Ur_Vile_WEdge
Posts: 585
Joined: 6/28/2005
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Japan has 4-5 major policy goals, but unfortunately only limited means to achieve them.
First off, you start with 19 factories. 14 in Japan proper, 1 in Korea, 2 in Manchuria, and 2 in occupied China. Ideally, you want enough resources to run all of them, as well as some oil left over (I'm assuming you're playing with Oil) to keep your units able to move.
Unfortunately, you only start with 10 resources, and 0 oil, in your territory, and while you're making some of that up with trade agreements from the NEI and the Americans, those won't be around forever.
Which brings up the second major policy consideration. China will never really be a threat to you, the Soviets and the CW will likely have their own problems keeping them busy, so the main threat against you is likely to be the Americans. You need to do something to keep them away from the Home Islands. That threat is a long way off, but it's there, and it's deadly.
Now, China is a great source of extra resources. You've got 3 that are relatively easy to reach (Si-An, and those two in the south), but doing so is going to expand your perimeter, which is even more risky in MWiF (I still haven't gotten it, and my experience is completely with the board game). You might find that your strategic needs are better served by making an attempt to completely knock China out, which in addition to securing 2 more usable resources and 2 more factories, means you can get away with having far, far fewer land units tied up in China, although you will of course have to devote considerable energy beating them down.
To make up your other resources shortfalls, you've got a couple of options. Occupying Indo-China nets you a resource, as well as giving you a new avenue to attack Kunming, if you're really going for a kill China policy. After that though, the next available resources are all things you're going to have to fight a major power for: The stuff in the Soviet far east, the NEI and the Phillipenes, and the two resources in Malaya, as well as the oil in Burma.
You should really be coordinating with the German player (which I guess is yourself) about when/if to attack the Soviets: You can't beat them in a straight up land war if they really devote their resources to taking you down, but of course, they're going to be distracted from the millions of German troops on their border. What you want is to overwhelm Vladivostok, and send quick moving weak corps or divisions to secure those 4 resources on the border, or at least as many as you can grab.
But even that is most likely to be a limited war, and don't forget about the compulsory peace option, both to get out of trouble if things go badly, or, more likely, as a limit to what you can do when you do go to war, you're probably only going to have one turn to grab stuff.
The REAL conflict starts when you fight the Americans. If he's done options 26 (fleet to Pearl Harbor) and 34 (war appropriations bill), you have the very real risk of a DoW in the next turn or two. It is VITAL to keep the Americans as far away from you for as long as possible. Even overrunning the Marshalls can be bad, as he's only 2 sea zones away from your main artery in the China sea, easily enough distance to put fast subs in the 4 box to snipe at your convoys.
Therefore, to keep yourself safe, you must
1) Knock out the Phillipenes, by the second turn of war with the U.S. at the LATEST.
2) Knock out the NEI, and secure that oil.
3) Knock out Singapore, to keep that flank safe.
You also very much want to overrun Guam, Rabuul, Hong Kong, (which can't be garrisoned in most situations), and maybe grab Pago Pago, Dutch Harbor, and Midway if they're undefended. The surprise impulse should also probably feature port strikes at Pearl Harbor, and the west coast if he's foolish enough to leave carriers there. If he's under-defended Pearl Harbor, you might even want to consider invading it, although big invasion units will be at a premium.
By mid-late 42, you should have the Marshalls and Truk garrisoned, and taken Malaya, Burma, Indo-China, the Phillipenes, and the NEI. Depending on how well you've done in China and if you've taken anything from the Soviets, you should now have 5 oil a turn and 14-20 resources, which is enough to ensure a healthy production. At that point, dig in fiercely, build lots of navs, and defend with everything you've got, since there's a good chance the Allies will be coming for you. If they're ignoring you, a strike on India or even Australia is probably best. Even if you're forced on the strategic defensive, try to keep a couple of fast cruisers or submarines to raid the Indian ocean with; the Allies are likely funneling the Indian build points to the Soviets up through Persia, and ultimately, the war is won or lost on the Ukranian steppes, so do your part to help the Germans there.
The rest, as they say, is tactics. A lot of the skill with the Japanese is working out a build strategy so that you have the forces you need, when you need them. Sorry for how long the post is, but Japan is arguably the most strategically complex country to play, so it's tough. I'm on hand to provide further elucidation if you need it.
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Printable Version
Globar war / Japan strategy - 
. Have you played WitP at all? You will quickly find out that by '43 Japanese planes are pretty much useless compared to everyone else. 
. If you can't be good, be lucky 
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