@Aretaku:
India Destroyer to Jap Transport
Aussie Sub to Jap Sub
2 Inf from Australia to New Guinea (which can be reached)
2 Inf, 1 Fig from India to Borneo (Carrier must accompany to allow fighter to land)
If all four attacks succeed, Japan is down two ships and five IPCs, and has to think long and hard about what to kill and what to potentially let slip away. It also helps in that it keeps mainland Asia relatively calm for a round or two while Japan deals with the situation.
There are many options for Britain in the Pacific in turn one, but when this one succeeds, it can really ruin Japans day.
In may playgroup there is often a SJF (Slow Japan first approach) similar to this moves. We are also used to stack Buryatia with 6 infantries and sending Russian infantry in Sinkiang. This togheter with the UK opening move described by Aretaku can really ruin Japanes days!
I am trying to answer to this opening in the following way:
Buy: 1 AC, 1 TRN, 1 Tank, save 1 IPC;
Ignore Pearl Harbour to wipe out all the UK fleets instead;
Attack UK fleet in Borneo with 1 BB, 2 Fig, 1 BMB;
Attack UK DD with 1 BB 1 fig (from Japan);
attack UK Sub with DD and 1 fig (from AC at Caroline) if JAp sub is gone and UK sub is alive, this should give a good chance at killing it;
Attack China with 5 inf (3 from Kwantung and 2 from FIC) and the remaining two fighters;
NCM:
transport 1 inf and 1 tank in FIC;
leave 2 inf in Manchuria;
leave 1 AC at Caroline and the other in East Indies Sea Zone, the British Transport still alive in New Guinea can not reach East Indies or Philipphine;
the surviving fighters should be landed in FIC, in sz 60, in Caroline and in East Indies if possible;
Deploy the AC and TRN in sz 60.
Apart the BB in sz59, all the other surviving ships are able to strike in solomon islands seazone with the surviving fighters. The objective of such attack should be to kill the USA TRNs slowing down the island hopping. Meanwhile, Japan should attack India and starting to unload at least 2-3 trns of troops (emptying the islands) on the mainland, buying more fighter is the priority however.
If USA do not come to Solomon the fleet in south East may be used to attack Borneo, Australia and New Zealand.
What result am I having?
The counter move is composed of 4 distinct attacks and it is difficult that all of them went always good.
Sometimes happened and I wiped all the UK Fleet with minimal losses.
Sometimes losses has been more grievous leaving the Japan weak. But if the USA player do not strike immediately in USA1, Japan may still recover consuming his revenge on UK: India, Australia, New Zealand or Madagascar are objectives for turn 2, 3 and 4 together with recapture of Borneo.
Some other times the counterattack went very bad leaving the Japan open to USA attack but… it is better to die in a blaze of glory than dying slowly each turn…
