Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: nukkxx5058

Which side should I play first in a GC or in a PBEM ?
It seeems many players prefer allies (maybe because they are American?), but not sure why ?

Whould appreciate your views about it, pros and cons of each side.

Thanks.

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ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

Japanese economy/production/research can be difficult and mistakes in it very costly.

Allies do not have that sort of problems.

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ORIGINAL: Ambassador

I don’t argue the consequences are the same, but costly mistakes ARE possible. Crashing the Japanese economy is done by over expanding it, and all advices for new IJ players is « play conservatively » on this front. As long as you don’t expand too much too fast, small mistakes are no more dire than for the US side.
Off course, if you double all manufacturing plants and drive the economy on a standstill, this is bad, but not more than trying to invade both Oz and India in June ‘42 and splitting KB... but that’s mostly from players trying to get ahistoric Japanese production by gaming the system.

Learning the game, playing against the AI first in a GC, you don’t need to make many expansions of the industry, which means you mostly only have to setup ressource convoys appropriately, and the AI is less efficient with its submarines too.

You can also play as the US alone and do nothing until mid ‘44 and still win by blitzing through the Pacific islands, but this doesn’t make for a fun game either. The only thing which is certain is, in the end, the US will win, so it’s not really a good proof of anything.

Lastly, playing as the Allies in a first GC can be frustrating during six months, because there’s not much you can do, and you can very easily lose important assets (like US carriers)(or see the AI send their own carriers isolated and wonder what fun there is left after sinking the 6th CV in isolated engagements), which could (and has) lead players to shelve the game. Playing as Japan is more entertaining, as there’s more fun in invading all around (with the amphib bonus) and sinking plenty of Allied shipping.

"To meaningless French Idealism, Liberty, Fraternity and Equality...we answer with German Realism, Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery" -Prince von Bülov, 1870-

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ORIGINAL: Falken

I used to play only as Allies, but now that I've played as the IJN for the last several years, even if I'm not that good at it, I can't even imagine playing Allies anymore, and the reason is simple: Detail and Control. For me, once you've learned and can handle economy and R&D, nothing to me is more aggravating then not having the same control as Allies.

I wish that Allies had the same R&D and Economy. That would be so much fun, and it would help balance possibilities. But as it stands now, being IJN is a lot fun, and then, of course, comes late '43 and '44 where it's just painful to realize that you can't win, and the Allies have an over abundance of Fuel, Supply, A/C, Ships/etc, and every turn becomes "how many planes and ships and bases did I just lose today?"

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ORIGINAL: nukkxx5058

Which side should I play first in a GC or in a PBEM?

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Should I play Japan or Allies ?