• Where and when should Industrial complexes be bought and placed?

    The common move in our games is for Japan to build one in Kwangtung.  Maybe for the British to build one in India.  Sometimes Japan will build a second one in either Manchuria or French Indo-China.  Other than those examples, I do not see Industrial complexes being built.

    Should Germany ever build one?  Possibilities of W. Europe, Norway, Anglo-Egypt after it falls.
    Should U.K. build one in South Africa, Australia, in Norway after it falls?
    Should U.S. ever build one in Asia?
    Is there advantages to building them sooner or waiting?

    Thanks for the advice.


  • The main thing to look for when buying and placing an IC is can it be lost the same turn you placed it.  Putting an IC in Kwangtung is a very good place for Japan.  It allows the Japanese to start putting pressure on Russia and giving Germany some breathing room.  I placed my IC here only after I took out China and that is the key for this IC.  If you take China than you will be able to hold your new IC for at least the rest of the round and into the next one until you can place tanks here and start rolling them out.

    Other places to look for are places that is close to the battle lines.  Alaska and Brazil are good places for the U.S.  India is a good one for the U.K. but only if you can keep it out of Japan’s hands.  I think your better off just buying units for Germany and Russia though.  Germany has to hold out until Japan can put pressure on Russia and Russia has to keep putting pressure on Germany and to keep getting more ICP’s.  Whatever you do, don’t put an IC on a territory that has only one ICP.  Even if its on a strategically located place.  You will be only making one unit and that might now be enough to keep it going.


  • A complex for Japan on one of its coastal Asian territories is an ok move, but I disprefer it because early on Japan can get troops to the front faster with transports. 2 trns cost one IPC less than an IC, and when the front consists of Manch, China and FIC, that’s the way to go. Once J captures India around mid-game, then it’s time to build a complex in India on the very next turn, because you can then drop tanks right on the doorstep of the Caucasus, and along with your transports previously bought, you’re ready to push as hard as you can against Russia.

    For the US a late-game IC on Brazil for a bomber tech is a good move, I’ve tried this in the past and Germany was crushed within the next few rounds.

    For the other powers I wouldn’t recommend building ICs, but that’s just my opinion. An India complex for UK is too easy for Japan to counter, they just have to stack FIC, and can do that faster than UK can build in India. Plus if you build your 3 units in India per turn your Atlantic navy will be weaker and you won’t be landing in Europe before Germany overruns Moscow.


  • Russia needs to be producing the maximum number of units per turn that it can produce to hold off Germany, so it can’t really afford to buy another IC.  Besides, there is no good place for them to put one anyway, as most of their territories would only be able to produce 1 unit per turn anyway, unless you try to build one on the German front where you wouldn’t get to use it anyway…

    Germany doesn’t really need to buy another IC with being able to produce 16 units between Germany and Southern Europe in the first place, as they would need to be earning 48 IPCs a turn to even produce that many infantry, so an IC purchase for them is typically unnecessary unless you manage to take over Africa and are earning that much.  I’ve never given it much thought as I’ve never had an issue with not having enough production capability with Germany’s 2 IC, but personally I would probably build one in Western Europe since it has the greatest production capability and already has an AA gun.  Alternately, you may want to produce units one step closer to the Russian line, in which case the Balkans would probably be your next best position for three reasons:
    1. Production value of 3 and 1 step closer to the Russian front.
    2. Distance of Allied supply lines to take it: Russians typically are trading Karelia, Belorussia, and Ukraine at their best, and US/UK would have to bring their transports all the way to sea zone 16 to assault it.
    3. Deadzoned by bordering both Germany and Southern Europe, so if the Allies do manage to take Balkans, it should be easy enough to retake it.
    You probably also could build an IC in Egypt or South Africa if you want to better hold on to Africa, but as Africa is only good for the income and doesn’t directly help you win the game, that would probably be counterproductive.

    An India IC is too easily conquered by Japan in 1942, though if you really want to build an IC with UK a South Africa IC can still be worthwhile to drop 2 inf per turn at least (2 tanks can be better), but again you don’t want to neglect your navy as the UK.

    Transports are the way to go for Japan as they allow more flexibility and speed for the value (you can move 4 units from Japan faster for 14 IPCs with 2 transports than building an IC for 15 IPCs that can only produce 3 units).  However, once Japan starts earning more money it becomes worthwhile to build an IC for the purpose of being able to produce more units, and as habs4life9 was saying, India is a great place for this (which makes UK building an IC in India even worse for the Allies as it saves Japan 15 IPCs for them to build it themselves).

    The US has the most need for building an IC since its ICs start out an ocean away from any battle, but it also has the least possibilities, so most of the time the US doesn’t build any new ICs since it doesn’t have anywhere to build them.  Since China is US controlled in this version, the US can consider an IC in Sinkiang only if they know they’ll get lots of support from Russia to keep the Japanese from taking it right away, however, this isn’t usually much of a help since it can only produce 2 units per turn.  The China territory itself is too vulnerable to the Japanese.  Brazil can produce 3 units, but is only 1 step closer than EUS is anyway, so that isn’t too much help.  The best option for an IC for the US would be for them to take Norway and build an IC there, bringing over the AA gun from EUS on a transport from ECanada to protect it from German bombers.  This lets the US build 3 units directly into Europe where they can immediately be of use against Germany.  The only problem is that typically the UK takes Norway since they are closer and it provides them with some much needed income with Germany taking over Africa, but it may still be worth it for the US to immediately have units in Europe.

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