That’s a really broad question. Deciding whether or not to buy a Manchurian IC has a lot to do with your long-term strategy with both Axis powers. It is clearly the most superior factory you can buy (other land options like Kwangtung or French Indochina are not even worth mention). Regardless, I would advise against it.

First of all, a Manchurian IC can really backfire on Japan if you’re not careful, because America can possibly take it over. If America spends a lot of money on a Pacific Fleet, they can successfully cow the Japanese navy to huddle around defend Tokyo, but leave the backdoor open for America to pass a small force into Manchuria just to get control of the factory (or at least ferry units in Northern Siberia). This shouldn’t really happen, but it should be known that you have to be especially careful that nobody will ever take it from you. Undoubtedly though, an extremely wily, smart America can take it from an unviligant Japan.

Anyway, the only thing an IC in Manchuria essentially guarantees is control over central and northern Asia. It also is very useful to crank out fast-moving, powerful threats (tanks) to the dismantle the Russian periphery from the beginning of the game, coupled with serious pressure from Germany on the Western Front. Finally, it allows you to build more than 8 units in the rare occurrence that that is a good idea for Japan. However, it takes a long time for this investment to pay itself off, and a factory doesn’t actually give you any more power over Central and Southern Asia than you would have alternatively have been able to muster with just a transport fleet. You have to make a huge commitment to a large landforce for many rounds of the game, and every turn you do not put three units in Manchuria is not using your factory to its fullest extent. If you ideally buy three tanks per turn, you are deflecting 18 IPC’s per turn to other causes that may need your money more, like a Japanese navy if America decides to build a big fleet. The Manchurian IC doesn’t really contribute to your victory in India (or Asia, for that matter) anymore than a transport fleet does. Ferrying troops from Tokyo to Yunnan and back takes literally the same amount of time as driving down tanks from Manchuria (two turns from the purchase of transports/factory to get a force into Yunnan). Additionally, even though from a mathematical standpoint you would make the most back on your investment by buying tanks every turn there, this can be financially hazardous and the longevity of a Manchurian factory is seriously questionable. Whenever India is taken, a Manchurian factory may not be as useful anymore, especially if Japan starts needing to turn its attention towards America and defending its fragile assets like the money-maker islands.

My final verdict is really to not buy the IC. It can be clutch in certain situations, but a flexible network of transports makes Japan more unpredictable, opens up your options, most effectively utilize’s Japan’s starting forces that otherwise go inactivated, and generally just makes Japan a lot more adaptable to different threats and scenarios. Anyone can feel free to counterargue.

I don’t have time to finish my post but here is the barebones below:

TL:DR;
+Permanent fixture in coastal Asi
+Cannot be “sunken” like transports can
+Cheaper in the short-term than building 4 or more transports
+Allows for tanks to threaten Eastern Russia much earlier
+Useful in a KRF Axis strategy
–
-Cannot make use/activate the large land army spread around useless Pacific islands.
-Not as unpredictable or flexible as a large, mobile transport fleet
-Requires Japan to throw income at Asia for rest of the game
-Mostly serves a single, temporary purpose and becomes obsolete after India is taken
-Not a dynamic threat; cannot be used to defend Japanese territorial possessions in the Pacific, nor threaten the US/ANZAC in a meaningful way
-Transports can take India out directly, avoiding a land route and making it harder for Britain to defend India from the sea
-Can be taken over and used against you
-Does not afford you faster movement of troops around Asia
-Does not make capturing India any faster than a transport fleet

I don’t like the play by forum setup, but it’ll have to do; that being said, I think I’m in.

I looooove this tactic and have used it in multiple games now, thanks so much for the idea. I think it’s an excellent strategy because you get to bolster Egypt with a man from India and Persia with the Indian transport and bring your other two guys into Burma, while still having 2 men in India (or more if you buy men on UK1). On UK2 (or even 3 if your fleet survives) you may even see an opportunity to strike the East Indies with your 2 transports as well.

You might want to model something after the TripleA maps, which I know has one version of it, but that might be a little difficult. If you really need to I could probably upload a scan of my gameboard. I actually really want a scan of the 1940 boards and the 1914 WW1 board.

Hi all,

I only have ever found one other person to play Axis and Allies with :( everybody thinks it’s too complicated or difficult or boring in these high-technology days. But regardless I love the game and really cannot get enough of it. Since I’ve only played against one person ever (and the occasional computer game) I wanted to see what you guys think of my strategies and give me a fresh perspective on how you guys play, so I can see what I’ve been missing this whole time or major holes in my overall strategic plans.

Allies

I’ll start with my Allied strategy, since I’ve noticed that both myself and my opponent have a hard time playing the Allies. I find the Axis much easier to win with, so there’s a lot I need to learn about how to correctly play the Allies and make use of their huge economic advantage. I take a strictly Germany-first policy in my Allied games, and accept the inevitable fact that Japan will grow basically unchecked, but hope that Germany will be sufficiently weak to make up the slack (especially for Russia, who can take over Eastern European territories at the expense of defending its far east territories to maintain an almost-acceptable level of income).

Edit: this has taken a really long time to write so I will get to the Axis later, maybe in a separate topic

Russia

I buy 4 men and 3 artillery on Russia’s first turn, maximizing their 24 IPC’s. The artillery will be placed in the Caucasus along with 1 man. I usually only attack West Russia with the 5 men from Russia + Archangel, 2 planes, and the 3 artillery from the surrounding territories. Sometimes I will add some men from Karelia, which basically just depends if I want to defend Karelia with 4 men (2 stay there and I place 2 men there at the end of my turn) or 6 men (all men stay there plus the 2 new ones).
I gradually bring all of my men stationed in the far east back to Russia. The men in Evenki Natl Okrug travel to Archangel for a potential counter-attack on Karelia. Sometimes I bunch up 5 men on Buryatia SSR, in an attempt to stretch J1’s turn thin and keep its transports from being useful in Southeast Asia and China. I usually don’t want to sacrifice the men, however, which I feel can be better used to protect Russia’s core territories or even China. I’ll move my tanks and planes to the Caucasus, keeping a healthy defense against G1, defending West Russia, and threatening to advance into Ukraine if Germany is not careful. The rest of my moves are really just dictated by what Germany decides to do, and if they are acceptably distracted by the Allies, Germany will only be able to give minimal attention to Eastern Europe. I don’t want them producing stuff in Karelia so retaking that factory is my immediate priority, but once Russia can safely take Belorussia or Ukraine the game is preeeetty much decided.

United Kingdom

With the UK, I expect all of my Atlantic navy will be destroyed, with the possible exception of the Destroyer/Transport in Canada or cruiser in the Med. Regardless, my foremost priority with the UK is to rebuild my navy stat. I spend 14 of my 30 IPC’s on an aircraft carrier, which America can land a plane on during A1 (otherwise, it’s plane goes to Gibraltar and is really useless for a while). This gives the UK a strong navy which is unlikely to be sunken by the Luftwaffe, unless the German player really kept a lot of fighters on the Western Front, in which case Russia has more freedom and strength in return. With the remainder of my money I usually buy stuff to put in India. I really struggle with what to do in the Pacific region, how much money to spend in India vs building a navy/invasion force in London, etc. Some games I buy 3 men per turn and turtle in India. Depending on the situation in Egypt/Africa, I may bring men to Africa via the Indian transport, and if I still have the Egyptian plane, I may be so daring as to land 4 men in the East Indies and try to destroy the Japanese fleet in its surrounding waters, which sometimes goes horribly, in which case my transports retreat to India, giving it an extra 2 men. If it goes well, I potentially halve the power of the Japanese navy and really put a thorn in its side regarding its income, but this is usually just a dream. India usually falls after some time, and the Pacific fleet is doomed to eternal failure, but the hope is that the Allies can chokehold Germany well enough that by the time this happens Russia can turn its attention to Japan, who will need time to replenish its army. Alternatively, I sometimes bring the man from Burma into Yunnan, and bring all three of my Indian fellas and their AAA into Burma. I do this in tandem with putting 5 Russians on Buryatia, and these simple but decisive moves really slows Japan’s ability to expand and hopefully keeps Japan from reaching Moscow/India with any level of force before Germany has been sufficiently clamped down.

America

With America, I pray that the German subs in the Atlantic do not attack my destroyer and two transports (I will get to those Atlantic subs in the Axis portion) and just basically buy transports and men, whose ultimate destination will be France. If my destroyer and transports do not get killed in G1, I move one man from Western US to Central US and buy 5 men and 3 transports (36/42 IPCS). This allows me to field 5 transports worth of men, which includes 7 men, 1 arty, and 1 tank, by A2, while having some money left over. I bolster my Atlantic fleet with the American cruiser from sz19, but generally don’t buy any extra warships and rely on the UK fleet to protect my transports, while flying down my two planes from the mainland to land on British CV’s. I put all my men and transports in Eastern Canada so they can threaten to take France on A2 if they so please, perhaps coaxing the German player to needlessly commit a couple men to his Western front. They can also reach Norway/Finland on A2 this way, securing some extra income for the Allies and further occupying Germany. America basically turtles in the Atlantic and builds up a force powerful enough to land on France, kill any Germans there, and keep it along with the help of UK men and planes. I bring my Pacific fleet and transport down to Indonesia to hopefully threaten Borneo, New Guinea, the Philippines, and the East Indies, while also hopefully occupying the Japanese fleet from focusing on India or taking Australia. America is really just the central player in bringing Germany to it’s knees.

Hey guys,

Avid player of A&A here. I have the first version of the game, which game out in the 80’s, but also the 1941 version and 1942 Second Edition versions (the latter of which is my favorite). The new WW1 setting of this game is really awesome to hear, it seems really awesome, but, the only place I can find it for sale online is in astronomical price ranges (70$+). I was just wondering if you guys know of any place that sells this game for a reasonable price (40 dollars max?) or somewhere to play it online (like a map for TripleA; the one I have called “the great war” is over-complicated. Thanks guys!