Japan

From the global games I’ve played - the sooner Japan declares war the better off it will be and the worse off Germany and Italy will be.  And vice versa.  I’m in the middle of a game right now where Japan actually didn’t attack until Turn 4.  It got Hong Kong, Malaya, and the DEI for one turn.  The Phillipines never fell.  He got half way into China before losing two big battles and retreating back to the coast - spreading out his fighters to allow his limited infantry to stand their ground in the face of the Chinese hordes.  (Seriously - the Chinese army right now is 26 infantry, two artillery, and the fighter.)  His fleet won a Pyrrhic victory over the UK navy and retreated back to SZ6 before the US fleet arrived.  The Phillipines is being reinforced w/ infantry and fighters.  Malaya was liberated by the Americans, submarines are hounding him, and the DEI are being freed one at a time.

On the other side of the world Germany conquered Moscow on Turn 5.  Italy got all the way to Syria and Anglo-Egypt Sudan before the Americans arrived.  German tanks are coming to rescue Japan.

On the other hand there are stories on the forums of Japan declaring war on Turn one, crushing India on turn 3, and being in Egypt on turn 5.  Germany and Italy in those games are being hounded by an aggressive America.

I personally believe that China is a red herring for Japan.  You need a dedicated effort to conquer a wily Chinese player - and it’s usually not worth it.  You need those troops and planes for other things.

China is very hard to kill as it can place units anywhere. You kill units in one territory and then they place more units 3-4 territories away. It is hard to kill them. Just preform the odd hit and run and eliminate some units focus on taking India and the other VC’s on islands.

I am by far not sure what the best tactic is. From my experience it is not good to wait until turn 4 to attack as Japan.

I attacked Russia and China J1. Both went well. But I did not have enough power to take Phil, DEI and Australia. I was only able to take Java and Malaya (which I lost two turns later). The problem is that UK Pacific grows too strong. When war breaks out they move into China with a lot of troops, making it hard/impossible to take out the Burma Road.

To make a long story short, the fact that I took on Russia early was crucial. The Axis won because Germany could take out Moscow, before Japan got into too serious trouble. As Japan I was able to only once get an NO (Hawaii).

The one thing that did help was sending subs to Australia for convoy raiding. Because of that ANZAC never grew powerful.

Good ideaa Tavenier.

Last time I bought 2 trannies + 1 Minor for Japan.

Next game it will buy 2 trannies and two subs to keep the ANZAK busy.

I often wait with buying a minor IC until I have Kwangtung or Malaya. Those are IMO the best spots for it. Both have a naval base and can turn into a major.

Harassing ANZAC really helps. You only need to kill the DD with an airplane and you are game there.

Sub warfare seems to be an all around good axis strat in both theaters. In Pac it will keep the Anz & UK incomes down. It obviously works well for Germany vs UK, and a sub in sz 125 (Russia’s NO) is a must. Keep UK buying dd’s.

The game I’m in right now (round #2) Italy lost all fleet except the BB (was on its side), and one tpt UK1 (yea he hit both fleets). Italy really has its hands tied, and looks like UK may hold Egypt (Suez), and has some air support. Right now the UK has no ships in the Med, but the Indian fleet, and some air is on the way (this will make taking India easier for Japan). Its hard to rebuild the Italian fleet w/o $ from Africa, and I don’t want to put my surviving BB/tpt in harms way. I think I can keep up w/UK, but the US will be coming soon, then its lights out for Italy (looks like a KIF strat). I left Greece for Germany to take so it will have access to the Med w/IC. Thinking about building a German sub pen there. That way if I can get Gib closed, I can hit the US fleet on the other side w/German subs & air. May even try to build a couple Italian subs, surface fleets are too easy for the US to take out, but they do have to come to you. Anyway it looks like the Germans & Japs will both have to help keep Italy from falling, and sub warfare looks like a good strat.

Bill, have your japanese partner at least feint at doing something which will bother the US. Be it subs off the west coast. The dual landings in alaska and sw canada, take hawaii for the bonus.

I agree. Make the US spend at least some IPC on the Pacific theatre. If not, well, then you will have a nice income from Hawaii and/or Alaska.

Japan is a great country to play in this game.  You get to decide where to fight.  From the Caroline Islands you can go North South East or West!  Hawaii, DEI, Australia, or to the Homeland to reinforce Siberia with your transports and planes.

See where his weaknesses are and pounce.  DEI is usually soft but isn’t glamorous like taking Australia, India, or even Hawaii

I would wait a turn and build an IC in a useful place. If you build it in J1, then it will mostly be used against China and perhaps Russia. HK and Singapore are way better options. From Malaya you can be in India in one turn (with fleet), in Australia, all of DEI and back to Japan quite fast. Land units are also quite close to Burma road (Chinese lifeline).

So if you decide to attack the UK on J2 then I would build an IC on J3 in Malaya or Kwantung. If you are going to wait longer then China (and perhaps Russia) may become too much of a pain and you need to transport units to the mainland.

My next game as Japan I will attack UK on J2 in Malaya. It gives you +3, UK -3 and ANZAC NO lost. And it is arguably the best place for an IC. For the attack I need a lot of transports, because I also want to take most of the other prices, like the DEI island, Phillipines and/or Kwantung. This gives your economy a major boost and the UK loses a lot of IPC income. I would also prefer to take DEI island from the UK instead of the Dutch controlled islands. You can take those later and the UK islands work both ways (more for you, less for them).