• yes and you can take ANY territory with the Chinese 12 pointed star on it. Japan is forced to  spread itself too thin in. or concentrate its forces in one front while ignoring the others


  • @Autarch:

    @Bube:

    @idk_iam_swiss:

    ITs not broken. it just FORCES you to play a certain way if you want to win.

    agreed you just have to figure out how to win against it.

    Great! If you have done so, please feel free to detail these ways to win as the allies.

    I gave up trying to “save” India and started playing US and ANAZC as tho they start the war after India falls  2 or 3 turns setting up, the longer India/china holds the better.  US uses DD naval blockers to keep Japan out of range while sending troops/bombers/subs to ANZAC to try and reclaim one DEI even if you hold it for only one turn.  After a while Japan will get worn down.  Won 4 times against J1 attack took 2 or 3 days each game, but got r done.

    The fact is after India/China falls there is only 8 IPC difference between Japan and allies. Kill at least one destroyer a turn.


  • The problem here is that Japan is going to place a major IC in Singapore. It’s only two spaces away from Australia. The Japanese can place a shuttle service from Singapore to Western Australia, and like with India, it’s just a matter of time before Australia goes away.


  • Yes but a port in singapore ignores the land battle in china. also thats like one third their income for a factory you already know the location of. Theres no mystery about placement just plan around that with the classic old man strategy…. inf and fighters.


  • Perhaps it should have been like original Pac where only the US could build factories. That would probably even things out.


  • @The:

    Perhaps it should have been like original Pac where only the US could build factories. That would probably even things out.

    Or a bid for Japan where as Briton gets the cash and can place the units anywhere they have units before the game starts. ie units in HongKong or a trany in India. a 12 ipc bid should suffice.


  • @idk_iam_swiss:

    THREE: As the Chinese concentrate your attack in the north. it will force the japanese to make a decision. either attack china or the UK.

    I recommend a fighting retreat to the north. Gradually move your stack further and further away, forcing Japan to commit more ground forces north (and as far away from India as possible). Similar to what USSR had to do in the original game.

    I know this abandons the Burma road but we’re talking strategy, not tactics.

    This helps delay the fall of India (assuming UK has been building an infantry stack every turn.)


  • Yea, that’s what I do. When the Burma road is lost, China needs to become as annoying as possible.


  • I used to think that was a viable strategy, but by the time the see-saw battle for the Burma Road is lost, China doesn’t have enough of anything left to provide but the most minor distraction.

    Moving the Chinese army to the north early in the game only hastens the collapse of the UK. Japan has more than enough forces in the north to contain it.


  • @Autarch:

    I used to think that was a viable strategy, but by the time the see-saw battle for the Burma Road is lost, China doesn’t have enough of anything left to provide but the most minor distraction.

    Moving the Chinese army to the north early in the game only hastens the collapse of the UK. Japan has more than enough forces in the north to contain it.

    Agreed.

    Yeah, this is an interesting thought; going north with the Chinese; but seriously, if anyone is pinning any hopes in strategy for the Allies in Asia on the Chinese…it’s time to cut them off from the alcohol.  :lol:

    The Chinese don’t even amount to a speed bump for the Japanese. At least grinding away on the Japanese over the Burma road causes a little attrition against the Japanese.

    It’s great that they got the non-aggresion pact represented in the game with Russia here, but that just makes the game situation in China just that much worse as it frees up the Japanese to go all out without any fear of having to deal with the Russians. All the at start Japanese units in Manchuria in the game were there in the first place to guard against the Russians. The way AAP:40 has it, they’ve freed those units up to go after the Chinese and British now.

    So they’ve still missed the boat on China. The plain fact of the matter is that Japan never defeated China in the war; yet in every single game of A&A I’ve ever played, China has been little more than an after thought for the Japanese.

    It’s almost as bad as the JTDTM.

    That and the IPC level between the Japanese and the Allies is just not right. The Japanese have very attainable bonus income objectives to earn and go after, while the British have very nearly impossible ones to go after.

    With a J1 attack, Britian will never get the DEI bonus, ever. Britian will also never get the Hong Kong-Singapore bonus, again, ever. Why even bother including them in the game? You might as well put another one in for the British that says, If the British control both Iwo Jima & Okinawa at the same time, gain 5 IPCs.


  • Good thoughts, Kauf.  Thanks for posting them.  I for one don’t disagree with any of those opinions/observations, for what it’s worth…


  • Well, for what it’s worth, I still can’t help thinking that I’m missing something with the Allies in this game.

    I was looking at the board again tonight (Buckeyeboy on here and myself both are thinking that we’re both spending way too much time thinking about this game!  :-o).

    The last game we played, the Japanese went J1 of course, and the DEI was the target of J2 moves.

    As the Allies, I spent a game trying to build up at Hawaii, and it caused me to have to waste a US turn with the US hanging around Hawaii, waiting for reinforcements to arrive before pushing on.

    A couple games I tried adding a naval base to Wake, but it also caused the US to have waste a turn before pushing on. The US is so weak to strat out too, that it really can’t afford the base early on, it needs to make combat units.

    It kept bugging me that on US2, I really wasn’t doing anything with the US fleet.

    My best friend, TA in Dayton, likes to build a British CV on B1, to use as a battering ram against any stray Japanese fleet fragments that may present themselves in the reach of the British ships & air units from India.

    It got me to thinking again about moving the US fleet down to SZ54 on US2. This would be right after the Japanese make their move into the DEI, possibly splitting up, or at least exposing some transports.

    If the ANZAC’ers build a sub on ANZAC1, and bank the other 4 IPCs, then they could plop down 2 more subs on ANZAC2, the turn the US fleet moves down to SZ54. The ANZAC DD could move into SZ55 if needed, which would potentially block any Japanese ships from moving into SZ54 on J3 from Java. If the Japanese are spread out in the DEI, then SZ54 would only be able to be attacked from air units, as SZ54 is not reachable from Borneo or Sumatra by ships. If there weren’t any Japanese ships in Java, then the ANZAC DD could join the US fleet in SZ54.

    If the US transport were to survive in SZ54 to the US3 move, it may have a path open to either the PI or to Guam, where ANZAC air could follow up.

    If the ANZAC forces have 3 subs ready on ANZAC3, with their 4 fighters, they could also counter attack Japanese surface ships in either SZ55 or, I think it’s SZ46 (the one adjacent to SZ55, to the north). These would be the spots Japanese CVs may have to position themselves to recover the air units from a Japanese SZ54 attack on the US.

    The British could, from India, counter attack SZ55 (north of Australia, the little skinny SZ) in conjunction with British air out of India too.

    The US could position 2 bombers, 1 fighter & 1 TAc in Australia too. If the US fleet bit the dust from air attack, the US sub would still be alive in SZ54 to counter attack with the planes.

    If the Japanese stage a J3 attack on the US fleet in SZ54, and choose SZ55 as the spot to recover planes from, then the Allies could pull a triple whamy on them there! The US could hit 'em; then the British; then the ANZAC’ers!

    The threat of counter attack might just give the Japanese player a little trouble from simply swatting down the intrusive American Navy.

    Either way, if the Americans are in SZ54 with their at start fleet as the Japanese start J3; the British are sporting a loaded CV with their CA & DD just off India; and the ANZAC’ers have 3 subs positioned to counter attack the waters off of Australia with their air force…that’s about as tough as the Allies can make it on the Japanese for J3 in that area.


  • My buddies and i just finished our 7th game and have yet to have Japan win despite India falling.  ANZAC strategy has revolved around liberating the phillipines and taking the DEI back from japan.  China strategy has fallen away from defending the burma road and more becoming an economic nuisance.  With US control of the Carolines, it has been impossible for japan to kill china and maintain control of hong kong, phillipines, and shanghai.  We have gotten very close to a Japan victory but still haven’t seen one yet.  India has been the easy part but the US and ANZAC have turtled sydney and honolulu well enough to prevent the victory.


  • @mike2swift:

    My buddies and i just finished our 7th game and have yet to have Japan win despite India falling.  ANZAC strategy has revolved around liberating the phillipines and taking the DEI back from japan.  China strategy has fallen away from defending the burma road and more becoming an economic nuisance.  With US control of the Carolines, it has been impossible for japan to kill china and maintain control of hong kong, phillipines, and shanghai.  We have gotten very close to a Japan victory but still haven’t seen one yet.  India has been the easy part but the US and ANZAC have turtled sydney and honolulu well enough to prevent the victory.

    Perhaps Japan is putting too many resources into the India conquest?


  • Once UK is bottled up in India with a sub or 2 in the sea zone the british are neutralized.
    No need to take India turn 3 or 4 if UK income is 1 ipc.
    Eliminate China and concentrate on ANZAC and USA.
    Take India at your leisure.


  • Well, it is worth 8 ipcs to you. So not quite at your leisure. But don’t kill your whole air force to do it.


  • @The:

    Well, it is worth 8 ipcs to you. So not quite at your leisure. But don’t kill your whole air force to do it.

    I do take it at my leisure, like Van Trump said.  The game I’m in right now, I just took it on J10, had a 97% chance of winning, and was able to take in less air, by forgoing the 8 IPC’s per turn.  If you take it earlier, you risk a lot more air to AA fire, you give the other Allies a turn off, early in the game, and as Van Trump said, there’s no pressing need to do that when the UK is totally neutralized, boxed in, and can do absolutely nothing.

    If you focus too much on the UK early, you also give the other Allies too many opportunities and inroads.

    Mike, try being less urgent with taking India fast, and focus more on keeping ANZAC and China down and the US at bay, and see how that goes.  It’s not the best to have too many fighters and tacs way down in the corner of the map for too many turns.  Take your time.  It’s tempting to keep a lot of fighters and tacs together for simplicity sake, but they need to be spread out more to project a threat radius to various important areas of the map.


  • @idk_iam_swiss:

    be cheap as the UK stop buying normal units ONLY buy people reinforce the burma road and shan state, take the dutch islands as america put everything in pearl harbor expect a loss thats fine, reinforce it with bombers

    You obviously are not playing vs J1 attack. There would be no UK APs to take the DEI.

    @idk_iam_swiss:

    realize japan cant afford re resupply itself. if you hold out on the first three turns the game is yours JAPAN IS A GLASS CANNON. yes they are crazy strong but hold out. Stop thinking agressively

    If Japan is a glass cannon, then the Allies are wisps of smoke. It doesn’t take long for Japan to achieve 60 IPCs with which to easily rebuild aircraft, ships, tank armies or to defend Japan.

    @idk_iam_swiss:

    As america you have 4 strategies

    ONE: Buy bombers put them in queensland, have anzac pile its fighters to back you up. then defen the UK

    This strategy has already been debunked. This only works if the Japanese player is dumb enough to linger around for this slow strategy to develop. The US can NOT spend its bonus IPCs from a J1 declaration of war until US2. With the loss of the US bomber in the Philippines, it starts with only two that can’t attack until turn 2 and it takes several more turns for enough bombers to be built to take on the IJN. By then the IJN is safely out of harms way or based at Truk with a nice big air defense umbrella. Sending US bombers to bolster India with their paltry defense is just throwing good money down the Black Hole of Calcutta.  @idk_iam_swiss:

    TWO: as america keep buying fleet after fleet japan CANT fight a two front war. never forget this. all you have to do is take the island tough to do i know, but YES it can be done.

    I thought they were supposed to be buying bombers. I guess you could do both if the game lasts for 20-30 turns.

    @idk_iam_swiss:

    THREE: As the Chinese concentrate your attack in the north. it will force the japanese to make a decision. either attack china or the UK.

    See below.

    @idk_iam_swiss:

    Four: worst of all but try it anyway…ignore the japanese navy defend where you need to of course, but let the water crash upon the rocks hold out for a few turns and THEN build you make more then them when combined.

    Time is really on the Japanese side with a J1 attack. The Allies can’t afford the time lost it takes hoarding IPCs, unless the US is concerned about a US first strategy. But your better off building land/air defenses anyway.

    @idk_iam_swiss:

    OR just join UK and ANZAC…its cheap i know but treat them as one power…

    Like to try to come up with a solid strategy before house ruling.

    @mike2swift:

    My buddies and i just finished our 7th game and have yet to have Japan win despite India falling.

    These types of posts always baffle me. And then I read on and grow even more confused.

    @mike2swift:

    ANZAC strategy has revolved around liberating the phillipines and taking the DEI back from japan.

    Uh, so exactly what happened to the Japanese navy/air force that they couldn’t take out a single DD and AP around turn two? And if your turtling in NSW, then what ANZAC forces are doing all this liberating? Is the Japanese attacking J1 or waiting?

    @mike2swift:

    China strategy has fallen away from defending the burma road and more becoming an economic nuisance.

    China abandoning the Burma road just means the UK falls that much faster. Economic nuisance? By ordering Sushi and not paying?  :lol:  Japan has more than enough assets (that were going to get burned in Yunnan anyway) in the north to deal with any northern Chinese strategy.

    @mike2swift:

    With US control of the Carolines, it has been impossible for japan to kill china and maintain control of hong kong, phillipines, and shanghai.  We have gotten very close to a Japan victory but still haven’t seen one yet.  India has been the easy part but the US and ANZAC have turtled sydney and honolulu well enough to prevent the victory.

    Sounds like you are letting the Japanese navy be killed off piecemeal. Heck, not even then. I’ve lost my entire IJN before and STILL won the game! Your strategies conflict, there is no way the US/ANZAC can go on the offensive and then suddenly “turtle…well enough to prevent the victory.” Unless your games are lasting more than 10 turns. Then that might be your problem.


  • I have to say that I agree entirely with the post & comments above by Autarch.


  • @kaufschtick:

    I have to say that I agree entirely with the post & comments above by Autarch.

    They were good, yes.  I sent him a PM earlier, but now that you mention it, thought I’d post my agreement as well.

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