In the global game they start out with 2 cruisers and 2 destroyers. In every game I have played the cruiser in the North sea is destroyed, as are the cruiser and destroyer in the Mediterranean. The only ship left is the Destroyer by Madagascar.
There is a French infantry and fighter in England that I forgot, but they are there solely to help defend the UK.
France is an afterthought, and the last to go in a round. More than likely you will move 4 troops in Africa, 1 in Syria and a Destroyer till all of those get destroyed.
Jen,
As the US with your all Pacific strategy, what would you do if Germany had wiped out the Royal Navy, on G2 purchased 5 subs with other equipment from the 70 IPC round 2 that is easily attainable with the destruction of France. By Germany turn 4 they could bring upwards of 8 Subs to attack the Cruiser in the waters off of Eastern US. The likelihood that one of the 8 hit on their sneak attack is ~97%, which would destroy both the cruiser and the transport at that point. With no Destroyer in the SZ101, no retaliation is likely.
On G1 3 subs attacked SZ106, 2 attacked SZ109. The two in SZ109 will get wiped out most likely in UK1. Assume UK navy in Mediterranean stays focused on Italy instead of making a dash to the Atlantic. G1 purchase of an AC, Sub and Destroyer.
With up to a 16 IPC reduction in the US income, that would force the US spend on the other side of the map. Those coastal waters off of the US are going to be ripe for convoy raids if the German player puts for a little bit of effort.
I believe Germany can afford to sacrifice that hardware at that point in the game to draw the US attention away from the Pacific. It would give the Japanese some time to forge into the DEI. This also assumes that Japan attacks only China in J1 and J2, with an aggressive J3 to attempt to take Hong Kong, Manilla and Malaya.
Hard for me to test this out since the aBattleMap crashes constantly and my boards are tied up with a game in progress.
Simply removing that NO and downgrading the Battleship to a cruiser makes US spend in both theaters? Don’t see how that accomplishes the goal.
I never invade Russia and only attack China till J3. In fact I leave Manchukuo and Korea undefended. If Russia attacks I will use the 12 IPC to upgrade a Destroyer purchase into a BB.
The US DOW says the following in the Pacific FAQ: “However, if the United States is still not at war with Japan by the Collect Income phase of its third turn, it may declare war on Japan at that time.”
Do the NOs for US take effect in the turn 3 collect income? Or Turn 4?
G2 Sea Lion is possible with a poor purchase in UK1. As well as picking the wrong time to scramble.
Those are a lot of changes.
UK loses North Africa pretty quickly with this set up too. Only one ship in the Med means they probably won’t take out any of the italian navy.
I wouldn’t attack anyone but China till J3 unless Germany took the UK in G2.
I think it might be a good idea for you to try and figure out an Axis strategy that can defeat this allied strategy. It might take some radical changes to the beginning of your games, plus a few changes to the time tables. For instance, I have already mentioned how easy it is for the axis to save the Italian army in Africa, you yourself said that in that case UK would vacate the Med and save the fleet too! Really this move is a no-brainer. Secondly, because you wait until J4 to attack,(or is it J3?) You are actually beefing up ANZAC enough that they /can/ afford to swap 24 ipcs of production with Japan. In my games(attack J2) ANZAC is lucky to be making 20ipcs 1 turn, after that they struggle to make 15, I think a more realistic ANZAC support consists of 1 sub 1 dd or maybe 2 subs. Thirdly, I don’t see much value to Japan staging their fleet outside Carolines unless they plan on invading Australia/Hawaii. As you’ve said, thats a fools errand for Japan because of the huge American fleet. So why not do the smart thing and drag that American fleet all over the Pacific? Stage in Philippines, or build a minor/NB/AB in Celebres(an awesome location to maintain your naval empire). By forming up your fleet more west you can support the coast(where the money is) and the money islands and forget about Carolines and other moneyless islands.
Lastly it appears you have yet to find out about one of the new units added to this version of the game. The Mechanized infantry is great for adding to the Tank Dash strategy. It now means that if you take a casualty, its only 4ipcs instead of the 6 you have been losing. Try adding a few to your tank dashes……especially for Germany. For 1 ipc more you can now move twice as fast in vast russia. This also might be a reason Germany is stalling.
The “moneyless” islands can comprise a 10 IPC swing to the US (Japan down 5 and US up 5) and 5 for ANZAC. Granted DEI is a 20 IPC gain for Japan, but the object is not only to get as many NOs for yourself but to simultaneously deprive your opponent.
You can keep ANZAC at 10 with a little attention directed their way and sending some subs their way too.
Jen,
What if Japan does not invade the evacuated Russian territories. Do you move the troops into China anyways?
Japan is very hard to play. The overwhelming need for transports makes it even more difficult. They start with 3. J1 purchase is 2 Transports and 2 Subs.
Japan in essence has two theaters to fight in. Mainland Asia and the Pacific.
My objective in Asia, is to get Calcutta. First cut off the Burma road as fast as possible. Second funnel as many men as you can as fast as you can toward Calcutta. The only way to achieve this is to use your three transports and move men and artillery along the coast to Kwangsi. Along with your non-carrier air force. Take and hold Yunan as quickly as you can. If you can take it on J1 and withstand the Chinese counterattack, land your air force there J2. J3 attack the UK in Hong Kong and Malaya, and begin strategic bombing of Calcutta with fighter escorts. The whole time half of the fleet (2 of the 3 starting Carriers) is helping along the coast and assisting with the capture of Malaya and Hong Kong.
I view the Pacific as Japan as a triangle. The three points being Tokyo, Malaya and the Carolines. For the first three turns my focus is so much on the Calcutta, I just hope that the US doesn’t come wipe out what little of my fleet is left in the Carolines. I stack on the Carolines and put a Destroyer in SZ16 to block any attack from Hawaii on the undefended home island. (I hate this tactic, but it becomes a necessity at times). If by J3 I can spare a transport for the Carolines I can begin a push toward the Solomons. Simply adding a couple of ships to the Carolines in the setup would make an enormous difference here. As it is with a Carrier and Destroyer, its very thin. Add a transport, sub and cruiser and the Japanese can begin to prosecute some kind of offensive against ANZAC. With the current setup as soon as war breaks out with the UK, ANZAC is at 15 IPC since they easily take Dutch New Guinea on their first turn. Also if my assault on Malaya doesn’t succeed, then he is at 20.
I don’t know if on J1 in place of 1 of the transports and one of the subs if I bought a Minor IC and place it on Kiangsu if that would free up some more resources to focus on the Carolines and DEI. I typically cannot get all of them and do everything else I am trying to do on the mainland. My current game against a friend of mine he moved a transport and some men out to the DEI as the UK and has half under his control. At this point I don’t know if it worth re-directing my efforts towards taking it since I am within 3 turns of taking Calcutta. If I distract from that it pushes that out. I know with all four under my belt it is worth 20 IPC, but I see an opening in India and I am going to take it. He also is pestering me with Russia in the north. He is down to six men, but I have a scarce force of a tank and two artillery in Korea.
I am winning this game as Axis, but that is mostly because of some bad dice for my opponent and one or two mis-steps on his part. I have made some of my own but his bad dice and my good dice saved me. In Europe I took UK on G2 and have a formidable force pressing on the Russian border for the start of turn 4. The Italians have all of the Mediterranean and are about to push into the middle east and use their Navy in the Atlantic to defend Western Europe.
I guess it depends on what happens before Italy’s first turn. In my current game UK didn’t sink any Italian ships. I decided to gamble and roll two tech dice and got super subs but wanted the improved shipyards. The 10 IPC start that Italy has would be good for a first purchase, unless the UK blew up your boats, then you may need to replenish a lost ship with it.
If I move into SZ110 as with my German Fleet, can I load onto the transports from Normandy after defeating the British navy that is currently there?
I’m fine with having DEI and FIC together while not at war with anyone but China.
You are right it is 2 or 10, not 12 for FIC.
Wipe out France and Southern France. Kill as much UK fleet as possible without losing planes. Take Finland, Yugo and Bulgaria. Make the UK buy infantry in England with the threat of an invasion (Most recommend a Carrier and two transports). Land a couple of Fighters in Southern Italy to make UK think about his imminent attack on the Italian fleet.
With Japan I would buy 2 transports and 2 subs. Take as much of China as you can and block the Burma road. Move Strategic Bombers down to southern china for the eventual bombing of the Calcutta factory. Stage troops and existing transports for the invasion of the Hong Kong, the DEI and Malaysia. Take out Malaysia as soon as you can (not J1) to prevent ANZAC from getting 5 free IPCs.
With Italy it depends on what you have left after the UK. Suffice it to say you will be buying ships. If the UK attacks, you may or may not want to scramble your German Fighters, depending on how strong he goes in there.
I like the US NO for North Africa
I hate in Alpha 2 the DEI restriction on Japan. The US shouldn’t be able to declare war till they are attacked or the collect income phase of turn 3.
I like what Questionneer was saying about changing the FIC to encompass Hong Kong and either Shanghai or Manilla. Maybe take those three and add Singapore and give Japan 10 IPC NO for controlling 3/4.
FIC should be just worth 2, not 12 like it is.
True, the British sunk the French Navy. The current setup isn’t very true to history either.
Man, when I look at the Alpha 2 setup, I think Allies advantage.
I don’t think Sea Lion should be changed with more land troops but a more robust navy. Make it more difficult to wipe out the UK navy in round one. Its pretty easy to destroy southern france, france and the entire UK navy on G1.