Japan attacks with just about every piece it has on the first turn, due to the rolling advantage it enjoys. Japan must at least destroy the two american battleships, the british malayan battleship, the american phillipine fleet, and as many allied fighters as possible.
Japan is well served to remember its destroyers can move one infantry. I generally try to take both midway and new britain on the first turn, both of which are anchor ports. Thus I generally hold back the japanese battleship off the mainland from any battles first turn so I can move it to midway or new britain, whichever seems appropriate. Yes, you can take advantage of the anchor ports during non-combat movement on the same turn the ports are taken in combat. Japan is also well served to set up a shuttle system of transports to and from the homeland and the malayan anchor port, which allows dropoffs to either FIC or siam.
the allies strategies depend on how the first turn comes out and what japan is doing, but I generally buy the australians a carrier, the indians a bunch of men (maybe a tank or two if the japs suffer badly down around there first turn) and the americans load up on subs and bombers early, slowly build the invasion force.
that’s the great thing about AAP, though, you can’t really devise a sure-thing-every-time strategy because the game can be very different every time.
