How to handle money islands as Anzac/UK

It’s all good stuff.  Many people just don’t realize how easily ANZAC can force Japan to spend more than them in order to maintain the DEI.

With ANZAC, you should try for any island whenever the odds are in your favor or will likley cause mutual annihilation.  UK often does not have the transports to keep doing this (when possible, I send a transport plus land units from South Africa).  I like keeping US transports up north, but when the opportunity is there, send US fleet to be in range of the DEI and hop on all four and maybe Malaya in one boot.  Though you will lose heavily, Japan cannot recover for a while.

It basically becomes ANZAC’s job to keep Japanese troops held up in the DEI.  To better you odds of capture, consider buying a strategic bomber that can hit Java, or maybe even cruisers.  I know cruiser cost too much for their bang, but for some reason I just like using cruisers for ANZAC to get an extra shot on islands.  I must admit, this is not a cost-effective way to wage war.

The ideal is to keep hitting the islands until you win with two units left.  Mathematically, Japan simply cannot just use one transport to fight 2 vs 2 so you force them to invest more: a cruiser, carrier, another transport, or strategic bombers in range.  Once Japan is forces to use more than a transport to reclaim an island, you pull out your small navy and smash them.

As mentioned earlier by others, subs can be great for forcing Japan to invest more.  For this job, I call on the US, but ANZAC can help.  The whole theater of war in the South Pacific is as Larry described it: "…can Japan hold them (DEI) long enough…?  Every Japanese ship you send down, every infantry on a island, is delaying their advances.  The idea is to force Japanese ships to come down to you.  Once they are in range, then you strike.  Don’t send yourself in first.

Another simple strategy that is worth noting is “master prevention.”  This requires US help.  Simply stated, grab an island, send every commonwealth ship you have, and call the US to back you up.  If you can manage to have such a large navy sitting outside Java that Japan cannot take it out….well Japan cannot take it out.  Even if Japanese call in air and sea to force you out, you can still try to keep Java (or any other island) by using overwhelming multinational odds.  Try to hold for a round, dump a ton of land units and fly off some fighters, and then leave.  Japan cannot take back an island if you have 8 land units and 3 fighters on it because the force necessary will requite them to move a large portion of their fleet.  If they dare come out, your combined Allied fleets can hit them while they are out of air cover.  It takes considerable effort and requires that some of the Japanese forces do not have fhe DEI in their crosshairs.

Just food for thought.  In my opinion, the Allies should not move any major protions of their fleet when taking islands.  Just put enough to take the island and/or force Japan to use many ships to take you out.

Well ANZAC subs are one approach to being a nuisance to japan. It forces Japan to us DD to hunt them down all across the money islands and might open them up to counter attack and destruction if Japan is not paying attention. Losing DD is a bad thing for Japan because it means they will have to rebuild them, which is the last thing they want to be spending IPC on.

I prefer this approach with ANZAC. Lets just say for this discussion it is a J3 Attack.

ANZAC

Turn 1: TRS
Turn 2: TRS + 1 INF

Turn 1: ANZAC brings over the INF from NZ and puts them in Sydney.
Turn 2: Move the ART from Queensland back to NSW.

So, here we go ANZAC turn 3.

Most likely Japan on a J3 Japan will not have Java. If that is the case you move 3 TRS, 5 INF and the ART into Java and land.

Now moving the DD/CC with them is optional if you are feeling “froggy” even though you will most likely lose the entire ANZAC navy.

Now, the goal of all of this is to make Japan have to invade Java and not just with 2 INF. This goes back to the idea that if you making Japan do things they do not want to do because of ANZAC, you are doing a good job.

IF on Turn 4 Java is still in your hands, has not been invaded, you could if you so desired be a real pain in the butt and put all 3 FTR on Java then.

Every turn you hold Java you deny Japan 9 IPC in income. That is huge over a couple turns.

@Charles:

The idea is to force Japanese ships to come down to you.  Once they are in range, then you strike.  Don’t send yourself in first.

I agree with this. What do you do if the IJN camps out in SZ42 (Java) with a superior fleet? Just sit in Qld and build up?

Very rarely do I have ANZAC go for the Dutch Territories outside their own NO. Usually with the starting transport, I take the New Zealand infantry and have them capture Brazil and leave the Dutch Islands for UK. Mostly because I have to deal with a Japan that likes to keep the peace but keep a fleet too far south to allow a loose transport to convert these islands and I have not going to risk 8 dollars of worth against earning 5 if Japan is within striking distance of Queensland.

@Caesar:

Very rarely do I have ANZAC go for the Dutch Territories outside their own NO. Usually with the starting transport, I take the New Zealand infantry and have them capture Brazil……

This is an interesting take. I have the UK take Brazil on occasion when the Japanese are slow boating, but the Anz could use the income for sure. The only thing is it would take a while to get those Brazilians into action with only one transport unless you put a couple on a US or UK transport (which could be done easily enough).

On a similar note I have had Anz gear up and take all of South America when doing a neutral crush (Argentina/Chile). With the map split where it is you kinda forget how close and easy it is for the Anz to get to S America. Obviously all the other allies need to be in concert at roughly the same time to be effective (and fun).

In a normal game against a competent Japanese player I assume that they will be able to take Calcutta by round 5 or 6. By taking the Money Islands all I’m really doing is handing them a larger wad of cash and my UK transport for free. I would rather use that transport where it will do me some good in the Middle East and Africa. Keep your forces on the mainland and contend a ground war against Japan because China will not be able to do it alone if don’t pull your weight there.

As ANZAC I will take the islands as much as possible before being at war with Japan to build up as much money as possible and to provide some resistance to Japan. After they are at war then I work as a guerrilla fighter and pick my spots to isolate small groups (2-3) of Japanese boats containing transports or lone transports and take them out. If at all possible I try to take at least 1 of the islands back whenever Japan gains all 4 of them to force them to spend resources regaining it. I like to use subs a lot too because it forces them to bring down destroyers and because I still have a chance to negate their income for the island even if I’m not able to conquer it. Basically try to be as much of a pain in the butt as I can to give America a bit of extra time to build up so they can afford to put some stuff in the Atlantic too and not just spend their whole wad taming Japan. Germany will get out of hand if America doesn’t do anything on that side of the board so ANZAC plays a much more important role than most people give them credit for. I used to think that you should stay at home and build a fleet over time and then strike all at once but I’ve abandoned that philosophy because you can be much more effective as a guerrilla than a naval power. Giving Japan too many targets to hit at once weakens them and allows your allies more opportunities to be effective against them as well. For instance, every dude they have to bring down to an island is another dude taken off the mainland giving China and UK a better chance. Just don’t forget to build ground forces at home to guard against an invasion.

@simon33:

@Charles:

The idea is to force Japanese ships to come down to you.  Once they are in range, then you strike.  Don’t send yourself in first.

I agree with this. What do you do if the IJN camps out in SZ42 (Java) with a superior fleet? Just sit in Qld and build up?

If you are diverting so mNy Japanese ships as ANZAC, great!  I usually find that if Japan is putting a big enough fleet outside Java to halt ANZAC, there are other openings in the Pacific that can be hit.  The US could move to Japan or the Caroline Island or help Far East Russia.  Alternatively, you could ask the US to come down and scare the Japanese fleet back to air cover.  Also, don’t be afraid of fighting a more or less even naval battle with Japan as ANZAC.  If the smaller Allies can get Japan into fifty-fifty fights, the US can probably overwhelm them.  Of course, there is always that one Japanese player who buys a yon of ships and just settles with a smaller portion of mainland conquest.  In such case, be happy that Japan is focusing on you and not the Allies that count (China, Russia, UK).
@Caesar:

Very rarely do I have ANZAC go for the Dutch Territories outside their own NO. Usually with the starting transport, I take the New Zealand infantry and have them capture Brazil and leave the Dutch Islands for UK. Mostly because I have to deal with a Japan that likes to keep the peace but keep a fleet too far south to allow a loose transport to convert these islands and I have not going to risk 8 dollars of worth against earning 5 if Japan is within striking distance of Queensland.

I often see Japanese assaults on Australia to be a worthwhile trap to set.  As long as you hold Sydney, you are fine.  Besides, the US can hit the fleet (of even be outside Queensland from the start) and ANZAC should always be buying land units to fight with and send on transports.

I agree with HandGrenade.  The UK Pacific needs a land war.  If you want to fight as sea as the UK, you need to take from Europe.  It is ANZAC’s job to contest the South Pacific, possibly with US help.

@WILD:

@Caesar:

Very rarely do I have ANZAC go for the Dutch Territories outside their own NO. Usually with the starting transport, I take the New Zealand infantry and have them capture Brazil……

This is an interesting take. I have the UK take Brazil on occasion when the Japanese are slow boating, but the Anz could use the income for sure. The only thing is it would take a while to get those Brazilians into action with only one transport unless you put a couple on a US or UK transport (which could be done easily enough).

On a similar note I have had Anz gear up and take all of South America when doing a neutral crush (Argentina/Chile). With the map split where it is you kinda forget how close and easy it is for the Anz to get to S America. Obviously all the other allies need to be in concert at roughly the same time to be effective (and fun).

Well I have to admit that sometimes I play Axis and Allies and try to add on into history against the spirit of the game. I don’t do this if its going to sacrifice victory. So when Brazil gets converted, I leave the transport there and ferry these troops to Africa to help keep northern French territories from Italy or use them to keep Gibraltar in UK hands. During extreme situations, I will send them from West Africa to Egypt.

@Charles:

If you are diverting so mNy Japanese ships as ANZAC, great!

Depends a lot on where the USN is but in most games I’m playing it parks in SZ54 (Qld). So parking the IJN in SZ42 is blocking the USN.

@thespaceman:

Why send the US fleet to Australia? or Southern areas. Wouldn’t a more direct approach to Japan yield quicker results.

The USN take a long time to be able to support an invasion of Tokyo. You need to try something a bit more indirect to weaken them first. Obviously. I’m confused by your question!

Southern areas are where the money is.

I find parking submarines off the mainland SZ while bombing Jap factories does great wonders to make Japanese peacefully agree with Allied policies.

Place for the bulk of the American fleet?
How about dead center in the heat of battle?  :-D

On a serious note, I do prefer keeping most of the US Navy up north, but I almost always have American ships and planes down south helping ANZAC and reinforcements going to Hawaii for deployment.  The trouble for the US in the Pacific is mobility. Either you stay back in Hawaii where you can quickly move anywhere or you move in further to safe zones like Alaska and Australia and sacrifice your range.

Anyway, to justify my first comment made in jest, the US really needs to get in the middle of the Pacific as soon as Japan gives them the chance.  The Caroline Islands is the obvious route, but there are other places that can be used such as Iwo Jima, eastern Russia, New Guinea, the DEI and even places like the Marshall Isalnds with an added sea base.  Once you force put the Japanese into a situation where they simply cannot be in two places at once, Yamamota is going to start sweating.

Hawaii is always a great spot because you can land on Japan or Queensland in one turn so you can threaten Japan while shielding ANZAC.

@Charles:

Place for the bulk of the American fleet?
How about dead center in the heat of battle?   :-D

On a serious note, I do prefer keeping most of the US Navy up north, but I almost always have American ships and planes down south helping ANZAC and reinforcements going to Hawaii for deployment.  The trouble for the US in the Pacific is mobility. Either you stay back in Hawaii where you can quickly move anywhere or you move in further to safe zones like Alaska and Australia and sacrifice your range.

Anyway, to justify my first comment made in jest, the US really needs to get in the middle of the Pacific as soon as Japan gives them the chance.  The Caroline Islands is the obvious route, but there are other places that can be used such as Iwo Jima, eastern Russia, New Guinea, the DEI and even places like the Marshall Isalnds with an added sea base.  Once you force put the Japanese into a situation where they simply cannot be in two places at once, Yamamota is going to start sweating.

Getting the Carolines is cool for the USA but most games I am allies it seems too much difficulty for the gain. That AA Gun adds to the fear that you will lose a plane but you can’t even get a plane there if it starts in SZ26 or Hawaii. One game recently, I intended to land ANZAC planes on the airbase but failed to take the island and my US Pacific fleet went to the bottom of the ocean!

@Caesar:

Hawaii is always a great spot because you can land on Japan or Queensland in one turn so you can threaten Japan while shielding ANZAC.

Hawaii doesn’t allow many offensive possibilities for USA. Even if you’re targeting Korea, they can easily put down a blocker.

@Caesar:

I find parking submarines off the mainland SZ while bombing ��� factories does great wonders to make Japanese peacefully agree with Allied policies.

Where are you basing your US Bombers? Why wouldn’t the IJN have a DD in range of SZ6 if they saw subs coming?

Because as I said parking a fleet on Hawaii does great wonders to scare Japanese units into going where I want them to go. Bombers bomb from USSR.

@Caesar:

Because as I said parking a fleet on Hawaii does great wonders to scare Japanese units into going where I want them to go. Bombers bomb from USSR.

The IJN should not run back to SZ6 because of the USN positioning in Hawaii or Midway. If the USN moves into SZ6, build a DD and move to SZ35 (Philippines) and then you can target the CVs with Kamikazes if they don’t run away. Also make sure most of your air force is in range. The remaining fleet is unlikely to be strong enough to defend against your concerted attack.

The fear is USA landing on Korea and being reinforced by USSR. Perhaps that is an over hyped fear but I don’t know. I think it is a pretty strong move for the USA.

IF the USA wants to play games with Japan and threaten SZ6 “Home Waters” or go far north in USSR, Iam totally fine with that, I can handle that. What I cannot handle is the USA going into the south Pacific and messing with my Money Islands, Singapore, Hong Kong, Hanoi and Manila IPC money. � That very small region on the board is worth 30 IPC in conquered territory IPC value. The exact same IPC level Germany starts the war at.

It is the most important region on the map and if Japan controls it and the USA ignores it….That is cool.