Posts made by Afrikakorps

@Omega1759:

G1 attack the UK cruiser for the med, S110, S111, S106. Reinforce Tobruk with two fighters. I could also reinforce Italy with 2 fighters and a tactical for scrambling. Especially with the cruiser taken out this might complicate things for the UK1.

You attack S110, S111 with what?

How can 2 German fighters make it to Tobruk, 2 fighters to Southern Italy and one Tactical to Southern Italy? None of these planes can attack 110/111.

I do this G1 as well and the Death Star clears out the Med!

Lol tobruk OR southern italy

S110 = 1 sub, 2 fighters, 3 tactical bombers, 2 bomber
S111 = 1 sub, 1 battleship, 1 fighter, 1 tactical bomber
S106 = 2 subs
S91 = 1 sub

France = 1 tactical, 1 fighter, 2 mech, 6 infantry, 2 artillery, 4 tanks
Normandy = 1 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 tank
Southern France = 1 tank, 2 mech
Yugoslavia = 7 infantry, 2 artillery, 1 fighter

I see indeed miscalculation, only 2 fighters in rome, no tactical bomber

Thanks for the feedback!

I plan to eventually start playing TripleA. I indeed love writing about it and looking at the board for things to try out, but only play twice a year. This will be my last strategy for now, soon will try them.

Some reactions:

We now had two games in a row the Axis (not me) took Greece in its first turn, however I see the point. Three lucky hits and Italy is toast. As Greece is crucial to the plan, I will need to to look how to do this.

I indeed forgot UK navy convoying!

Ethiopia is very uncommon in our play, only I have used it so far. Usually UK pacific liberate Itan as soon as possible. I should be prepared however.

G1 attack the UK cruiser for the med, S110, S111, S106. Reinforce Tobruk with two fighters. I could also reinforce Italy with 2 fighters and a tactical for scrambling. Especially with the cruiser taken out this might complicate things for the UK1.

G2 attack med fleets, morocco, luftwaffe lands in africa.

The Grand Strategy is that the Axis Europe are in a much stronger position to attack Russia when they have control over the oil fields. In order to control the oil fields you have to secure the two gateways (Egypt and Caucasus). This gives Germany extra income but especially Italy benefits most and becomes a third major Axis (instead of minor). If I have to adjust my buys, or wait for my attack on Russia, that is OK. However, I do not want to buy fleet for Germany besides 1-3 transports to attack Egypt from Southern Greece.

I could also DOW4 with Germany and build
G1: 2 bombers, 1 sub
G2: 4 bombers, 3 transports
G3: 10 tanks
G4: 10 tanks

That gives G3 attack on Egypt all 3 infantry, 3 artillery, 8 bombers + all surviving luftwaffe.

Also very important: when Egypt / Middle East is secured by the Axis, the UK can not send stacks of fighters to Moscow. Therefore taking Moscow as Germany will be easier than normal.

Thanks for the replies, I play face-to-face games. While I am tempted to eventually install TripleA so that I can play Axis and Allies more often and test all these strategies several times. I do detest starting to use a battle calculator as the game will turn into a statistical exercise while I prefer the deception and luck aspect of war. Nevertheless I agree starting to play online to help me improve the strategies. I do play alpha 3+ as version.

However, how do you see Egypt not falling?

Egypt
7 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 Mechanized Infantry, 1 Tank, 1 AAA, 1 Fighter, 1 Tactical Bomber

Possible reinforcements
2 Infantry India, 1 Infantry Syria

I2: 5 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 Tank, 2 Fighters, 1 Bomber
G3: 4 Infantry, 5 Bombers, 4 Tactical Bombers, 4 Fighters

Introduction
This is an alternative Italian strategy that is focused on controlling the Balkan, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Mussolini has convinced Hitler that Germany needs a constant oil supply, that will be lost as soon as Operation Barbarossa starts and thus Russia no longer supplies Germany (the $5 NO for peace). Especially when deep into the Russian territories, this will provide major problems when not secured before. Therefore Goring and his Luftwaffe have been assigned in securing Egypt and the Mediterranean so new oil supplies can be opened before the Germans will pursue their mission of ‘Lebensraum’. Together with the help of the Luftwaffe, Mussolini has promised Hitler to supply the Wehrmacht with the much needed oil for the long push into Russia.

Strategic Goal
Use the Luftwaffe in the initial turns to help Italy secure Egypt. The European Axis will focus on getting their National Objectives, especially those based on oil, as soon as possible to empower Italy in particular. Italy will make strategic use of Greece to invade Southern Russia while Germany will take the northern route.

Rational for Strategy
Even with a full push for Moscow with maximized can openers of Italy, normally Moscow will be able to hold because of the UK fighter inflow. Secondly, even while Moscow might be conquered, the Axis still need Cairo to win. Cairo might be fortified by the UK and USA at that time (G9-10) and result into a stand-off. Taking over Egypt as early as possible has great benefits for the Axis, as it allows Italy to reign over the Mediterranean as it becomes very difficult for the UK to reinforce their troops, it gives the $5 for Germany and most importantly: it gives access to the Middle East oil fields. Therefore this strategy assumes that using the Luftwaffe for taking out Egypt in G3 or earlier will result into victory for the Axis. As soon as Egypt is destroyed, the Luftwaffe will return to assist in the attack on Russia. This strategy is designed for those Axis players that want to make Italy an interesting power on their own (doing something else besides can-opening).

However Italy will not stop after Egypt has been conquered, its mission is to secure oil for the German push into Moscow. This is based on that taking the Caucasus can be done by any Axis player to get the NO, and the Middle East also gives Italy the bonus as Germany. Therefore it would be better to let Italy focus on taking over the Caucasus and Middle East, while Germany focus on breaking and besieging Russia. While it can advance into the Middle East from Egypt, it will primary use the Black Sea to control Southern Russia via a factory in Greece.

NOTE: I assume standard Toronto play with 2/3 of Italy fleet defeated. In case of UK opening moves, this strategy can work out differently based on other opportunities.

1. The Hunt of the Bismarck
In order to give Italy their National Objectives as soon as possible, Germany will strafe its Bismarck and mobilize its fleet to S112 in order to attack Morocco in G2. There is a big possibility the UK will do all it can do in its power to hunt the Bismarck, losing several of their spare planes or ships while doing so. The crucial things to understand as Axis is that the Bismarck will be used as a pawn, as a distraction. If the UK focuses on taking out the Bismarck, they focus less on taking out Italy, which helps Italy a lot in their fragile first turns. You give the Italians a great gift by their second NO in I2 and trading UK air for German ships.  You might even be able to get the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in the Mediterranean, but realize that these ships are not important for the conquest of Russia and overall victory of the Axis. You could build an Aircraft Carrier in G1 and use two fighters to reinforce the small fleet, but these fighters and this carrier will be unable to attack Egypt in G3 and are therefore not a good investment in this strategy.

2. West Africa
Italy will take Gibraltar in I1, securing their first NO with a Cruiser and Transport (1 Tank and 1 Infantry). In most cases the French Infantry from French West Africa will move to French Central Africa in F1. If the passage through Gibraltar is free and the Tank and Infantry are not a must in the assault on Egypt I2, invade French West Africa for $1. In I3 you can take the Gold Coast and two other countries as you can slip past the French because of blitzing for another $3 to give essentially a fourth NO.

3. Greece
Greece will be used by Italy to access the Black Sea and therefore Southern Russia and northern opening of the Middle Eastern oil fields. In order to protect the Italian transports, build an airbase where Germany can station three fighters. These fighters defend both the Black Sea as S97 against the USA in later phases of the game.

4. Middle East
With Egypt fallen and the UK Pacific crippled as soon as possible (JDOW1) the Middle East will not be heavily fortified. This changes when the UK realizes the defense of Egypt is impossible against the Luftwaffe and retreats to the Middle East. In any case, the prime mission of Italy is to conquer the Middle East. With the Mediterranean secured in the early turns this will lift Italy to around $30 income. With the Middle East Italy is able to become really powerful with around $50 income.

Germany
Germany helps Italy as much as possible with their navy and air force in the initial three turns combined with a G1 attack on Southern Russia. They will attack the S91 cruiser and S106 destroyer + transport and attack Morocco in G2. They load two infantry on the I1 built transport and build a transport in G2. All Luftwaffe goes to attack the UK and protect the Italians and in G3 you attack Egypt with all planes and 4 infantry. However, Germany will not waste any of its income (besides a transport) to ships and mainly builds land troops to be able to conquer Leningrad G4 or/and be able to break Bryansk in G5.

Japan
Japan will help Italy by being very aggressive and crippling the UK Pacific in its first turn while doing the Pearl Harbour attack on the USA. This will force the USA to focus on Japan, allowing Italy to become expand fast. In case the USA focus on Italy, the Japanese will secure a win in J6. Most likely however, the USA will first focus on Japan giving Italy some space to grow.

Germany
G1: 2 Bombers, 1 Submarine
G2: 5 Bombers
G3: 9 Tanks
G4: More Bombers

Japan
J1: 3 Transports, 1 Artillery
J2: 1 Minor Factory in FIC, 1 Naval Base, 1 Transport, 1 Artillery, 1 Infantry
J3: 1 Minor Factory in Malaya, 3 Artillery, 5 Infantry
J4: 6 Mechanized Infantry, 10 Infantry

Italian Builds
I1: Save Income
I2: Minor Factory in Greece
I3: Airbase in Greece, 2 Transports in S100
I4: More Troops

Italy Turn 1

Purchase new units
1 Transport

Combat Movement
Greece with 1 Bomber, 1 Tank, 2 Infantry
Yugoslavia with 2 Artillery, 2 Infantry
Gibraltar with 1 Tank, 1 Infantry
Tunisia with 1 Mech, 1 Artillery, 1 Infantry
Alexandria with 1 Tank, 1 Artillery, 3 Infantry
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan with 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery
Kenya with 1 Infantry
S93 with 2 Fighters, 1 Destroyer, 1 Submarine
S92 with 1 Cruiser, 1 Transport (1 Tank, 1 Infantry

Noncombat movement
3 AAA from Northern Italy to Rome
3 Infantry from Rome to Northern Italy

Place new units
Transport in S97

Collect Income
$17 Income
$5 National Objectives
$3
= $25

Italy Turn 2

Purchase new units
1 Minor Factory in Greece, 2 Tanks

Combat Movement
Egypt with all possible land troops and air force to weaken it for G3 attack
French West Africa with 1 Tank, 1 Infantry
Algeria with 1 Mech, 1 Artillery, 1 Infantry
Congo or Tanganyika if possible with 1 Infantry

Noncombat movement
3 AAA from Northern Italy to Rome
3 Infantry from Northern Italy to Yugoslavia

Place new units
Factory in Greece, Tanks in Northern Italy

Collect Income
$20 Income
$15 National Objectives
$1
= $36

@JDOW:

The way to Axis victory with the German goes as follows:

First Germanys only and most important objective is to break through Bryansk and access the money territories Caucasus and Volgograd.

From there Germany has 3-4 options.

1. Siege Moscow until it falls
2. If Russia turtles and Allied send all their air in. Go South towards Egypt (keep in mind that Allies are weak everywhere else with the fighters sitting ins Moscow.
3. Go South towards India
4. Stay around Rostov Caucasus and maintain 80ish income, in case Japan is healthy at 70ish. In this case the Axis can play for economic dominance and suffocate the Allies slowly.

Going for Egypt first via the med is usually to inefficient and forces concessions at the most important German Russian front.
Of course, if Italy can maintain pressure on Egypt, they could go for it. Always good to keep UK busy there and not from 110. But I definitely think that German med buys early are not good because that money is missing for Barbarossa.

However what about building
G1: 2 bombers, 1 sub
G2: 1 bomber, 9 tanks, 1 transport
G3: 9 tanks

18 extra tanks for Bryansk, the bombers can be used againt Egypt and then against Bryansk. As concluded the most efficient way for Germany to give Egypt to Italy is through sending its Luftwaffe to Alexandria G2.

I developed a new Italy strategy based on the Luftwaffe strike, will post it soon.

@Ichabod:

@Afrikakorps:

I1: 1 Tank, 1 Mech
I2: 2 Tanks, 1 Mech
I3: 2 Bombers

Often Italy doesn’t have 24 IPCs on turn 2.

Japan will force the USA to focus on them with JDOW1 and pearl harbor

How is that?
10 basic
5 NO north africa (Germany took Morocco)
5 NO cities (Germany southern France, Italy Greece + Gibraltar)
Yugo + Greece
4 IPC in Africa
= 28 IPC

With the Luftwaffe swarming the Med you might even make that NO also possible for a 33 IPC. All by only sending your air and small initial fleet to the Med.

My new G1 is 2 bombers + sub

Interesting. Why are mechs king instead of tanks in letting the Russian player turtle? You could also buy 20 tanks instead of 30 mech for a lot more punch and only 10 less bodies.

@Kreuzfeld:

You can concider not buying anything on G1, this will force UK to consider Sealion.
I like the southern route with italian canopeners, where the main target is to get to rostov with a sizable stack, combined with italians. This will force USSR to retreat to moscow, and you can get the Massive NOs cheaply.

I am also considering the southern route, the NO you get from Leningrad can also be gained from waiting with G3 reinforcing countries attacked by I2 and this collecting no war NO, then push to Moscow for G6 attack. This also allows me to advance as 1 big stack while mobile stack can push combined with can openers.

My question is, how crucial is that G3 buy of 10 more fast movers, in case you bought 6 artillery and 2 infantry in G1 and 10 tanks in G2. My preference would be to buy bombers instead in my G3, but I have no experience with how crucial that third round of 10 mobile troops is.

@Ichabod:

@KGrimB:

One thing that can be easy to miss on the turn you DoW is to put a naval unit in SZ 125 which denies the Soviet player 5 ipcs. You can retreat from Yuogslavia if you are doing a T2 or take it for a T3. It is important that your air force attacks UK boats in the North and in the Med until you start fighting the Soviets. If you are going North with japan normally I put a factory in Manchuria.

Whether or not you do the retreat from Yugo thing does not matter for a G2 DOW. The main thing is that you use the Northern Route which IMHO is the best route to safely make it to Bryansk on G5. Also, I use all 3 tanks from the eastern front, 1 mech from w. germany (doesn’t go to Paris), and the 2 infantry from Denmark. All stack in Poland. Then march to Baltic states on G2. Secure Leningrad on G3 so you can forward build on it immediatley.

Why do you think that the northern route is superior to the southern route? Also I see that you G2 DOW, will your forces not be divided in this case and Russia can therefore counter your push before reinforcements arrive when they mobilize to the North?

Hmm so the observation is that actually Germany uses its air on the UK already, and the best way to take Cairo early is by doing an airstike of the full luftwaffe. Based on the idea that you need offensive land troops to overpower Russian I will use the following builds.

Just a single investment (7 IPC) in getting Cairo, the bombers have the option to attack Cairo in G4 or be used against Russia instead.

G1: 6 Artillery, 1 Submarine
G2: 10 Tanks, 1 Bomber
G3: 1 Transport, 4 Bombers

I1: 1 Tank, 1 Mech
I2: 2 Tanks, 1 Mech
I3: 2 Bombers

Your German fleet will try to save to Bismarck with a strafe and get to S91 in G2 hopefully taking Morocco. Then to S93 to join with the transport and pick reinforcements of lost units in Morocco. In G4 you attack Egypt with your small fleet (2 transports) and Luftwaffe that is 7 bombers, 6 Fighters and 5 Tacticals minus losses from UK naval battles.

Taking Morocco for Italy in G2 combined with swarming the med with the Luftwaffe will quickly rise Italy to 30 IPC per turn. With Egypt defeated this rises even more to 40-50.

Japan will force the USA to focus on them with JDOW1 and pearl harbour

So I am planning to kill Russia as best as I can my next game as Axis. I know I should buy 6 artillery and then mobile units. Italy use can openers. Japan tries to take Siberian countries an defeat India. Are there more things that needs to be done for a succesful Barbarossa? What does Germany do against UK besides G1 naval sinks.

I organized the incoherent mess into a logical strategy at the first page, I hope it is a bit more clear now. I included the Yunnan issue.

Arthur the Imperial Fleet can kill blockers in J3, while the Philippines fleet can also hunt ANZAC ships in J2 already to clear the way for a J4 invasion. Thanks again for the feedback though as it keeps me sharp and improves the strategy!

EDIT: Sorry another random observation, but this might be game changing!

I did make another observation while thinking about a solution for the Yunnan Fortification though as it means UK has just lost 2 infantry to the defense of India. If my calculations are correct India can muster the following force in the defense of Calcutta

14 Infantry, 2 Fighters, 1 Tactical Bombers, 2 AA (2 Infantry less when he fortified Yunnan)

While I can attack it in J3 with the following troops
6 Transports: 1 Tank, 5 Artillery, 6 Infantry, 8 Fighters, 6 Tactical Bombers, 2 Bombers with the Battleship and Carrier from the Philippines attack to defend the transports. This results into a big victory for the Japanese. This means I can crush India in J3 even while doing a Pearl Harbour attack. Do I miss something?

I further have 1 cruiser, 2 destroyers and 1 submarine near India in case nothing died by the defending USA submarine and destroyer in my J1 attack and if UK did not attack my cruiser and destroyer in UK1.

This leads to the conclusion that a naval base in FIC J2 is always a great investment as those 3 build transports can do a J3 India Crush or still do J4 Sydney crush dependent on the situation. Therefore J2 buy will change into 1 minor, 1 naval, 1 transport, 1 artillery, 1 artillery.

In case I can indeed do an India Crush, I could do a Sydney crush in J5, a whole turn earlier! Ofcourse a lot of land troops have died against India, so it is going to cost of lot of air, but in case it is the winning VC, what does it matter? I do have to take Western Australia here in J3 though so 1 less transport doing India Crush. I could attack Sydney with

Surviving India Troops (1 tank, 2 artillery) + full transport from Western Australia and J2 buy so 1 tank, 4 artillery, 1 infantry. All airforce, so 2 bombers, 9 fighters, 8 tactical bombers and bombardment of two Battleship and a Cruiser. This gives 94% chance to victory!

Then USA needs to liberate a VC in USA5 or the Axis win.

Thanks for your excellent observation. I will organize this mess that so far have been mainly uncoherent unlogical statements withour any clear purpose. To be updated!

@Marshmallow:

Well, the big thing that I see is that committing to war with the US so early means you pretty much have to keep the US engaged, and doing this early limits your income potential.

I’m not saying you can’t make this work (I have a detailed plan that gives it a good chance of success in my list of various openers), but what I am saying is that early losses for Japan without securing sufficient income for replacement is a dangerous path that basically requires you to be consistently lucky to win.

Marsh

I do make sure I take all the DEI in J2 which is +20 though. If I am correct if you have kwantung, malaya and the border chinese + DEI you are in a good financial position as Japan even without conquered capital.

As Germany + Italy focus on Russia, I plan on sending their fleet to irritate USA also (Italy getting west indies (I2) while German u-boat tries to sink his cruiser in G1.

In case USA is agressive right off the bat in USA1 I can simply unite my fleet in caroline islands so he is unable to attack as it would be suicide. He will lag two turns behind in getting the USA fleet to equal strength right?

I indeed realized I can not take Hawaii, but still do pearl harbour and take sydney or calcutta in J4 instead. What do I miss?

Imperial fleet is at least 2 BB, 3 full carriers and cruiser when combined, USA can’t defeat this in USA2 with only his coast guard.

Correction: I will crush Sydney in J4 with the following numbers

7 transports: 1 tank, 6 artillery, 7 infantry, 11 fighters, 8 tactical bombers, 2 bombers + bombardment (minus casualties)

J1: 3 transports + artillery - Pearl Harbour
J2: 2 transports (loaded) + minor in FIC
J3: troops in FIC and Japan + minor in Malaya
J4: troops in FIC, Japan and Malaya - Take Syney
J5: troops in FIC, Japan and Malaya
J6: defend Japan against USA - Take Calcutta

Likely actions from USA
USA1: rebuild fleet
USA2: rebuild fleet
USA3: hawaii
USA4: Japan or he tries to liberate Sydney in USA6 by taking caroline islands, in which case the Allies have lost as I can reinforce with planes, make sure I have a blocker close.

UK income
UK1: 8 IPC
UK2: 5 IPC
UK3: 4 IPC
UK4: 4 IPC
UK5: 3 IPC
Crushed (24 IPC - 8 infantry to build additional troops lol)

I hope my 7 artillery buy for Germany and tank + mech for Italy will force Russia into defensive mode, when extremely lucky he will even shuffle his Siberian troops back to Russia!

Rationale for Pearl Harbour strategy: Imperial Fleet gets to be useful all turns
1: attack 1/2 of USA fleet, threaten Hawaii
2: position so you force ANZAC and UK to defend, also threaten still weakish USA fleet to not come to Hawaii yet
3: destroy blockers and surround Sydney and keep USA threatened (altough now USA likely strong enough)
4: crush Sydney
5: only turn doing nothing useful
6: crush Calcutta

In case something went terribly wrong and the mainland is getting overrun by UK, Chinese and Russian forces in your Japanese turn 2/3 decide to leave the Pacific for what it is, do an India crush in J4 and go for Russia crush helping the Axis out at the Europe map. You can attack Egypt for example in J6 with your 7 transports + fleet + air.

@Arthur:

Your plan still has the big three weaknesses that I mentioned:

1. The Japanese fleet off of Hawaii can be decimated or completely destroyed on US1/ANZAC1.
2. Yunnan will be recaptured and held too strongly for Japan to retake on J2.
3. Without most of your fleet, you are going to struggle to capture and hold the Money Islands.  
        -Borneo gets recaptured on UK1 and Anzac sinks the transport on AN1, setting you back in the money islands.

There is nothing wrong with preferring face-to-face matches.  Do have a battle calculator so that you can run a bunch of options to decide all reasonable responses from the opponent.  You miss out on a bunch of possibilities if you are just judging with your eyes.

Ah thanks sorry I overlooked them, thanks for pointing out!

Can I solve them by

• only air do pearl harbour, rest waits at Wake Island as suggested
• having all not carrier aircraft air in range of Yunnan
• get two man on borneo

I could solve the borneo/yunnan problem by taking only kwantung with the transport so kiangsi troops can all attack china.

EDIT: OK some ideas, I will just accept that Yunnan will be difficult but still go for Borneo, I use 2 infantry and block the Allies from attacking the transport.

Cruiser blocks 37, Destroyer from 33 blocks 42 (instead of attack anzac transport). Conquering all the money islands in J2 is just too sweet and opens up a ton of options early on such as going towards Sydney or Calcutta.

I use the Carrier and its air from from 33 to the Philippines instead of Pearl Harbour.

I do a historical pearl harbour instead of going full on hawaii, so in J1 I attack with:
1 sub, 2 destroyers, 3 tactical, 3 fighters, keeping 1 destroyer alive as blocker.
Main imperial fleet get stationed at Wake Island, if attacks by USA air sacrifice air.

In J2, go to Carolines with main fleet and three new full transports so you have the option of doing a Sydney or Calcutta crush in J4.

I indeed give up the defence perimeter islands NO and the hawaii NO for an earlier capital crush in the pacific as the USA is able to contest the Hawaii NO constantly while taking out sydney or calcutta is extremely difficult to retake as Allies.

Attacking the USA so early will hopefully result into a slower USA that starts to attack the same turn I capture the Australian or British capital. As I can be at the other capital in two turns I hope to get a J6 victory.

The best option is to invade Sydney first, as it is easier for the USA the reinforce, it is more difficult to reach with reinforcements and more difficult to contain.

In J4 you are able to invade Sydney with
6 transports, 1 tank, 4 artillery, 7 infantry + 3 tacticals/fighters + bombardment (2 battleship, 2 cruiser) minus casualties

Sydney can have 13 infantry, 1 artillery, 2 AA, 3 fighters. Hmm those odss do not look good.

OK, I give up the DEI NO with sumatra in favour of taking Western Australia in J2 with 1 transport containing 1 tank + 1 infantry. Then in my J3 all my Asian airforce can land in Western Australia for a J4 Sydney Crush while that transport can still take Sumatra in J3. The tank in Western Australia can still participate against Sydney attack.

Suddenly you attack with
5 transports, 1 tank, 4 artillery, 5 infantry, 11 fighters, 8 tactical bombers, 2 bombers + bombardment minus casualties = dead Sydney

A0: 10
A1: 20
A2: 9

It has 39 IPC to build a defence, every investment in ships or fighter will make it easier for me.

J5 fly back to Asia
J6 crush India

Only thing that is scary is Yunnan. I do have minimal 4 land troops (hopefully 3 more) + 9 fighters, 6 tactical bombers and 2 bombers to attack it in J2 though so can hopefully persuade the Allies to not stack it. If I do not have to attack Yunnan all-out in J2 I can attack Malaya instead which is a much nicer target as I can build a factory there in J3.

To extra annoy the USA I will attack its cruiser + transport with a sub while also doing 106 with two subs.

Thank you for your feedback gentleman, let me start off to explain my situation.

I play with my father and brother 2 or 3 times per year and enjoy this game so much! Personally I get a lot of joy out of trying to figure new strategies and optimise them build on feedback from the forum. We are definately not experienced online player but play the game some 10 years now and have a lot of fun playing it (10-12 hours gaming, crazy haha)

I tried the online game but I prefer to play it face to face as you have the laughter, the excitement and the beer together. So unfortunately I will not be able to test my strategies against you for now, maybe on holidays or something I will try again.

Hopefully this will not result into you abondoning giving feedback as it is so greatly appreciated :)

Back to the strategy:
The idea is to win for Japan in the Pacific, so Honolulu and Sydney as VC. With J1 it is easy to force the Allies into defensive modus and especially the UK can be neutered early on, while USA is most dangerous ally. Both China as Russia are unable to contest the seas of the Pacific.

You take Hawaii in J2, but you do not defend it, you move on to Sydney. You can try to take it in J4 and forgo the islands, but I prefer to do it J5 and focus on getting the islands first as these are a hell for the Allies to retake while add crucial income.

The USA can therefore take Hawaii back in USA3, but it will lag behind the Japanese fleet 1 turn so is not able to help defend Sydney on time.

In case you do you J1 and manage to kill the UK battleship + ANZAC destroyer and transport with your own destroyer the pacific is only defended by
UK: cruiser, destroyer
ANZAC: cruiser

While Japan still has
1 battleship, 1 cruiser, 1 destroyer, 2 submarines.

It can take casualties against philipines fleet or battleship though. So luck is indeed important in how much you are able to keep after J1 attacks.

So in J1 I take Borneo. I will also try to save the cruiser against the BB attack. In my J2 I might have that transport + 2 philipines transports plus Japanese fleet (bb, cr, dd, 2 sub minus casualties) + bombers and maybe some aircraft from siam to attack possible allied fleet protecting. UK can attack Borneo transport that will delay the conquest of the money islands but I think the odds are still in my favour even with main fleet at hawaii?

In any case if UK or ANZAC contest the islands, they lose their fleet next turn by Japanese counter-attack and because of their limited income they will have difficulty of recovering fast.

Japanese has 3 transports, build 3 more in J1 and another 2 in J2 so I will be able to respond where I am needed. The defence perimeter 5IPC bonus is nice, but in case the money islands are contested I can send my J1 buy transports to the money islands instead.

J1: 3 transports, 1 artillery
J2: 2 transports, 2 artillery, 2 infantry, 1 minor on FIC
J3: dependent on situation, stack FIC

If the Allies are more defensive as response to the J1 devastation it will be easier to reign the pacific ofcourse. Especially that destroyer vs destroyer battle for ANZAC is a really important one, as it takes out the transport and forces ANZAC to rebuy it in his first turn. All the fleet buys are great as I plan to take Sydney in J5.

In best case scenario (UK does not attack borneo transport)

J1: pearl harbour, borneo, philipiness + extra
J2: hawaii, money islands
J3: malaya, defence perimeter islands
J4: quensland
J5: sydney
J6 onwards: back to hawaii again

So what about UK and China? Well FIC will ofcourse prove crucial here and I can add another minor on Malaya as soon as I get it. I will push against China and then be forced to retreat, if I play it wise I can retreat in time in order to keep China contained while it grows back again. Those 2 infantry with artillery per turn from J3 onwards will ofcourse be really good. Even when China will overrun me, I will be a juggernaut and can attack anywhere at the coastline with several transports.

Same for Siberian forces, I need to contain them, so not lose my head and send all troopa into China. Defend the border with 8 inf and several fighters.

UK, I want to get 2 subs before India convoying it. Combined with UK having lost Borneo, Kwantung and Malaya it will not be able to push hard, especially when FIC is healthy fortified.

In any case, using Pearl Harbour as Japan strategy will result into a very fleet centered Japan so lots of navy builds and likely a massive fleet battle against the USA along the road.

EDIT: I realized an even better alternative. After Sydney go on to India. USA will likely defend Hawaii heavily as soon it retakes it, so taking Calcutta instead might be easier. You can decide at J5 though based on the situation.

What you did with the Pearl Harbour is to keep the USA out of the game for at least USA4 because it will have to rebuild, only builds warships in USA1+2 and start building + advancing from USA3 onwards but when he want to combine it lags behind a turn. In all this time you were expanding as Japan and taking over the pacific islands.

Therefore the rationale behind this strategy is that all the Allies can be contained with minimal troops while USA is the Allied wildcard and by going in hard vs hard you negate this.

The European Axis Builds will likely be:

G1: 2x Infantry, 6x Artillery
G2: 7x Tanks, 3x Mechanized Infantry, 1 Bomber
G3: 7x Tanks, 3x Mechanized Infantry
G4: 5x Bombers
G5: 5x Bombers

I1: 1x Tank, 1x Mechanized Infantry
I2: 1x Tank, 2x Mechanized Infantry
I3: 1x Tactical Bomber
I4: 1x Fighter
I5: 1x Fighter

@KGrimB:

Do you grab Brazil as US before turn 4 with this strategy? The land units could help protect Gibraltar and take the territory instead of only killing units on it. No real cost either since starting transport can grab half the force.

Yes I did this last game and it worked great. I only build an extra transport for the Atlantic as USA besides bombers and I ended up taking Rome.