Hello, I play pacific 1940 a lot. I have also played global a few times. Pacific 1940 second edition is a great game but I can almost easily win every time if I’m Japan and I attack on the third turn. A new rule was passed around late 2014 to allow the USA to receive a 30 IPC bonus if Japan attacks or declares war on them before turn 4. This seems to balance the game a little but I can still always win with Japan. The strategy for Japan is pretty much the same. Take the money islands, build a minor in French Indo China and Kwangtung and knock out China and India. Post in the Philippines with your huge navy and three fighters that can scramble and those six deadly kamikizes. Let Anzac and USA come to you so you can use the fighters to defend at 4 when the big navy battle happens. Eventually you will be making more than the allies with the money islands NO and the India NO. You should be around the 70-75 mark. Then when the time is right strike at Sydney or Hawaii and hold it and you should win as it will be six victory cities. For the allies, man this can be tuff lol. You better hope Japan attacks you on turn 1 or turn 4 because turn 2 and especially 3 it’s going to be difficult.
1: China: buy men and hit and run and fall back to the north west of China. You will be lucky if the Burma road is open more than two turns. Pull back and make Japan come to you.
2: UK: pull everyone back to India and just buy men!!! Try to bring your navy down to Australia and unite them with Anzac and hopefully later USA. If it looks like India is going to fall then pull your airforce out and send them to Australia to hopefully land on a Anzac or American carrier. If Japan hasn’t declared war early then take as many islands in the south as possible .
3: Anzac: small ships and transports are good. if it looks like Japan is going to invade then pull your forces to south Australia because from there you can hit any territory. Use your small ships to convoy raid or unite with the main USA fleet. Queensland is a great staging area for the allied navy early in the game. Also since there’s a airbase there fighters don’t hurt also since they can scramble.
4:USA: the big boy lol. The problem is when USA is neutral she only makes a freaking 17 ipcs a turn. While Japan is around the 40 mark and Japan has soooooooo many aircraft at its disposal. USA I say aircraft carrier early then mainly subs, destroyers, and a transport every turn with land units. A few rounds into the game get a navy base on the Johnson islands and start combining your fleet with the Anzac fleet and hopefully a small UK fleet. try to take the money islands by sacrificing transports because Japan will have a bigger navy early in the game. When the time is right move to Dutch New Guinea with your fleet and prepare for the big battle. Sometimes it’s better if Japan attacks you and sometimes it’s better if you attsck them. Hopefully you will have a lot of subs at your disposal. If you win the navy battle then Japan is pretty much toast even if they have India and China. Good luck and let me know how the war goes lol. I am playing anniversary edition on Saturday 😜
All Japan Strategies
-
This is a place where you can put all your Japan strategies for the community. Please state what set up you are using.
-
OOB setup. The key to this strategy is deception, luck, and adhering to the noncombat movements suggested.
J1. Buy 3 trans. and 1 art.
Noncombat, take AA and Inf from Carolines and leave them on an unguarded tran within easy striking distance of the UK or ANZAC. Divide your fleet into 2 halves. Position 1 in SZ 33 and the other in SZ 20 (make sure to leave the unguarded tran out of either group, and that the rest of the trans. end up in SZ 20) . Move all Manchurian troops into Jehol, and make sure that the art originally in Jehol stays in Jehol. Keep carriers fully loaded, and position all other planes in Kiangsi. Leave 1 bomber in Siam by itself. The goal of this is to coax the UK or ANZAC into attacking you in their first turn. If they don’t then abandon this strategy, but if they do, then read on.
J2. Buy planes.
Combat, take the 3 trans. from SZ 6 and invade British Columbia with 3 inf and 3 art. This will not drag U.S. into war since UK or ANZAC attacked you first.
Noncombat, take the 2 trans. from SZ 20 and use them to move 2 art. to Japan. Rendezvous the entire Japanese navy and air force in Japan.
J3. Buy bombers.
Noncombat, use trans. from Japan to move 2 inf and 2 art to British Columbia. Move the rest of the Japanese fleet to SZ 1 and move all planes to British Columbia.
J4. Buy fits the situation.
Combat, attack U.S. with 5 inf 5 art plus ALL of your planes including the bombers you purchased last turn (these will land in British Columbia)Good luck with this! This strategy certainly has its faults, I designed it merely to provide the Japanese player with the highest chance of capturing the U.S. It will only work properly if UK or ANZAC attack Japan on the first turn. If you find ways to tweak and improve it, feel free to do so. Criticism is welcome so long as it’s all delivered in a respectful way. I’m only 16, I don’t have time to waste arguing on the internet. A tip for this strategy is good acting. Make the allied player believe that it was a genuine mistake on your part to leave an unguarded bomber and fully loaded transport.
-
OOB setup. The key to this strategy is deception, luck, and adhering to the noncombat movements suggested.
J1. Buy 3 trans. and 1 art.
Noncombat, take AA and Inf from Carolines and leave them on an unguarded tran within easy striking distance of the UK or ANZAC. Divide your fleet into 2 halves. Position 1 in SZ 33 and the other in SZ 20 (make sure to leave the unguarded tran out of either group, and that the rest of the trans. end up in SZ 20) . Move all Manchurian troops into Jehol, and make sure that the art originally in Jehol stays in Jehol. Keep carriers fully loaded, and position all other planes in Kiangsi. Leave 1 bomber in Siam by itself. The goal of this is to coax the UK or ANZAC into attacking you in their first turn. If they don’t then abandon this strategy, but if they do, then read on.
J2. Buy planes.
Combat, take the 3 trans. from SZ 6 and invade British Columbia with 3 inf and 3 art. This will not drag U.S. into war since UK or ANZAC attacked you first.
Noncombat, take the 2 trans. from SZ 20 and use them to move 2 art. to Japan. Rendezvous the entire Japanese navy and air force in Japan.
J3. Buy bombers.
Noncombat, use trans. from Japan to move 2 inf and 2 art to British Columbia. Move the rest of the Japanese fleet to SZ 1 and move all planes to British Columbia.
J4. Buy fits the situation.
Combat, attack U.S. with 5 inf 5 art plus ALL of your planes including the bombers you purchased last turn (these will land in British Columbia)
Good luck with this! This strategy certainly has its faults, I designed it merely to provide the Japanese player with the highest chance of capturing the U.S. It will only work properly if UK or ANZAC attack Japan on the first turn. If you find ways to tweak and improve it, feel free to do so. Criticism is welcome so long as it’s all delivered in a respectful way. I’m only 16, I don’t have time to waste arguing on the internet. A tip for this strategy is good acting. Make the allied player believe that it was a genuine mistake on your part to leave an unguarded bomber and fully loaded transport.this strat requires a pretty naive allied player, or at least an unexperienced one, so i wouldn’t count on it to work too much. Against an eager newbie it might work though. Once ;)
i’d advise you to give your transport a minimal protection (a destroyer will do fine). That makes it more genuine.
Also make sure you move them to a useful spot in case they don’t attack (somewhere in the DEI would probably be best), so if they don’t bite (they probably won’t unless they’re too hungry for action), they will at least face a dilemma (stop you from taking something interesting in your next turn, or letting you do your thing which might harm them)
-
If they don’t take the bait, the only thing you’ve invested in is transports and an art, both of which can be utilized on the mainland. However, if they do take the bait, then this strategy should increase your chances of taking San Fran. I’ve used it on my father (a very experienced A&A player) The thing about this strategy is that you can NEVER use it on the same player twice, as a competent player will NEVER take the bait again. I made it basically as a one time shot. It’s easier to pull off in person, because it makes it easier to “plant” the idea in your opponents head. I appreciate the input though. The minimal protection for the transport to make the ploy more convincing is a good idea.
-
The 2nd time you’ll have free access for your transporter ;)
-
Japan can win(will win) through smart playering and brute force…so not sure why you need to come up with one shot ways to win things.
-
J2. Buy planes.
Combat, take the 3 trans. from SZ 6 and invade British Columbia with 3 inf and 3 art. This will not drag U.S. into war since UK or ANZAC attacked you first.This means war.
Look into the pacific 1940 rules. The moment Japanese units claim an “american” territory the U.S. are at war.
-
J2. Buy planes.
Combat, take the 3 trans. from SZ 6 and invade British Columbia with 3 inf and 3 art. This will not drag U.S. into war since UK or ANZAC attacked you first.This means war.
Look into the pacific 1940 rules. The moment Japanese units claim an “american” territory the U.S. are at war.
When it saya “American,” it means “owned by US.” Nice try, though.
-
actually the us can enter war if any territory in n. america is captured.