I’m mostly interested in the US garrisoning it’s controlled islands to make landings more difficult early on in the game (especially the Philippines). I saw the rules require ending the units’ movement in sea zones not adjacent to Japanese territories or islands. Would this work for dropping infantry off in the Philippines if Japan leaves a route open?
Hi neb ! Welcome to the site.
I’m not sure, that’d be a good question for @Panther . I will say probably not an ideal strategy, but if you’re new to the game, figuring out what works best is half the fun 
or a sizeable amount anyways lol
@barnee Thanks for the welcome! I was thinking of dropping just a couple extra infantry there to lure out more of Japan’s transports and for them to commit more ground units that would otherwise be used in China. I’d fully plan on losing the Philippines, I just want to make it more expensive.
@nebnworb
Welcome to the forum
As long as the US player complies to this rule (from Alpha2):
“In the Pacific it can only end naval movements in sea zones that are not adjacent to Japanese-controlled territories and islands.”
So you are allowed to bring additional units there. But the journey might be tricky - and maybe you don’t have enough time to do so. 
However, are you really playing Alpha2-rules, still? I mean those have been obsoleted since autumn 2011, when Alpha3 had been issued, the predecessor of the (current) Second Edition ruleset.
In the current rules, it reads: " … while it’s not at war with Japan, the United States may not … end the movement of its sea units in sea zones that are adjacent to Japan-controlled territories. "
@Panther Yeah we like the setup and turn order of Alpha 2. We also have a few house rules namely that we don’t use victory cities. It’s my first time playing the US but I’ve played all the other major powers so I’ve been exploring all sorts of strange ideas. When we get together to play it’s a multi-day event throughout a whole weekend with copious drinking and costumes. Very ritualistic lol
@nebnworb What are your winning conditions if you don’t use victory cities? Just control the enemies capitals?
@J-o-C Exactly. Or there’s a couple of MASSIVE battles and the victor of those has such an advantage the other side surrenders.
If you have a couple HRs already maybe you could make one for the USA to be able to sail direct to Philippines. Might give your strategy away for this particular game though : )
@barnee They wouldn’t let me get away with it sadly lol. I was mostly considering it if whoever is playing Japan pulls their navy away to attack China/India and leaves me a clear path. It seemed like a fun and relatively cheap option to make them pay attention to the US before war is even declared.
@nebnworb heh heh it would make them commit another trprt too probably. One less target they can hit.
@barnee Yeah, I want to keep Japan reacting to situations rather than the reverse
@nebnworb yea they get the bit in their mouth and they can run all over the place. Little annoying things that if they don’t react and you can support, can really be irritating. Of course they can kinda do the same thing, depending on USA strategy : )
