I should add, in case anyone is wondering why we don’t just switch up the players, that there’s 5 guys and 5 countries. This will be our 3rd time playing and it’s a random draw; everyone needs to eventually play each role. This upcoming game the two inexperienced players got the short end of the stick.

All in all it’s just an excuse to get together, drink some beers, and have some laughs. I’m just looking to not lose in the first two turns, lol, so any advise on a Japanese strategy considering the above would be great!

RUSSIA: Very experienced, classical player
USA: Very experienced, unorthodox player
UK: Experienced but not partially good at the game
GERMANY: Extremely inexperienced player with no hope of doing well
JAPAN: Myself; very inexperienced player with some hope of doing well

GOAL: Last as long as possible, putting in a respectable game, with possible upset of at least one country

DETAILS: There is absolutely no way the Axis can win this. The player with Germany doesn’t understand the game after 3 attempts, so I’m not looking to try and win, but to have fun and put forth a good effort. The player with UK will most likely go with the Africa strategy (but I could be wrong). We will be playing Germany goes first (i.e. Russia missing their first turn), so the very experienced players won’t make any moves until end of first round. There is a very high probability the USA player will do something completely unexpected (last time as Japan he took Alaska first turn; he’s very good and is unorthodox just to “see what happens”). Myself and the German player are allowed to talk beforehand but not table talk once game has started.

With all this in mind, I’m looking for some suggestions/advise on how I should play this. Thanks kindly!