The Japanese Piracy Strategy: An insane plan that somehow worked

4 Ftr’s  and 3 Bmbrs.

@Requester45:

I’m assuming that nobody has payed any attention to anything I’ve outlined in this strategy. I don’t know how much more I can say on the strategy. I might make another shorter video showing a push through the North. If someone could describe their German strategy going through the North I’ll gladly post a video on it.

The northern route better permits the German forces to stack all together on G4 at Belarus or Russia loses tons of Blockers which in turn causes other issues. Not to mention a forward base to produce units from. Whereas the southern route, you might not get to produce German units in Ukraine on G4 because there would have been a huge Russian stack in Bryansk ready to counter the small battles that occur for key objectives. In a PBEM game, my opponent stopped my northern route (yes it can be done). However, he did it at the expense of losing Moscow. Unfortunately for me, my Japan game is sucking and I’ll probably end up losing in the long run.

The money in the south are places like Rostov / Caucaus / Stalingrad…ect. Your chances of getting to those places faster is better through the northern route against experienced allied players. The southern is a choke point at w. Ukraine. The northern route offers Belarus and Smolensk as places for an Italian can opener to let the German stack and planes land. If your playing experiences is limited to face-to-face games than you’ve only played with a smaller finite amount of players.

If you’re whole “Red Tide” is based upon a Sea Lion game, well, that’s a scenario that rarely occurs. Russia can easily gobble up lots of NOs for a while until Germany stabilizes the front.

I tend to leave Greece for Italy and make Germany take Bulgaria and Yugo based on historical value. Now has anyone ever seen UK take Greece if you choose to leave it for Italy? I have never seen this because I am sure UK thinks taking Greece will weaken its position in Med. Any thoughts on this?

@AndreasI:

Just some thoughts from someone who hasn’t really done the math nor played enough rounds to actually see this tactic through.

Can US really be at war, at their own initiative, with Germany on turn 3 (Combat/Movement phase?) so they can actually move to Gibraltar at all? Or are there any second edition additional rules that I have missed?

And then on down to the tactics on getting a strong fleet supporting units into Normandy or other mainland european regions:

Am I correct in assuming that Germany loosing it’s entire bomber force against, let’s say, a strong naval presence from US/UK equals a lost game for Germany? I am aware that Japan can still grow to be a monster and win the game for the axis anyhow but let’s keep focus on europe for now. Creating a fleet according to Nippon-kokus suggestion (or similar) would create a situation that requires Germany to respond with their bombers. Once there is a strong static fleet that Germany can’t attack without risking it’s entire air force it’s quite easy for the allies to maintain that ratio of units so that it stays safe. And what happens then? The US can land units basically every turn once the shuttle is running. 8 or 10 units are not frightening, I admit. Easily countered by Germany but the way I see it is that Germany from then on are forced to use their bombers plus land units each turn against a landing force. Using german bombers on that front every turn makes them unusable against the russians. I can certainly see where there could be a bit of trouble breaking through russian lines.

The way I see it, if the US can do this, why would Dark Skies really matter? Would buying 20 Infantry and 10 Tanks be any different? Germany still couldn’t kill the Allied fleet, would still have to divert forces from Russia, would still face the Allies landing every turn…

…and on top of it, It’d be harder for Germany to counter attack.

Seems like Dark Skies is still an optimal strategy against a US invasion.

Ok…. So another question. What would you consider the best naval defense against 1-3 German subs and 2-4 planes?

I superior force.  Use the battle calculator to tell you if they’d win or not, and if they would…don’t move in yet.  It’s up to you to place your units in harm’s way.  The US has the luxury of waiting until they want to or need to move in without fear of someone attacking their capital.

The “best” naval defense depends on what your strategy is.  I find carriers essential in the Pacific, and often judge if I have the upper hand by a carrier count of the Allies vs. Japan.  If Japan has 6 loaded carriers to your 2, Japan is probably winning at the moment.  In Europe, I tend to go with more offshore rolls if I’m feeling offensive, or just stick with destroyers and strat bombers that can land in Gibraltar and England and hit just about anywhere.

Back to your example.  I assume the subs are by Western Germany and the planes are in Normandy or carrier based.  I’d ask…why do you NEED to move in to Gibraltar this turn to put your fleet at risk?  Wait another round and add 4 more destroyers, another carrier and planes, or other round of purchases to your fleet.  Germany usually doesn’t have the same capacity to match your purchases if they want to make progress vs. Russia at all.  Take your time and build up, then move in.

One easy rule is to add up hits and attack power.  If they have 3 subs and 2 ftr 2 tac, that’s 20 atk and 7 hits.  make sure you have 1.5 times the number of hits and you’re probably good.  Go in with 12 destroyers.  or 2 loaded carriers and 4 dds.  Carriers are great because they bring extra 4’s into the fight, and if you’re hard up for money, the UK or France can land their planes on your carrier if you’re thinking pure defense.

Good suggestions, except it leaves me wondering about Japan putting some, even a little, pressure on Russian.  Like I said before, it is in my DNA to squeeze Russia with the Axis.  It may be that your suggestions are the best route for Japan but including a smaller invasion of East Russia.

@MadPup77:

You don’t have to wait a turn to hit Japan. You place them, next turn they’re in SZ 6. You place them in SZ 10, next turn Hawaii, next turn SZ 6.

-MadPup77

If you put a NB in Alaska, they can move in 1 turn into SZ 6, via SZ 8 and SZ 7.

Functioneta:

Correct, 6 Victory Cities to win for the Pacific.
or
8 Victory Cities for the Atlantic

San Fran is the hardest of all to get and hold.  Under Alpha 2 (probably OOB too) it is theoretically possible to get and hold it if you can do it on round 3.