Posts made by creeping-deth87

@knp7765:

I had not thought of putting air and naval bases in Kwangsi. I usually base the bulk of my navy by the Philippines which can cover most of the Asian coast.
My problem is once you commit to something, the Allies/US Navy will screw you up in another spot. It’s especially bad if the US takes the Caroline Islands and stacks their fleet there.  They can reach a lot more places from there.
A common problem is the Japanese fleet goes out to get the DEI or help attack Calcutta. Then the US fleet immediately goes to SZ 6. Even if they can’t land troops just yet, the US usually takes Iwo Jima and they have a lot of warships to convoy Japan. Next round they start landing bombers in Iwo and plastering Japan’s factory.
Meanwhile, the great Japan navy is 2-3 turns out of position and by the time they get back together, the US Navy is too strong to get rid of. Also, if Japan attacks them and even if they are successful, after the battle they are too weak to even defend against the ANZAC navy taking DEI islands away.
Japan may have a lot of territory and seem to be in good shape financially, the convoy raids and SBR damage will cost them a good chunk of their IPCs round after round. If I don’t repair the Japan factory, I can’t put infantry there to defend my capital and eventually the US will have enough transports and land units to make a successful landing. Once that happens, Japan is out of it and all the Japan navy and territories in Asia will really mean nothing.
Also, say Japan attacks early and kills everything Allied in the water and take all the rich territory in 2-3 rounds so they can get their fleet back together and back up to SZ 6 to protect the capital. Then you are out of position when ANZAC or US sneaks in to take the DEI and possibly other captures from you, especially if you can’t afford to leave garrisons on all of them.
Any ideas on how to keep the US from shutting you down when you are out trying to grow your territory? OR, how to protect your gains and still keep your capital in the game?
About the only times I seem to really do go as Japan is when the US goes almost wholly into Europe and puts just enough in the Pacific to delay. In this case I can usually pound ANZAC/UK, keep just enough naval defense to keep the few US units honest and keep my DEI and spread throughout Asia, maybe even threatening Russia.

This is exactly why I stack SZ 6 hard when I play Japan. I splinter the fleet early on, sending just enough south to overwhelm any ANZAC or British fleet (usually 2 subs, 2 destroyers, 2 carriers, 1 cruiser, 1 battleship). This splinter fleet does everything I need it to down south like grab the islands exert pressure on southeast Asia, while the main fleet protects SZ 6 and slowly builds up over time with steady purchasing on my end. SZ 6 is an excellent place to park your fleet because it can hit many different areas (Philippines, Carolines, Hawaii), and forces the US fleet south away from Japan unless they want to risk a naval engagement. There’s also the added protection of kamikaze tokens and scrambling fighters to make SZ 6 an even more favorable position to park your ships.

In my experience, when Japan loses SZ 6 it usually means they lose the game. The heavy convoy disruptions and inability to produce sea units that don’t get immediately destroyed on the American turn usually spells doom for the Axis in the Pacific.

@EnoughSaid:

Bad odds for the Russians to attack? They’d have a 61% chance of success vs 12 infantry (or 90% in low luck), let alone 10 and a half. Stacking Manchuria with enough to simply hold the Soviets off is a viable plan, but it’s going to take more than that. If that’s all you have, the Russian player SHOULD attack you. If he doesn’t, that’s on him.
Like Nippon-koku mentioned, the Chinese would love to get the Manchurian money and spawn location.

I’m actually very surprised that Triple A’s battle calculator gives Russia an 80% chance with all 18 infantry vs. my usual 10 man stack and AA gun, so it seems my complacency was misplaced. I will also note however that the average attacker units remaining are 8-9, which I think you’ll agree is a much more manageable number than 18 and can probably be dealt with by a single drop from SZ 6 (which for me isn’t normally a problem, I usually do have transports there).

Does anyone else just move the infantry in Korea over to Manhcuria and just… keep all the starting Manchurian infantry there? It’s what I normally do when the Russians stack Amur. 10 infantry and an AA gun is bad odds for the 18 Russian infantry up there. Yes, it leaves Korea open, but I’m generally okay with that because they can’t go anywhere else from there. Stacking Korea allows the Russian infantry to go all the way down the coast and become a real nuisance, so I usually just… write off the 10 infantry in Manchuria as insurance against the Soviets.

I really like a J2 declaration. Yes, you let the British battleship get away, and the Philippines fleet also escapes, but I find that the one turn to get everything into position gives me a much more effective punch. I find that with a J1 it’s practically impossible to shut down the Burma road as you’re just so much more spread out everywhere, like you’re paper thin in every direction. J2 just feels more methodical to me, and your territory grabs don’t feel as half hearted.

Eh, I donno… I feel like UK should absolutely scramble in that situation into 110 with no German Battleship. Yeah you might lose some fighters, but you’re definitely taking the Luftwaffe down a notch by doing so.

Okay I have to ask, because it seems like everyone does this, I really don’t understand why most players put the German battleship into 111 instead of 110. If I were the UK in this situation, I would scramble every time into 110 with all 3 fighters because there is no Allied destroyer. That means that every Allied plane that scores a hit is taking out a German plane, and that is just unacceptable for the Germans I find. It just amazes me how many people put the battleship into 111, does 110 get left alone when this happens? Or do you still attack 110 and the opponent just doesn’t scramble for some reason?

As Italy I would always scramble the fighters for the Taranto raid. Yes, you could save them for a counterattack, but your fighters give you better odds to hit when they’re on the defense and you can’t use the German fighter on the counter anyway. The way I see it, with the scramble you’re probably knocking out most of the British units and have a good chance of knocking out some UK air (something you won’t be able to do on the counterattack because the planes usually land in Malta). Also as mentioned, it’s freaking awesome when you win on the defense. I’ve actually seen Taranto fail more often than succeed, it’s become increasingly rare in my group.

@Young:

I always do a fleet build G1, but I’m not the most confident when playing Germany. I’m always worried about a factory in Egypt on UK1.

Interesting. Do you find that the UK doesn’t do the Egypt complex when you do the fleet build? Or, if they do, are your Sea Lion attempts successful?

After Alpha +3 hit, for a very long time my go to G1 buy was an aircraft carrier, destroyer, and sub. i used this buy for ages until very recently when I finally decided to change it up. My G1 buy nowadays is 6 artillery, 2 infantry, and I’ve found that this makes my initial punch into Russia much more effective. I find myself missing the Sea Lion feint, and was wondering how popular an all-fleet buy on G1 still is (if at all). I’ve also considered doing a mixed fleet and ground buy, like a carrier, sub, and 2 artillery, but I suspect this may be the worst of both worlds and you end up doing neither a feint nor Barbarossa effectively.

Ah man… it’s not looking so good. The US fleet off Hawaii looks like it can take you, and in my experience that’s never a good position to be in for Japan. Unfortunately, you have fallen into the trap that is China. For future games, don’t go all in for China until you’ve taken Calcutta. It’s just a huge cesspit that devours Japanese ground units and does nothing to help you win. There are no victory cities there for you to grab, and because there is no capital China is the easiest Allied power to bring back into the game. Also as Japan you want to grab SOME, not necessary all, of the money islands the turn that you go to war. I prefer a J2 DOW and grab Borneo, Kwangtung, and Malaya, as I’m a firm believer of storming Calcutta as soon as you possibly can.

In your current position, I would finish off China since you’re already so deep and there’s very little Chinese units left. I would focus all of my ground efforts in southeast Asia with the ultimate aim of taking Calcutta, and going on the defensive in the Pacific. For me this would mean huddling everything I can into SZ6, with a full scramble waiting to go on Japan itself, and then basically waiting for the opportune moment to strike. You’re definitely in it for the long haul at this point, it may be too late to get the money islands. Good luck!

Ohhhhh, I REALLY like that German submarine idea! Definitely gonna try that, thank you for your input Teslas.

I’ve tried helping out Italy a number of ways as the Germans and have yet to find something worthwhile. I used to build all fleet G1(aircraft carrier, destroyer, sub) and then sail south for Gibraltar G2 with a loaded transport, but this is easily stopped by a single British ship getting in the way turn 1. I’ve since tried building fleets with complexes in Southern France and Yugoslavia, but I find this takes way too long and never seems to pay off. Now I’m thinking the only way to help out Italy is with German aircraft stationed in southern Italy ready to take on anything that gets too close. I’m open fo other ideas though. Thoughts?

@teslas:

I have but one big question:

What does this do that you can’t also do with a J1 attack the same or better?

Japan trades with America, for +10, but at the expense of not slamming the hell out of UK Pac. It’s also not getting 2+4+3+2 = 11 IPCs from FIC/Borneo/Kwangtung/Philippines, so you’ve really managed to actually cost yourself an IPC, not gain any. You’ve also delayed your possibility of putting a mIC facility in FIC by an entire turn (and therefore any new units wait until J4 to be useful). I know you said you don’t build mIC, but that’s a whole other subject. You also can’t build a naval base there J2, meaning using it to threaten SZ 6/Carlines must wait until J4.

UK Pac gets one whole extra round of full income, including their 5 bonus (edit-actually, do they get this if not at war?). They could take a money island/Dutch New Guinea (I say could because I usually use the UK Pac TT to take Iraq UK1 and their transport gets to live until the next round for a continued botherance). UK Pac gets to keep their battleship, which, while very possibly is not useful in the pacific all that much, can be in the med 3 turns later and is useful there, or it can suicide into some JP fleet later with the other boats, or a crafty UK player might keep it alive long enough to stack with with the US/ANZAC invasion force.

ANZAC can grab a money island/Dutch New Guinea, just like in a J1 so no difference, but since you’re not at war they don’t make their extra 10 IPCs on round 1. This might make up for the gift you’ve given to the UK, because I’d argue that I’d rather see the UK Pac make money, and ANZAC not, since UK Pac is easier to shut down and can’t meet up to reinforce the Americans the way ANZAC can. So here, the situation with ANZAC, is the first piece (and only), that I can see working a bit better than a J1.

And as for the US, at the start of US1 they’re going to have 52 IPCs either way, war or no war. They can also move their fleet basically anywhere they like to position it. All you’ve done to the US is delayed them from getting 30 IPCs on US2, but those 30 IPCs wouldn’t have been a threat that you had to consider, at the earliest, until J4. But you’re potentially not even doing that, costing them 30, because you allowed 26 IPCs (fighter/sub/DD/2 IPC) from the Philippines to live. You may very well kill the two US boats on J2, mind you, but a crafty US player can scatter them or send them the long way to Hawaii to make doing so absolutely unappealing.

Is the bomber purchase only to be able to bomb Calcutta on J3? I don’t understand why you’d need it on J1, so early, otherwise.

China is in basically the same position as it would be in a J1 attack, maybe slightly worse off. Or am I missing something?

Do you really need to take Calcutta? Is it not basically enough to put them down to 5 IPC/turn? With just one cheap submarine to convoy, that’s now 2-5/turn, with the odds heavily favoring closer to 2. The money islands give you the economy to fight America ASAP, and not sending pieces of your fleet so far west to India allows you to continually threaten ANZAC (so that it builds land units instead of navy) and to keep America the hell away.

Is the point of this more to allow Germany some breathing room before a US entry, and if so, how do you imagine that plays out? Or is taking Calcutta and then pushing into the middle east from two Indian mICs churning out units the ultimate goal?

As it is now, it seems like you’re slowing Japan down by 1 turn with little, nothing, or worse, to show for it. And if the 18+2 Ruskies stack Amur and you must go up there and kill them, this strategy doesn’t apply.

Lots to respond to! I will admit I’m no expert with Japan, so your breakdown of what I’m giving up definitely has me second guessing myself. I’m not sure where the 2+4+3+2 = 11 is coming from, I imagine that’s Philippines, Borneo, Kwangtung, and… sorry I don’t know what that last one could be. As for the FIC complex, this was never part of my plan so there’s nothing I’m really delaying. I much prefer to shuttle my troops over by transport. Is the FIC complex a standard play?

UK Pacific does not get their objective while not at war, so I’m not gifting them with the +5. My group rarely ever uses the UK fleet in the Indian Ocean for anything but bothering the Italians, so I don’t really place any value on sinking the battleship. I suppose it would be worth it if for nothing else than stopping them from doing that though.

The bomber purchase is to increase the damage from bombing raids on Calcutta, and it’s nice to have in case UK gets lucky with an AA gun roll. China is probably about the same, but UK doesn’t get to help them stack Yunnan in the opening round. The Russia stack on Amur doesn’t undo the way I play, it’s why I move the infantry from Korea to Manchuria so I can sit on it with 10 men and the AA gun. I’ve never had a problem with the Russian troops after doing that.

I’ve mostly done this J2 strat because it doesn’t feel ‘right’ to me to attack J1, just feels like wild thrashing in every direction. You definitely offer some compelling points though, maybe I should give J1 another look.

Thanks for the enthusiasm Young Grasshopper! You are correct that there are no complex purchases in the first 2 rounds. I have never, in any version of Axis and Allies, thought that buying factories was worth it except for REALLY late game, play-to-world-conquest scenarios. I am much more a fan of transports for getting my units around, another reason why I split off into distinct North and South Pacific fleets with my Japan play.

Hi there, I’ve been using a J2 DOW for quite some time now and would like some feedback before a game next weekend. Here are my J1 moves:

PURCHASE: 2 transports, 1 bomber

Combat Moves
1 infantry, Jehol -> hahar
1 Infantry, 1 Artillery, Jehol -> Anwhe
3 Infantry, Shangtung -> Anwhe
2 Infantry, Kiangsu -> Anwhe
1 Mech, Manhcuria -> Anwhe
3 Infantry, 1 Artillery, Kiangsi -> Hunan
2 Fighters, 2 Tacs, Manchuria-> Hunan
3 Infantry, 1 Artillery, Kwangsi-> Yunnan
2 Bombers, Japan-> Yunnan
1 Fighter, 1 Tac, Kiangsu-> Yunnan

Non-combat moves:
2 Fighters, 2 Tacs, Hunan -> Kwangsi
2 Fighters, 2 Tacs, Japan -> Kwangsi
1 Fighter, 1 Tac, 2 Bombers, Yunnan-> Kwangsi
1 AC, 1 fighter, 1 tac, 1 sub, 1 transport (JPN: inf + tank) SZ6 -> SZ37
1 BB, 1 destroyer, 1 sub, 1 transport (inf + art) SZ19 -> SZ37
1 AC,  1 fighter, 1 tac, 1 destroyer, SZ33 -> SZ37
1 cruiser, 1 transport, 1 transport (inf + art) SZ20 -> SZ20
4 infantry, Korea -> Manchuria

I believe this sets up for a nice J2 DOW, though I know some people won’t like splitting the fleet in 2. In my experience, even with less ships sailing south, the UK and ANZAC aren’t willing to engage you at sea and you have the advantage of protecting the waters around Japan. My group likes to park huge Allied fleets in SZ6 if it is left undefended, as it invariably is when you put every boat south.

J2 buy: 1 carrier, 1 tank, 1 artillery, 2 transports

On J2, I like to use the transports in 37 and 20 to grab Malaya (with 2 transports) and Borneo (with 1 transport). I also like to grab Kwangtung with both the transports in SZ6 bought on J1, which puts India down -10. I also like to start bombing raids on Calcutta J2 to really cripple their ability to build stuff. For the Yunnan counterattack you should have what’s leftover in Hunan, plus the mech infantry in Anwhe and all the aircraft in Kwangsi parked there on J1. J3 you should be able to land all your planes on Yunnan, with a J4 takeover by sea with 5 transports.

I don’t usually take the Philippines with this opener, nor do I typically grab all the money islands before taking over India, as I like to focus 100% on obliterating UK pacific. I would like to know what the community thinks of this strategy though.

Russia can declare against Japan whenever they want.

I actually like to build a carrier, destroyer, and sub instead of carrier and 2 transports for G1. I find it’s a much more convincing Sea Lion threat because chances are you’re going to lose the battleship you took to the channel in the opening attacks, which leaves your Baltic fleet pretty thin. As to what happens when I accidentally take Yugo in the opening round… I always pray that this doesn’t happen, and it usually doesn’t. If it did, I think I would just prepare for G3 Barbarossa instead. In either case though my buys would be no different. G2 onwards is nothing but mech infantry and tanks until you get near Moscow and then switch to planes just before the attack to get everything in possible.

I accidentally posted this originally in House Rules. Does anyone know where I can find it? Or if it’s even available? I plan on trying it out this weekend with my buddies but wanted to give it a whirl on my own before then. Thanks.

I just finished reading Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer and really loved it, I’m looking for other books to go through and figured the community on here would be a great resource to point me in the right direction.

I didn’t know where else to post this. I’m considering giving it a run next Saturday with my buddies, but I wanted to play around with it myself for a little bit first. Is it available on Triple A? And if so, where can I find it? Thanks.