It seems to be a popular view that Japan is wasting its money if it buys a complex before it has maxed out the first one (i.e. is transporting 8 units/turn to the mainland). However, I am of the opinion that 2 tran 1 IC–this is assuming $1 bid to Japan–is the optimal J1 purchase for getting units to the mainland quickly. There was an old thread (sorry, I couldn’t find the link on my first search and I’m too lazy to look harder) that had some calculations to this effect, but for the short version, consider:
—If you build 3 tran on J1, you can put 8 units in Asia on your second turn. However, with 2 tran 1 IC you can get 9 units there: 6 from your three transports, and three more from your complex. With a 2 IC purchase it’s down to 8 again, one from your transport and 6 from your complexes. (I’m assuming throughout that the UK killed your transport in SZ 59 so that you only have one to start with.) So if you’re trying to get as many units to Asia on J2 as you can, 2 tran 1 IC is the way to go.
—4 tran on J1, using a bid of $2, is also a good way to start fast. However, in this case your capacity outstrips your income; it will be a couple rounds before you can actually get new units fast enough to keep your transports busy. The 2 tran 1 IC buy is better optimized at keeping your production/transport capacity matched up with the number of units you can afford to produce. In particular, a 4 tran J1 purchase enables you to put as many as 10 units into Asia on J2 if you clean out Philippines, East Indies, Okinawa, and Wake, but then you run out of island units and can only make up to 8 new ones in Japan. So you get a lot of inf on J2 but it’s more of an anomaly, where the 2 tran 1 IC buy gives you a smoother and more continuous startup.
—As far as location, I like FIC the best. Kwang is farther from Moscow than either Fic or Man, so if you’re trying to put pressure on the Russians quickly you want either Fic or Man. You can supply plenty of troops to the northern area from Japan itself, so the complex is needed more on the southern end. Plus it enables you to get to Africa, Caucasus, etc better.
—So far I’ve been assuming KGF. In KJF you should certainly be a bit more hesitant about getting factories up quickly. However, I’ve found that a FIC complex, which is always where I build on J1 if I build a factory at all, can be very helpful in KJF. Ideally when defending against an American fleet you want to defend as far out as possible, e.g. with a fleet in the Caroline or even Solomon islands. However, if you’re forced to fall back, FIC is a great fallback point. The key thing about it is that it borders all three of your valuable islands. If you get in trouble you can fall back to SZ 36 and build more ships there to join your retreating fleet. Often this will be enough to prevent the Americans from taking any of those expensive islands right away. If your only factory is in Japan you’re forced to keep your navy farther north to incorporate the new builds, and the Americans have an easier time getting to the southern islands.
UK Austrailian IC - making UK relevant
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I think the best luck I have had with an IC down under is one placed latter in the game. An early or initial placement (Colonial Garrison) does prevent a walk in by Japan but that seems about all it acomplishes.
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BTW, I just made a case that you COULD knock over the Australian Industrial Complex before it became a monster to take. I am NOT necessarily advocating it, NOR am I saying that one shouldn’t try a different technique or even the one I posted.
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Well, what’s the point of saying you could do something without relating it to whether it’s a good move or not? I could attack W. Russia with 1 inf. I’m not necessarily advocating it either, I’m just saying you can and win.
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@Bean:
Well, what’s the point of saying you could do something without relating it to whether it’s a good move or not? I could attack W. Russia with 1 inf. I’m not necessarily advocating it either, I’m just saying you can and win.
I understand. But whether you want to knock it over or not depends on your strategy and confidence level.
Do you think you can handle a KJF without knocking it over? Obviously a KJF is coming, otherwise the IC in Australia makes little to no sense.
Do you think you should jump on Russia and hope that you don’t lose in the Pacific until Russia is toppled so you can have the income from the mainland to help you fight back?
Do you think leaving it alone is a good way to drain resources from England since they now have to build up there to prevent it falling, and will probably build expensive fleet units there after they protect it?
Do you want the liability of the frazzing complex yourself? It’s not exactly in a great place to help you, ya know.
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I understand. But whether you want to knock it over or not depends on your strategy and confidence level.
Well done :-) just went from failing marks to passing :lol:. You’re acknowledging that taking out the complex has to do a lot of considerations, and not just saying it’s something you “can” do.
I agree I’d let the Australian IC fly. I’d be very curious to see what kind of output I would see from it for one - would the UK build a BB to make its island hopping easier? Would it build a second fig to fill up its car? Or would it just build a couple inf per round to stop me from taking it permanently and also provide gear for loading? In any case, it’s diverting funds there and Germany should be having a hayday in Africa. If the UK decides to simply sail back to Africa, then they’ve wasted time and let the Germans expand needlessly, yet if the continue on and island hop, it’s a difficult road.
I also agree that it’s not very helpful to capture versus the effort it cost the Japanese.
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I find the Australian IC is more of a threat in AARe because Sydney is now a Victory City, one the axis actually need.
In a regular revised game, I’d probably let it rot there myself. Put my transports in SZ 36 with some battleships and carriers so it always seemed threatened so England kept building there, and basically ignore it as a money sink for England.
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The problem with an IC build in Australia is that without transports it’s useless. I might consider it in conjunction with a US Naval build in the Pacific. I don’t think i’d waste my fighter and DD taking out the Kwang transport. Better to consolidate the entire fleet in sz30 giving you 1fgt, 1CV, 1DD, 1SS, 2TP, that’s the start of a nice little fleet, combined with a US Fleet build in SZ55, the UK IC would cause me conern as the Jap player.
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in AARe you may want to consider America focused more in the Pacific anyway. So you might want to throw your Hawaiian fighter down there to help defend it, consolidate the British fleet in SZ 30 and move them back over to Australia and work from there. (It would work in AAR too, but it works BETTER in AARe I think.)
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I find KJF easier in AARe anyways, so I am a big advocate of an Australian IC with that rule set.
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Australian IC is a great idea
and personally i favor it
i can say its my standard move, altough i must say UK play depends( a lot or not ) upon the G1 moveso Australia IC can be put in round 1
even in round 2 if its a surprise
but i agree with Emperor Mollari without USA going forcefully in Pacific, UK forces down there are doomed
and altough this strategy is great, if Australian IC falls to the Japanese, it leads Allies to almost certain defeat, since UK spent a lot of IPC on their fleet here and (partially) egnored European theatre, so overall
i would say anyone go for it
and dont be dissapointed if it fails, even a few times, find a way to improve the strategy, it can be done, but it requires a good coordination, USSR and USA are (very) important here altought it doesnt seem that way on the first look
thats my view upon this…
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