Posts made by Khobai

With all due respect, that doesn’t make sense.
How could Japan build factories on round1 and round2 in response to USA going Pacific in the first two turns?  That’s impossible, because Japan goes before the USA.

I always build a factory on round1 when I play Japan. What else are you going to build? Not like you need more transports since you already start with 5!

And don’t give me this “competent Japanese player” crap.  I have been on the giving and receiving end several times, and usually Japan gets their butt kicked, because they’re trying to do two or more things at once, and the USA is just focused on dismantling Japan.

A competent Japan player cant lose to USA in the pacific. Japan starts with a bigger fleet, 9 fighters, gets way more money each turn than USA, and has preferential turn order. So how could Japan ever possibly lose to the USA assuming no mistakes are made? Unlike the USA Japan DOES get enough money to fight on two fronts (Japan is often high 50s or low 60s by end of round3). Japan can quite capably keep the USA at bay by building ships while pumping troops out of its mainland factories. It may take longer to mass forces against Russia but Germany can easily hold out if USA goes 100% pacific.

The USA player built 100% in the Pacific for the entire game.  Maybe it was because I was surprised, or because I underestimated it, but I got absolutely dismantled after not too many turns.

Its definitely possible for Japan to make forward progress on the mainland while keeping up with fleet escalation with the USA. If USA goes pacific the first two turns become very crucial for Japan because it has to make sure its ability to reinforce the mainland isnt disrupted. Usually that means building factories on round1 and round2. Against a good Japan player USA going 100% pacific doesnt seem to be anything more than a delay tactic at best.

I think hurts allies tremendously when USA goes pacific. It doesnt seem to have a longterm win condition because USA is very unlikely to capture Japan. The only thing the US going pacific seems to accomplish is delaying the inevitable fall of Russia and making it less likely for Germany/Italy to fall first. In my experience its ground troops that win the game, and not ships, and no country should ever spend money on ships except when necessary to defend transports.

Often, the USA doesn’t need any help.
I’ve seen an Indian IC many times, and sometimes I do an Aussie IC.

India and Australia ICs are not feasible against a competant Japan player. India can be attacked by 6-8 units on round2 along with 3-4 fighters. Australia likewise can be captured on round2 without much effort from the Japan player. I think the imbalance comes from the fact Japan goes before UK in the turn order. If UK went before Japan the India IC might be an option since the factory could produce 3 units to help defend before Japan attacked.

Fortunately, Germany and Italy are relatively weak, so it’s not hopeless for Allies.  So….I think the map dynamics favor teaming up on Western Axis and destroying them before Japan destroys the Allies.

The problem with ganging up on Germany/Italy is that Japan is left completely unchecked and gets out of control very quickly. If the Allies dont kill Germany by Round6 the game basically defaults to an axis win because by then half the territories on the board are owned by Japan which is making 70+ IPCs a turn. I really dont like the idea of Japan being an unstoppable force on the mainland that steamrolls everything in its path. I think the whole intent of China was to somewhat impede Japan’s progress on the mainland. Unfortunately China was implemented very poorly and tends to get completely devastated on round1. This is another imbalance created by the turn order as China should also go before Japan.

I have no problem with Axis getting stuff to balance the game out. The problem is that the other Allies (UK and Russia) have no effective means of aiding the USA to combat Japan in the Pacific.

I find Japan to be a little too strong in '41. Japan starts off with way more units than any other country, all its NOs are too easy to obtain and keep throughout the game, and the allies arnt really situated to gang up on Japan to stop it from reaching 70+ IPCs. Thats not to say allies cant win, because they certainly can, but I think '41 is definitely biased towards Axis.