LOL @ Maddogg.
I suppose with 2 inf placed in Fic, you could hit Sin but you’ll probably be going up against at least 4 Allied troops.
Also Man may be open for a strafe or take on R1 with no extra units. Certainly in LL, I’d consider a strafe at the very least, going with 4 inf, 1 arm 1 ftr vs. 3 inf, 1 ftr, and take a shot at clrearing out the 3 inf before retreating back to yak. And with a UK retreat to Sin that leaves only 6 inf to take out Chi and Sin. Meaning, you are only going to take each with minimal force.
I perfer the placement in Man and the take heavy of China. I’m generally not concerned with income for Japan early on, b/c the IPC’s are going to come naturally if you make strong aggressive moves towards Novo.
IMO, with 2 extra inf, I think
Chi: 7 inf
Man 4 inf, ftrs
Fic, Kwa: mt
is much stronger than
Chi: 1-2 inf
Sin: 1-2 inf
Fic: 2 inf, ftrs, IC
Man: 1-2 inf
I’ve learnd a round 2 Russian purchase of 3 tanks can go a long way into later repelling weak moves by Japan early on, and I think this is where you may run into trouble if Japan isn’t using sufficient force. With the 7 inf already out East you don’t really need to commit much else to that front until Japan can threaten Novo, even then if you have 7-9 tanks you may be able to deter the Japan move to Novo altogether for a couple of rds.