My newest Japan strategy

@govz

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

@faruu

Exactly! That’s why I always wait for a declaration of war. Attacking first caused Japan to lose in real life.

@WindowWasher Good day. Japan needs the income from the DEI and need to keep India on the defensive, not expanding. I agree with Awk others here: Oz can wait. Make Japan a monster first.
I have played close to 100 1940 games and don’t think anyone has tried to take Sydney from me early on.
Try it, but I don’t think it would work against most players here.

Subs are amazing units. I argue hacing about 40% of your IPCs in subs as US. Volume is vastly underrated.

Okay thanks for the insight.

1. Barbarossa it is!

2. Most of my opponents, when they play the US, play a almost-all-Pacific game. Why is it better to attack in the first round then the third? And how do you go about it? How do you defeat China? And I always defeat China in round four (with an extra MIC in Kiangsu). Is that still possible?

And with how many Japanese troops do you attack Russia? My opponents retreat all 18 units from the far east to Moscow asap…

I see what you guys are saying and I agree. I’ve been kicking around the idea to replace the $5 NO for Japanese control of Borneo, Celebes, Java and Sumatra with the following:

$5 for Japanese control of Okinawa, Formosa, Iwo Jima, Marianas, Palau, Caroline Islands and Marshall Islands. This occurs when Japan is at war with the Western Allies. So if UK and/or ANZAC declare war on Japan, with USA still neutral, then Japan will collect this NO.
I’ve also modified the $5 NO for Japanese control of Midway, Wake, Guam, Solomon Islands and Gilbert Islands. I changed it to $1 for control of each island.

I also removed the US NO of $10 for US control of Eastern US, Central US and Western US because I think that falls in the same category as the DEI NO. The continental US is worth $42 to the US all together, has all their main manufacturing plants and includes two Victory Cities, one of which is their capital. That’s more than enough incentive to not lose any of those three territories. However, I didn’t want to just take away US NO money, so I replaced it with the following:

$1 each for Allied control of the following: Midway, Wake Island, Guam, Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Palau, Marianas, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Formosa. This occurs when US is at war with Japan.

So you see, there is still the possibility for the US to make the full $10 in NO money, plus 3 of the Japanese Islands are worth $1 which will be an extra bonus. Also, since 3 of the islands are already US owned, the US can still collect $3 when at war with Japan but before their offensive gets moving.
I thought that might do something to get a little more action in these valueless islands. I wonder if I ought to change Japan’s because once the US is in the war, Japan’s NO is really easy to disrupt because the Marshall Islands are close to the US and they are unguarded. Do you think that I should remove the Marshalls from Japan’s NO?

Thanks so much guys. I like all of your input and I will be sure to use them. Please also help me with my question in the recent “please help” section.

Thanks,
          SJS063

When I play Japan I like to play with the long-term in mind.  That is, I don’t really go for early do-or-die strategies like an India crush.  If I’m given the opportunity, I’ll go for it, but normally I’ll just try to improve Japan’s economy and keep it that way.

On the turn I attack, I grab the Phillipines and as many of the DEI as possible.  The rest will be gotten on the next turn.  Hong Kong and Malaya are also high-priority objectives.  Unless something has gone wrong, getting these will make Japan’s income in around the low-mid 60s, which is perfect.

Then I’ll put 1-2 factories in South East Asia, and just trade Burma with India.  With convoying, India can only produce around 1 Infantry a turn, so time is in my favor in that region.  I’ll strat bomb the India IC if I ever get the chance.

What determines my success at this point is how much US invested and is continuing to invest in the Pacific.  If it’s a majority or all of its resources, I know Japan’s not going to win.  I might attack Russia if I see a KJF strat, in order to help Germany win.  My fleet builds will primarily be defensive - carriers and destroyers - in order to make my fleet survive as long as possible against the growing US fleet.

If US is only spending some of its income in the Pacific, I’ll be trying to win in the Pacific if possible.  After I’ve got my income, I’ll try to place the majority of my fleet in the Carolines.  There I can threaten Hawaii and Australia.  With luck I’ll try to convoy Australia.  I’ll have taken 1 of those four Australian NO islands, so hopefully Anzac’s making less than 10 a turn.  With a good Carolines-based threat, Anzac will be building defensively - infantry - for the forseeable future.  Thus the majority of my income can go into my trade war against India and for fleet builds to compete with the US fleet.  Until India falls, I’ll go mostly for targets of opportunity at this point.  Hawaii if possible, but that’s tough.  The Pacific Island NO in A3 is impossible, don’t even bother looking at it.  The 5/7 NO in A2 was a lot better frankly.  :-P

With a long-term strategy like this, Japan’s overall victory threat is maximized.