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 😜
Japanese Strategies
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I have not played that many games, but from my experiences in my games, I have the following strategies for Japan that i am either doing, or plan on trying:
build a minor IC in French Indo China second turn
- I have found that waiting to build a minor or major in Hong Kong just takes too damn long. If you declare war on the second turn, you can a factory on your third turn, if you declare war on your 3rd turn, you get the factory on your 4th, and you only get to actually produce units there on the 5th…. So why not just plop down a little factory there, and you can start pumping out 3 tanks a turn on turn 3. You need them sooo badly, you know that.
build more destroyers
- all of my games so far have seen japan produce about 4-7 more transports, then begin losing them at a horrible rate after declaring war. shit just seems to happen to them, no matter what. and you can’t expand and protect them, because aircraft can come in and knock out a small convoy. you need big convoys to protect vs air power, and you don’t have enough ships for more than 2-3 big convoys. my solution will be to build more destroyers so that i can afford 3 convoys instead of just 2 convoys.
attack china with your aircraft, even if your land units can’t make it there
- yes, this is kind of suicide for a few of the air units, and you will probably lose 1-2 air per turn of doing this. but i have found, at least your first turn, that you don’t really do much of anything with your air. then later, around turn 6, you are desparate to catch up, and so you start doing these suicide attacks on big stacks that sometimes have aa guns. why not use your air to knock the chinese out before you have to suicide against british aa guns and massive combined allied stacks…
take anzac capitol early
- this should happen the round after you declare war (because any sensible allied player will block you from hitting his capitol the before declaring war, so you have to kill that blocker on the first turn of war). not only do you get 5 ipcs for the NO, and 10 ipcs in free cash for the capitol, BUT it is very very difficult for the USA to take back the anzac capitol if you are building there every turn. UK will fall, its just a matter of time. Anzac however, is not a matter of time. If you wait too long to take Anzac, USA will screw you or make it impossible.
don’t over-extend / protect your fleet + convoys from surprise attacks from shit you didn’t think could make it
- this is the one and only reason japan has lost any games i’ve seen. japan makes some mistake in judging how much stuff can hit her stack, and/or tries to take too many money islands in one turn and loses all her stuff for it.
there you go,
victory by 6 VC’s is inevitable, so long as you don’t f up.thx,
veqryn -
how about outproducing allies? longterm wictory?
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You Folks didn’t read the most important thread on this board…if Japan attacks J1, but waits to take the Phillipines J2 with 3 transports from the J1 build and then buys a minor IC for Asia, THE GAME IS OVER. Allies can make it very close if they get some good rolls but will not win,
Can;t believe the play testers let this get by on a 100 dollar deluxe game…our play group is trying to come up with a few house rules to change the balance of the game…didn’t take long!!!
India dies a slow death, the US just doesn’t have enough to out produce Japan.
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You Folks didn’t read the most important thread on this board…if Japan attacks J1, but waits to take the Phillipines J2 with 3 transports from the J1 build and then buys a minor IC for Asia, THE GAME IS OVER. Allies can make it very close if they get some good rolls but will not win,
Can;t believe the play testers let this get by on a 100 dollar deluxe game…our play group is trying to come up with a few house rules to change the balance of the game…didn’t take long!!!
India dies a slow death, the US just doesn’t have enough to out produce Japan.
Or perhaps the US/ANZAC aren’t being played as they should? Where is the apparent most important thread on this forum btw?
EDIT: found it. Well, a J1 attack seems to be the most difficult attack to defend from. That doesn’t mean that it will automatically assure a victory for Japan, dice being even for both sides.
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The one thread has already discussed this issue with the conclusion that Japan shouldn’t be allowed to build an IC in Asia. IC’s can only be built in Japan or Ausralia. Hard to stop Japan when they only need to build 3 tanks for asia a turn and then buy carriers and battleships…by turn 3 Japan is at 65 and the Philipines is a fortress with unbelievable range that will rip the allies apart when they get close.
If Japan doesn’t take dumb chances and slowly bleeds India, its over.
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You Folks didn’t read the most important thread on this board…if Japan attacks J1, but waits to take the Phillipines J2 with 3 transports from the J1 build and then buys a minor IC for Asia, THE GAME IS OVER. Allies can make it very close if they get some good rolls but will not win,
Can;t believe the play testers let this get by on a 100 dollar deluxe game…our play group is trying to come up with a few house rules to change the balance of the game…didn’t take long!!!
India dies a slow death, the US just doesn’t have enough to out produce Japan.
I bet the play testers know a bit more about the strategy of this game and of a and a in general than you do. Just saying. Although it is possible that the game is slanted, why don’t you look for ways to overcome this difficulty first instead of coming up with house rules right off the bat just b/c your group can’t seem to make the game work.
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Its waiting to hit the phillipines until round 2 that really unbalances the game. Japan builds 3 transports in J1 then hits the plill with them round 2 then DEI round 3…easily done with many survivors ready to hit Australia or India.
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The one thread has already discussed this issue with the conclusion that Japan shouldn’t be allowed to build an IC in Asia. IC’s can only be built in Japan or Ausralia. Hard to stop Japan when they only need to build 3 tanks for asia a turn and then buy carriers and battleships…by turn 3 Japan is at 65 and the Philipines is a fortress with unbelievable range that will rip the allies apart when they get close.
If Japan doesn’t take dumb chances and slowly bleeds India, its over.
And i saw that thread too, and the only reason you guys came to “a conclusion” that Japan shouldn’t be able to build an IC in Asia is b/c many of us saw the thread and though it was such a stupid idea that they didn’t bother responding.
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I’m not giving up just yet…but the game is definitely slanted now towards Japan with this strat. I have come very close with the allies but you need good rolls. Also think that Bombers are way to powerful in this game for what they cost. JMO
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The one thread has already discussed this issue with the conclusion that Japan shouldn’t be allowed to build an IC in Asia. IC’s can only be built in Japan or Ausralia. Hard to stop Japan when they only need to build 3 tanks for asia a turn and then buy carriers and battleships…by turn 3 Japan is at 65 and the Philipines is a fortress with unbelievable range that will rip the allies apart when they get close.
If Japan doesn’t take dumb chances and slowly bleeds India, its over.
The Allies can use 2 DDs as blockers against the Japanese fleet on the Phillipines to secure their fleet off Queensland or even station their fleet off New Zealand (it can reach Java from NZ). The Allies don’t need to take the IJN straight on but to force Japan to spend ships and land units to retake the DEI and dealing with Allied submarines.
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I’ve tried the subs tactics many times, all the Japanese player has to do is send one destroyer with a bomber or two and the subs are gone…they just don’t defend well at all. I can take a few of the Islands now and then, even leave a few ships but the fortress from the Plilipines just blows them up.
The key is getting the Japanese player to make a mistake with his purchases, not timimg his transports properly or not protecting them. but we find that its alot easier for the Japan player to recover from a mistake than the allies since it takes so long for tthe allies to rebuild.
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I’ve tried the subs tactics many times, all the Japanese player has to do is send one destroyer with a bomber or two and the subs are gone…they just don’t defend well at all. I can take a few of the Islands now and then, even leave a few ships but the fortress from the Plilipines just blows them up.
The key is getting the Japanese player to make a mistake with his purchases, not timimg his transports properly or not protecting them. but we find that its alot easier for the Japan player to recover from a mistake than the allies since it takes so long for tthe allies to rebuild.
When I use sub tactics I send only 1 sub for each SZ and as many as possible so that Japan needs 1 DD for each SZ and if he uses them they are attacked as well by more US subs and bombers (if in range). The US can produce more subs that Japan can build destroyers and still buy land units for asia, and you’re exchanging 6 IPC units for 8 IPC ones.
If the US keeps this eventually Japan starts running out of DDs (by purchasing errors or simply by numbers) and that will limit its naval options, plus it will have to protect its transports while they are ferrying troops around, in addition to threatening a dent on its income from convoy raids. .
You can also try getting as many bombers as possible to Australia to hit any transports that land units on the DEI. It might also be stop Japan from conquering all of DEI on J3 by landing all the US bombers and the ANZAC/UK planes on Sumatra (or even Java, depending on where the Japanese carriers are). It won’t stop Japan from taking them later on but it might give an extra turn for the Allies to catch up.
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Some nice ideas there hobbes…I will try them out tomorrow, I do always purchase 1 bomber every round for US but maybe all subs purchase instead of destroyers and battleships might be the way to go. Problem is that you can’t protect your transports when you buy all subs.
I’ll have to keep the transports in New Zealand. I will be more aggressive with India as well.
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i do not really see a J1 attack as being that useful. you start out with only 2 transports, and if you do a j1 attack you need to commit forces to too many areas while being out of position. you immediately give USA an extra 50 income, when most of your attacks will be happening J2 anyway.
anyways, what do you guys think of the things i actually listed in the original post? -
A J1 attack only works when you leave the Philipines for J2 while purchasing 3 transports J1. I’ve been telling you guys this now for weeks, try it as Japan and you will see how deadly it really is. Then purchase a minor IC in Asia ans just build 3 tanks per turn. It is a powerful Japanese strat that is really hard to stop.
We came close a few times as the allies but it is hard to stop because Japan can build alot of ships every turn and use the Philipines as its central core for all its attacks.
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A J1 attack only works when you leave the Philipines for J2 while purchasing 3 transports J1. I’ve been telling you guys this now for weeks, try it as Japan and you will see how deadly it really is. Then purchase a minor IC in Asia ans just build 3 tanks per turn. It is a powerful Japanese strat that is really hard to stop.
We came close a few times as the allies but it is hard to stop because Japan can build alot of ships every turn and use the Philipines as its central core for all its attacks.
Yes, I like building 3 transports as well as Japan R1. But I believe that the best way to kill the allies is a J1 attack on the 4 chinese territories, Shan State, French Indo-china, Kwangtung, Phillipines, and Celebes. I take all of these on round 1 and then take all of the DEI R@. This skyrockets Japanese income to 41 on turn 2 and like over 60 turn 3. I then steadily make my way through China and into India with a Malayan factory (useful for both an Indian and an ANZAC invasion). Thoughts?
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J1 attack eliminates the British battleship and 2 transports,thats huge…also takes out all of USA transports in range and it kills Britains economy right away.
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I’ll have to try the J1 attack without invading the phillipines until J2 (still taking out the navy of course)
Gives an extra 7 ipcs to the usa, though. -
i do not really see a J1 attack as being that useful. you start out with only 2 transports, and if you do a j1 attack you need to commit forces to too many areas while being out of position. you immediately give USA an extra 50 income, when most of your attacks will be happening J2 anyway.
anyways, what do you guys think of the things i actually listed in the original post?With a J1 attack the Allies have to deal with Japan with whatever is left from the initial attack. If you do a little math the 40 extra IPCs that the US win are almost the same as the money you prevent the UK from earning (13 instead of 31 on UK1, 13 instead of 23 on UK2) and the US (55 instead of 62, if you attack also the Phillipines, which I did on my game), for a total of 35. But you’ve got rid of the UK BB, all the US units on the Phillipines, the DEI is left completely undefended unless the Allies land planes there and the US will be too weak to even move its fleet to Hawaii.
I’d definitely add an early J attack (either J1 or J2) to your list because the longer the wait the better the allies will be prepared to slow down Japan. I’ve tried the conquer of ANZAC but I lost that game to the allies.
I completely agree with using only planes to kill lonely Chinese units before they can move to liberate territories or to remove from play the Flying Tigers.
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i do not really see a J1 attack as being that useful. you start out with only 2 transports, and if you do a j1 attack you need to commit forces to too many areas while being out of position. you immediately give USA an extra 50 income, when most of your attacks will be happening J2 anyway.
anyways, what do you guys think of the things i actually listed in the original post?With a J1 attack the Allies have to deal with Japan with whatever is left from the initial attack. If you do a little math the 40 extra IPCs that the US win are almost the same as the money you prevent the UK from earning (13 instead of 31 on UK1, 13 instead of 23 on UK2) and the US (55 instead of 62, if you attack also the Phillipines, which I did on my game), for a total of 35. But you’ve got rid of the UK BB, all the US units on the Phillipines, the DEI is left completely undefended unless the Allies land planes there and the US will be too weak to even move its fleet to Hawaii.
I’d definitely add an early J attack (either J1 or J2) to your list because the longer the wait the better the allies will be prepared to slow down Japan. I’ve tried the conquer of ANZAC but I lost that game to the allies.
Yea. I did that same math. This game is all about math if you think about it. The more math you incorporate in your strategy, the better that strategy is. I think the only time a J1 attack might not be the best thing to do is if you are trying some strategy with tricking the allies (ex. going for the WEstern U.S. or whatever else you’ve got up your sleeve). Otherwise J1 is the best I think.
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