I also play this with my gaming group. I agree with squire - Allies have the advantage.
Japan can grab Indian rnd 3 (naval base in French Indo rnd 2) and if you’re playing to win, that’s the way I would go.
If you want to create more play in Africa/Med you can try a German airbase in Greece rnd 1. Britain can attack with fig, tac, bmr, cruiser for an even fight with the destroyer and 3 figs.
If you want to try something a little crazy with Japan, have a look at the following;
1 bomber, 1 fighter and 1 tactical_bomber moved from Japan to 26 Sea Zone
1 fighter moved from 6 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
1 tactical_bomber moved from 6 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
1 battleship moved from 6 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
1 destroyer moved from 6 Sea Zone to 26 Sea Zone
1 submarine moved from 49 Sea Zone to 62 Sea Zone
1 fighter moved from 42 Sea Zone to 62 Sea Zone
1 fighter moved from 42 Sea Zone to 49 Sea Zone
1 cruiser, 1 destroyer and 1 submarine moved from 47 Sea Zone to 49 Sea Zone
1 fighter moved from 33 Sea Zone to 49 Sea Zone
1 cruiser moved from 33 Sea Zone to 49 Sea Zone
If all goes right you won’t be in bad shape. However, there is a massive whole in this opening that can be exploited by US/Anzac. If they choose not to scramble in Pearl Harbor they can attack the BB and loaded Carrier in sz 54 with 3 fig, tac and bmr then have Anzac clean up, if anything is left. You can prevent this by bringing in an extra carrier and landing the 2nd fig from the attack on sz 49. BUT, you can only do this if you’re not forced to provide landing for the surviving fighters in Pearl. All in all pretty messy and not a very good opening. Let me know if you take the plunge and how it works out.
Best move for Britain IMHO is an airbase in Gibraltar. I don’t use the US fig to attack the 2 German des, just 2bmr and a des, this gives you an extra fig in Gibraltar. The idea is to park your cruiser in sz 92 to prevent Italy from getting thier NO. They can attack, but have to cover the scramble and will have their fleet wide open for a counter attack.
