I’ve never considered doing both, but I really like how it’s laid out here.  If successful, Italy has effectively been eliminated from the game before they even get going.

Yes, a Japanese destroyer in SZ 16.

You’ve got three responses available to the US that I am aware of:

1: Move your entire fleet into SZ 16 to kill the blocker. Units can also come directly from the US west coast to SZ 15, meaning everything can converge on SZ 6 in the following round (or to Wake/Hawaii if you somehow scare them away (or perhaps midway if they put a naval base there)). If nothing else, you know for sure they’re coming.

And:

2: Sending planes to kill it. 1/3 chance they lose a 10 IPC plane. Basically a 3/3 chance Japan loses an 8 IPC destroyer.

3: Actually sending a submarine or destroyer to kill it along with planes. (This is not a very smart play if America has enough planes for #2 alone to be viable, but some people don’t realize this.)

(4: Staging on Midway on a new naval base instead, but like I said, this is kinda silly for America and great for Japan unless they weren’t able to hit your destroyer block on the turn before for some reason.)

#'s 2 and 3 are very annoying, and not great for Japan, and are obviously not very sustainable, so this is why the destroyer block is something you should only do when necessary.

This is why I like to keep 1-3 fighters (usually 3) on Japan proper and build, or at least keep, one or two boats there per turn. If America does want to come swooping in to SZ 6, they are going to need enough to get through 1-2 boats and fighters. This means they must either over-invest (because you didn’t scramble), or they under-invest and then you kill them for (hopefully) a decent ratio when you do scramble. If they over-invest, kamikazes are an option (see edit), but maybe more importantly it means that whatever they sent to stand up to your boats/planes is now within range for a super nice counterattack with subs/planes.

Obvious times when the destroyer block is worth it:
-America has enough transports on Hawaii to make Japan worry about its capital, or potentially Korea.
-Japan built a lot of navy (more than one or two boats) on SZ 6 and wants to keep it alive.

Moreover, buying 1-2 boats a round off of Japan and keeping planes there means that if america tries to pre-block you in SZ 16 (moving in, say, some amount of destroyers to SZ 16 and SZ 25 while his fleet is coming from Panama/Sydney, to in effect block your attempts to block him with only a simple destroyer of your own), you have boats and planes available to you to destroy his block-blocker in SZ 16 and remain able to delay him for a round.

I keep 1-3 fighters there starting from J1, and begin building 1-2 boats there J3+ in most instances.

edit-
Last bit of advice: If you think there’s a good chance America is going to bring in a lot of navy on its noncom to SZ 6 after attacking it with a smaller force (or they telegraph this intention by bringing a lot of planes to the fight in SZ6), and Japan is sitting on FIC/Philipines with all of its navy/air in range to attack on the very next round, do not be stingy with your Kamikazes. If you can destroy even one more destroyer before the big navy clash, that can swing the probability by something like 5 (+/- 2)%. The entire Pacific depends on a massive fight such as this. 1% would be worth it, let alone more, and you might even hit multiple boats if you’re a lucky b��t��d. When it’s crunch time, smoke 'em if you got 'em.

@taamvan:

1.  buy infantry.   Help Germany defend.  Defend yourself so Germany doesn’t have to.   Warding the allies off the Atlantic wall is very easy if you don’t waste Italy’s troops or money.
2.  buy mechs and tanks.  Have them follow Germany into Russia.  At a key moment, Italy will be able to rush forwards and kill the screen protecting a key Russian counterattack force, which Germany can then blitzkrieg through.
3.  fly your bomber all the way from Romania to china.   from China, have it land on Japan.   Use this and/or German bombers to kill the screens that the US is using to protect their key offensive fleet.
4.  don’t worry about Africa.   Even with your full navy, it is very difficult to either leave the med or defend it against a determined attack.   Even with your full African army, you will need very strong support to defeat the UK, unless they make a stupid mistake
5.  if you intend to take the extra assets for Italy (southern france, Bulgaria, etc.) do it with a plan in mind.  It is much easier for Germany to use this money to strong effect.   
6.  take Gibraltar, but you’re not going to hold it.  You may need it as a base for either Germany or Italy, or just to slow the allies down/get your bonus.   Use a destroyer or a cruiser to block the allies entry into the med from SZ92
7. don’t lose your airforce.  it can go all sorts of different directions to follow up on Germany.  It can hang in western Germany and do Italian sea lion.  It can attack Russia with your mobile force
8.  you can attack UK with Italy.   It helps if you have 2 or more transports;  Sea Lion is far more effective if you attack with 2 (or even 3 lol) Axis powers one after another.   It may still not be a winner, but it makes it far easier for Germany to win even if you lose everything with Italy.
9.  Africa is a distraction.  Egypt is a distraction.   Your bonuses are not keepable and are largely, distractions.  Don’t mess with 1 IPC territories.  win the game.   
10.  Syria and Bryansk/Belarus are better goals than any NO or abstract victory (high income alone).

Thanks for this sound advice!

@Tolstoj:

It is possible for the Russians to attack Estern Poland, but you have to buy mech units and tanks, and perhaps a TB. Very curious to know how such a game would end, but I don’t think it would be favorable for the Russians to trade their army for a German army. Because unlike WW2, the Germans can make new ones…

ShadowHawk showed me many new (to me) and good tactical moves, so it was an interesting game to me.

Unfortunately I made too many mistakes with Japan on J3 to have a realistic game (lost many infantry because I forgot to use my figthers). Also I am not used to playing online, so it takes an hour to do one turn with Japan.

But I am practicing now… :D

Playing online is tough for me as well.  I need to see the whole board or I’m lost.

I only see a mutual annihilation as good for Russia if the US and UK are in Western Europe

Usually Italy clears the French ships and Germany clears whatever targets are left in G2.

Well….nice video…I would have to say that was indeed very painful to see the USA played so poorly. As soon as I saw x-ports sitting fully loaded offshore of GB w/o protection I knew they were doomed w/ poor leadership. Interesting that ANZAC was able to roam so freely. Also…how was China able to wipe out Japans air force?  :-o Thanks for sharing this. It’s fun to see how others play. I’ve gone up against some folks that won’t make a move w/o their calculators and electronic apps and ridiculously large forces. Then are completely surprised when they lose. I’ve never played with those type of gadgets. I’ve been playing since A&A was introduced and always come up w/ a game plan, buy accordingly and go for it. I tend to try spontaneous battles as opportunity presents itself. (Such as fully loaded x-ports w/o protection  :wink: ) I win some & lose some…but always learn and have some serious fun. Thanks again!

@Nippon-koku:

Great points all around.  I’m starting to think Japan would have to attack turn 1 for this to work, like Wild Bill suggested.  Get it right off the bat.

Maybe a better first round buy would be 1 factory and 2 transports?  I agree you still have to get men down to the DEI.  The good news: if you can keep America from heading down that way for a while you can take the islands with minimal sea power.

Exactly, with US at port the other Pac allies are backing up.

I like to save the IC purchase for J2 so I can place it on FIC, might buy 3 transports, or maybe 2 transports +dd to replace losses. J2 you can take Malaya, and start grabbing Money Islands etc….as you press Hawaii which could be ripe for the taking as well.

Hey… Basic question…just need a clarification!

On Page 17 of Europe,2nd paragraph.

Any number of defending fighters based in a territory that is about to be strategically and/or tactically bombed
can be committed to participate in the defense of that territory’s facilities as interceptors, whether or not there
are attacking fighter escorts. The number of defending fighters that will intercept is decided by the owning
player(s) after the attacker’s Combat Move phase is completed and before the Conduct Combat phase begins.
These fighters cannot participate in other battles during that turn, including a battle in the territory in which
the bombing raid is occurring.

I Bolded the part I would like to make sure is right.

If you are the player who has in coming SBR, can you choose to use Friendly fighters too in your territory? If so, you as the team decide who to kill off if the enemy Escorts hits any of the defending fighters?

If you can use your friendly Fighters in No.1 example, your friendly fighters can still be used in the future turn of that Round?

Thanks BH

I believe i read the poll question correctly YG  :wink:  The additional 4 unit bonus from liberating Paris is the only extra French units i’ve used in the OOB set up.  Oztea’s 1941 asks for a bit more, which is fun, but obviously for a mod.  Your purchases will be more than adequate IMO.  The real question I want to know is…what’s this new UK Pacific Nation you speak of??  Excited to hear about that!

I’d gladly sacrifice a large UK navy and some planes if it means the Luftwaffe taking heavy losses.  As far as I can see, mutual annihilation usually benefits the Allies

Where do you station these bombers, and what do you do with them (only bombardments?)?

@Gamerman01:

I don’t think he’s saying he made the scramble decision after 111.  I think he’s saying they rolled 111, and it didn’t go well, and then rolled 110 which killed Germany and they started over.

Yes all scramble decisions are made before any dice

This is correct.  As I read what I wrote I can see that I wasn’t clear on it.  The initial scramble decision was made because Ike came in light, figuring I wouldn’t scramble because I never do.

We use the “roll call” system before a group game, it gives us the best odds of all the players getting the nation they want to play most.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwQLLTBDyI4

So I just played my first ever game as Axis - to date everyone has been willing to give a 9-15 bid, but an opponent last night bid 8 so I let him have it. (He added a sub to the Med and pocketed the other 2 IPC).

He spent US IPC in Atlantic (perhaps in response to my standard G1 fleet buy) and pulled Pac ships back to western US and put initial UK focus on Italy.

I DOWed him J2 and the situation for Japan couldn’t have been better. At the end of J2 I had every IPC/objective-relevant island in the Pacific except Celebes already in hand; could hold Yunnan; was two full levels deep into China; was immediately threatening India (forcing ineffective turtle by UK Pac); and there was not a single opposing transport between western US and the horn of Africa. This was later followed up by two factories in Asia each of which pumped out 3 tanks/turn by turn 5 builds; and a full-on strat bombing of India facilities, effectively taking UK-Pac out of the game before UK4. By the time the US switched to all-Pac (turn 4 or so), he was so far behind he couldn’t advance past Hawaii (and only got that far because I was still prioritizing Asia for Japan’s air force). The tank/air force just needed to mass in order to smash the remnant of China and then UK Pac, and I could then spend 40+ IPC/turn on fleet with a pullback of a few fighters to counter the US buildup.

I did lose the game but only because I messed up the tactics on the German side, which was more a result of my inexperience with Axis than anything. But there I was, first time Axis player and let to its own devices I was able to leverage Japan to take them to the house. I made lots of mistakes too, so it’s not like I had to play it perfectly - I was basically imitating all the things that I had seen others do from the Allies’ perspective to see if my opponent had answers that I didn’t.

I know some people automatically assume that having those units from the Far East in Russia proper is the best course, but if Japan does its job right those units make it west of Mongolia just in time to be confronted by a mixed Japanese stack that can overwhelm them. I would argue that those units are compelled to mass in the east in order to give China/UK-Pac a chance to survive. Taking 10 Japanese land units out of the equation in those early rounds makes a huge difference. Also allowing Japan control of the Mongolia situation by allowing it to trigger the intervention at its leisure (when it has had the opportunity to move in 4 extra inf to clean up the new Russian units) and collecting the northern Russian territories by running tanks around empty space instead of having to knock out at least a picket every space for the whole march.

It’s because of this that I believe that a) Russia can’t abandon the east, they need to put those 18 units on Amur at some point to force Japanese units away from China/UK; and b) UK/ANZAC/US need to play an aggressive counter-game to force Japan to spend to defend its Pacific territories while eliminating as many land units on the ground as possible.  If you don’t, there are few good answers to a J2 where J1 is pounding China and staging naval units and transports in complete safety for a mass J2 attack followed by a J3 cleanup. Yes, you bring the USA into the war early, but they’re not really positioned to do much that early anyway. I prefer J2 to J1 because having that first turn to move in safety and stage units is a powerful asset and allows you to see Allied 1st turn buys which tip off your opponent’s strategy before you commit to your own strategy and maintains the option to delay further if there is advantage to be gained by it.

SZ 6 is a terrible spot for the Japanese navy if you’re being focused by the WAllies (it’s fine if you’re left relatively alone and are threatening Hawaii for victory). The DEIs are worth 20 to Japan, Japan+Korea money being convoyed is only 11. The Philippines are the best spot to station the IJN after conquering the DEIs. Add an airbase to FIC and you’re basically unapproachable. Not only does it extend that air’s reach, it also provides a scramble to protect newly built transports/destroyers to reclaim DEIs from the WAllies/reinforce IJN

The US is going to need a massive fleet to be able to survive in SZ 6/Carolines SZ or use several destroyers as blockers. Every plane you have in FIC w/ an airbase can hit SZ 6, same with the whole fleet at Philippines if it’s not blocked. Carolines SZ isn’t much safer because if you still control one of the islands in the adjacent sea zones (not uncommon as they are valueless, defended, and no facilities), you can “double up” your aircraft carrier capacity when attacking it: Planes on the carriers at Philippines attack the sea zone planning to land on said island and planes from FIC can attack the sea zone planning to land on the carriers. If they do block you with destroyers, then you can kill those with subs and/or planes and take the favorable casualty ratio. Since the US needs a heavily defensive fleet to be able to withstand your counterattack, your fleet at the Philippines is likely unattackable by the US fleet, putting planes on the island for scramble if need be.

If Russia stacks Bury Rd1, just don’t do a J1 DoW. Crush the Russian stack J1 instead, advance on China and set up a moderately successful J3 DoW (not gonna be ideal because of the Russian diversion. But hey, you get Russian money as a trade-off). Be content that Germany can get a comfortable take of Moscow without worrying about balancing haste and profitability.
If Russia pulls back for one round and then re-advances to Bury Rd2, this is probably the toughest Japan will have it. Very unlikely that they will take the Pacific victory (unless the US ignores them), but Germany will still get the easy take on Moscow and should be able to turn that into a Europe victory.

Germany cannot go “hog wild” with a competent UK/Soviet player without some truly decent dice luck. Germany can push up to Moscow, but they often times can’t take Moscow immediately. That, and they can’t really spend their resources in any way but to facilitate as much power as is possible against Russia, or risk losing a turn (or worse, two), toward the eventual goal in the east.

Right about the time the European Axis are crashing the gates or ducking south for that sweet, sweet Caucasus/Volgo/Middle East money, America should be turning around or have already turned around form the Pacific.

On the other hand, Japan fucking can go hog wild without American intervention: J1 DoW specifically. I favor 100% Pac buys as the US (apart from maybe the first 52 or a sub or two a turn or whatever else, depending on a ton of situations that can’t be covered here) because the sooner you can start crumpling up Japan, the sooner you can go try to play hero in Europe.

It might be worth mentioning that Hawaii and Gibraltar are “only” two turns away from one another. It is not impossible to change your mind. It’s usually not the best idea, mind you, but it is an option, and it is occasionally useful.

From what I remember doing

G1: carrier (save 14 IPC, collect 51 (france, Yugo,fin) + 17 french = 81)
G2: 20 mech

USSR 1: 1 ftr, 4 art, 5 inf
USSR 2: 5 art 7 inf

UK1 EU: 6 inf 1 ftr
UK2 EU: Depends, mIC in egupt/ Carrier in europe/ 2 infs and trannie in s Africa / start building ftrs

UK1 P: All inf
UK2 P: mostly inf, if at peace. If at war, some fleet/ftrs and some land

Anzac1: 3 inf
anzac2: start builign ftrs while making some landunits

USA1: if a peace: 9 subs, if at war: 2 carriers, 1 sub and 2 DD for japan
USA2: 2 carriers for europe, 2 carriers 2 subs for japan

it1: either ftr or 1 mech, 1 tank for easter front.
it2: 1 mech + ftr + ??? Depends on money

Well the result is that when Japans DOW in J3 the US is NOT yet at war until the end of her turn. So Japan can do what it wants until US4…

@KennethViuff:

Hi All�

I�ll like some feedback one 9 charts, but how do i insert them in this tread??

Hey Kenneth,

In order to prevent spam on the forums… there is a minimum amount of posts a member must have in order to share pictures, links, or files. I think it’s 10 or more, but if you private message imperious leader, he may lift the restriction for you.

Looking forward to seeing your charts.

@Dafyd:

I think that any question when we are trying to improve our skills is a good question…especially if we are really trying to learn.  The Hessian and ShadowHAwk are right.  The key to the Pacific are the two power fleets of Japan and the U.S.  The U.S. must go after the Japanese fleets.  Carriers loaded with planes are very important as well as the subs and detroyers.  As a side mission and with the permission of your Soviet ally, land troops in Siberia and help take back Soviet territories from the Japanese if they have begun to starve out the Soviet Far East.  It takes resources from the Japanese and can alter the attention of the Japanese player a turn or two if they are interested in defending Korea or pressuring the Soviets.

Good stuff here.  I’m a fan of 3 part attacks on Japanese fleets.  As an example:

Japan leaves a chunk of its fleet in SZ42 (off Java) for whatever reason.  They’re not worried about an attack because America doesn’t have the fleet off of Queensland to come after them.  What I’ve done in those situations is attack with the American ships, then follow up with India planes and Anzac ships/planes to finish them off. You’ll lose your American ships, some India planes and Anzac ships/planes, but if you wipe out half of the Japanese fleet it’s brutal for Japan because, as dominate as they can be, they can’t afford to lose too many major pieces.  America can lose a mini fleet and replace it; Japan cannot afford to be spending multiple turns rebuilding its fleet.