Does anyone still use paper money (ipc's)?

I think 42 is pretty well balanced.
Allied are a bit more difficult to play IMO, since it requires more coordination and forthsight to play especially the US effectively. Therefore axis may have a slight advantage.

I’d say other things on your list should be:

3 transports 1 destroyer
4 transports
2 transports 1 industrial complex
2 industrial complexes

(The thought behind 1 industrial complex or 2 is very different; 1 IC mixes early pressure with infantry backup; 2 ICs just goes “hell for leather” as you may say.)

That pretty much covers it.

@Nomarclegs:

The most important asset for any power in Spring ’42 is flexibility.  Japan (with her large air force and navy, as well as local production facilities) has incredible flexibility.  As USSR I’d opt to preserve as much of my flexibility as possible. That means keeping my men alive.

I agree with the issue of flexibility for both, but the first round is a window of opportunity to harass Japan’s flexibility by giving it a lot of targets to hit so that it can’t focus on everything. If the results of Russia’s opening attacks favored the Russians or just gave out the average losses then those units can be used to throw a few speed bumps at Japan or pressure it.
If you combine all 6 units on Buryatia then Japan has a very big problem to solve, in addition to the usual ones:

US fleet at SZ52 China UK cruiser/carrier at SZ59 UK sub at New Guinea/Solomon UK transport from SZ40 Remaining UK fleet on the Indian Ocean India

And this assumes that the UK didn’t went to attack FIC or Borneo, instead of retaking Egypt. If I’m playing Japan, one option is to attack SZ52, China and Buryatia, but to do so it would mean the Indian advance will be delayed, as well as any reinforcement of the Germans on Africa until round 3. I’ll have to use a lot of the airforce, to prevent any dice failures.
The other is to hit China, SZ52, and get rid of most UK naval units, while reinforcing Manchuria and transporting 1 inf, 1 arm to Indochina, ensuring the fall of India on J2 (and opening the possibility of building an IC on J3). At the same time it positions Japan to reinforce Egypt with plenty of fighters and units carried by the transport, which can also be used instead to bring the 2 inf from East Indies to attack India.

On the first one, Japan will kill 6 Russian inf at the average cost of 2 or 3 of its infantry. It will also have to bring more land forces from Japan if it wants to advance past Yakut. The UK will also have attacked Indochina, taking away the possibility for an IC build there until round 3, the same round that India should fall. Indian IC on built on round 4, produce units on round 5 that can finally be used on round 6. Meanwhile Africa should fall sooner to the Allies, will take more time to threaten/reinforce Africa with Japan.
But…  if Germany got lucky against the Russians (the deciding factor for me) and destroyed a large part of their army then this option is a must because it will give 2 simultaneous blows to Russia’s power.

Second one, the 6 Russian inf get away or make a kamikaze against 2 inf, 2 ftr on Manchuria. Usually they are pulled back and can reach Russia by round four. If there’s no Russian threat to retake India then I’ll get that IC for it and by round 5 I can start using its units. Meanwhile, the UK’s production is going down and down (India, Persia, Jordan, Egypt, the rest of Africa, possibly Australia), either forcing the Allies to retake Africa or start facing a losing economic situation, which gets worse as Japan keeps building its attack forces and advancing towards Russia.

Tough call? Yes, it can be.

@Krieghund:

@saturnracer:

And, of course, if on the next players turn, he wins it back, you are right back where you started at.

It’s important to not confuse your income level (indicated on the national production chart) with your IPCs “in the bank” (tracked on paper, or however you like).  Your income level moves up and down as you gain and lose territories.  As far as income level goes, you’re right that you end up back where you started if your opponent recaptures everything you captured.  However, during the Collect Income phase of your turn, you added the number of IPCs indicated by your income level on the chart to your “bank balance”.  Those IPCs are yours to keep until you spend them, so even if your opponent captures or recaptures territories, you will still have the IPCs you gained from them to spend on your next turn.

Ahh…(Light bulb turning on)  So thats where the paper comes in…i always wondered why paper was needed, when we have a production chart
thanks,…we really had a messed up game , then, as i woudl capture a territory or two, lose it back, and not have anything to show for it

Good poll options.  I picked “submerge if get 2 or more hits average”.  The US sub is very useful for harassing the valuable sea zone east of Japan.  With a UK sub at New Guinea to threaten French Indochina, Japan’s forced to either keep its fleet at home, or build a destroyer and go hunting.

I know you want to play, so don’t be a wanna-be-player!

Be a PLAYER!  :mrgreen:

I’ve played games yesterday as allies and won them against the other player. We had played before using the same sides and I lost. Here’s my impressions of what happened and what you described:

The initial Russian opening is pretty much standard, he should have lost 3 inf according to probabilities but G will lose 2 of the following 4 territories to R on the first round: Ukraine/West Russia/Bielorussia/Norway. G has to push Russia back on the first or second turn. Buying only inf for G on round 1 is not the best choice (the allied player did it on both my games). Ideally, if you buy 5 tanks you can be able to make Karelia impossible to take by the Russians (depending on the number of russian casualties and their initial purchase). If that’s not possible then you will have to take and hold Karelia or Ukraine somewhere on the following rounds. What you do regarding the Brit fleets really depends on how much you want to risk sacrificing your air force. Taking out the UK Battleship and the Transport with the sub, fighter and bomber gives some breathing room for G on the Atlantic, along with killing the Cruiser. And don’t forget to move the G subs. Regarding J it really depends on what R and the UK have made. If they are playing aggressive then you’ll have 6 inf on Buryatia, UK controlling Borneo and New Guinea, UK fighter on US carrier on Hawaii. Your first buy should be 2 transports and 1 destroyer, in any case. You’ll need the DD do deal with any allied subs, while the factory can wait a little longer. With Japan I’d say that the US fleet is the biggest target, followed by China and Borneo. If R moved to Buryatia leave 1 inf behind in Manchuria and land as many fighters as possible there. If the US goes Pacific (like I did on my games) and starts building a fleet, then your focus is to prevent the US fleet from invading either East Indies/Borneo/Phillipines and building an IC there. You’ll need some infantry to drop on Asia using the transports available but combat ships and planes have the highest priority. On Asia focus on taking India, the Chinese territories and the 3 Russian territories. Don’t leave your ground units where they can be destroyed by allied  counterattacks.

It’s better to just write your money down, especially if you’re playing one on one. It can get messy trying to keep IPC’s organized for all three allies. Writing income down is quicker and is evidence of purchases in case there are any disputes later. Our group stopped using money before 42 even came out because we realized the pointlessness of it.