Posts made by WILD BILL

I think you have plenty of air power as Japan w/o the 4 carrier planes in the mid Pacific to do the job in China. I will say that at times I have kept 4 more air units on Japan as well to deter the US from moving its home fleet up to Hawaii US1. I have even thought about building 2 transports and 2 subs J1 to really put the pressure on Hawaii (sz26). I think you need to build that extra transport (or minor IC) though, so I haven’t built the subs.

I think the problem is more with the lack of ground units Japan will have in Asia, but this is the case in any J1 attack IMO. Using the 3rd transport to take Wake leaves you with less options in the Asian land battle. You have to make some decisions in this J1 attack if you take Wake Island because of the other things you need to do. You need to take Kwangtung, load the SZ20 transport for the assault on Phil, and hit Yunnan. So the 4 units from Kwangsi hit Yunnan, and that leaves just the 4 units on Kiangsi to take Kwangtung (2 inf) and load transport (inf/art) to hit Phil. This leaves no ground units to take Hunan. You have plenty of air units to assist on these battles, but should you try to air sweep Hunan, maybe?

Another thing you have to consider is a British attack on either FIC (where you want to build a minor IC), or your air force sitting on Kwangsi. The Brit transport w/air can hit either of them, so you probably want to end J1 with a couple war ships in sz36 so they can’t get ground units in. Doing that leaves the attack on sz 35 a little weaker, so they could scramble the ftr. You could place a blocker in sz37, but that isn’t a good place for your cruiser, unless you used it to attack the Brit BB. Just saying you need to balance this out, and see the counters.

Any way, yea Asia is a problem early on, but the transports and minor ICs should help with that in the mid term.

BTW I agree that the Russians sending in the mech/tank into China is a good idea, but I’m also looking at Gargantua’s 6 tank purchase R1 (3 for Leningrad and 3 for Ukraine) to keep the Germans from stacking E Poland G2/G3. If you send that mech/tank to China you lose the odds advantage for attacking East Poland (just saying that it isn’t always the way to go).

@weddingsinger:

@WILD:

That’s why I advocate a hit and run on Pearl so you don’t put your Imperial fleet in harms way. You Hit Pearl w/1ss, 2dd, 2 ftr’s, 2tac’s, then NCM cruiser, bb, and 2 carriers to to Wake to pick up planes. Again you make sure a dd survives the battle to block out the US San Fran fleet from the counter attack. You have 100% odds in the Pearl attack (93% if they scramble the 2 ftrs). Your Japanese losses are minimal, and J2 you can retreat to Caroline’s. Being on Caroline’s and Malaya on J2 forces the Anz to turtle up, or at least keep their mini fleet away from you, because with out the US backing him up, little brother can’t come out and play. Keeping the US and Anz bottled up in their own harbors gives the Japanese better position IMO, and you can still start taking the other assets like Malaya and DEI because UK hasn’t got much fleet left off India, and what they have generally runs to Egypt or Mid East.

You still build 3 transports J1, and probably 2 minor ICs on J2 (for Asia/Calcutta push). I like to take Malaya J2 (Anz NO), and maybe Borneo depending on what the UK has defending Malaya. The rest of the DEI falls on J3, and you have the other half of the Japanese fleet to protect them, plus your Caroline’s fleet can also get to Java if you need it to.

I like your variation and I think I’ll try that tomorrow.

Is there a reason you don’t take Borneo J1?  Nothing can hit it if you sink the UK battleship.  I’m usually J1: Philippines and Borneo; J2 Malaya; J3 other 3 money islands (though sometimes I flip that and get the money on J2 but I really like a factory on Malaya)

I also prefer a MiC on J1 so I can get mainland tanks on J2.

If I take Wake, then I probably don’t get Borneo, because I generally use the other 2 transports to take Phil w/carrier planes. I suppose you could attempt the Phil w/one transport, but I like better odds in the opening round. You could also forgo taking Wake (I have), and take Borneo instead J1. You should probably not take unnecessary risks the first time you try it though IMO.

Taking Wake will just about insure the allies won’t attempt to hit your fleet. The US has to do an air only assault because you have a dd survive in sz26 (blocker) and they know you can suck up the first 3 hits and land your planes. Plus if you take Wake the Anz can’t use any air units to hit you in sz31 (Wake) because they have nowhere to land (only the Anz cruiser can hit you)

I have also built an IC in Asia on J1, but it takes 2 turns for meck/tanks to get to Yunnan from Kiangsu. It is only one turn from Kwangtung. So in reality the mechanized units you build J2 from the IC in Kaingsi (built J1) would get to Yunnan at the same time as the mechanized units you build in Hong Kong J3. And of course slow movers built in FIC can hit Yunnan the next tun. They would all hit Yunnan on J4. I’m not saying that building an IC in Asia J1 it is good or bad, because building units up the coast can still push into central China. I just like to put more pressure on Yunnan, and then India. However if the Siberians are hanging around, or Russia is known to enter China through the back door then that J1 IC would come in handy pumping units into central or northern China.

That’s why I advocate a hit and run on Pearl so you don’t put your Imperial fleet in harms way. You Hit Pearl w/1ss, 2dd, 2 ftr’s, 2tac’s, then NCM cruiser, bb, and 2 carriers to Wake to pick up planes. Again you make sure a dd survives the battle to block out the US San Fran fleet from the counter attack. You have 100% odds in the Pearl attack (93% if they scramble the 2 ftrs). Your Japanese losses are minimal, and J2 you can retreat to Caroline’s. Being on Caroline’s and Malaya on J2 forces the Anz to turtle up, or at least keep their mini fleet away from you, because with out the US backing him up, little brother can’t come out and play. Keeping the US and Anz bottled up in their own harbors gives the Japanese better position IMO, and you can still start taking the other assets like Malaya and DEI because UK hasn’t got much fleet left off India, and what they have generally runs to Egypt or Mid East.

You still build 3 transports J1, and probably 2 minor ICs on J2 (for Asia/Calcutta push). I like to take Malaya J2 (Anz NO), and maybe Borneo depending on what the UK has defending Malaya. The rest of the DEI falls on J3, and you have the other half of the Japanese fleet to protect them, plus your Caroline’s fleet can also get to Java if you need it to.

I love to hit Hawaii w/J1 attack. You can hit every thing you normally do w/J1, plus take out a few more US ships. What you can’t do IMO is go all in and leave your fleet exposed at Hawaii to a counter attack. You can still hit the US fleet at Phil, and take the island using your other two tpts, and carrier planes. The UK BB is still a viable target, and so is Kwangtung and FIC (I like to build minor ICs on both J2).

I don’t agree with stationing your fleet at Midway J1, because the US San Fran fleet can hit you. I go to Wake because it is much safer and you can block out the US San Fran fleet.

I hit Hawaii with 1ss, 2 dd’s, 2frts, 2tacs. The important thing is to have a dd survive the battle (even if it costs you planes). Having a dd survive in sz26 blocks out the US San Fran fleet so it can’t be used in the counter attack on Wake. You then NCM your cruiser, BB and 2 carriers to Wake to pick up the air units. Also make sure you leave a couple planes on Japan to NCM in to replace any air you might have lost in the battle. I generally take Wake on J1 so that if the allies (US/Anz) try to double hit my Wake fleet my planes have somewhere to land. I can take the first 3 hits on my capital ships, and the planes can land safely (believe me the allies won’t hit you if you took Wake). I have played where I don’t take Wake a couple times so I can take Borneo instead, but you run the risk of a double attack at Wake (US air strike followed by Anz).

The US would be hard pressed to move its home fleet up to Hawaii on US1 with you sitting right next to him at Wake, especially if you took Wake and have 3-4 air units sitting on Japan. J2 I generally retreat to Caroline’s, but it would depend on what the US did on US1. J2 I like to take Malaya so the Anz doesn’t keep that NO, and Borneo if I can (using the Phil force). Then the rest of the spice islands J3. You can also force the UK to turtle if you buy a NB for FIC J2, and bring down the 3 loaded transports you bough J1.

I will say that Asia (China) will be a little thin, and has some early challenges. That’s why I like to build those IC’s on FIC and Hong Kong J2 so I can pump out some ground units J3.

When the US gets sucker punched and loses all those support ships it has a hard time deciding what side to build/rebuild on. The shackles are off, but they don’t have the navy to do squat for at least a couple turns.

Yep this game always seems to come down to who can roll the most deuces lol.

Shadow I agree that bombers were used to soften up enemy positions and were an important part of the ground game. Your analogy of a bomber being a flying artillery unit is spot on, but art only attacks at 2, where the bomber attacks at 4. Both units are barraging a sector trying to do as much damage as possible, but like you said there are a lot of misses. Of coarse for the cost of one bomber you could have 3 art units so that’s why I advocated to allow the bomber to roll 2 dice in the ground game (carpet bombing) if you reduce the attack to 2. That way you get the “long range” attack value equal to a couple art units. I think that is a good compromise, and still allows the bomber to be a versatile unit that isn’t over powered and abused (cost should probably come down to 10, and SBR go to +1).

Now we go to the naval game. To coin your analogy the way I look at the bomber in a navy battle is like a flying one hit battleship because of its attack value of 4. I think it should be more on par with a destroyer, especially when you factor in the range.

So if you reduce the S bomber attack value to 2, but allow it to roll 2 dice in the ground game I think you have redefined its role in battles closer to its actual abilities (not quite, but more in line). I agree and wouldn’t mess with the defense values because in the air it had some anti air capabilities, and 0 defense just seems silly to me. Lowering the cost to say 10 would probably be about right, and the lower cost would make loosing an S bmr in an SBR run a little more palatable, maybe make it +1 in SBR just to make it more attractive.

To SS, I like the role of the tac bmr, so probably wouldn’t mess with its values much. Now if you were giving it target ability that would be a different story. I have played where you keep the values the same, but the Tac gets some target ability when attacking. Roll your Tacs separate from other units, and any time you roll a 1 you can target when attacking. You would probably do something similar for ftrs when they roll 1 in attack/def that hit has to go to a plane (if available).

Many agree with you PainState, and use house rules to nerf the bmr. Just to point out though the older games only had bombers and it kind represented both Strat and Tactical in the old days. G40 introduced the Tac bmr, and I think the Strat should have been reworked but it wasn’t. Guess it would be a tough sell to people that have played for years with those high attack values. I think the cost of a bmr was 15 IPCs with the same A4/D1 that we still have today.

Some house rules (for strat bmrs) I have seen/used change the attack, SBR values and cost making it an A3/D1/SBR+1/cost 11, or A2/D1/SBR+0/cost10. I think that if you lower the cost you should also lower the SBR bonus accordingly.

I have also thought about making its attack value2, but it rolls 2 dice when attacking ground units (carpet bombing). I realize that bmrs attacking fleet sounds pretty out there but I don’t think it would be good for the game to take that away completely.

If the french dd gets to sz 99 on Fr2 and survives you can’t use the German 100 fleet to hit Egypt period  (French dd is in the path). Yea you can easily kill the French dd on Germany’s turn, but you can’t move past the French dd in the combat move phase to get to Egypt. This would delay your attack on Egypt for a turn maybe allowing the UK some breathing room.

I think that the Russians will believe Germany is gunning for them if you drop an IC (major or minor) on Romania, however UK will be aggressive in her builds. I also think the Reds would still build some art for Ukraine R1. After your G2 naval purchase they will see it kinda bitter sweet because you could have dropped a bunch of art and marched straight for Moscow. Now they see it as a ploy to capture Ukraine and/or Caucasus quickly through the Black Sea. R2 they probably retreat to Braynsk and Vologograd for a counter attack being you would only be landing 6 units max w/o air cover (3 transports). After the Italians attack Turkey and the Germans leave the Black Sea the Russians will be more aggressive in their buys.

Yea I think that the axis have a good chance to get Egypt on the 3rd turn. I also believe that the amount of income spent on the major IC and fleet the first 3 turns will cause the Germans to stall out once they  have to deal with the US shuck-shuck to Spain, and the angry Red Bear from the east.

Afrikakorps just reading through your last couple post I think you can probably get Egypt on G3 if Italy opens up the Turkish straights (although I havn’t ran the numbers w/possible UK movement, builds and reinforcement). If the Germans fail to take it down, the Italians will finish it off on Ity3 (they must be at Alex Ity2 w/Luftwaffe backing them up). The one hitch that I can see (as remote as it might be) is that the French dd moves to the Red Sea on F1 (normal), and got really lucky and managed to sink your Italian cruiser/transports in sz99, survived the battle to block out the Germans (which is a possibility lol)

As the allies seeing you built that Romanian Major I will feel all warm and fuzzy inside as UK (no Sea Lion), but see it as a threat to the Russians. Egypt and Persia would be my focus for UK (which I realize could work right into your hands). Might build a minor IC on Egypt UK1, and/or a carrier or transport for S Africa?. I also sometimes build an an air base for Egypt which would force you to account for my scramble on G3 (ties up some of your German air power). The UK Med fleet would probably be gone (Taranto), but the UK Pac fleet would defiantly be heading that way to take its place (possibly joining a new carrier built in S Africa?). With most of your emphasis in the Black Sea G2/G3, Russia will get aggressive. If you split your starting ground forces to go north and south you will find more Russian resistance then you are used to, and a series of counter attacks. Leningrad won’t be a cake walk, and you may find yourself having to defend your own assets up there.

The thing is that the Western allies would love to get into a naval race with the Euro twins, because that means they aren’t building troops to take Moscow early on. Both London and Moscow will feel safe for at least the first 8-10 turns. As soon as you drop those expensive capital ships in the Black Sea G2/G3, the allies will make them a target (thinking they are trapped). The western allies will see this as a challenge and w/o much resistance in the Atlantic the US very well may build up fleet in DC, which will end up being the Spanish Beach Head after the Turkish assault. Don’t think the Euro axis can defend a landing in Spain (Germany would have to kill off the 6 free Spaniards in the 3rd turn if the Japanese attack J3) and push into Northern Africa, Middle East and Southern/Northern Russia all at the same time.

Interesting take though, imagine if the Allies were planing a neutral crush as well lol

I like to do J1 so I can build minor ICs on FIC and Kwangtung on J2. I generally buy 3 transports on the first turn to get to the $ islands/transport troops to Asia. Build some inf art J3 in Asia if needed, then build mostly mech+tanks……so I can push into China/India. Sometimes I will build a 3rd minor IC on Malaya, but like Pain pointed out it can be problematic to keep up production on 3 minors in Asia.

Hong Kong and Malaya come with a naval base, and I like to have the option to build ships down there as Japan. If you also build a naval base for sz 36 (FIC) you have multiple places to build subs/dds that can hit say a US held Caroline’s, or invade Australia. Mid game its all cat and mouse, and as Japan those minors on the coast w/naval base help you build a better mouse trap.

OK so Kami 6 different ships (target cruisers and destroyers) to reduce enemy dice, was my line of thought too.

@barney:

“Bids and Scramble”
sounds like a good name for a board game   :lol:

IDK “Chutes and Ladders” just came to mind lol

@weddingsinger:

Ok, so G1 that doesn’t work, but Italy could use it’s bomber to hit an airfield so that on Germany’s turn they couldn’t scramble… Got it.

Like Shadow said a lone bmr (German or Italian) probably isn’t the best idea because of UK interceptor ftrs. Could do it Ity2 though allowing Italy to set-up to have its own ftrs/tac in the SBR run on London’s air base. That way in a G3 Sea lion the Germans wouldn’t have to account for UK scramblers to the sea, and the Germans could use all it’s air power on London.

Norway is always a prime target for the allies, but it is generally a tall order to get it unless the Germans are asleep at the wheel. The Germans often times will build a transport or two in the Baltic just to get the Russians to evacuate Leningrad for easy pick-ins. So if the Russians try to invade Finland/Norway early in the game the Germans will probably be set-up to easily retake it using a handful of ground units and the Luftwaffe (killing valuable Russians would be a gift).

The western allies can go for it, but again the Germans won’t just give it up. They typically would have some transports and air power to again counter attack any allied landings up there. By time the US/UK are ready to attempt a landing in Norway the Germans should already have Leningrad, and probably a small Baltic navy. One way to get Norway and keep it is to take out the Baltic navy first, and that would take some planning. The US should take it so they can build an IC, and the UK should plan on reinforcing the US foot hold with troops, AA guns and ftrs. Hitting Norway from Gibraltar would be nice, but the Germans can move or build a dd as a blocker to delay you for one turn (time to get their defenses up). So you would most likely be looking at sailing to London (sz110), which gives the UK a chance to build a couple transports/ftrs to help with reinforcements.

You can also wait for the Germans to make their strike on Moscow to make landings in Norway (or Europe) because then the German air force wouldn’t be able to do double duty, but it might be too late by then.

Yea my bad, makes sense that the attacking sub would have the choice to submerge in the sz that the battle took place (no enemy dd present), or retreat 1 adjacent sz from where it came.

Just out of curiosity how do you split up your kami’s, and do you send all six? Say the US is attacking a kami zone with everything they have in a fight to the death. Do you target the capital ships sending say 2 kami’s at each capital ship, or 3? Or do you send them out to 6 different surface ships trying to take out as many dice as possible?

@KGrimB:

Having a problem in one of our games and something doesn�t seem right about this. Japanese player has 1 aircraft carrier with 2 fighter planes and 2 empty transports in SZ 56. Western Australia is controlled by Anzac with 1 tank and 1 infantry. Anzac turn 5 combat move 1 sub from SZ 62 �> SZ 56. Combat no destroyers present sub rolls and gets a hit, damaging carrier. Defending fighters do not roll and defending carrier misses. Attacking Anzac sub retreats from combat to SZ 61.

Now this is the part that is mixing us up. We are under the impression that the planes that were on the Japanese carrier now have no legal landing zone because all territories adjacent to sz 56 are sea zones without axis carriers. Japanese fighters are destroyed as a result.

The net outcome is one Anzac sub got one hit and wounded a Japanese carrier resulting in the destruction of the planes it was carrying.

This seems too powerful. We are trying to find if planes can land on a damaged carrier, but that doesn�t seem to be the case, which means one sub can destroy a lone carriers planes.

How do you defend against this. Even if a destroyer was present if the Anzac had gotten two sub hits then Japanese planes would go to the bottom of the pacific. Wounding carriers and then retreating to kill planes seems like a loophole. I know carriers are expensive so two hits seems fair so they can be repaired, but I think by the time I take a hit on a carrier I�m losing that battle anyways.

Yep the planes are considered defending in the air for the combat, and if carrier is damaged the planes are lost because they don’t have a safe landing space. The moral of the story is to screen your carriers w/dd’s. If the Japanese would have had a dd present then the planes could have hit the sub in defense (dd allows the planes to hit the sub). The dd takes the hit from the sub saving the carrier from damage and the planes from crashing into the sea. I also agree with the others that the Anz probably should have pressed the attack having a 50/50 chance to sink the carrier, and if the sub survives the transports are also lost.

I would imagine that the Japanese got into this position because of a prior attack from the USA and lost part of their fleet (including some dd’s), and the Anz were playing clean-up. Either that or the Japanese player simply didn’t realize what he got himself into (seems like the Japanese may have done an ill advised amp of W Australia, and the Anz (or US) took it back leaving the Japanese w/o a landing space, and the fleet vulnerable).

BTW the sub can’t retreat to sz61, it submerges in sz56.

Sea lion has become situational. If I’m Germany and the UK didn’t build anything for London UK1 I would probably buy the 9-10 transports, and SBR London on G2. Even if I was thinking Barbarossa, and bought ground units for Berlin, I would still have to consider Sea lion. With that said, normally my G1 buy would include either 1 surface ship (maybe just a dd) and/or bmr to keep all options on the table. If the UK doesn’t do the responsible thing and add some defense to London, I think you have to make them pay. Especially in a face to face game with people you play with a lot. You can’t always cry wolf, sometimes you have to call your own bluff to keep them wondering for future games. Yea, Sea lion may or may not end in an Axis victory, but you can’t become predictable IMO. In order for a Sea lion faint to work, you have to follow through every now and again. Plus if Japan can also take India, then you have removed a major player from the table. Say the UK built an IC for Egypt UK1, take London on G3 and they can’t build in Africa (if just for a few turns).

@DownLikeSyndrome:

i always play the allies and i play against one other person on a very regular basis the only different rules we play with is that there are no Victory Cities win conditions and the victory conditions are complete annihilation or surrender. and was wondering the strategy’s for each allied power turn 1.

We like to play total annihilation sometimes, depends on what you want out of the game. Playing w/VCs has its pro’s and cons. I don’t like when the axis do some BS and one power completely sells out its side of the map to help get a VC win on the other.  However the VC conditions also keep the allies from loading up on just one side because if they do the axis will win on the other .

UK- Taranto and buy 1 destroyer at Quebec and 2 mech and 1 tank in south Africa to knock Italy out of Africa.

As pointed out your first priority for UK is to secure your capitals. I would look to secure London on the first turn, 6 inf+ftr is a pretty standard buy for London. If you buy units for your other ICs, or build an IC for Egypt UK1 you may be looking at a Sea lion attempt. Yea you might know your opponent, and maybe he is new to the game as you seem to be, but at some point he’s going to try sea lion if you keep leaving yourself open to it. I like to Taranto the Italian fleet on UK1 to cripple them. It will cost you the Med fleet, but you can rebuild much easier.

France- Take Ls. what do you with fighter in London? fortify Russia?

Start moving your French inf and dd (sz 71 Madagascar) towards Egypt for defense. The French ftr can stay in London to scramble if/when the UK/US has a fleet off England. It could also be placed on a UK or US carrier if you want, or fly to Europe when the Allies get a foot hold. Moscow is also a good place for it to go once London is secured. Allied ftrs can get to Russian land if they leave from Scotland.

Russia- Buy 1 mech 1 tank 1 Aircraft carrier and rest INF. Should i pressure Japan to fortify northern china? or just put my resources to use for the German front.

Russia should never ever buy a carrier (or any ships really) unless maybe the Germans f’d up a sea lion attempt, then it could be fun to have a Russian fleet lol. You will need lots of inf to defend Moscow, and a few art/tanks at your foreword bases until you have to retreat them. I also like to buy a ftr or tac (gives me 4 planes) so I can use my planes in pairs w/1-2 inf or mech to attack small German or Italian secondary positions. I will generally leave 4-6 inf +1 AA gun at the Siberian front, and bring the rest home. Sometimes the inf you bring back will end-up defending your back door from the Japanese pushing through China. You can also send a small Russian force to China to prop them up, but it is risky and you’ll probably need all hands on deck when the Germans close in on Moscow.

USA- i usually buy 2 subs each turn to send Germany’s way to make their navy less of a nuisance to UK economy and to also make them waste more on navy so they don’t have as much for Barbarossa.

The US will need navies on both maps to be effective, and be sure to make good use of your allies in each theater. I think you need to pick a side and concentrate most of your income (75-80%) there for 2-3 maybe 4 turns so you can dominate. Then you can switch gears and build more for the other side after that. The worst thing that the US can do IMO is to split their income evenly each turn, because you will just be weak on both sides. The US navy has a head start on the Pac side, but you’ll need to add another carrier or 2 (w/ftr/tac), more dd’s and some subs to stand toe to toe with the Imperial Navy (watch out for Japans land based ftrs). On the Pac side the US is more of a hammer (take out all the support ships and damage those capital ships), and the Anz would play clean-up (ATTACK THOSE DAMAGED CAPITAL SHIPS) and take some islands (transports).  UK (London) can build support ships (maybe a carrier) to help defend your invasion fleet. They can also fortify any European landings by bringing in troops/AA guns (transports) and ftrs to territories the US takes. The US will need a couple loaded carriers to start, maybe a bb for Europe plus many dds and transports.

China- Slowdown Japan as much as possible is there anyway better to do this other than dropping inf in Chinese territories and getting help from Russia and uk?

The Chinese are really just a speed bump for the Japanese to get to Russia’s back door. The Chinese purpose is to try to counter attack and retake Yunnan when possible (6 IPC bonus). Chew up as many Japanese ground troops as you can with both China and UK. The Russian and India can send in some help, but both have their own problems to deal with.

Anzac- ?

The Anz is the little brother to the USA. They can add ships (maybe even a carrier) to defend the US fleet. They also start with a few ftrs, so utilize the air bases again to defend the US fleet. Like I said the US will do the heavy lifting in attacks, but the Anz need to be ready to pounce on any damaged Japanese capital ships with subs and planes. If the US is really strong in the Pacific you might consider building an Anz minor IC for Queensland (has AB and NB) to get your ships/planes into the battle quicker.

Uk Pacific- ?

I generally send the transport and other ships over to the Med to quickly rebuild after Taranto. Maybe activate Persia, or attack Italians in Ethiopia. Try to hold on to Calcutta, but if the Japanese want it they probably get it (consider an evacuation to the Mid East/Southern Russia?). I like to build a mech/tank on the first turn so I can get to China if I want w/o having to make a pit-stop at Burma (don’t like to be on the coast). If the Japanese are slow boating and didn’t attack on J2, I would think about attacking UK2 if I can kill a bunch of Japanese ground units making China a quagmire. Yep it would probably keep the US out of the war until the 4th turn, but it could be worth it in the right situation. Both UK Pac and Anz would also get their NO’s.

@taamvan:

Taranto
1 DD 1 CA 1 CV 1 TB 3 FIG 1 SB   9 hits

Taranto Lite (this potentially preserves the carrier but reduces chances of success)
1 DD 1 CA 1 TB 2 FIG 1 SB (+1-2 SUB from bid)  7 hits

Super-Taranto attack SZ 95 instead, (not optimal but still fun)
1 DD 2 CA 1 TB 3 FIG 1 SB (1 CV)  10 hits…

Taranto sets back out Italy with very high odds, so its a “always do” opening move.   UK is substantially weakened (only 1 fighter remains home during the most aggressive attack).      In most situations, the carrier and 2 fighters remain alive, they are stuck in SZ 97 and get destroyed during the retal.    Post-retal, Italy has virtually no sea forces left.

I dont attack Tobruk on the same turn, as it stretches UK too thin, but if you accomplish both, or even just Taranto, Italy can’t really win the Africa game long-term.  It can’t really recover a useful navy in time to face off with a much bigger UK/USA combined fleet.

This isn’t really the same as knocking Italy out, but its a limited power without money or ships.   If you put a lot of pressure from below, Germany has to divert forces to protect Italy, which is a win for the Allies.    As a result, smart money uses the last remaining transport to rescue the armor out of Africa, potentially giving you 4 to work with I2 (N Italy, Albania, Tobruk rescue, and the one you bought).   This gives the Italians a sweet mobile “can-opener” that roams around the Russian steppe, knocking out blockers.

taamvan, no disrespect, but I don’t think your Super-Taranto attack on sz95 is possible with what you posted above (w/o bid units). You can’t use your Egyptian destroyer, cruiser or carrier in the battle because they can’t move past the Italian surface ships in sz96 and 97. The only UK ship that can hit sz 95 on UK1 is the Gib cruiser if it is still alive (w/o bid ships). You could use the carrier as a potential landing place for the planes by also attacking sz96 (can assume to win the sz96 battle) so your carrier could potentially NCM in allowing London/Gib planes to attack sz95, but the carrier couldn’t be used in combat phase.