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 😜
Who's winning most of your games with the new 30IPC rule for USA. Japan or USA?
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I feel like the tide is slowly turning in the allies favor. Most of my games have been pretty close, but here the allies are winning more games lately with the new 30IPC rule.
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With the 30 IPC rule, I have not lost a game as the Allies and have not won a game with Japan (though I came close once). Now, we admittedly do not play Pacific or Europe standalone very often.
That being the case, the 30 IPC rule is a bad rule. It should have been 30 IPCs worth of infantry, not 30 blanket IPCs that the US can spend however it likes. That would have prevented the US from spending money on submarines to go after Japan a full turn early, or it should have required a Japanese attack in North America before the US gets the IPCs. Giving the US 30 IPCs to spend as it likes just because Japan does a DoW on anyone just makes for boring and predictable games.
Marsh
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I still feel though the 30 pic rule balances the game more though. Japan has so many planes at its disposal. I guess it can go anyway. Before the rule came out Japan was winning almost every game. Not its closer at least but the allies I think have a small edge. I feel like if Japan attacks on turn three, it’s there best chance to win. What do you think? 😜
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Is this a common house rule or a real rule? I couldn’t find it in the rulebook…
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Larry and Krieghund devised it, as a reaction to a Japanese strategy which breaks the game. Japan could, in theory, win every time.
I believe it is in the FAQ. I have not looked at it for a while. -
Yes, it’s in the FAQ.
http://www.wizards.com/AvalonHill/rules/AA_Pacific_1940_2nd_Edition_FAQ.pdf





