Not nearly as bad as you might think…
It is mostly a matter of seeing far enough ahead to know that Germany is going to fall before Russia and that you can do nothing about it…
Then, there are are only 4 elements necessary, 3 of which you can virtually guarantee if you incorporate into your basic play…
1. you need an income of $45 plus as Japan, for at least 4 turns. Not hard to do and likely happens in most games already
2. you need at least 8 trannies to move at least 16 Inf on the key turn. If you play without ICs, or at least without early ICs, you should be able to amass these easily and you probably already have them and the infantry already built.
3. You need to have at least 4 bombers already built…good incentive to buy a second and even third bomber when you can. As long as you have 2, then you can always buy 2 more a round in-advance.
4. You need to have Hawaii, which you can guarantee if you just always plan for this possibility
Consider that a likely Inf push by Japan is at least 3 turns away from the front, armour 2 turns, meaning:
that for 2-3 turns the exact same number of ground troops will reach the front, regardless of what you buy in those turns
that you are the aggressor now, but that you can simply turn to defence once your follow-on forces run dry…this will lead to another 2-3 turns before the Allies can actually expect to launch attacks against Japan
therefore, you have 4-6 rounds as Japan before the Allies become a serious threat to them in the core Asian empire
thus, @ 45$ round, you should have a minimum $180 to play with
thus, you have 36 tech rolls…which you can see is not too bad odds to acquire the 3 desired techs
then, you simply forget Russia, stall the Allies in Asia as long as possible and build a bomber or two and the rest on tech.
If you acquire the 3 tech within the alloted time frame, you can continue to stall in Asia, eventually retreating to the coast, or even just to Manchuria.
As Japan, you need hold only the Pacific and conquer the US to win…you will then have a minimum $44 income regardless of what you hold in Asia, plus the triple threat
it is irrelevant what Russia builds for ground forces as your LR bombers stationed in N America can hit any new builds anywhere with no problems…Russia will never have a navy
worse, the UK/Allied navy will eventually fall as Japan shifts every boat she has to the Atlantic and uses them and her HBs to pound both the economy and the navy of the UK
it is inevitable that the UK will fall once you start a dedicated campaign against her…everything in Europe/Asia becomes meaningless if it cannot hit Japan or N America. Airpower alone guarantees this and with the Japan fleet with 8 trannies :) well…it’s not nice to see if your in London.
and then there’s just Russia…
Anyway…is this so unbelievable? 8 trannies, Hawaii, $45 income, 4+ bombers, 4-6 turns, $180, 36 rolls and 3 techs?
It’s not that bad odds actually…if you think about it and plan for this possibility it is quite easy to do. The harder part is actually taking out the USA which requires some intricacies…and seeing this all far enough in-advance that you free the money.