@dadler12:
I think Japan should wait as long as possible to bring the US into war. Also Japan starts out with enough units to crush the US fleet in the Pacific and if it positions its fleet accordingly it can force the US to build Pacific. Is should add that the Euro Axis have to have enough air/naval units well positioned to force the US to build an Atlantic navy as well (not just transports). If the Axis do this the US will have spent most it’s money on a navy and air force and won’t have 5 loaded transports in the Atlantic ready to head to Gibraltar and kill Italy. Japan should take half of China by round 2, kill Russia or let it retreat to Europe, and position itself to take DEI, Kwangtung, and maybe Malaya round 3. If you can get UK/ANZAC to attack you before turn 3, awesome! Now the US wont be moving units to Europe and making 80+ IPC until round 4. When I played as Japan I dominated the Pacific, took India, crushed China, and never attacked Russia (Russia moved his troops west). Axis ending up winning that game because I drew the majority of US IPC Pacific and the US/UK didn’t spend enough on Europe which resulted in Germany taking Moscow. The Axis will win if they are aggressive early and do not bring the US into the war until turn 3 or the end of US turn 3. When a smart axis does this, a US with 100+ IPC is not enough. Make the US react. It’s troops are so far from the front that if you force the US to react to you instead of making long term plans, you will win every time.
Perfectly said
The US makes more than enough and in most of our games in crying for more money. European troops can easily force the US to build a large escort fleet. Japan can easily feint or even attack Hawaii and US navy troops. I always make it look like I am going to hit the US hard on J3 and then have the troops positioned to instead hit half the DEI, Philippines, Kwangtung etc… A smart Japanese player will rule the Pacific and have all of the allies there running scared. Perhaps what we really need is a Japanese strategy thread so that people can see how to make Japan the USA’s direct rival. It is not hard with well positioned navy, air force and factories Japan can push back the allies on all fronts.