He appears to have left his russian forces east, for the long game. This makes taking moscow much easier, difficult to fail really.
If you don’t J2, then you have to consider what you’re gaining by one more turn of positioning and building up, vs. moving forward now. Sometimes these plans involve abusing the peace (by passing through the enemy blockers), but if that’s not true, the delay will tend to make the Allies stronger and Japan weaker.
Since you didnt’ go for extra TTs, you may be correct that staying the course is a good move–build on the continent and focus on crushing China. But until you declare war, you don’t need one giant megafleet, its just hanging out waiting for war. Waiting until the last minute to declare total war tends to leave Japan’s income low and make India too strong to take. Their starting advantage is wasted because the relative strength of the allies increases in lockstep in turns 1-4.
There are also alot of yummy pieces on the board to destroy this turn that will be safe next turn. And don’t forget what I said up above, the UK “bunt” is usually a solid move (UK declares war, can move into Yunnan if it wants, moves 1 ship among your fleet, your transports cannot load unless the boys stayed on board. USA stays out 1 extra turn, but UK and ANZAC get 15$ and a whole turn to goof around)
During a classic J1, you can strip out all of UKPACs income, suffocating it. This is a strong Japanese plan, open hard, no factories early, crush UK income. The only problem is you need to defend SZ6 from game start, bigtime.
@taamvan so, if i’m following you, i want to mop up SZ37, 41, 42. Knock out kwangtung to preempt calcutta bonuses, but it seems my TTs get stranded unless i buy a NB for kwangsi and scoop up island money J3. Are the phillipines a priority of SZ6 TTs?
I was hoping to maybe NB kwangsi J2, TTs there and loaded on end of J2, and sail to targets on J3, but i suppose if I DOW J2, i scoop up island money virtually unopposed J3…
Ok, i play again tomorrow night, and, if my opponents play at their same rate of speed, we will get from USSR2 through, hopefully G3. I will check again if anybody has any additions or thoughts, thanks everyone!
Maybe my eyesight isn’t all that great, but I’m having a hard time seeing all the units at this resolution., especially the German ones. How many Germans are there in Eastern Poland? It seems to me like the Russians can hit that force, but I’m not sure, and I can’t readily distinguish the Russian planes either.
One thing I do see though, is a single Russian inf in Amur while there are also 12 Russian inf in Buryatia. I think that’s one too many?
@KaLeu I believe it’s 13 inf, 3 art, 3 tanks… it’s about 50/50 if the Russians bring the house and he is crushed beyond recognition on the crack back. And he has 17 in the big Russian stack and 1 in Amir, which is the total 18 starting
My problem with J2 Dow is that I get in theory + 7 income by taking kwangtung and Borneo. I can kill 53 ipc’s worth of English units. I can kill seven ipc’s of Anzac units. I can get Dutch Indochina for plus 2 ipc’s. I will get Plus 4 I ipc’s in Chinese territory that I would get no matter what. I get plus two ipcs because I can take the Philippines from the United States because they get to come into the war for free by attacking the UK unprovoked, so this means that I am up 15 I PCS for territory but I lose my 10 IPC bonus for not being at war with the US. the United States then gets a $30 bonus because I attacked them unprovoked an additional 20 ipc’s for National objectives. anzac will get + 10 ipc’s for their National objectives this virtually eliminates any advantage I got for killing the English naval units in the Dutch colonies. the United States then uses its bonus income to buy transports and hit the Mediterranean of an already weakened Italy. This then makes the Germans have to bail out the Italian slowing my march to Moscow. Can I assume that J2 Dow makes more sense if I had more transports in better locations?
Imagined you already played, but just to point out some things about your comment
plus 14 in american ships so 67 TUV, which is a nice win for Japan, bc your opponent left that stuff in range
the 30+ for unprovoked war is for the Pacific only version to address the glaring imbalances in that version, so its not used in the Global games
you are correct about the income trade but that trade happens at some point in the game the question is how does Japan exploit that
also correct that with 5 tt you’d be taking spice on J2
when japan declares war, taking malaya blows two of those bonuses its key
but either way you’re set up to pile into asia or india with a huge spearhead of troops
so i hope you J2d and did that awaiting status report…
@taamvan ya, i don’t think i have the stuff to get malaya on T2, which really stinks, no game was played due to december tornadoes rolling through central illinois (where i happen to live), major flash flooding, and road closures… so, hopefully next week i will have an update! I also need to figure out where in the rules it shows that the 30 for unprovoked only applies to pacific only… thanks so much!!!
Well, we barely got to the end of Italy T2, the Japs were fortunate in that we only lost 2 infantry and rocked both battleships. I didn’t lose any planes or naval vessels, but the US has pushed up to iwo jima. The USSR 2 brought the downfall of finland, but i knocked out 2 infantry in the process, as well as reclaiming east poland, also at the loss of 2 infantry. The Mediterranean is looking unpleasant, and the UK has built a complex on Egypt… hit me with your thoughts!
Japan ended w/ 44 IPCs, the Germans will have 48IPCs
As Germany/Italy I would put a blocker in SZ104 and SZ109 postponing the American landing by at least 1 turn.
Additionally any units that are on either normandy, holland and southern france will never be able to counter an invasion as you are spreading yourself thin. I would put a force in France that is able to clear any invasion on the beaches of all the different territories. Therefor try and invest in a number of artillery there.
This tactic works when you can support the counter with enough airforce. Therefor I would try and ensure I have more airforce. Strat Bombers can reach Moscow from Western Germany while you also threaten a bombing run on the fleet in front of Gibraltar.
As for Japan, it looks like the US put itself out of position unless they’ve build a naval base on Wake? They can’t reach Japan in one turn nor can they go to Queensland. There is no new build so you will have the upper hand for 2 turns. Build 2-3 more transports + fill your current ones and take them to the phillipines. Regroup your fleet and you have a force that next turn could go to the carolines (and take Sydney, go back to Japan if the US fleet moves in) or go west and take malaya and press onwards towards Calcutta (although you seem to be moving in there with most of your ground force anyway, so that may not be a necessity)
@Quirky-Turtle so, i plan to send in the infantry and artillary plus 2 infantry from west germany, bombardment, 1 fighter, 2 TB, 3 SB at the stack in finland, all of which can land back in west german, which means for a turn Norway will be open. at the end of G4, there will be 8 infantry on normandy, 6 infantry and 1 artillary on Paris, and 2 infantry on west germany. G4 will be the last turn i put i stack of mobile infantry and armour on germany, as i hope to also have leningrad at the end of G4. i plan on using leningrad to pump 3 tanks a turn with the rest of the stuff to hopefully plow the rest of the russians. The plan being a G5 investment in plenty of ground troops for the west and south, plus a bit more navy or airforce.
There is no naval base on wake, so, ya, i’ve got them stuck.
I agree with QT; “defend the beaches” invites a negative TUV trade, as the USA and UK can bring in air power and bombardments to ensure they wipe out your stacks. Paris is all you need to stock with artillery and slow movers, even mechs newly built from WG can protect that key zone and fight any of the 3 beachheads. If you do it that way, Germany brings air on the counterattack, rather than the Allies getting to use theirs.
Your american player is splitting, which is why he’s declined to strongarm SZ 6. They can still attack Japan, but they cant screen SZ 19 so your fleet could reply.
The small allies may counterattack, but Japan’s next turn can be spent consolidating fleets. Based on all these details, USA has missed its chance to really mess with you. Your purchases should be armor, or more factories. More sea units really aren’t needed if the USA is going to back down like that. The ships that bombard (and 1-2 CV) can chill down south while the rest of your ships form back up and prepare to ward the US even further away.
With your armor and fleet, india should fall pretty easily. Then, the transition to ANZAC or Africa–anzac has minimal reserves and could be easily taken. If you gather back up, threaten hawaii, and or blow up that US fleet, that’s your sixth VC and you win.
@taamvan Do you think there is any merit on my next japanese turn (depending of course on what ANZAC does) to attempting to wipe out their (ANZAC) fleet and positioning in the carolines for a sydney invasion?
Its best to go after sydney when during z1-3 hes buying ships and planes, but not infantry, and the planes left. Also, USA cant be in “Hail Mary” position (everything off queensland, or all on hawaii where he can strike you when you’re sitting in SZ 54. Its not difficult to take over with 3 TT and all the planes and bombards you can bring–but you have to purposefully ignore ANZAC for as long as you can (to avoid him building up defenses).
here is where i’m up to! USA to go on T5. Italy is being shored up by germany, and i’m gearing up for what i hope to be a G6 buy of 3 TBs and 3 Tanks, and then siege to moscow on G7. Japan 6 is looking to move up to burma full force, and calcutta on J7. Japan has garrisoned the pacific, and looks to put down a large nave in SZ6 on J6 and hopefully force a full US retreat.
