Mech Infantry, supported by Artillerym in attack ?

one thing that annoys me about Anzac Infantry is they won’t fit on the chip. Is there a modification I could do to fix this without having to completely cast a new base for them?

@Whackamatt:

Well, I suppose the US economy could go up if they took some DEI, but really, if that’s happening, that it’s pretty much over for the Japanese anyway.

Not in my game  :-)  Func really likes to snipe at those DEI islands.

Well, Kat, here is the dilemma:

If you allow Japan to take Hawaii, the following turn Japan swings down to Australia.
Add up the victory cities: 2 starting cities, Phillipines, Hong Kong + Hawaii = 5 total.
Sydney is 6. No need to slog through to India.

If you surrender Hawaii on J2, Japan could conceivably win the game outright on J4.
J3 fresh troops from Japan land on Hawaii. New Zealand falls. Don’t forget Australia does not get to scramble fighters because they are considered a continent, not an island.
Third CV returns to Phillipines to help with ANZAC attack.
J4 fresh troops arrive in Hawaii; existing troops shuttled to Queensland or New Zealand, depending where ANZAC defends.
At best Sydney holds out until J5.
As Japan I could send out DD screens to delay US counterattack.
Also, if Hawaii falls on J2, virtually every fighter in Asia I have will be in Hawaii by J4.
The scrambling rules allow ALL fighters to defend sea zone around Hawaii.

@the:

…even though they have no attack value?

I guess it helps to think of the AC of having an attack value of zero. This means that it can be in with the combat move. (Also transports have an attack value of zero, but must be chosen last.)  Things that do NOT have an attack value are: AA guns, Naval Bases, Air Bases, Industrial Complexes.

Since Japan has so many planes I find MI are really useful as bullet sponges. The planes provide mobile killing power, the MI mobile protection for the planes and occupation.

Whackamatt, I would like to know when you predict the Japanese will be done with China and India if you attack on J1 as you outline, and the UK buys almost exclusively infantry with just a couple artillery thrown in.  Lets say you think you can be celebrating We Love the Emperor Day in Calcutta on turn 6 (I don’t have a number, I’m just throwing it out there).  Can the US lock down San Fran, Honolulu and Sydney before then and destroy the IJN at Carolines?  Making the Japanese investments in Asia (two ICs + several armor and infantry per turn) may give you a solid hold on Asia but the expense may still put you woefully behind the US and ANZACs.  Then there is the final problem.  The Japanese player can OWN Asia and it won’t matter if the US and ANZACs can take the home island.  I’m not trying to shoot your plan down, I am just trying to see if you have thought this out a bit further.  It is easy to look at an early Japanese move and think, “this is over.”  But that is the same way it was on December 7th when they hit everything.  I think the Allies will still have quite a bit of fight left in them.

@Vareel:

Oh i’m not saying you have to attack hawawi, nor that you should try to take it.  But it is a good idea I feel to send the US fleet at pearl to the bottom of the ocean.  The way I do that is with 2 carriers parked in SZ 31 with some extra boats to add to the attack, like a BB, pair of DDs, pair of subs, and keep a bomber or two in range, along with a purchased sub or 2.  Just 2 carriers alone in SZ 31 bring 8 planes into the fight allowing for 24 punch and 8 or 12 hits if you bring the carriers.  Add to that a pair of bombers, 2 DDs and a BB and you got 40 punch with 6 more hits.  And thats not counting the purchased units or the pair of subs you can position there if you want.  That still leaves you with a carrier, a battleship, 2 DDs, 2 Cru, and 15 planes for the DEI area.  Now I do sacrifice my transports to take DEI islands in the end, but I feel it is worth it.  If the US cannot be at Pearl on US2, or is sunk there, the earliest turn they can get to the DEI area with a significant force would be on US 5.

I understood that the propose is to prevent the US from moving the fleet to Pearl, not taking Hawaii itself and I agree that it is a good move. Most likely I’d move the US fleet to Line Islands and buy a naval base, allowing them to reach Australia on the next turn by leaving a DD on Johnson to block any J attacks.

The worse though will be if the US moves its airforce to Australia after J has attacked. Any Jap fleet on the East Indies will be threatened.

I think J1 brings US to the war too early. I reckon it could be the most effective move in terms of the IPCs you can make your enemies lose in one single turn, and you can easily make up for the 10 IPCs that you will loose for being neutral with the US, but in all the games I played (not a lot yet), US war machine gets rolling and ends up making the Japanese player pay.

J2 lets you position yourself better on the board, as long as you have a clear strategy of what you want to do (go all in for Calcutta, or spread out to get Sydney later on, whatever floats your boat). The problem sometimes is the lack of that clear strategy, I tended to get dispersed and pick a little bit from here, a little bit from there and then get burned.

J3 will make it very difficult for you, because the Allies can stack up forces in Calcutta. In my personal opinion it should be either J1 or J2, max.