• since i feel like i know more about axis play then allied play, let’s start with a break down of usa

    in the early rounds, staging a fleet in sz64 and slapping a NB on panama seems the best idea, that way you’re preparing for a London liberation, a pacific fleet, or a med task force

    full ACs give ur fleet the most staying power, plus the air can be used on both O and D, so i think ACs and the air to fill them are important buys for USA in early rounds along with DD and some subs to supplement the ACs

    i guess the big question is, if USA is going primarily pacific, how much IPC should be spent in the atlantic, and more importantly, on what?

    assuming USA isn’t at war till turn 3, where should they be in the pacific by rd 5? 6?
    and when do you switch gears to deal with europe?


  • Firstly you’ve got to respond to Axis threats like for example if Germany has Barbarossa locked up and Italy’s holding Cairo, then you need to be in France ASAP (or the Med). If Japan has the Pacific going well and has done an India Crush and is moving towards ANZAC, you need Pacific…

    And going Europe first is important…

    Your landing time depends on the Axis.


  • USA is probably one of the most difficult nations to play perfect, the reason is; your productions is usually at least 2 turns away from the action.  So when you build, you have to anticipate what the situation will be in each theater two rounds later.  A few things to remember
    -subs are king of the fleet attack
    -DD gives best defence/ipc, providing you have enough subs and can withstand the opponent if he does not bring his DDs.
    -CVs are good to make combined forces, and to have enough air for your land attacks. (ex UK/anzak ftrs on US CV.)
    -bring enough landforces to do what you need
    -taking norway is great
    -your Pacific fleet needs to be strong enough to stop japan from taking australia
    -your goal should be to not use more resources (but enough) in a theater than you need to stop the axis from winning there.


  • hmm…
    so what’s the order of threats?

    if sea lion works, is that the #1 allied problem?
    taking london back is a huge undertaking if the kriegsmarine is still lurking around with 9 or so trans
    and if japan simply sees america staging a defensive fleet in hawaii with maybe a 3rd of its income, it wouldn’t take THAT long for japan to get to the point where they start outspending the pacific US navy, would it?


  • I have seen people say (not tested myself) that if sealion is in the air, then the “antidote” is to kill japan first.

    reason is that ussr will be able to get a very strong income for a few turns, so they will take longer to crush, therefor the 18 infs in far east are not needed against germany and can be used to attack japan. if us goes more or less 100 % pacific, they should be able to crush japan fairly fast (US + UK india +ANZAK + USSR +china attacking). the idea is that japan will fall before russia will, so one can turn around and send everything to europe when japan is no threat.

    one thing i consider important to say about fleets, esspecially US fleet is that offensive units are the units for when you are on the defensive, while defensive units are for when you are on the offensive.

    example; if you want to defend hawaii, but not go any futher, the cheapest way to defend hawaii (by way of fleet), is to buy bombers and subs. the subs can sit on the west coast, and if japan takes hawaii, you can use them to sink whatever he sends there, ( careful that he cannot block ).

    if however you want to advance your fleet/stack, to take new land, you need to make sure that your opponent simply doesn’t just kill your fleet/stack, you only need firepower when there is a chokepoint.

    defensive units (like inf) are only really defensive when you plan to put them a place where your opponent cannot simply ignore them and walk around. they only really get to be defensive when you plan to hold something against direct assault. (like E/W germany.


  • your fleet ideas make sense
    defend with offensive units hmm…

    but i said stage at hawaii because USA has to defend that AND sydney

    now i don’t know the board backwards and forwards but, USA can’t hit the sz off queensland from the W coast can it? lol seems like a LONG way
    so what is the best way to defend BOTH sydney and hawaii with the USA?

    also full pac as a “cure” for sea lion might work well as long as russia is competent on the defensive and the rest of the allies can stage quick and effective offensives
    i guess the alternative would be to either liberate london or just go straight for italy and cripple them


  • to defend hawaii from w coast was just an example of an idea. if you want to be defensive in the pac, you probably want to send your fleet to queensland, and defend hawaii from there instead.

    you are right, the west coast is to far away.

    to defend sidney + honlulu it is probably best to stand in queens land (as long as you are strong enough), that way you can make it suicide to hit hawaii. your halfway point between W coast and queensland will probably be johnston island.  If you have enough subs and attack units, it should be impossible for japan to stand in carolines. And usually his planes (without carriers) should be so far away that they cannot participate in hitting your fleet off queensland. all of your fleet will out of reach of the japanese fleet if it is in japan, or in south china sea, but you will make it difficult for him to operate safely in NEI, or east of philipines.

    ^^provided you have a strong enough fleet ofc


  • id imagine queensland is the place to stage offensively too
    great threat potential, your simultaneously defending australia and hawaii, plus anzac is in better position to backup the US fleet ops

    and i can’t see a good way for japan to cutoff the fleet from getting back to hawaii
    except maybe a NB on iwo jima to setup a blocker

    this is good stuff
    feels like im learning a lot lol


  • If USA is going whole hog for the Pacific, it will quickly have a fleet sufficient to hold its own against the Japanese fleet as long as the Japanese aircraft cannot join the assault.  As such, you want to be closer to the action than Queensland.  Hawaii -> Caroline Islands keeps the pressure on Japan itself, which forces Japan to keep a large force at home defending itself.  If the USA is in Queensland, the Japanese fleet is free to threaten the lucrative East Indies.


  • so im gonna backtrack to one of the original questions

    is a NB in panama a worthy venture for US?
    this way a fleet staged in sz64 (i think thats the #) can get to hawaii or sz91 off gib or to canada too

    seems to leave the most options open for USA during early rounds, allowing for efficient redeployment of forces once axis intentions become a bit clearer

    anyone use this?

  • Customizer

    Yeah, I’ve seen people use a naval base in Panama to good effect before. It does give the USA a bit more flexibility in mobilizing their fleet. It would be especially good if you don’t want to have separate Pacific and Atlantic fleets, but rather one LARGE fleet to send one way or the other as circumstances determine.
    The only problem with this strategy is you kind of commit yourself to one side or the other. Once that huge fleet moves in one direction, if you find that you need navy on the other side as well, then you have to start from scratch.


  • Panama naval base allows you to get from Hawaii to Gibraltar or vice versa in 2 turns.  It gives you peace of mind to go for Rome but still want to be able to protect/retake Hawaii if the need arises.

  • '10

    @guy:

    so im gonna backtrack to one of the original questions

    is a NB in panama a worthy venture for US?
    this way a fleet staged in sz64 (i think thats the #) can get to hawaii or sz91 off gib or to canada too

    seems to leave the most options open for USA during early rounds, allowing for efficient redeployment of forces once axis intentions become a bit clearer

    anyone use this?

    I have never done it myself, but i have seen it a few times…From my experience, it is more useful in later rounds than in early rounds, when you want to be able to retake immediately Haw while keeping Gib under pressure.

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