Pearl Attack on J1: pros and cons

Mass Subs is more entertaining on US1, with a mix on US2 of SS and Bombers.  It plays a good counter to all the aircraft Japan has in the Pacific and works as a good convoy tool either off Tokyo or Rome (saves the UK from having to get SS to convoy Italy out of the game).

Japan only declares war on the USA turn 1 if they hate Germany and want to kill their chances of winning. Here is why. You shift USA builds to Germany and you can easily find some area to invade Europe with, Germany has to focus so much on defense that taking Moscow becomes a pipe dream, thus they are being pounded on both sides. The USA can build so much each turn that they can kill both oceans.

I’m quite new to these boards but knowledgable about the game, I too thought it was crazy at first but I’ve been doing some testing on this strat and it might actually be viable. In any case some of the counters people are suggesting will definitely not work. Buying all atlantic or all bombers will mean your fleet is annihilated J2. Buying subs is close, may be viable. The key is being able to leave your fleet at hawaii another turn, which is also close, depending on the buy and the dice. If you can take hawaii J2, you can pick up the NO and your fleet is in a great position to go after ANZAC next turn. This sets you up very nicely for a Pacific win if the US does a heavy atlantic build, which also means Germany is safe from any of the usual disadvantadges of a J1 declaration. I’m not saying this would be my preferred strategy, but it may not be as bad as you’d think.

Assuming a J1 DOW and a Japanese fleet sitting on or around Hawaii, how many turns will it take for the US to neutralize Japan in the Pacific?  3?  4?  Its about the equivalent of waiting a few turns as Japan before the US can DOW.  The tradeoff is Japan gains very little economic advantage and just keeps the US busy in the Atlantic until Japan loses most of its fleet that it cannot replace.