Posts made by kaufschtick

@Van_Trump:

Rather than a J1 attack “breaking” the game, I think it makes it less enjoyable, particularly for the UK player. Yeah, I know you can evacuate the planes to Australia before India falls, but what fun is that?

After J1 attack, China and UK get stomped.

Agreed, we’ve thought from day one with this game that the 5 player billing it gets is more than just a little stretch. China isn’t enough to keep anyone interested in a game, and now it seems obvious that Britian isn’t either.

@Van_Trump:

OK, after J2 they also get stomped but at least UK gets to do something with their fleet (occupying 2 money islands and linking up their RN). UK also gets lots more money to spend for at least one turn.

In a 2 player game it’s not that big a deal, but in a multiplayer game J2 attack is the way to go.

We thought for a short time that a 3 player game might not be bad, with one player taking China-Britian-ANZAC, but that’s about as many people as we can see playing this game together at once.

It seems more suited as a 2 player game, IMHO.

@Admiral:

I laughed very hard.

But you are right, one minute A&A can seem very historical, and the next you’ll see some operations that gives ‘alternate history’ a new meaning.  :lol:

More & more we’re seeing games unfolding in ways that we’ve read about in history; and that’s a little nerve wracking for a game of Axis & Allies! :lol:

It always makes us stop and rethink real quick if we’ve made a mistake with the rules somewhere!  :lol:

Awe, come on now fella’s, this wasn’t supposed to be a serious thread, just having some fun.

Don’t spoil it by getting all serious and what not!

Now to start with, don’t get me wrong. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool, home grown “homer” from the good ole’ US of A.

But when it comes to Axis & Allies, I can’t help it if the German Army in WWII was too short sighted to equip it’s troops with with winter gear, and enough logistic support to allow it’s forces in Africa to push on through to Alexandria. The Desert Fox? You ain’t seen nothing until you’ve seen the Japanese in Africa, I call it the Desert Panda Bear.

If I’m playing the Japanese in Axis & Allies, I expect my armored columns to not only be knocking on the doorsteps of the Russian Capital, but to also be exploiting gaps in the Allied lines in East Africa.

Now this new game, they call it Axis & Allies Pacific 1940, it has some really peculiar strategies to it that I’m not real comfortable with, as far as a game of Axis & Allies goes.

Like earlier tonight, my best friend and I are talking over the phone about strategies and such for an upcoming game session we have planned for Wednesday the 21st at his place on the south side of Dayton Ohio.

So TA says to me (he is going to take the Japanese and I’m going to be the Allies in game 1) that he is going to take his Japanese CV, BB & DD from Truk down and whip my ANZAC DD & transport on J1 in sea zone 62. Then he may just hang around sea zone 62 to cause the Aussies some loss of IPCs due to convoy disruption.

Now I’m thinking to myself, that’s not very nice. I mean, I make the drive all the way out to his place in Dayton, and he’s telling me that he’s going to do something like that, and I thought we were pals.

So that gets me to thinking; OK, if that’s the way you’re going to be, then I guess I’ll just have to bring the American fleet down that way to see about that.

Now, we’re on the phone talking about this, and he says back to me, “Yeah, I figured as much, you bringing the US fleet down to play, but I can bring more IJN units in from the PI on J2 to match your US units.”

Now at this point, I’m wondering if we’re even friends anymore? I mean, I know TA springs for the beer and all when I go out his way to play the game, but he’s being really unfriendly about this whole thing at this point.

So I say to him, “Oh yeah, well you bring your back up in from the PI, and I’ll bring every damn Allied plane I can get my hands on in to the fight.”

So now here we are, the two of us, life long friends, getting all ramped up about a battle theoretically taking place early in the game; somewhere north of Australia; south of the Solomons; somewhere in the neighborhood of the Coral Sea.

Then it hits us…what kind of BS is this?!? Next thing you know, that fight will wind up boiling over into the island groups in and around New Guinea and Guadalcanal!!!

I know, I know; that’s the most F’d up thing I"ve ever heard about in a game of Axis & Allies too!  :-o

NEWS FLASH AXIS & ALLIES DESIGNER GUYS - THAT ALREADY HAPPENED MAN; THIS IS AXIS & ALLIES! WE WANT THE UNUSUAL! THE BIZARRE, THE…WE AIN’T NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE, MAN!  :-P

As the Japanese, you should have your Army columns half way through Siberia by that point, not fighting alongside your Navy over some crappy little islands just north of Australia! Who ever heard of such wierd stuff??? :?

And your Navy ought to be in position to bypass India if need be and land Japanese troops on the east shores of Africa!

What the hell have they done to this game, gone historical!?! :-o

What about my Japanese Ha-Go tanks blowing the living dog-snot out of Russain T-34s at the gates of Moscow?!? And landing in Italian Somalia to blitz into Alexandria from the east?!

WHAT ABOUT THAT?!?

WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS DONE TO AXIS & ALLIES!?!  :-D :-D :-D

My best friend TA (Buckeyeboy) and I are going to join battle again this Wednesday in Dayton, and I had this thought after a recent strategy bull session we had over the phone.

The fall of India isn’t the end of the world for the Allies, in fact, it can be down right helpful.

First off, the two of us have played about 110 game hours of this game so far. That’s 110 hours of honest to goodness, actual game time; and to be honest with you, there have even been a couple of those hours that didn’t involve drinking as well.

Now I know, you’re saying to yourself; “Not drinking while playing? How can that happen?”  :-o Well, we’re not proud of that part, but we hope you’ll understand anyway.  :-D

Now this Wednesday on the south side of Dayton, at my best friend’s place, we’re lined up for another 15-18+ hour game session Tuesday night-all day Wednesday. Earlier this evening, we were tossing ideas back and forth about the game and how to get the Allies into the fight. One of the key concepts we feel to achieving that aim, is for the US to get a complex going in Asia, if the opportunity should ever present itself.

TA pointed out rightly to me that the US can’t build a complex in either Kiangsu or Manchuria as they are both Chinese territories, and if the US takes either of them back from Japan, that they revert back to Chinese control, which = no complex.

So I thought, well if India falls, then the US can try for Hong Kong and a major complex there.

So you see, there are some perks to having India fall in the game for the Allies.  :wink:

@calvinhobbesliker:

If Japan takes all of Asia, the Phil, and the DEI, they get 78. US gets 55 and ANZAC gets 15 w/NO. They can match all allied builds and add a destroyer each turn.

A good chunk of that Japanese income is subject to convoy disruption. Even taking just one of the DEI as the Allies is going to swing the IPC level in favor of the Allies. Say Celebes, the Allies go up 3 IPCs and the Japanese fall 8 (loss of the bonus). That one island will move the IPCs to 70 Japan vs 73 Allies.

The PI is worth 7 IPCs to the US. If they can grab it back, that is a 9+ IPC swing in favor of the Allies. The opening rounds buys for the US are crucial, IMHO. They should be thinking about grabbing either Guam or the Marianas and building airbases and naval bases there.

While Japan is concurring all of Asia, the DEI and such, the US should be building up to challenge for control of the PI, Shang-Hai, Hong Kong, Caroline Islands, Manchuria, Korea & even Japan itself.

The problem with Japan taking all that turf is that they have to defend it too, and that’s where the game is.  :-)

Well, it’s looking pretty good that I’ll be heading back out Dayton-way for another 15-18 hour AAP:40 game session on the 21st. We’ll (Buckeyeboy & I ) get a chance to see if the Americans can get an effective strategy going against Japan.

I also realized that in some of my posts here in this thread, that I was incorrectly calling the Marianas the Marshall islands!  :-o

Hell, I’ve been watching the HBO series The Pacific the past 5 weeks now, and I can’t wait to get another game session going! You here that TA!?!  :lol:

We thought the game was probably going to be balanced when we were just starting the Allied strategy I’ve been going on about in this thread, when we decided to try the J1 attack deal. We thought the J1 attack was some mystical super attack, but it turns out to be basically the same as the J2 or J3 attack, as far as Allied strategy goes.

So next Wednesday, we’ll get back to basics with the Allies, although we do like the J1 attack the best for them. At least, I think it’s the best Japanese turn to attack. What say you there, TA?

I guess I’ll find out Wednesday. 8-)

That’s a lot of Japanese Naval power expended on J1, all for the gain of just one extra ANZAC DD.  :?

The ANZAC transport is almost always going to give itself up as a freebie “undefended transport” to the Japanese on J2 anyways.

I’m thinking that that Japanese group of ships ought to be able to find something much more useful to do on the opening round than to pre-emptively kill a transport it would have nailed on J2 at nearly no effort.

Not to mention that to divert such a large force down to that location is going to leave it waay out of position to be of much use on J2.

@calvinhobbesliker:

Can’t Japan hit that with 2 inf and 5-10 planes? Then all the infantry die and japan only loses a few planes.

Japan can do damn near anything it wants to in this game, and those troops can be whacked in Singapore just as easily as in Shan State; if that’s what the Japanese player wants to do.

My thinking on that particular move, and it really depends on the game situation, is that on J1, Japan may have taken the PI and possibly Java. If that is the case after J1, then one could deduce that the Japanese player may be contemplating trying to go for the other three DEI islands with it’s three transports on J2.

If Japan has decided on squashing the garrison in Singapore, moving the troops, or not moving them isn’t going to make much difference.  It’s possible, that by evacuating Singapore, that the Japanese may be satisfied with it’s occupation and not concern themselves with chasing down it’s retreating defenders right at that moment. Again, if the Japanese were targeting Singapore though, it really doesn’t make much difference.

If the Japanese weren’t targeting Singapore right off, and were looking more at the DEI, then by just allowing the troops to sit in Singapore just means that the Japanese will get around to stomping them in their own good time. Whereas moving them might allow them to take up either an opportunity into Siam or Vietnam, or at the very least a chance to fall back on India. Possibly also denying the Japanese Burma at a key moment.

The two Japanes troops that start out in Siam, sometimes one of them will take Vietnam on J1, then that troop will be needed to counter-attack into the Chinese territory with the Burma road on J2. That could leave British troops in Shan State with a chance to attack Siam or Vietnam.

Just a thought on trying to do something with those troops as opposed to having them sit there and get steamrolled game after game. :-)

@Open:

Mabey it all depends on who is playing as japan  :?

I have the sneaking feeling that in this game, Japan isn’t going to be able to do everything it wants to, all the time.

@SilverAngelSurfer:

If that’s the case, maybe the designers left it that way so the game could follow relatively accurately the historical playout?  In which case can we learn anything from the strategies actually used by the Allies in WW2?

Well, one thing I believe happened was that Truk got bypassed, if I’m not mistaken.

New Guinea was a pretty big deal too.

I know that one thing we’ve been taking a close look at is the situation where the US builds 2 transports on US1, then on US2 they place a naval base on Wake Island and the fleet moves there on US2. Now, you don’t have to place a naval base on Wake Island unless you, as the Americans, are trying to position yourselves in such a way as to have a shot at getting into Guam on US3. I think the main thing with this particular move is to try to maximize your options as the US for US3.

But getting back to historical things and how they might relate to the game, I also thought that while the US is setting up at Wake (or you could set up at Hawaii too; like I said, Wake isn’t a must), that the US could send it’s 2 bombers to Queensland on US1, and from there, they have a pretty good reach, in particular, they could kill any unescorted transports trying to sneak into Guam on J2 from Japan. They would have to land in, of all places, New Guinea. But from ANZAC New Guinea, they are in a perfect position to hit Truk on US3, in the land portion, if that becomes an option. The US will have 3 fully loaded transports that could invade Truk as well, again; if the opportunity presented itself.

Japan’s going to set the tempo of the game out of the gates, but I think it’s just a matter of taking in all the possibilities the Japanese can throw at the Allies, before the appropriate Allied responses start to become apparent.

My best friend and I had the game to a point were we felt it was pretty even when we were playing the J2 & J3 attacks.

Then we started looking at the J1 attacks and all, the whole time thinking that the game must surely take on some new direction or look. Well, to be honest with you, I’m not seeing the game being any different with the J1 than a later attack. Oh sure, the situation is different as far as pieces present on the board, but the overall position isn’t any different. Japan still has some choices to make as far as what direction they want to go, and the Allies have to respond.

@gamerman01:

@kaufschtick:

I’m not saying the Japanese can’t take India on J3, just that it would seem to me that in order to do that, the Japanese would have to rush right by the DEI.

That’s just it.  Sure, the Japs could take India J3, I suppose, but is that really optimal?  I’m not convinced that faster is always better.

My last game I let India live for a while (kept it contained - building 1-2 infantry per turn) and crushed it when I had much higher odds.  I won in J9 by taking New South Wales and India at the same time.  I know India’s worth 8 per turn, but otherwise, I don’t see the rush, when India can’t go anywhere, do anything, or collect much money.

And back to the original question of the post - I can’t imagine waiting to attack, as Japan, so right there the game is “broken” in that I don’t see a hard choice, deciding whether to attack J1, J2, J3.  All those DoW rules and such are lost on me, because I always attack J1.  You can sink every transport on the board except one by WUS, so why not?  USA + 40 is not enough of a deterrent.

Oh hell, I forgot Japan gets an extra 5 IPCs for India, is that right?

Anyway, I think the J2 & J3 options might be there for the Japanese to set up a KAF strat, or something along those lines. I think it’s kinda neat, keeps the game from stagnating into the same ole’, same ole’ all the time. :-)

@Variable:

@Gharen:

It has been over 3 and a half months now that the game has been out, and I think the Allies can win this game if Japan attacks turn 1.  People still play the defensive mindset of saving India, you have to go on the offensive against Japan and I truly think you need to attempt to cut Japans forces in half but cutting directly to Phillipines and Guam.  I think people are getting too hasty to put a bid on the game while only trying out a handful of options.

This is where I’m coming from too. I don’t believe there are any changes needed in the game to fairly use the J1 attack. We, as players, need to find the strategies necessary to make the J2 attack as viable as the J1 attack; whether that means better J1 Allied defenses, or better J2 Axis attacks, to maintain the variability in playout that we seek.

I’m in the same camp. I don’t think any changes are needed, and I think the J1 attack probably always was what the designers thought would be the best option for the Japanese.

The Prince of Wales & Repulse were sunk by Japanese Nell bombers right at the outset of the war, the PI fell, and Singapore shortly after that.

My bud Buckeyeboy on here and I have have both commented how historically accurate the J1 attack appears. The US transport getting zapped at Pearl kinda represents the situation after Pearl Harbor without actually having to recreate that disaterous chapter of the war for the US.

I think if the US can get into the Marshalls, or back into Guam, then the Allies threaten Hong Kong, ShangHai & Manilla, as well as the vital area of Manchuria, which leads to Korea.

I’m also leaning heavily in favor of bringing out the at start air in India to be used just like the ANZAC air can be, leaving just one fighter back for the British. The British air can function just like the ANZAC air by immediately following up a US amphibious attack.

@AdmiralNagano:

I had a wee look at this J1 rush, am going to give it some more tries, but it seems to me that to take India J3 a gap will be left somewhere, the allies need to aggressively-but-cheaply push into that.

I keep reading about the Japanese taking India on J3, and I’d have to agree that there is going to be a “gap” in there somewhere. I don’t see the Japanese taking the DEI on J2, and then India on J3.

Is there someone who could briefly outline the moves the Japanese take in getting to India on J3? :-)

I think I read in a post somewhere that Japan needed Burma on J2 to land planes? That seems to me to be a fairly easily countered move by the British on B2, if that is in fact the case.  :?

That, plus the fact that the British have two ships to block Japanese naval moves down in that area as well. I’m not saying the Japanese can’t take India on J3, just that it would seem to me that in order to do that, the Japanese would have to rush right by the DEI.

@squirecam:

@idk_iam_swiss:

so when will get get info now that our one source of previwing the game is gone now

The day it comes out.  :roll:

A month later there will be an official post on the AH boards announcing the game as an “upcoming product”.  :x

That was funny! :lol:

@calvinhobbesliker:

With this strategy, what should the UK build? Infantry to delay or planes to escape death and fight on?

Ok, I’m kinda texting right now with my good friend who just joined the boards here as Buckeyeboy, while he gets a break or two at work.

One thing we saw with the J1 attack, aside from the fact that the Japanese player can take the game any which way he/she wants right out of the gate, was that it seems fairly obvious that one good strategy for Japan would be to grab Manilla and one of the DEI islands on J1. Then the Japanese player would be in position to grab the remaining three DEI islands and light the Japanese economy with the bonus.

If the Japanese charge after India on J1, then one thing we’ve seen to put the US in a good position was the following. On US1, buy 2 transports, move the rest of the fleet to Pearl. With the J1 attack, we see the Japanese sub going into Hawaii on J1 and downing the US transport there. So there probably won’t be much need to leave anything back to guard the transports (as the US fleet kills the sub in moving to Hawaii); but you can if the threat is there. The idea here is to build a naval base on Wake island on US2, and have the transports from San Fran join the fleet there on US2. That would give the US three fully loaded transports at Wake available for US3, able to now move three sea zones.

On US1, the US should send its bombers to Australia, at Queensland, to potentially pick off unescorted Japanese transports in the DEI. Basically, it forces the Japanese to escort them, as with only 3 down in the area, the Japanese can’t afford to let them go that way.

I would sent 2 ANZAC infantry to ANZAC New Guinea on ANZAC1, looking to take Dutch New Guinea on ANZAC2 for the bonus.

On turn 2, the Japanese may be looking to grab up the DEI and the bonus. The US bombers out of Queensland can reach the SZs around Guam & the PI, landing back on New Guinea. So the Japanese will have a hard time protecting all of it’s transports if it tries to grab Guam or reinforce Manilla on J2.

Also, for Britain, I would pull out of Singapore and move that whole force to Shan State. The British & ANZAC could take Siam turn 2, giving the ANZAC player a crucial 5 point bonus if they are able to move their infantry into Siam. The British are also in a position to attack French Indochina on B2 as well. At the very least, they are in a position to deny Burma to Japan on turn 2.

I’ve batted around potential buys for the British, like maybe getting 2 subs on turn one in order to form a strike force on B2 together with their air, CA & DD on a portion of the Japanese fleet in the DEI.

Now having said all of this, I read a post a while back that said just because India falls, it doesn’t mean the game is over. The Japanese wins by controlling 6 of the 8 VCs in the game.

Now, here’s the hard thing to get used to. For those who’ve played A&A all the way back to the MB version, it’s kinda been an unwriten rule that you played to the death. That is to say, you played to the point where everyone agreed that the game had reached a tipping point for one side or the other, and you called it.

Starting with AAR, and continuing on with AA50, the idea of victory cities has been introduced into the game. We wound up ignoring them with AAR, and pretty much did the same thing with AA50 (Ottawa never seemed quite right for some reason).

In AAP:40, I’m thinking it’s important to pay attention to the VCs, they may have finally gotten them to the point where they actually work (everyone in the room suddenly gasps  :-o).

Now here’s what I’m thinking, if the US is in striking distance of Guam from Wake on US3.

In looking at Guam, it sits adjacent to no less than 3 victory cities. Shang-Hai in SZ19, Hong Kong in SZ20 & Manilla in SZ35.

If India falls, the the Japanese have 5 VCs. If Australia falls, they have their 6, but the US can be in a position to threaten Shang-Hai, Hong Kong & Manilla as early as US4.

Also, by forming up at Wake island, the US should move their bombers to ANZAC New Guinea on US2. The Caroline islands are now able to be hit by the US by 3 infantry, 1 arty, 1 mech, 1 armor, 2 bombers, 1CV fighter and finally 1 CV Tac bomber in the land fight.  2 fighters and 2 Tac bombers can overfly the sea battle portion from Wake and land in ANZAC New Guinea, to bolster the fleet in the sea battle portion, if Truks air comes out there. It’s a threat the Japanese are going to have to watch.

I’m not saying the US should grab Truk, I’m just saying that by forming up at Wake, the US has some really good options to go to, depending on the game situation.

Also, someone in this thread suggested flying the British fighters to Australia, and buying air units for the British buys in order to fly them out immediately. I had been pondering the idea of holding the British air in India until the last possible moment to draw the Japanese as far to that side of the board as possible. Then, just before the Japanese were able to take India, I had the thought to fly them out to Australia.

Taking those lines of thought further, I’m now thinking that the best use of the British air would be to fly them out of India on B1. Either to Dutch New Guinea, where they could join up with the ANZAC air, or to Australia. From Dutch New Guinea, they threaten SZ20(The PI). Dutch New Giunea may be a stretch, but regardless, I’m thinking they should go to Australia. One good combination the Allies have going for them is to have the US take an island or territory, and then have the ANZAC air units swoop in right behind them to reinforce before the Japanese can react. In particular, I’ve always thought that that would be a great combination on US3 with Guam. The US strike from Wake with up to 3 fully loaded transports, then the ANZAC air flies up from Queensland to make immediate use of the airbase there.

Well, I’m thinking that the Allies should be doing the same sort of thing with the British air too. Britian moves after the US, so those 4 Brit fighters and the Tac bomber should be able to be put to goods use together with a US move on an island base, or evem better a territory. Again, I’m thing about Guam. On B1, the Brits fly to Australia, then to the airbase in Queensland on B2. If the US is able to grab Guam on US 3, then not only could the ANZAC air move in, but so could the British air.

Consider this scenario. The US has formed up at Wake as I outline, and move just 3 transport (maybe a US DD too to screen off subs afterwards) to Guam and take it on US3. The ANZAC & British air come up to the airbase there, and suddenly there are 8 fighters and a Tac bomber to provide air cover.

In a situation like that, to start off turn 4, India should still be in the game. The Allies now threaten Shang-Hai, Hong Kong & Manilla from Guam. In theory, a game like that should be anyones from that point forward.

The main idea here is to try to position the Allies for a chance to make a game out of this thing, or in other words, to just get to a good mid game point. There’s a whole heap of things the Japanese can do in response, but the key thing to remember here is that nobody knows just what the other is going to do, so this is kinda just a general strategy to give the Allies some hope of taking advantage of what the Japanese player actually does.

I’m thinking that if the Allies can maneuver into a position to threaten Shang-Hai, Hong Kong & Manilla from Guam, or any island base, then the fall of India won’t be the end of the world for the Allies. The Japanese are going to have to go after Australia or Hawaii while fending off the above VCs from Allied attacks.

**Edit: Correction to the above concerning bringing the British air to Australia on B1. The one fighter in Burma can’t make it, and I believe this fighter should stay with the British in India, in case the Brits get a chance to attack into a weakly held Siam or French Indochina on B2.

Also, the US doesn’t have to place a naval base on Wake, the over all strategy will work running the US out of Hawaii. Just from Wake the US threatens more. From Hawaii I see the Marshall Islands as the US target, which will require a US airbase build ASAP.

One more thing to keep in mind, a US naval base on Midway is great for the US at some point. It allows the US to get into SZ19 thru SZ6, but this is easily blocked there too.**

@Autarch:

I’m currently developing a strategy that runs counter to this by moving as much UK forces to Australia as possible. China and India are going to fall. Period. No point in building infantry that are just going to be exchanged for Japanese infantry that if it survives will end up being left behind anyway when the war turns back East. Better to turn those IPCs into aircraft that can fly out of harms way and live to fight another day.

What to build for the British, good question. That’s a very interesting idea to build a/c and then fly them out.

I had thought of the idea of waiting until the last possible moment, and then flying out the at start British air to Australia, so you’re ahead of me on that one.

I had also thought of pulling the troops out of Singapore on B1 to Shan State, with the idea of trying to fall these units back on India.

Ah hell, Dogfights just came on the History Channel!!!

I’ll get back to ya later fellas! :-)

@gtg21:

It just seems odd to me that airbases can be limited via damage - but they aren’t limited in terms of max capacity for scrambling purposes.  Or that the island of Japan can effectively scramble as many planes as Midway.  It just seems strangely off scale.

The Japan-Midway comparison seemed way too funky for me at first too.

After time, I just decided to take the game for what it was, and not worry about the realities of it all.

Its A&A, and there has always been a certain amount of “gamey-ness” to it.

I wouldn’t mind it at all as long as the game is balanced, which I’m not sure it is.

@Van_Trump:

I’m curious. When you allowed J to take Hawaii, how many fighters did Japan move there the following turn? Was it late enought in the game that the US was able to counter right away? With the scrambling rules, very tough to take it back if Japan has like 12 planes on HI. Also, after taking Hawaii, did Japan go after Sydney or Calcutta?

Oh, and I station Japanese fleet on Midway, rather than Wake. With a Naval base it is within striking distance of Western US. Best counter is to turn turtle, build SS’s, a few DD’s, bombers and stack fighters on HI until the counter attack is ready.
Problem is, by the time the counter is ready UK and China are no more.

Japan wasn’t “allowed” to take Hawaii, and the naval base was on Midway.

@Buckeyeboy:

The reason I threw this post out there was to see if anyone had tried it [Allied sub heavy strategy] or would have the chance to play test it before I could. What I was looking for was to see if anyone had a solid US strategy.

BB & I are both looking for the same thing here on these boards, Allied strategy and moves, not “how I’d beat that with this Japanese move/buy” replies.

Well, I’m hopeful in seeing the poll results here, 63% percent think that a J1 attack does not break the game. The problem is, I’ve seen absolutely no strategies outlined that subscribe a US course of action or strategy to follow.

Take Korea is the only strategy I’ve seen mentioned, but that’s easier said than done.

I went out to Dayton last week, and a good friend of mine and myself logged our 110th hour of playing AAP:40.

We started out using Van Trumps Japan takes Midway then builds a naval base there J1 strategy, and the Allies won both of those games quite easily. We switched sides, so that we could both take a crack at it. Niether one of us liked that strategy for Japan. It took too many of Japan’s resources straight at the US, who have the means to defeat it, with the help of ANZAC forces.

So we were kinda hopeful about the whole game and the J1 attack after that. Those were the first two Allied wins we’d seen in quite awhile!

Then we played two more game using the J1 attack, but this time we decided to use good ole’ common sense with the Japanese, and attacked into the DEI and toward India, the same strategy that had worked so well in all the other numerous Japanese wins we’ve seen, in J2 and a few J3 attacks.

Holy smokes, the Japanese just go through the Allies like a hot knife through butter! I’m not saying Van Trumps strategy won’t work, it’s just not nearly as effective as going after the DEI first though. Japan’s IPC level skyrockets with the DEI first strategy; Singapore gets a major IC extremely fast; and that all spells trouble for Australia after India bites the dust.

I think my friend, who just joined the boards here as Buckeyeboy (BB), as well as myself are leaning heavily toward the opinion that the game is not just slanted toward the Japanese, but possibly broken in their favor.

Before we make our final opinion up on the matter though, I think both of us are extremely interested in hearing from those people who feel that the game is not broken and feel that it is a balanced enough game that the Allies ought to be able to win their fair share of games.

The problem here again is, that we see people express their opinion that the Allies can win, that Japan is not so super unbeatable, but we see absolutely no strategies discussed beyond the vague. It’s like there are a lot of folks saying the Japanese are beatable, but nobody really has any idea how to do it!

With Japan being declared an island for the scramble rule purpose, and it’s having a huge advantage in air units, even a novice player Japanese player is going to be able to hold Korea and Japan from direct attack.

My own thoughts for the general Allied strategy are along these lines. If Japan wants India, then Japan is going to eventually take India, and there is nothing the Allies can do to prevent this. The British should make every attempt to make this as slow and as costly a proposition as possible for the Japanese player.

Australia should begin building for it’s defense from the onset, but the Allies should strive to control the Solomons to gain Australia the bonus IPCs.

The US should move toward securing one of the following islands as a base to move against  SZ19 with the aim of getting at Korea through the backdoor route via Manchuria. Iwo Jima, Guam or the Marshalls will work, but an airbase is going to be needed regardless.

Once India falls, the Japanese most likely are going to turn on Australia. So I think the Allies should choose one of the above bases as a potential threat to the PI as well. With the Japanese needing 6 VCs to win, the Allies are going to need to make the Japanese protect the PI as well as Japan & Korea as they move toward Australia.

The game at that point should be fairly even, at least in theory here. IPC levels should be very close with Japan trying to gain Australia as it’s 6th VC while trying to hold Japan & the PI.

One problem we’ve encountered as the Allies is selling out on Allied builds in an all out attempt at saving India. Nothing we’ve been able to do has stopped India from falling. So I believe in our games that we will try a switch in Allied thinking to one of thinking about making the final stand in Australia instead of trying to hold the line in India.

The main point for the Allies here is going to be deciding on what island base it’s going to go after to make its forward operating base.

Guam comes ready loaded with an airbase. It is also just far enough out of the way that fighters & dive bombers coming from Truk can’t overfly and land in Japan, and vice versa. It also doesn’t incure the wrath of the Kamikazies. It requires a naval base on Wake to operate effectively, but this is my favorite choice. It also threatens more of the board without the need for a naval base. Plus, with the airbase already there, the Allies have the chance to grab it, then fly in ANZAC air to reinforce and immediately scramble to protect the ships that brought the invasion troops.

Iwo is just far north enough that IMHO, it would need a naval base as well as an airbase to enable it to threaten the PI. Being adjacent to Japan, it’s also likely to see heavy air attacks against any ships there. I like this as my last choice.

The Marshalls are my in between choice. The Allies can move to this location from Pearl, but it is adjacent to Truk, and so is in a flyover route from Truk to Japan & vice versa.

So here is the strategy I will follow in our next series of games when BB & I get together again in Dayton, hopefully on 4/20-21. We usually get in at least 15 solid hours of game play, and sometimes as much as 18. Lots of beer drinking the first night too!  :-D

My overall strategy for the Allies will be:
1.) Make India as slow and as costly as possible
2.) Build to defend Australia as best as possible
3.) Secure a forward base for the US, hopefully Guam, or the Marshalls with the goal of getting at Korea via Manchuria or to take back Manilla
4.) Force Japan to defend SZ 6, SZ19, Truk, the PI & the DEI

I calculate that for Japan, with all of Britians holdings, minus Canadian BC; with all of China; with all of the DEI+ bonus, Vietnam & the PI…Japan should top out at 73 IPC. 72 if the US takes away Iwo.

The US & ANZAC can be at 70, 71 with Iwo & the Solomons bonus.

In theory, it should be a game still, but BB and I will have to try it out. Van Trumps J1 attack centered on a naval base for the Japanese at Midway sounded like a pretty solid theory too, but that wasn’t the case in actual play.

I’m just hoping that the Allies have a course of action open to them that will make AAP:40 a game, I sure want it to be a good game to play on it’s own, but so far we have our doubts.

BB and I have 110 hours in playing this game, and there have been precious few Allied wins. We’ll see if this general Allied strategy at least gives the Allies half a chance in a few weeks, back in Dayton. :-)