• Hello everyone, I’m usually playing the Allies against my friends. I don’t want to brag, but usually I win using basic strategies.
    However, I lost a game after someone I played against unexpectedly turned his Japan forces to the US.
    I’d like to know who used this strategy and what the outcome usually is. I will never again make the mistake of leaving West US almost undefended. But that leaves Alaska.
    This Japanese strategy implies that Germany has to deal with ‘only’ UK and Russia. As Germany takes Africa, the IPC level between Germany and both UK and Russia is roughly balanced. But are the Germans strong enough to hold off both countries? In the specific game I played, I threw unbelievably bad dice rolls with Russia (I’m not looking for excuses, however :wink: ), so the German situation was looking pretty good when Japan turned on the US.
    Thank you for reading,

    Belgian A&A fan

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    To protect Alaska you might want to move your infantry from W. USA to W. Canada on USA-1. Then, you can move them into Alaska. As for defending the USA, it’s really only a matter of a round or two before the United States can build sufficient ground forces to repel the Japanese invaders if they put their mind to it.

    Basically, what I’m saying is this:

    Utilize forces you have from creation to bolster the defense of Alaska.

    Possibly create a tank or two infantry a round dedicated to homeland security until you have enough firepower to negate Japanese invasion firepower (note, this means that if Japan has 2 transports, 1 BB, 1 AC and 2 Ftrs you only need to be able to repel 4 infantry, 1 support shot and 2 fighters, not the entire Japanese armada)

    And finally, keep concentrating on Germany. Without US involvement in Europe it takes a lot longer to kill off the Germans.

    Now, you still have to read the situation. If Japan’s going all out for America instead of into Asia, you can ignore Europe and cream the Japanese. You’ll have more income then them, and you’ll start off in a defensive strategy situation until you have sufficient firepower to go island hopping. And I do recommend hopping if you go for Japan, not because you need the land or want to deprive the enemy of it, but rather because it helps to bottle up the Japanese, feels good that you’re winning battles, and it does add a little to your pocketbook. (PS it also fosters a safe atmosphere that allows you to move your transports around unprotected allowing you to make more transports and more invasion forces in place of making fodder and protection craft for your transports.)


  • Thank you 4 your reaction.

    In addition, would you consider to attack Japan with the Alaska-based units (land in Russia with a few transporters and some fighters) if the Japanese threat is rather low? I normally buy an IC for Sinkiang, so the Japanese territory- I believe it’s Manchuria- can be attacked from both sides.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Most definately not. First, moving infantry from W. USA to Alaska is a two turn process. Second, it requires two turns to move your infantry from Alaska to Japan after that. What this means is that you are suffering a 4 round delayed reaction which gives the Japanese player 4 rounds to respond to any threat.

    I, personally, prefer to take the 3 mainland areas with the USA and put an IC in Manchuria and maybe French Indo-China as well. This allows me to build a continual source of infantry to pound Japan with while giving me a chance to shuttle extra troops and planes from America to Japan (2 turns by boat one way).

    Another option which I see a lot is to shuttle 40-60 infantry to Manchuria then pound Japan over and again with no break in the attacks iwth a couple of BBs and a few transports. This works well if Japan’s reduced to just their homeland (ie no islands)


  • “I, personally, prefer to take the 3 mainland areas with the USA and put an IC in Manchuria and maybe French Indo-China as well. This allows me to build a continual source of infantry to pound Japan with while giving me a chance to shuttle extra troops and planes from America to Japan (2 turns by boat one way).”

    How can you do this?Even if u build an IC in Sinkiang, in my opinion, you never have enough striking power to take over Japanese territory (mainland) until turn… 6 or 7? Additionally, my adversaries almost always build a factory in Kwantung, making this effort more difficult. But I like the idea…

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    You would build in Asia Minor after you’ve exerted supreme dominance of the Pacific with your fleet. To do so before then would cause the Japanese player to gain another factory or to force your allies to send aid just to maintain a forward position.


  • There is a reason why it is very uncommon for Japan to invade the US- it is almost impossible to accomplish and can easily be exploited by a good US player. I would even go so far to say that the only advantage of invading the US is the element of surprise, but this alone is never enough to succeed against a good US player.

    This Japanese strategy implies that Germany has to deal with ‘only’ UK and Russia.

    The US should and will still be able to spend the vast majority of their IPCs (at least in the long run) in the Atlantic if Japan decides to invade, so I don’t agree with this statement. Germany will still have to contend heavily with the US.

    Since there are a couple of ways the Japanese may conduct their attempt in invading the US you can’t give a precise US counter strategy- Are the Japanese building any capital ships? Subs? Are they just building transports (how many)? How strong did they attack Hawaii and what was the outcome? Are you playing with 1 or 2 hit BBs? Barring any outcomes far from normal, the US should still go with their typical purchase of 3 Atlantic transports and 4 EUS infantry. If the Japanese took Hawaii extra hard, then you may decide to purchase a combination of sub/s, inf and transport/s for the Pacific as early as turn 1.

    I try to avoid the latter purchase strategy for 2 reasons. US units in the Atlantic are worth more than the equivalent in the Pacific. Also, as the US I want Japan to try to invade North America. Until Japan actually invades the US, the Japanese may still pull out of the mission and redirect their landings for mainland Asia or Australia/ New Zealand; the Japanese are not yet heavily invested in a battle front that they won’t win. As the US, I want Japan to commit those forces to North America as opposed to those other locations.

    As a side note, as the US I suggest always completely pulling out of Alaska on turn 1 to increase US counter-attack potential and to remove Japanese BB bombardment effctiveness. I mention this because there was a discussion previously on ‘protecting Alaska.’ Alaska should not be protected (at least by leaving units there).

    If anyone believes that there is a viable Japanese strategy to attacking the US, even if it’s just to remove the US from the European front, please let me know of any specifics including purchases and unit movement. I am very interested in seeing if there is actually a viable Japanese strategy against the US.


  • I agree, mr Duke. I usually leave the Pacific to the Japanese if they want it. I am assuming a total wipe-out of the Pearl H fleet. Next, I retreat the remaining Battleship and transporter (sea zone in front of western US) to the Atlantic. This may take a while, but I believe it is useful to counter the possibly growing fleet of the Germans in the Med.

    Jennifer, I am not sure if I can follow your explanation. It is so that the Japanese make the first move, right? I do never invest in a Pacific fleet with the US, so the Pacific is in Japanese hands and therefore I could never have transporters move around freely in the Pacific.
    But well, maybe we’re going off topic here :lol: , I would never take on the Japanese with the US (initially)…

    Maybe both of you are assuming that it would be a good idea to draw attention of the Japanese to the Pacific and away from Asia, while the US can still invest in the European war?

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    The original premise was how to rebuff the Japanese should they decide to attack North America instead of Asia. Given that scenario, I came up with multiple methods to repell the Japanese.

    Obviously, a good japanese player would limit his Pacific attacks to MAYBE taking Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, but even that detracts from the main assault of Asia which is where the real money lies.


  • TheDuke’s strategy is the way to go, and I completely agree. Usually my opening moves with the US involve funneling troops up to west canada, because I like to load into the atlantic from there, since there really is no reason to load from eastern canada. I’ll also shift my AA’s around so that one is in western CA and one is in western US. It doesn’t accomplish a whole lot, but having one in eastern US is generally pointless. While I would like to build in Eastern US to load my xports first round to potentially go to africa, it really isn’t that detrimental to build them in western. If Japan takes hawaii hard, I’ll build there, and 4 infantry and an AA gun will generally be enough for defense against what Japan can bring round 2. Western Canada is doing pretty well too, especially if you move both UK troops over there.

    Recently I have been playing/teaching the game to an extreme novice, and at one point during the first game he said “I thought about bringing the japanese to the US, but then I realized how pointless it would be.” Truer words have never been spoken. The US can see an actual japanese assault rounds away, and prepare accordingly. The threat of an initial Japanese incursion is really not all that frightening, and like theduke I will bait it while at the same time doing pretty much exactly what I normally would be against Germany (loading xports into fin/nor) from western canada. Germany is as good as done with Russia collecting from asia.

    One thing I should mention regarding pearl harbor is you don’t need to let japan take it. If the force there is overwhelming, I will usually do what you do and shuttle my navy eastward. This takes a long time, and while beneficial is only slightly so I’d say. A better use I usually find is to attack pearl harbor and destroy what I can of the fleet. Navy, Bmb, and maybe a fighter can usually trade quite well over there, and doesn’t really cost the US too much. Meanwhile it leaves the Japanese navy much more exposed, which makes it easier to deal with them and potentially bottle them up. Just think about it if the opportunity presents itself, you may surprise the hell out of japan if it doesn’t occur in your gaming group.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Yes, there are benefits to suiciding your BB and Tran in W. USA to sink the Jap fleet if you can sink it’s fleet. The cost alone might be worth it for the USA.

    Also, the only mainland invasion I could sorta recommend, and not even that really, is Brazil. Still, it detracts vital men and material from the real battle and could cost Japan the game.

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