Europa1942
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Japanese fleet setup suggestionsOk guys, I would like to know what you guys think is the best setup for my Japanese fleet. My friends and i agreed on 250pts apiece. We do not play for objectives we simply play to destroy the enemy fleet and we use 4 players. And we use 2 full maps but we allow surface units to be placed anywhere on your home 1/4 piece of the map and subs anywhere on the inner 1/4 map pieces. There are about 3 or 4 turns before surface ships see each other. This gives me more of the World War 2 feel (mainly the pacific) where Carrier warfare is the big thing. I am the Japanese, one person is the European Axis, one is Britain, France and the smaller Allied Nations, and one is USA. Here is what i have:
Yamato
Musashi
Kongo and Haruna
Yamashiro
Akagi
Shokaku and Zuikaku
Shoho
Tone
Jintsu
Naichi
Yahagi x2
Yukikaze x2
Akitsuki x3
Isokaze x2
I-26 x2
Type 13 Subchaser
Kinai Maru x3
A6M2 Zeke x3
Emily x3
Kate x3
Judy x6
Kamikaze x1
Let me know what you think i should use. Keep this in mind: I have allways used an Emily because for some reason my friends think it is like some super plane because it is so big, thus they will use every aa attack against it until they at least abort it. They have never shot her down. My European axis ally allways uses 3 u-boats and 2 ambras so my sub range is allright and i only have 4 allied subs to counter me. the US has a missouri and washington, California allong with the enterprise & st. Lo britain has hood , KGV, Warspite, Ark Royal, and Fencer and france has rich, jean bart and Dunkerque. and we have the Bismarck, Littorio Guilio Caser, the Zeppelin, and the Europa Carrier.
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Campbjj
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Yamato and Musashi
Long-Lance destroyers
Emily's to kill subs
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Andreas3
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No I-19s?? That's gonna hurt  And too bad you don't have a Tone either because then your Judys could roll a total of 13 dice against enemy ships...
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Europa1942
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You don't think i need any carriers?
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Europa1942
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Well ill live without Jap subs because my axis partner has 4 uboat and 2 ambras so that wolfpack ability will help a lot
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Greyh Seer
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Yamato and Mushasi.
Then take every unit you can with LL torps. After that, use carriers filled with zekes.
Its a nice little fleet b/c all you have to do is rush, and send all your torps in. If that doesn't do the bill, two yamato class bb's will finish the job.
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acs0424
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Here is what I say: Take your 2 carriers with 2 Zeke's and 4 Judy's. Then take a Yamato and a lesser BB (Kongo or Haruna), from then on take your destroyers, and maybe the subchaser. Definitly take an Emily. One thing you could do (if you can coordinate with your partner) is go with an air heavy build. You provide the air with some surface (Yamato with lesser BB and some DD's) while he provides a couple BB's, and cruisers, basically the bulk of the surface fleet.
Point on Point: In any case tkae your carrier with 2 Zeke's and 4 Judy's, and take 1 Yamato and 1 lesser BB.
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Europa1942
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My partner has these air units:
Bf109 x3
Ju-87B x3
Ju87R2 x1
Folgore x2
Sparviero x2
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acs0424
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Hm, seems like he is going a bit air heavy. In that case take 1 carrier with a Zeke and 2 Judy's, take your Yamato and Musashi. Take a Haruna or Kongo. Then do what Greyh said and fill up on LL Toprs with whatever you can.
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Europa1942
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It may be air heavy we don't know yet because i just bought the 4 judys, 2 stukas, 2 109s, the 2 sparvieros, 1 emily and 2 kates off ebay last night so we havent really gotten to play with them yet and sokaku is coming with these planes too so ive been forced to use zuikaku but i plan to swap her out for shokaku cause shes better and cheaper
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Europa1942
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For reference the Allies have the following aircraft:
Hellcat x1
Catalina x2
Dauntless x3
Devastator x1
Sea Hurricane x3
Swordfish x3
Halifax x1
Barracuda x1
They allways use the 3 hurricanes and the hellcat
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jfkziegler
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Keep your aircraft to a minimum. Play to Japanese strengths - the super battleships and long-lance torpedoes (and subs, but I didn't see any of those). Don't run carriers, but if needed you could run a couple Zekes off the land base for defense.
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acs0424
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Yes, I agree with jfkziegler. Take your Yamato and Musashi no matter what. If nothing else in your fleet does the job, these certainly will.
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The_lucky_Y
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Yamato
Musashi
Kongo and Haruna
Shokaku and Zuikaku
Shoho
Yahigi
Yukikaze x2
Akitsuki
Type 13 Subchaser
Kinai Maru x3
A6M2 Zeke x3
Emily x2
Kate x3
Judy x4
following units are set
Yamato 70P
Musashi 66P
114 points left over
you can invest in a decent air arm with following units:
Shokaku 20
Zuikaku 22
4x Judy 48
1x Emily 10
2x Zeke 12
or get your Long lance destroyers together
1x Yahagi 14
1x Akitsuki 10
2x Yukikaze 24
(48 points)
1x Emily 10
3x Zeke 18
there now 38 points free
you can just add the Haruna and you have a powerful surface fleet
or add the Zuikaku for basing your Zekes and the Emily and just
one of those shrimp boats aka T 13 subchaser
I personally would go with the surface LL swarm and just the carrier for the zekes.
Haruna/Kongo are cheap battleships but if you purchase them you need a very strong air arm but your IJN units did not provide that power.
and with the Yamato/musashi pair in combination with the LL destroyers and a decent air cover your opponents will have a hard day to defend against your fleet.
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ehenry0623
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Bring the zekes and the LL ships.
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Commissar_JPH
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he has no Avengers and only 3 Dauntlesses? Take Zekes only, and only on a land-base. Save you AA for the Devastator, PBYs, Barracuda and Swordfish...they are the big threats to your BBs. Only the Barracuda is not easily aborted/destroyed.
Other than that, LL swarm!
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Europa1942
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Oh guys i also have one kamikaze
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jfkziegler
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| Europa1942 wrote: | | Oh guys i also have one kamikaze |
You can use it as filler, and it might take out a destroyer, but it's not likely to have a big impact on the game.
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acs0424
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Hey, it might. Maybe that destroyer was going to get a perfect torp roll, who knows.
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defender390
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Now there's a killer. Fill it out with some subs and you're set (sorry for the pick and choose Lucky Y).
| The_lucky_Y wrote: |
following units are set
Yamato 70P
Musashi 66P
114 points left over
....
or get your Long lance destroyers together
1x Yahagi 14
1x Akitsuki 10
2x Yukikaze 24
(48 points)
1x Emily 10
3x Zeke 18
there now 38 points free
....
or add the Zuikaku for basing your Zekes and the Emily and just
one of those shrimp boats aka T 13 subchaser
....and with the Yamato/musashi pair in combination with the LL destroyers and a decent air cover your opponents will have a hard day to defend against your fleet. |
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Europa1942
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i guess i should have mentioned this at the start but we play with 2 full maps so everytime i have tried to use the LL ships they get taken down by allied aircraft because 2 full maps is like an airman's paradise
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jfkziegler
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Yeah, that changes things a bit. The only chance the Japanese have against Americans on a large board is super battleships, subs, and fighters. Anything else will get eaten alive by Dauntlesses, Avengers, and Hellcats.
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Europa1942
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there are only three dauntlesses no avengers and one hellcat ive got 3 zeros my partner has 3 109s and 2 folgores so i think we can hold our own in the air.
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LadyLexandToga2
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I would honestly go with:
2 Shokaku
six Zeke's
A huge amount of subs because it sounds like the Allies don't have tons of ASW
And a Yamato and a Musashi
and a Tone for +1 to Yamato and Musashi against Iowa's....
that's what I would do....
Yamato has almost no worry from Dauntless Dive Bombers....
only one avenger is on the board so two Zeke's can do teh job almost always for that one....
two more zeke's attack dauntlesses when attacking carriers or BB's.....
subs do amazing damage (especially against Carriers if I remember right)
Allies have bad ASW if they don't have aircraft so you're pretty safe there
and infiltrators are a mean line of defense/attack before your big surface ships come into battle
P.S. I would personally put all your subs into taking away ER from the BB's so that Yamato and Musashi can have a field day at range 
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LadyLexandToga2
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oops mised the NO avengers part
I would still keep the same set-up though....
just now dauntlesses have a bigger pain in their back
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Okie
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I would go with
Yamato - 70
Mushashi - 66
Tone - 23
Zuikaku - 22
Shokaku - 20
I-19 - 13
6 x Zeke - 36
Total = 250 pt's
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LadyLexandToga2
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I like Okie's setup.....I'd go with that one probably.....maybe take Tone out and make the I-19 a I-26 and add another I-26 because that one dice might not matter quite so much if there are eight axis subs on the board....but otherwise it's still a great build for this 
Edit: I would actually really go with two subs because Tone only help the Yamato and Musashi which at 23 points is a big cost for one dice especially when the subs are kinda the power for the axis fleets (at least that's what it sounds like to me)
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jfkziegler
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Personally, I always prefer the I-19 to the I-26. They both get that key first turn attack, but the I-19's ability is better than the I-26's, and cheaper.
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LadyLexandToga2
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only reason really for the I-26's in this case are for a quick decisive first line plus they can be protected by the Zeke's so no worries really about being destroyed and if placed well Infiltrators can be deadly....but I would also use some I-19's too just might slow the game down a little bit... either way both are nasty weapons
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Europa1942
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There are a few problems with Okie's setup... I do not have a tone... i only have 3 zeros and i now have 2 i-26s
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Europa1942
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update... i have recently added 2 i-26s, 1 emily, 2 judy, 1 yahagi, 2 akitsuki, and 1 Yamashiro
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LadyLexandToga2
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ooooo I like Yamashiro......wouldn't want to be in the rediculously tall tower though.......or the guy beneeth it either though
anywho....pity you don't have six zekes they are one of the most used Japanese units I think (at least when I play)
Like I posted earlier I don't think the Tone is absolutely necessary but it might help....I would go with two subs anyway....
happy Allied Hunting!
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Europa1942
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I did plan on adding the subs in. I would prefer Tone because my bombers would be rolling a lot of dice counting Shokaku and the Emily's added bonuses
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jfkziegler
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| LadyLexandToga2 wrote: | | anywho....pity you don't have six zekes they are one of the most used Japanese units I think (at least when I play) |
Yea, it's a pity they are running $6 a piece now. I found one on Ebay for $1.25 a couple weeks ago and jumped on it.
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LadyLexandToga2
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yeah I wouldn't be adding planes of any kind against the U.S. really....even if the don't have hellcats or wildcats in the air their ship AA is brutal enough to stop almost anything....
$6! %$#!@$@! That is a lot for such a small piece of plastic.....oh well I guess it will go WAY down when the new Japanese fighter comes out this summer (that is of course assuming the new fighter is better)
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jfkziegler
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I expect you're correct. Iowa was running at $20-$25 before Missouri came out, and now it's down at $10-$15. Or, for an even better example, the price of Bismarck has gone way down since Tirpitz came out.
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LadyLexandToga2
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i hope i'm correct or the Japanese will have a serious plane problem (and RB might too [vicious revolt amongst the supporters from down below] hehehe)
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jfkziegler
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I think RB has to strike a fine balance. On the one hand, the A6M5 Zero was not the equal of the Hellcat. That role was more reserved for a plane like the George, which I hope we eventually get. On the other hand, the Japanese need something to counter the Hellcat. So he's caught in a vice between game balance and historical accuracy. I'm curious to see which way he goes. The smart move would have been to simply release the George, but that would have eaten up a new sculpt slot that I guess he didn't have.
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Okie
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OK, now I know the limitation's better how about this IJN Fleet.
Yamato - 70
Mushashi - 66
Shokaku - 20
I-19 - 13
2 x Isokaze - 22
Akitsuki - 10
3 x Emily - 30
3 x zeke - 18
Total = 250 pt's
This give's you the best BB's in the game for fire power.
A carrier to keep your Zeke's out as air cover every turn.
Emily's for multitasking,ASW,Bombing & even a torp.
The Akitsuki to guard the shokaku
Isokaze's for thier LL torp's, each with a BB.
The sub to keep your enemy honest.
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The_lucky_Y
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| LadyLexandToga2 wrote: | yeah I wouldn't be adding planes of any kind against the U.S. really....even if the don't have hellcats or wildcats in the air their ship AA is brutal enough to stop almost anything....
$6! %$#!@$@! That is a lot for such a small piece of plastic.....oh well I guess it will go WAY down when the new Japanese fighter comes out this summer (that is of course assuming the new fighter is better) |
we have a simple house rule: USN cannot use set 2(task force) air units
, that means no Avenger, no Hellcat and no B24 , their set 1 aircrafts are strong enough.
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acs0424
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No avenger? But the devestator is horrible!
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The_lucky_Y
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| acs0424 wrote: | | No avenger? But the devestator is horrible! |
for ASW they have the PBY andneed air superiority if they want not to waste them and hitting BB with Dauntless is not impossible.
(their armor 3 destroyers and ER5 Battleships can do serious damage too against IJN BB)
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LadyLexandToga2
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well the Zeke works ok for the set II stuff but you can't do all air Japanese fleet which is ok with me because they still have strengths over the USN like battleship firepower so I don't have a problem but if the US KEEPS getting better air and the Japanese don't then they will be in trouble... that will be the day I officially make a house rule against the United States...
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LadyLexandToga2
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devastators are pretty bad but the USN can attack and win with just set I aircraft against the Japanese navy but it will not be with ALL aircratf....not a bad thing really
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jfkziegler
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Personally, I don't like to restrict units. Every nation has their own strength. The U.S. is dominant in the air in late war games, but that is realistic. The Japanese are dominant in torpedoes and big battleships, and that's also realistic. It's too bad that the Iowas and Yamatos never got a chance to duke it out in real life. That would have been quite a showdown. Maybe if Lee's battle line had gotten there a little sooner to cut off Kurita's retreat at Leyte Gulf.
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LadyLexandToga2
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that would have been SOME battle.....I kinda wish it had happened...
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