Matrix Games Forums

I am Japan in a 5 player PBEM.

Turn 1, I attack China and take all coastal provinces.
Turn 2, I created supply, and put some tanks in the queue with research artillary, and tanks. I also move a lot of my island artillery and militia units onto the mainland, leaving the inner islands bare. No problems with partisan attacks.
Turn 3, Created more infantry units, and moved most of my forces (the ones not needed for defense against china) into Manchuria. 7 Infantry, 5 artillary, half a dozen aircraft, and some militia units.
--- Turn 3 (FA 40) China counter attacked and took back the sea province near Siam.
Turn 4 (Wi 40) - I invaded Vladivostok taking it with no loses and only two aircraft damaged. I also did some strikes against the liberated China province, damaging a few infantry. Partisan uprisings because of supplies, but that should be fixed next turn as I put most of my production to supplies.

I was just reciently told that this attack on Russia was a bad move. I have 3 tanks and a few militia ready for next turn to either counter attack china or press deeper into Russia. Have I made a critial error?

the problem with attacking russia is that you'll never compete against their tanks. russia will always research their tanks to stay up with german tanks and japanese tanks are a joke.

I had a recent game where, a single tank was able to repluse multiple infantry attacks and the only solution is to conquer the territory using superior numbers.

So I shouldn't be wasting money on tanks, is what you are telling me?

I am trying to pull the Russians back to protect the east, allowing Germany to go to town.

I can't comment from experience but from what I've read here in the forums, a good Russian player will trade a little land against the Germans while he crushes the Japanese with an armored assault. That said, I've read some After Action Reports where the German/Japanese squeezed defeated the Russians.

ORIGINAL: Mendoza

So I shouldn't be wasting money on tanks, is what you are telling me?

I am trying to pull the Russians back to protect the east, allowing Germany to go to town.

Look at the stats of your Japanese tank, then lookup the Russian one: you will never get anywhere using the Japanese tank against a Russian one. This means you can only take territory by using overwhelming numbers and pushing him back. Meanwhile he may kill one of your units every time he will use that tank.

What might help is to make sure your airplanes destroy supply lines behind his tank,because else he will be able to use more of his force for a short amount of time (the Germans are coming I hope?) to drive you back into the sea. The same thing is currently happening to me in a PBEM. The Germans are the hammer and the anvil, the Japanese should only be used to destroy Vladiwodstock (prod cap) and take some resources I think, although a more experienced player might know how to use them better.

As Japan, attacking Russia before Germany does gives the Russian player the opportunity to push you back before operation Barbarossa.

Japanese tanks are hardly worth the effort. There is very little opportunity to exploit their 2 region land speed and you can use your limited production to build up more infantry instead.

If you're going against Russia, focus on infantry production and research. And keep an eye on China, he should be trying to deny you some resources while you are occupied elsewhere.

Also remember every land troop you build is costing you some air/naval units to be used against the USA.

So I am not totally screwed? Good. I'll redirect my productions efforts immediately. What the best bet for research at this point? Straight up infantry improvements?

Depends on what your overall plan is: hold a steady front against the Russians or are you more afraid of the Americans taking Honsu, in that case airforce and fleet development are better? How long do you want to hold and what is your line of defence? Planning ahead is most important in this game to make sure your units are in the right place for an end game.

My initial plan was to darw the Russians away from the Germans initially, and play a squeeze game over the long haul. I suppose its a good time to think about the Americans. I'd rather they are not able to take mainland Japan.

What's my best bet? I was thinking fighter/bomber range and anti ship/sub for americans, and infantry avoid/and land attack for the Russians.

I dont think you have the research to do all those things properly? Better to specialize in a few else you cannot make enough supplies and units to hold very long. The difference between Japan and USA in terms of power is huge. The only thing you have is a bit of time. Fighter range is a waste for Japan, because you will only want to use them for defence, not so much for attack vs the USA?

Good point. I would assume that the US will use subs, so I'll have to crank out destroyers with anti-sub research. What aircraft improvements do you reccomend?

I dont know the stats from the head, but you probably need something to make it less easy to advance his fleet towards the homeland. Strong CAGs do this relatively cheap. I dont know what is better, torpedo or ship attack, but at least evasion up on those will help to make sure you can recycle them rather than getting killed quickly?

I would have thought that the problem with the early Japanese attack on Russia is not so much a matter of tactical details, but the strategical headache it can create for your Axis partner Germany. Attacking Russia before the end of 1941 unnecessarily doubles the Western Allies' factory production prematurely, therefore making more Western Allies units available to fight Germany, and eventually Japan. As a result, many players prefer to defer the attack on Vladivostok until Fall 1941.

Having said that, I have recently tried an early Japanese attack against Russia in one of my PBEM games and it has put enourmous pressure on the Russian player as well as providing a huge boost to Japan's normally meagre production.

The question is whether this early opening of a second front against Russia can bring about a quick collapse of the Russian defences, before the weight of the Western Allies resources can be brought to bear in Southern and Western Europe.

Remember too, that if the Western Allies have a line of supply to China and/or Russia, then the initial gains made by an early Japanese attack, may be more than offset by the additional supply and support that will become available to bolster the defences of these beleaguered nations.

On the whole, most players I have discussed this with, seem to think it is best to defer any Japanese attack on Russia until the very end of 1941. I loof forward to other people's comments on this.

Regards,

Gary Bekker
Melbourne, Australia
gbekker@mira.net

A two front war against Russia is a great idea, but I would strongly recommend that you wait until Germany attacks first. In the meantime, after taking the coastal provinces of China, use your air force, including rebasing your CAG to land, to pound on Chinese stacks. Until you seriously deplete the Chinese army you cannot attend to other fronts because the Chinese will attack your provinces with overwhelming force.

Never build tanks. Your armor is very poor and the abundance of rough terrain in Asia makes their extra maneuverability moot. You can also get two infantry for the price of one armor, a much better deal.

As for research, you need to increase Light Fleet ASW or the American subs will eat you alive. Concentrate your aircraft research into one type of aircraft. CAG, with good starting stats across the board is probably your best bet. Increase CAG evasion, ASW and Torpedos. If you had enough points, researching your anti-ship rating would be nice. Torpedeos are a higher priority since they ignore armor ratings. However, since your CAG will attack with both its anti-ship and its torpedo ratings, having both high will lead to your sinking ships that otherwise might only have been damaged. Since you are going to be relying on your CAG as your main air unit, you will at some point have to increase its anti-air rating so it has a chance against allied aircraft. I will usually try to raise infantry evasion by one, though increasing their ground attack rating will eventually be necessary if the WA upgrade their infantry evasion.

I would advise not attacking America until Winter 43, when they would come in anyway. To win the Axis need to take out the USSR. Having a German-Japanese double invasion will help obtain that goal. Having America in the war will make it very difficult to obtain that goal. Germany can hold off the Brits, but trying to stop the Americans also will be too much of a strain. Having Japan try and campaign in Siberia with America in the war is simply suicidal.

Use the period before US entry to help the Germans in Russia, grabbing as many resources as you can. If you succed in taking out the USSR, Japan can get so many resources from the Asian mainland that the resources of the DEI become superflous.