• I think I can sum it up pretty well:

    Japan has a hard time going it alone in the Pacific against China, India, Anzac, USA and maybe Russia.

    If Japan pushes against Moscow, you have Japan, Germany and maybe some Italian forces marching towards it.

    However, in order for the Axis to win in the Atlantic Map, not only does Moscow and its two VC’s have to fall, but Egypt has to be held as well.  This assumes you can repel an Allied assault in France.

    I prefer having the potential of 3 powers closing out Moscow than Japan going it alone in the Pacific.

  • '18

    Thanks Spendo02 for the concise summary.  How does Sealion play a role for you then if at all?  Also, if your US opponent largely abandons the Pacific and funnels most of his IPC’s into the Atlantic side for a KGF approach then would that affect your Japan strategy?

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Field Marshal.

    The most important thing to know about GLOBAL, is that the axis has 2 ways to win.

    They can win by securing enough victory cities on EITHER the Europe Side, OR the Pacific Side.

    The trick is to over extend the americans into BOTH theatres,  without extending ENOUGH in either theatre.

    The best option for Germany is to “feign” Sea-Lion, thus forcing the british purchasing hand to turtle early(unless they make stupid mistakes) then go HARD for Moscow, via a southern route, and trying to set things up so that the Russians attack you.

    Japan it seems, is best suited going after as much money as possible, as early as possible, and crushing India as soon as possible, with an all out death-defying suicide assault on Australia for the win.  Personally I also like to attack Russia, but I’ve never seen a MASSIVE Japanese stack take the capital, like in the good old days, mostly it’s just a trickle effect of bilking the reds for as many IPC’s as possible to help the Germans.  Failing any of this, just keep drawing Americans into the pacific.

  • TripleA

    I always hated that the victory city conditions were for EITHER side, prefer not to play with the rules as written generally speaking. I do VC for the board as a whole.

    What Gargantua just said is very true, but you can do more strategies if you modify the Victory conditions.


  • I find that a good way for Japan to help kill Russia is to kill India.  What Gargantua said about feigning sea lion or actually going through with it is very important because it keeps Italy alive so they can get NOs for the first few rounds and get established.  You want the middle east oil and to prevent Iraq falling into Soviet hands.  If Japan kills India round 4 or so it prevents UK troops from reinforcing the middle east and Stalingrad region.  Likewise, Japan can build ground troops in Calcutta to threaten Stalingrad and divert forces away from the German push.  From there, japan can also move navy to the mediterranean to protect italy and maybe help take Cairo.

    As for up North, if the Soviet player masses in Amur you squash that with air power.  More likley they pull back so once they are a few spaces West, land a couple infantry in Siberia then walk in to Sakha and Soviet Far East.  Wait another turn or 2 before taking Amur and the rest so that the Mongolians can’t walk to Moscow in time.

    China is easy money for a little while but becomes a quagmire if you don’t completely wipe them out early on and its probably not worth it.  It requires a minor IC or maybe even 2 to produce mechs to use as cannon fodder and save air units.  If you go that route, mechanized units can reach Stalingrad in 3 turns from ICs in Shantung and Kiangsu.  But its a big investment and maybe better to just trade Yunnan for a few turns instead of sending good money after bad.

    The DEI is the easiest to take but its hard to hold for long.


  • The last game I played I was the allies, and Germany didnt even pretend. He built 10 infantry on G1, and Japan attacked in the east. After that it was a simple march to Moscow. Right now I don’t see a way for the allies to stop it. Once Russia falls its pretty much over, the Germans can easily muster forces to hold Europe and send their stack of armor to Cairo.


  • @edfactor:

    The last game I played I was the allies, and Germany didnt even pretend. He built 10 infantry on G1, and Japan attacked in the east. After that it was a simple march to Moscow. Right now I don’t see a way for the allies to stop it. Once Russia falls its pretty much over, the Germans can easily muster forces to hold Europe and send their stack of armor to Cairo.

    If I saw that the axis were going for a 100% Moscow, the game would be a lot simpler for the allies. Italy would be wiped out with ease. So even if the axis got to Moscow, the allies have Rome in their back pocket and ready for more assaults in Northern Europe.

  • '18

    In the two previous games I won at AAG40 I was helped out by the fact that the U.S. player dropped almost all of his purchased units into the Pacific map.  This culminated in a massive fleet/air battle in the Pacific where the U.S. lost everything and Japan scampered away with a shadow of itself left.  But the U.S. player spent two more rounds rebuilding the Pacific fleet.  By that time, and with no help putting pressure on Germany in the Atlantic, Moscow fell.  So, Gargantua’s counsel of getting U.S. to overextend in one theater played out here (although not intentionally pursued on my part).

    As Japan, I took out China and most of Asia coming close to India.  I just couldn’t get enough troops to mount an attack in India as it was by that point similar to Moscow with large stacks of infantry supported by fighters.

    When I say “classic strategies die hard” I mean that it is hard to let go of a strategy that worked for so long in the classic game.  It is in my DNA to crush Russia with the axis.  But in global I don’t see Japan pushing large stacks at Moscow, but “bilking” the reds out of IPC’s is efficient enough to put pressure on Russia in tilting the economic advantage towards the axis in Barbarossa.

    I just haven’t played AAG40 enough, nor with alpha rules, to have the experiential knowledge of what is Japan’s best course of action.  I couldn’t take India before but that may have been because the U.S. employed it’s full economic force in the Pacific pressuring Japan.  To these inexperienced eyes in this new version of a classic game it seems entirely too easy for Japan to overextend itself by doing too much: putting some pressure on Russia, taking out China, going for India, and fighting off the U.S./Anzac fleet is a tall order for one economy.

    In the classic version purchasing the right units for your long term strategy was a key to winning.  Many more variables in this new version.  It may be that game experience will be the best tool, including failing at some strategic gambles.  Hearing other players game experience can certainly help curb the failure rate for me though!


  • Field Marshall, your exactly right when you stated that the biggest mistake you can make w/ Jpn is trying to do to much. Last weekend I lost as the Axis this way when I tried to crush the Chinese while also taking Anzac. I succeeded in Anzac but failed on the mainland even with a minor IC. UKP became very strong and I could not take out the Chinese. By round 7-8 I had very few ground units and the USA was breathing down my neck. Your best strategy might be to close the Burma road and position your fleet and airforce as close to the DEI as possible. Use your Air to eliminate the Chinese and your fleet to keep UK in check. Then grab the money islands and the Phillipines on the same turn repositioning your fleet in the Phillipines. From there you protect what you’ve taken and guard against the USA/Anzac force that will soon come knocking.

  • '18

    Good suggestions, except it leaves me wondering about Japan putting some, even a little, pressure on Russian.  Like I said before, it is in my DNA to squeeze Russia with the Axis.  It may be that your suggestions are the best route for Japan but including a smaller invasion of East Russia.

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