, which might allow USA to counterattack (if the Japs have anything less than 1 BB, 1AC, 2 figs, 1 dest then USA should attack with 1 bb 1 tran, 2 fig, 1 bomb).  A successful attack there is without doubt the most favorable way to begin a USA Pacific offensive.

2. Another option…send every UK boat to SZ 30 on UK1.  Send the fighter after the transport in SZ 59 and land it with the 6 inf in Bury (in every instance, you should also have your UK bomber landed at Novo or Cauc…this will prevent Japan from buying new transports without protection which is critical).  So…assuming the Japs don’t attack your fleet, on the next turn you will move all the boats below Aussie.  On USA2, you sail your USA fleet for Solomons, and then on UK3 you move your UK fleet to Solomons too.   This makes for a massive fleet for the Japs to deal with.  This opening is great combined with a UK factory in India.

As for the USA, remember that going for a Pacific strategy is not necessarily the ideal strat–sometimes it is better to go with everything on Europe.  Either way, if you go for Japan then you should spend almost all on the Pacific theater in the first few rounds.

You will need 2-3 fully loaded carriers (2 if you successfully countered Pearl, 3 otherwise).  Don’t buy battleships.  Don’t buy destroyers.  Only buy subs if the Japs buy subs.  Buy carriers, fighters, and transports.

Why carriers and fighters?

1. Range–carrier based fighters can attack up to 3 SZs away and this forces the Japs to bunch up their forces in 1-2 fleets.
2. Defensive punch.  Your goal is to take East Indies and Borneo and build factories on them.  The Japs goal is to prevent this.  They will attack you–you will defend.  And fighters on carriers are the best bang for your buck on defense.  You just have to make sure you have sufficient subs and transports for fodder–I prefer transports because like fighters they are a muti-use item.
3. Flexibility.  Fighters are cheap and can fight both on land and at sea–lots of transports and fighters mean you project threats in all sorts of directions so the Japs will have to spend on infantry to defend Tokoyo and other important locales.

For USA1, 1 AC 3 transports and 2 AC 1 transport are both good (if you go with the combine in 30 strat with UK, then either of these will work).  Especially if you go with 2 AC on turn 1, you will need to buy fighters and then fly them out to your fleet.  I like either 2 rounds of fleet buys and then 2 rounds of fighters only or 1 round of fleet buys and 2 rounds of fighters only.

If you decide to do 2 turns of fleet buys before sailing out, you ultimately want 3 fully loaded carriers and at least 3 transports, plus the BB and destroyer that you start with, and perhaps a sub or 2.

For the U.S., the one starting battleship is enough. My favorite way to play the Pacific is to have the U.K. hit the SZ59 tp with the dd, and attack Borneo with 2 inf and 1 fig. Also, attack the SZ46 sub with your sub. This opening means that Japan may send fewer units to PHII in an effort to kill the fleet in SZ48. Then you can counter PHII, replace the tp, and build a couple of carriers. IMO, the best way to play the U.S. in the Pacific is to take advantage of openings the U.K. creates.

please remember that your “bread and butter” US opening should usually NOT include a pacific purchase with the intent to KJF with US only. Don’t “kinda” do a KJF, in fact dont ever plan on “kinda” doing anything in this game….you’ll get a lot of “almost” results with that ideal. Do it and do it hard! If you think KJF is the “best bet” vs the axis opening, die, and opponent then it should be a combined effort with at least some UK and Russia support. 9/10 times a KJF isn’t called for and I have a strong suspicion that OP needs to polish his US KGF game. Take a look at the main page and some of the basic “allied strategies” listed there for US.

UK ships can really mess with Japans opening round. Look for ways to sink as much jap shipping as possible.

For US.
Link up your surviving Pearl / Los angeles/Panama ships and either head to the attlantic to invade africa or use them to further interfere with japan’s build up. I wouldn’t recommend any pacific fleet builds for first few turns as this could lead to Germany running rampant across Africa/Asia.

Island hopping is great, but its not critical.  Sometimes just having a presense in the region will do just great.  This is how I build my fleets…… My flagships are my carriers.  They are great for defense and their fighters can support amphibious assaults.  I will have no less than 2.  I then will support my fleet with destroyers.  I try to build 2 for every carrier.  If you build destroyers and in order to get more bang for your buck, get combined bombardment.  This will increase your amphibious firepower drastically.  Basically you’ll be able to do the job of a battleship at half the cost and twice the firepower.  Then build the rest of your force out of transports and a couple of submarines.  If you use this fleet right, you will have everyship being productive on every aspect, offense, defense, and logistics.  Your maximizing your money and strength.  Lets take a fleet of 2 AC’s, 6 destoyers, 2 subs, 4 troopships with 2 tanks, 2 artillary, and 4 infantry.  You attack the phillipines with an amphibious assault.  the 6 destroyers should pretty much wipe out all opposition.  But if not, you have 4 fighters and all the ground units to clean up.  Battle should be over without losing anything.  Your fighters land for fleet defense.  Basically you have a fleet that can hit hard on land and sea.  Your enemy will think twice before hitting you.