THOUGHTS ON JAPANESE OPENING STRATEGY
The Money Islands
Japan’s biggest worry in the opening is how to get more cash – the 15 IPCs it starts with are not enough to both flesh out Japan’s fleet and keep the ground troops pouring into Asia. As in other versions of A&A, Japan can be a huge breakout power, but unlike other versions, the 1939 scenario doesn’t guarantee a mighty empire for Japan – Japan has to earn it. If, you know, violently conquering innocent countries counts as “earning” anything.
The most obvious source for Japanese income is the two ‘money islands’ of East Indies and Borneo, which are worth 4 IPC each and are guarded by only 1 neutral infantry. Britain can try to ‘reinforce’ one or both islands on B1, but neither is a great strategy for Britain. The problem is that Britain only has two transports in the region, one of which should really go to French Indo-China to secure a victory there and deprive the Japanese air force of a place to land in the south seas. If Britain sends the transport to French Indo-China, then Britain can only attack one money island with two ground troops – the Dutch island that gets attacked isn’t that much safer than it was with its one neutral ground unit, and the other Dutch island is likely to defect to Japan without a fight, so overall the islands aren’t really any harder for Japan to take. If Britain doesn’t send the transport to French Indo-China, then the entire region of Indonesia becomes a kill zone for the British fleet – the Brits can sacrifice two undefended transports to take the money islands, but without crusiers and fighters to help with the islands, the Brits are likely to lose at least one ground unit, meaning the islands will be defended with three ground units instead of two – hardly a big enough bump to justify sacrificing two transports and ceding regional naval supremacy to Japan.
Assuming the islands are still neutral, Japan wants to hit both islands for the same reason that the British did – if you don’t conquer both islands in one gulp, the other island is likely to defect to your opponents. With three starting transports, the most sensible strategy is to send one transport to Borneo, one to East Indies, and save the third transport to ferry troops to China or Vietnam.
The third “money island,” the Philippines, is normally less attractive on all counts. It has only 3 IPC, and it’s guarded by two enemy units. Worse, attacking the Philippines immediately activates America, giving them an extra 20 IPC/turn. The only time you should attack the Philippines in the opening is if America built a factory there. Even then, you can decline the Philippine gambit if you and Germany see a path to win (or get rich) with minimal attacks on Allied territories. If the British diverted too much of their fleet to protect the Philippines, for example, you can try to stack in Burma on J1 or even attack India J1 if the corridor is open. Ignoring the Philippines also works well with a blitz on Moscow – if Germany can make it through the Turkish Straits into the Black Sea, then Germany can ignore France and try to take, e.g., the Baltics, Leningrad, Ukraine, and Stalingrad without bothering with any other Russian territories – enough to cripple the Russians but not enough to activate the USA.
One gutsy but useful response to an American factory in the Philippines is to send all three transports to attack the Soviet Far East on J1, with the idea of moving to Alaska and/or Western Canada on J2. Just because America builds a factory in the Philippines doesn’t mean it goes to war – but if America spends A2 building anything significant at the Philippino factory (e.g., boats, planes) then it has no income left to activate the San Francisco factory or reinforce the mainland. On the other hand, if America ignores the Philippines, then all three Japanese transports can reach the Philippines in one move from the Soviet Far East, eliminating the threat while delaying the USA’s entry into the war by one more turn. In essence, you ‘fork’ the Phillipines and Alaska. The downside is that you don’t get a chance to take the money islands, although you do get a chance to attack in China with your full air force, which can help you eke out a couple more bucks there.
Siberia: is it worth taking?
The problem with Siberia is that even if you conquer all the way from Vladivostok up to Novosibirsk, it’s only worth 7 IPCs. The victory city in Buryatia (Vladivostok) helps, but then the question becomes whether it makes more sense to just take Buryatia, leave a modest garrison there, and move on. Usually the answer is yes – the two exceptions are when you’re trying to win by starving Moscow (usually in combination with a strategic bombing campaign), and when Russia evacuates the east, leaving the territories virtually unguarded. If you’re actually trying to capture Moscow with Japanese troops, you’re usually better off going through China and Kazakh instead of Siberia; it’s a shorter route.
If you’re trying to starve Moscow, be aware of how your conquests affect the USA entry clock – there’s no point in taking away 1 IPC from Moscow if it results in a +20 IPC gain for the USA. Your goal should be to set up a turn (probably J3) when you can conquer as many Russian territories as possible all at once. One good setup is to take Anhwei hard on J1, stack in Sinkiang and Buryatia on J2, and then explode into Kazakh, Novosibirsk, Evenki, Yakutsk, and the Soviet Far East on J3. The USA will surely enter the war on A4, but by then it’s too late for them to build troops that can make it to Moscow in time to help save the capital.
The Drive for India
Although the British start with more troops in Asia in the 1939 version, and more factories in the southern hemisphere, it’s not necessarily any harder to take India. This is partly because the troops are so spread out – the infantry in Hong Kong and Singapore, e.g., will die before they can ever make it back to defend India. The other factor is that the USA’s -20 IPC/turn peacetime penalty means it can’t afford to build as many fighters to defend India and West Russia, and that the UK usually has better things to do than build fighters in London and fly them to India. Paradoxically, the factories in Capetown and Sydney mean that the loss of India isn’t as catastrophic for Britain, so Britain has less incentive to stage an expensive defense there.
Many of the same principles as the 1942.2 game apply for attacking India from Japan: gain control of the seas, ferry troops to stack in Burma, and be ready to fly in a large air force to help sack India when you see a good opportunity. Because Persia starts the game neutral, it’s harder for the Allies to reinforce India from the west, but you still want to have a ‘surplus’ of force when you take India to reduce unnecessary casualties – Japan has less fodder in the 1939 setup than in the 1942.2 setup, and if you burn off all your planes on the Indian assault, it can take a few turns before you’re ready to threaten anywhere else.
Because Japan starts the game relatively cash poor, you’ll have to assess how much you can afford to pour into an early assault on India vs. how much you need to use to snap up territories for income. Better to sweep up Yunnan, Malaysia, French Indo-China, Kwangtung, and New Guinea on J2 for a total of 7 IPC than to spend J2, J3, and J4 scraping together a force that can barely take India for 3 IPC. You need cash more than you need glory. If Britain over-invests in defending India (e.g., multiple turns of 2 inf, 1 ftr) and also still tries to contain Germany in Europe, it will probably leave Sydney and Capetown wide open to a Japanese assault. From Sydney and Capetown, you can expand into South America (after the USA has moved on). If you can occupy South Africa, Rhodesia, Madagascar, the Congo, Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand, New Guinea, Western Australia, and Eastern Australia, that’s worth 14 IPC – which is as much as Burma, India, Persia, Trans-Jordan, the Caucasus, Egypt, and Kazakh all put together. If you’re not in immediate danger of losing the VC race, the southern hemisphere strategy can be a good way to go for a huge economic lead that you can later convert into a successful attack on a capital (possibly London).
Knocking out China early
China has a limited economic upside (only 4 IPCs of Allied territory to conquer), but because of the two VCs (Shanghai and Chongqing), you can’t afford to ignore it all together. The obvious target is Szechuan, which has both the Allied factory and the Allied VC in the region. To maximize your odds of taking it as soon as possible (i.e., on J2), try to split your stack between Anhwei and Yunnan, with a slight emphasis on Anhwei so you can leave a tank in Manchuria for defense and still bring it to the Szechuan fight if needed. The Allies don’t have the manpower to eliminate both of your stacks, and unless they bring in heavy reinforcements, they don’t have the manpower to eliminate even one stack and still defend Szechuan. You usually want to ignore any turn 1 attacks on French Indo-China, Hong Kong, and Buryatia so you can focus on driving hard for Szechuan – all of the other territories, while admittedly more valuable in terms of cash, can be snapped up at your leisure once Szechuan is yours.
Obviously, there are some exceptions. If America fails to activate the Szechuan factory and/or shows signs of being distracted elsewhere (e.g., they build a factory in the Philippines, or they put together a carrier group in the Atlantic on A1), then it’s not a big deal to wait until J3 to take Szechuan – the one extra American infantry or whatever isn’t going to ruin your day. Similarly, if Britain gathers a large attack fleet (2+ transports) off the coast of Australia and is getting ready to hit southeast Asia hard, you might need to pick off any Allied infantry on the Asian coast sooner rather than later, so that the British don’t get a chance to unite their ground forces.
Even if America is building in Szechuan, you can opt to maximize income rather than ‘space’ on J1 and J2 as a matter of personal preference – just be alert for reinforcements coming from Evenki and India. If you handle the situation right, you may be able to ‘bleed’ the Allies a bit in Western China, tempting them into repeatedly trading at a loss in the (vain) hope of keeping their factories and victory cities. If you’re too reckless, though, the Allies might actually hold Stalingrad and Chongqing long enough to register an early win on victory cities. Allowing the Allies to keep a foothold in western China tends to lead to a more complicated game – you may ultimately wind up better off than if you blitzed it right away, but make sure you know what you’re doing.
Early Purchases
Japan technically can still afford a Manchurian factory on J1, but it’s usually not a good idea – the smaller starting economy and the starting third transport means that Japan has less use for additional production slots. Similarly, it rarely makes sense to build extra planes unless you’re certain you will take heavy losses in the air on J1 (e.g., because you are assaulting a combined British fleet in SZ 37) – your starting 7 ftr, 1 bmbr is plenty of air support to assist your starting 11 inf, 5 art, 3 tnk.
If America is being aggressive with its navy in the Pacific, you will need to buy some fodder on the water, as you start relatively heavy on your capital ships – 1 DD, 1 SS can work nicely, or you can build 2 SS and 1 inf. Otherwise, you probably want mostly infantry for the first couple of turns, with maybe the purchase of a fourth transport to give your fleet extra flexibility and reach. You will be doing a lot of light trading in the opening, if only because you have a big air force and your opponents can’t muster anything more than small forces on defense in the initial battlegrounds. Infantry are the engine of light trading, and if you don’t build and deliver enough infantry to the front, you’re just going to pay for it in the loss of more expensive units.
Once the east Asian coast is secure and cash is coming in from the money islands, you can start investing in bombers to starve Moscow, or (if America is still at peacetime, especially if America has left the Pacific lightly defended, and double especially if the San Francisco factory is still damaged), you can build a third carrier group to try for an assault on Hawaii and San Francisco. Because of the peacetime income penalty, America isn’t as able to rapidly respond to an assault coming from Japan – even if America sees it coming, there’s a limit to how much America can build in a hurry until you actually attack.
