A friend of mine is planning to try this strat on our next game. I belive it is viable if you get rocket without spending too much IPC into it, i.e. not spend your whole 40 IPC in it.

I find it cheesy though so I don’t think that I’ll try it myself.

I think the same way about the US buying only bombers and researching heavy bomber when they have like 6 bombers. Without the LHTR rule revision for the SBR this is almost a sure win for the Allies.

Wood

Just to throw my 2 cents in there…

If the allied navy didn’t engage combat with the german navy, it’s probably because it has too much defensive value and it is best left alone. In that case, moving the allied fleet in SZ 4 could mean an isolated fleet. The German navy could easily move to SZ 3 and stay put… blocking the access to the UK reinforcement. In that case the allies are forced to attack the fleet, encuring serious casualties… slowing down their war effort… which is the purpose of a baltic fleet IMHO.

I do not believe it is a wise move to move to SZ 4 because of that… and also like 88 mm said, it gives Germany a breather.

Wood the Rook.

Speaking about tournament…

I would also be interested in knowing about tournaments in Montreal, Qc in Canada.

Does anyone have info on that?

Crit,

The Japs rarely loose their second BB, I was saying that at pearl, they only have one BB left. Sure J can move it’s second BB into position right away, but it’s rarely done since most player attempt to sink the UK fleet with it. I assume that if you’re aware that the US are going in the Pac, it’s easy to position your fleet to counter most of the threat in the Pac… but that should slow down the troops deployment in Asia… unless you build one or two IC like you suggested.

So I guess that this strat works well when most players expect a KGF strategy.

Switch… I’ll have a look at those games and write back later. Thanks for the info.

Wood the Rook

Also Switch…

You mention ample evidence of the failure of a Solokmon strike in some of the games on this site… but I’ve never seen a player attempt to solely take one island and hold it. Can you please direct me to a game where it happens… or where at least the US player tries to do it. And do not mention your game against Octo… you failed to do anything good with the US navy.

Wood the Rook.

Switch,

Skilled or not, if the english player do what they have to do, i.e. take out the tranny, sink the sub and land their fig at pearl… there is a high chance that the Japanese player is left with only a BB an AC and a fig (or two) after Pearl. This small fleet won’t be able to face what the US is putting on the water this turn. So this mean they need to regroup. If they don’t then my plan will succeed. But if they do… and as you said if they strike at Solomon with everything they have on J3… then it was a lot of money spent by the US to sink a part of the J navy. But the dice can play a big part in this… and Japan can loose a lot… so it’s not really a waste on the US part. After all a BB, an AC, a destroyer, a sub, two trannies and 2 figs are not so easy to sink (22 total defense and 9 hit points total)

So I guess you’re right… a skilled Axis player would be able to avoid this… but I’m still convinced it’s a good move to make because there is a lot of other things you can do to avoid a confrontation with the J fleet.

To Crit… why I think US 4-5 is too late… well going against Japan on US 1 like I mentionned takes about until US 4 to become a real threat (having a complex in the Pac with a fleet to defend). Let’s say you start doing what I said on US 4… that means that the US will be a threath at about US 7 or 8… which is way too late to make a difference. For exemple:

Build the fleet on US 4
Move it to striking distance on US 5
Take one island on US 6 (or Japan if not defended…)
On US 7 you can reach the coast of Africa or Asia… hence you’re able to slow Japan a little.

But you must admit that by J6 or J7, the Japanese player has a solid hold of the mainland and he won’t need his fleet to support his invasion… so he’ll be able to easily counter the pressure.

But at the start of the game, when Japan needs his trannies to convey his troops, he can’t afford to go around chasing the bait that is the US fleet.

Well it’s nothing but my opinion…

Wood the Rook.

Crit,

Let’s say that on US2 the US fleet moves to Solomon.

On J3, the Japs can either:

1- attack the fleet if they are in range;
2- move to SZ60 to protect Japan.

If they don’t do either you can attack Japan with 2 trannies, 2 figs and 1BB… maybe taking it… a big plus  :wink:

If they do attack… well it’s going to be a bloody battle since US fleet is better a defending and that, usually, the J fleets haven’t linked up yet (depending on what they did on J1 and J2). So it’s probably going to be a wash out. I think in this situation Japan has the upper hand since it’s highly improbable that US will spend more money in the Pac.

If they decide to protect Japan with their fleet, on US 3 you take East Indies. On J4 Japan moves it’s fleet in range. On US 4 you build the IC. On J5 Japan attacks the fleet, wipes it but suffers high casualties… especially if the UK fleet came to fortify the US fleet (I usually spare my AC + 2 trannies + sub as the UK just in the event Us would do the above). They might be able to take the island on this turn but my guess is that their transports are destroyed during the sea battle. Either that or they don’t have much air support because it went to the sea battle… so I think the island won’t fall on this turn. On US 5, you can build either ground units + air units to defend (for a total of 8 units on the island) or you can buy 4 boats (2 subs and 2 destroyers… or an AC + 2 fig + 1 sub). Given this, Japan cannot take back the island at their leisure. It’s still a big pain in the ass.

My take on this is that Japan has to be slowed down… and I think this is the most efficient way to do it. Not only will you take out some of it’s income, but you will divert it’s attention from the Asian theatre (if they bring trannies to take the island, they don’t disembark troops in Asia). US will also increase it’s income, negating the loss of China. All that at a cost of one turn. I think it’s a great strat… unless the US fleet is sunk at Solomon.

I also believe that going to the Pacific on turn 4 or 5 is a waste of time. By that time, Japan has a hold of Asia and doesn’t need it’s fleet for support, so they can deal with the US menace more easily without disturbing their flow of troops.

Wood the Rook

Switch,

Russia sending a few troops to the east doesn’t give you control of the 11+ IPC in the Pacific. Russia can only slow down Japan… they won’t be able to stop them. One turn of purchase is not that much for all the pressure you put on Japan. If the US succeed in building the factory you can be sure that Japan has lost control of the Pac and won’t be able to put much pressure on Russia… who can then put more pressure on Germany, which compensate for the one turn US didn’t put pressure on them. So for one turn of purchase, sure you delay the Europe landing for one turn… but you gain an edge in the Asia/Pacific theatre of operation. Plus the Africa landing is not really delayed since you can still send the two starting trannies to the south.

Wood the Rook

I think USA is the most fun to play given all the options they have ( Pacific, atlantic, Africa, bombers….) but only if you plan on finishing the game. I played so many times where the US force was getting to a point where they would matter and some players would have to go to sleep or wherever they had to be. It’s like getting out without cumming  :wink:. England is another fun country, which has a more options than the US (if you let go of the classic bridge to Norway/WEur) but they lack the funds to fully exploit them.

Why not postpone the Japan attack on Alsake/Western Can to J3.

On J1 buy 3 tran + take China + Pearl
On J2 buy stuff to fill 4 trannies + take Buryata (make sure the navy is in the SZ right by it)
On J3 use the trannies in SZ 60 (I believe that’s the one by Bury) and disembark all in Western (maybe some in Alaska but it would lower the pressure on Western US). Doing this, the US would be hard pressed to reinforce WUS. If they did only buy navy up to this point… or focused solely on the eastern coast, they’ll have to spend all this turn income on defense… end even then, the Japs have a slight chance of taking WUS with their 4 INF, 4 ART and between 2 to 4 figs + 2 BB.

I don’t usually do that but it might be a good diversion… and might turn into a game breaker if Japan take WUS.

Your thought?