Hello, I play pacific 1940 a lot. I have also played global a few times. Pacific 1940 second edition is a great game but I can almost easily win every time if I’m Japan and I attack on the third turn. A new rule was passed around late 2014 to allow the USA to receive a 30 IPC bonus if Japan attacks or declares war on them before turn 4. This seems to balance the game a little but I can still always win with Japan. The strategy for Japan is pretty much the same. Take the money islands, build a minor in French Indo China and Kwangtung and knock out China and India. Post in the Philippines with your huge navy and three fighters that can scramble and those six deadly kamikizes. Let Anzac and USA come to you so you can use the fighters to defend at 4 when the big navy battle happens. Eventually you will be making more than the allies with the money islands NO and the India NO. You should be around the 70-75 mark. Then when the time is right strike at Sydney or Hawaii and hold it and you should win as it will be six victory cities. For the allies, man this can be tuff lol. You better hope Japan attacks you on turn 1 or turn 4 because turn 2 and especially 3 it’s going to be difficult.
1: China: buy men and hit and run and fall back to the north west of China. You will be lucky if the Burma road is open more than two turns. Pull back and make Japan come to you.
2: UK: pull everyone back to India and just buy men!!! Try to bring your navy down to Australia and unite them with Anzac and hopefully later USA. If it looks like India is going to fall then pull your airforce out and send them to Australia to hopefully land on a Anzac or American carrier. If Japan hasn’t declared war early then take as many islands in the south as possible .
3: Anzac: small ships and transports are good. if it looks like Japan is going to invade then pull your forces to south Australia because from there you can hit any territory. Use your small ships to convoy raid or unite with the main USA fleet. Queensland is a great staging area for the allied navy early in the game. Also since there’s a airbase there fighters don’t hurt also since they can scramble.
4:USA: the big boy lol. The problem is when USA is neutral she only makes a freaking 17 ipcs a turn. While Japan is around the 40 mark and Japan has soooooooo many aircraft at its disposal. USA I say aircraft carrier early then mainly subs, destroyers, and a transport every turn with land units. A few rounds into the game get a navy base on the Johnson islands and start combining your fleet with the Anzac fleet and hopefully a small UK fleet. try to take the money islands by sacrificing transports because Japan will have a bigger navy early in the game. When the time is right move to Dutch New Guinea with your fleet and prepare for the big battle. Sometimes it’s better if Japan attacks you and sometimes it’s better if you attsck them. Hopefully you will have a lot of subs at your disposal. If you win the navy battle then Japan is pretty much toast even if they have India and China. Good luck and let me know how the war goes lol. I am playing anniversary edition on Saturday 😜
First Game!
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Yea, but Japan can’t scramble against an amphibious assault against Korea, can it?
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@The:
Yea, but Japan can’t scramble against an amphibious assault against Korea, can it?
damn good question….
to be safe i escorted with a ton a fighters… -
Yes it can. Krieg confirmed it on BGG.
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Makes sense that Japan’s planes can because they are protecting the sea zone rather than Korea herself.
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I thought only fighters from islands with airbases except Japan can scramble
On the game Japan is an island too
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I agree with being its the best game ever. But i don’t think the novelty will wear off as fast as you think. I say this coming from playing the revised edition for the past year. I too have just played my first game and lost as the allies. I was US and China and my son was UK and Anzac. I made a fatal error and left S.F. wide open. But my opponent was very annoying he would digress a lot into ww2 history (and I mean a lot). Plus he would get up for a soda or talk with other people (we only got to round 4 in the span of 5 hrs! :x). We were at a local board game meet at a hobby store. So my first game in my opinion hasn’t happened yet. At least your game sounded fun. Plus my opponent had all kind of other annoying quirks. Okay my rant is over. But yes it is the best game of them until the map is complete. Then it will even be better. The novelty will not wear off for a long time to come I hope. Happy gaming to all!
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This really is a fun game, despite a few annoying problems. They got more right than wrong. Though I do question starting Siam under Japanese control as well as Kiangsi and Kwangsi.
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Though I do question starting Siam under Japanese control….
I imagine this will change with the Global game as it depends on what happens to France.
#501
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Though I do question starting Siam under Japanese control….
I imagine this will change with the Global game as it depends on what happens to France.
#501
I read that France and I think Germany start at war. It’s pretty much set for Germany to take France’s capital early. I rhink I read that in one of the stickies by IL about the facts of the 1940 games
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Though I do question starting Siam under Japanese control….
I imagine this will change with the Global game as it depends on what happens to France.
#501
I read that France and I think Germany start at war. It’s pretty much set for Germany to take France’s capital early. I rhink I read that in one of the stickies by IL about the facts of the 1940 games
Agreed. I wouldn’t suggest to the Japanese infantry bordering Siam “take a seat, it’ll be awhile”… but I’m thinking if Paris is in French hands at set-up then Siam should be in French hands.
#505
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Now that our group has had a chance to play the game several times we’ve come to the conclusion that Japan should win every time if played by a competant player. The best strategy for Japan is to attack the Allies on the first turn.
While this may sound like a bummer, its actually a good thing since once the Europe game is added, the majority of Japanese strategy in AAP40 will be dramatically different and precarious…ie…the USSR factor, and other things as well(UK/India could be stronger, US commitment to the Pacific, etc…).
Our group is returning to AA50 for now…we cant wait for AAE40!!!
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Though I do question starting Siam under Japanese control….
I imagine this will change with the Global game as it depends on what happens to France.
#501
I’m not talking about FIC. Siam had a favorable view of Japan’s opposition to Western Imperialism and their diplomatic assistance in settling border disputes with France, but was not interested in becoming part of the Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere. Japan landed troops there during the opening days of the war to secure passage into Malaya. Realizing there would be no help from the west, Siam negotiated a truce and allowed Japanese access to railroads, harbors and airfields.
Kiangsi and Kwangsi were invaded by Japan in 1938 but only in several small coastal pockets at that and were non contiguous. None of these territories should start under complete Japanese control in 1940.
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