ORIGINAL: vicberg
Against a good opponent, I don't believe auto-victory is acheivable, as the game is currently structured.
Hitchhiking on Alfred's point, I disagree too. AV is possible against a Sir Robining player, good or not,
IF AV is truly sought. By that I mean hammer-and-tongs, single-minded focus on both military and economic factors, with a certain higher element of adopted risk (Karachi?) In this game Q-Ball had AV in sight, but he demurred. CR did not win in India. He was allowed to not lose. Reading both AARs it is pretty clear that this is understood on the other side.
Discussions of AV, and points made by those who feel as crsutton does, miss the essential point. No, there would have been no AV in RL. The point is winning the game, not the war. AV is needed for the former as a lash on the Allies. The core game design gives the Japanese player the steering wheel. If he effectively goes for AV the Allied player MUST respond or lose the game. He is a passenger until 1943. But that presupposes the Japanese player drives straight to his destination with no stops for scenic overlooks. I believe that Q-Ball, knowing what he knows now about Socotra, the Line of Death, and the timeline which was in play re Allied reinforcements into Karachi, would play this differently a second time. I fully expect other Japanese players to take the lessons of this game in hand and apply them successfully if the Allied player makes the decisions CR did.
Finally, on carriers. It's well known I'm a sub guy, but beside that I think this growing worship of carriers is counter-productive to good strategy. The point about "carrier stacks" is well made. For a time the USN had one fleet carrier surviving in the theater, yet operations did not cease. An AV campaign against India (Oz may be different) does not require the KB, nor should the Japanese player serve it up for mathematical, 4:1 ratio reasons. Conversely, and arguing against CR's tactics, the Allied player should ACTIVELY SEEK a carrier battle by no later than the summer of 1942 if he suspects AV is the Japanese goal. He should seek it under the most favorable conditions he can muster, with supporting LBA, subs, and surface assistance if possible, but he should seek it. Anything better than a 1:4 loss ratio (4 Allied carriers lost for one IJN) is a net gain on AV points, in very large, multi-division LCU loss VP terms.
By August 1942 in this game, with the total Allied carrier force extant, TBs upgraded, and Bombay and Karachi LBA still in his pocket, CR could have reasonably sunk two of the KB's carriers, and put AV off the table. Carriers exist to fight, not to hide. The fleet in being concept is fine, sometimes, but in this GAME , with the AV mechanics as they are, it is a dumb Allied move. CR should have come after Q-Ball's navy and merchants with everything in the drawer, from Ceylon onward, tearing and scratching and sinking what he could. Every ship he could do that to was worth four-fold VPs.
