@Gargantua:
it seems unlikely the US would want to do something like this since it would leave a big hole somewhere else for little real gain
I wholeheartedly DISAGREE Even the OPTION of doing these things is a problem. Because Japan now has to consider this new unique American ability in all of it’s moves.
On the first turn of the game, I would also bolster China, for the sole purpose of holding the Burma road - to allow builds of artillery, “cheap” infantry at 3 and artillery, will quickly prevent Japan from EVER retaking the Burma road.
The US now also no longer has to ship infantry to the mainland, and can spend instant money to secure victory cities preventing victory, without even putting ships on the board.
For the price of an aircraft carrier, I can add 5 infantry to mainland asia.
You also need to understand, that Japan HAS to match builds in mainland Asia, if they want to try and win, meaning less ships, to the less American ships.
Also please do not fail to realize, that within 2 turns America can have roughly the exact same naval power as Japan, only lacking some airforce, from a defensive position, you don’t need much more, if you intend to smash Japan elsewhere and widdle them down.
In the end… it’s all about what the US/China -can- do, irrelevant of what they -do- do. Be careful…
I totaly get your point and I’m studying it. Keep in mind that this oes not kick in until the US is in the war so turn one is not an option.
As I’ve looked at this historicaly Japan was eventualy got hurt in China. By that time China had an Airforce, supplied mostly by the US. Up until then is was something of a stalemate because of a large investment by the allies in China. I currently don’t see the need for this in the game. It may be as simple as raising the cost of Infantry for China to 5 IPC’s if the Burma road is closed. What I’m trying to work out is how much those arlifted supplies really cost the US. I’ve read documents showing that China was begging for more transports but the US simply didn’t have them. This seems to indicate that the cost was very high to supply China, so high that there was a new road built to bypass Burma that wasn’t completed till 1945. So 4 IPC’s for infantry may be too cheap. Again, many thanks for the input.