The Calcutta Crush

[@rayyanma1608]

The fighter from Formosa can't make it to Yunnan turn one.

[@Wildcat-gj4cp]

Another point about this strategy is that it defends the Allies against the J1, lol. I mean the only defense against a J1 is Japan deciding NOT to J1 right? Lol.

[@redblackmonkey]

Cool vid and nice overview of the strategy. Good work as always GHG Calcutta Crush sounds like a cool name for one of Sired's drink recipes...lol

[@primroselane1]

Thanks E. I didn't make up the name it's a common strategy that's been around for awhile.

[@Prayforthesufferingchildren]

haha yeah it does. You guys going to the next invitational?

[@redblackmonkey]

Eric Chochon I will absolutely be going to Grasshopper's next invitational. October 2019! Can't wait!

[@Prayforthesufferingchildren]

You seem like a real hardcore competitor during the tourney. I play to win but like to shit talk as well(adds to the fun) lol. Maybe if I come we can play together

[@redblackmonkey]

I do like a spirited game to a point. I banter and jest with people at times but I make sure that people know it is all in good fun. I was actually a play tester on Larry Harris's new game WAR ROOM, and did not take part in the tournament proper. I'm all about having fun and a good time. People want to win of course, but the cool thing about that event was the comradarie and community and brotherhood. At the end of the day, the important thing was that it was a highly successful event and people had the time of their lives., and I made and confirmed friendships with people that will last a lifetime. I welcome the opportunity to play with new people whenever I can, I look forward to the next Y.G. Invitational in Toronto in Oct. 2019.

[@chadcoyle8960]

Where do you get the coasters?

[@gargantua6488]

Finally had a chance to finish watching this - good recap GHG! Also - love your setup - the flight stands and custom molds make the table look very sharp. In our game I sent the starting transports to Hainan - and on J2 moved the entire fleetl to Sz38. Anzac blocked the Malaya sz, but the brits failed to take back yunnan, leading to devestation for india on J3.

[@primroselane1]

Putting them in SZ 38 is a great idea to prevent blocking. If you're catching your opponent on this move for the first time you might be able to catch them moving their units off of India towards the fight not realizing that you can move all the way from Hainan around the corner. I would do that anyway if they chose to move their navy towards the Med. Having the Carriers closer allows more planes in the battle for India though.

[@cyph3r.427]

But you can't move your transports & troops to SZ38 on J2 meaning they would still get blocked... so I am still curious how this can not be blocked by the Allies if they block you on J3 and mass everything on India they will have quite a lot there waiting for you on J4 and you only have 8 land units you can land....

[@cyph3r.427]

I should clarify: that is if they do a Sneaky Karl. But actually after thinking it though, I guess you could hammer UK/Anzac as much as you can J3 while remaining in position for a J4 Calcutta attack since that would not bring the US into the war yet.

[@gargantua6488]

What? Yes you can. There is absolutely 0 the allies can do to stop Japan from having it's fleet in Sz38 on J2. If the allies don't Declare war, you just move there. If the allies declared war on turn 1 and tried to block you (LOL), you could just kill whatever they put in your way, and then non combat there.

[@gargantua6488]

Note that the "Sneaky Karl" is easy for japan to avoid. Just leave your transports loaded. Sometimes its convenient to have land units in kwangsi for a yunan counter J2, but it's not mandatory if you think your units will be better loaded on your transports so they can't be stopped.

[@PMMagro]

I Think the UK can smell this incoming 1-2 turns ahead. But still, that navalbase and airbase down south is very usefull. It will make Calcutta only stack infantry and have to reinforce from Middle east- quite nice for the European Axis...

[@primroselane1]

Seeing it and stopping it are 2 different things. At the Grasshopper Invitational that was the token taken most often because nobody had an answer for it. Grasshopper changed the rules after the tournament so that it wouldn't be worth a token anymore.

[@hongyuzhang5631]

You can’t really just assume the opponent is a bad player and do your thing.

[@mr.fishman1510]

This video is a little bit old but I noticed that in both your j1 tutorial and this as japan you made 3 transports in the start, why do you do this?, would it be better just to keep a transport home Or maybe expand on your airforce instead?

[@m1garand903]

I have a question. In 1940 global second addition does the US get 30 ipcs when they join the war?

[@emiellieffering6855]

Not in the global edition

[@thomastaylor6355]

I have A&A Global. My girlfriend and I play together. I added units, and gf and I have our own house rules. We play more classic way.

[@jasonaustin7251]

Ive used this strategy, combined with a Sealion strategy and ive completely removed Britain from the game for a while. You have to be sneaky, but if your opponent doesnt see what youre doing you have them. Even if they do see it its hard to stop. At the latest, turn 4 you will have India and London

[@elwoodbirgden342]

I didn't think the fighter from formosa could reach Yunnan? Don't fighters move 4?

[@willhguy]

Has anyone developed an effective tactic to this move?

[@chrismoraitis3160]

Something about this strategy I think I’d do different starts after the end of turn one. Could the Japanese player move like a battle ship and a naval carrier to both sea zone 38 and the sea zone 37 to prevent blockers. Then send in your entire navy turn 3 and take Calcutta, or do the odds not favor that outcome?

[@Evmanifestation]

Where did you get that board?

[@jdblay66777]

This is like the sea lion of the pacific

[@Simnos]

This seems like a more conventional play than sea lion. Japan always push for Calcutta. This is just doing it in a hurry. What I want to see if the push for California 😂

[@bryankinney8957]

Also at what point in the tournament did yg disband the Calcutta axis victory token? Just curious.

[@primroselane1]

It wasn't until after the tournament. You can't change the rules part way through.

[@Teflon2017]

GHGThis is really good to see how this plays out. Not to be predictable but I am wondering a couple things. Of course as you can imagine inquiring minds always want to know ;-). Is the airbase in Kwangsi really necessary if you see That domination of Yunan is absolute and if there’s no British destroyer for a blocker? Also, wouldn’t it be nice (insert Beach Boys music here) to have those other two transports going at Calcutta. Once you take Calcutta the ruskies are no longer a treat for the most part. Cool to see how to get around the Sneaky Karl.Mahalo Nui LoaCol Tef

[@primroselane1]

If you don't have the airbase it will take you at least one turn longer to take Calcutta unless you are able to hold Yunnan until the beginning of turn 2 so you can land your planes there. It's not very often you see that happen. Even if they did Japan would have to worry about both China and UK taking shots at their planes in Yunnan on turn 2. The other 2 transports would depend on if you have anything on the coast to transport or not.

[@Psalm144.1]

I didn't develop this strategy...just learned from people on the forum like Cow. I do a standard J1 attack. In SZ 37 I usually take the fighter as a hit hoping to keep the Cruiser which in turn can maybe kill the UK destroyer from India. Then if nothing blocking SZ 37, I bring the loaded transports from phillipines and the 1 guy from Borneo to air hit + a few units to soak hits at Burma if he stacked there or whatever makes sense. 3 loaded transports come down to FIC where I build my naval base (don't have to do Hainan) cause I'm already at war. If the UK sees this coming, it's possible to get India on J4 or maybe J5 worst case. If they don't see it, J3 India is possible. Doing a J1 + attempted Calcutta Crush has the benifit of India having less troops to place on UK2 or UK3 (if everything doesn't go right) because of lost income.

[@primroselane1]

That sounds like a good plan, Ichabod. There are other reasons (usually in Europe) not to do a J1, but if that's something that's not holding you back that particular game then go for it. One thing that many Triplea players don't consider is that in the tabletop version of the game it can be a negotiation on decisions like when to declare war or not between teammates so you can't always do a J1. When I make videos I'm conscious of that because that's the only way I play the game. Sometimes I wish that I could tell my partner what to do but that defeats the purpose of them playing the game and they get pissed.

[@Psalm144.1]

GeneralHandGrenade Yes, multiplayer games do have a bit of negotiation going on. Even on triplea we have multi games. Takes forever to finish. That often results in a J2 unless my Japanese teammate believes they can’t get Japan going without a standard J1. I usually say go for it if you want to J1. Sea Lion can still happen if the US /UK don’t act accordingly.

[@tripleaxray3716]

Hi General, Did you know that Japan can be at war with France while not be at war with the UK, China or the US? That means you can take FIC without declaring war on the other Allies. That is interesting If you don't do a J1, you can still gobble up 2IPC and position your 2 inf for an attack against Yunnan!

[@tripleaxray3716]

Sorry, China = ANZAC

[@primroselane1]

Japan starts the game at war with China. The rest is true that you can attack FIC without being at war with the Western Allies. However, if you take FIC then you lose the 10 IPC bonus for not being at war with the US. Kind of a little quirk there. You would want a specific reason to take FIC because the 2 IPC you gain doesn't cover the 10 IPC lost.

[@tripleaxray3716]

Ah, you're right! I looked it up! I was not aware the bonus includes not taking FIC! I learned something! Thanks ;)

[@simonlovell227]

Two things didn't make much sense in this video for me. I would make sure to send the Flying Tiger back to Shensi with 3 inf protecting it so it can't be killed J2. I'm thinking that I will place in Szechwan C1 all the time from now on. The all plane attack on Szechwan, attacking inf only is close enough to a wash if it is still attempted. China normally loses IPCs big time when attacked so that is great for the allies. I would also put down the blocker UK2 in SZ37, so how can it be achieved J3? I see from the linked vid that ships are moved around to SZ38. Is this done J2? Max attack is something like 3inf 2art 1arm + 21 planes. Max UK defense (if they stepped on Sumatra and came back) is 20inf 1art 3aaa 2ftr 1tac. Of course, ANZAC can put 3 fighters on Calcutta. With no DOW, ANZAC can land 2 more ground troops on Calcutta. If all these things happen, it becomes a 24% battle for Japan. If there's a delay to another round, that's another 7 troops UK_Pac could put on Calcutta. Something to keep in mind but it seems like this is a stoppable move. The question is if the positioning needed to stop it leaves you exposed elsewhere?

[@anjetto1]

What if they use the british transport to take one of the spice islands to act as a blocker?

[@ryanmichael1298]

What was the reason for Japan not doing this historically ?

[@dervish4126]

japan didn't have a trillion planes. there was no way japan could win the war. Yamamoto tried to explain this to the army. Japan could never conquer india, it's just way too many people who wanted the British out but overwhelmingly supported them over the japanese because jfc leave it to the japanese to make the brits look preferable. They were nazi levels of awful to the people they were conquering. The japanese didn't even make it that far into china...too many people.

[@Teflon2017]

Kiki Tsunami translated literally “giant air wave”

[@bryankinney8957]

Wouldn't just a blocker in sz 37 prevent the Calcutta crush though?

[@primroselane1]

Yes, unless Japan moved through them before declaring war on the Brits. That happened to me yesterday.

[@bryankinney8957]

GeneralHandGrenade you mean move through them on j3?!! Or do you mean move through the blocker j2?

[@primroselane1]

He moved them through on J2 before we were at war and placed them with the UK boats in India.. You don't block the other sides ships when you are not at war.

[@Teflon2017]

Sorry. Smartphone taking control again. “Kuki Tsunami”

[@primroselane1]

Are you sure it isn't waki tornado?

[@Teflon-um8bn]

GeneralHandGrenade Nope. Thats what you call the two freaky Blue Boats you discovered left in the Med the entire game on Day 2. :-o

[@primroselane1]

It was 3 blue boats. Unconscionable.

[@samkennyenjoyit3669]

So if germany does Africa Corps and japan does j3 Calcutta crush can that defeat middle earth also I know this vid was along time ago but I’m just wondering I’m gonna text It out on triple a

[@KeeganB-uw9po]

Know any good ones on how to counter G1 or G2 on Russia? Last few games the Germans have killed it. They fly 2 fighters and 2 tacs from Western Germany to take out British boats, then Italy thrives the whole game, then Germany goes for Russia on turn 2 usually and its a blow out match. Germany ends up making 90+ usually.

[@primroselane1]

I try to be aggressive with the Russians. More counter-attacks to keep them away from Moscow as long as possible to give the other allies a chance to make a landing in Europe. You would need to buy more offensive units if you were going to try that instead of just dudes who turtle in Moscow.

[@gthetroll494]

What I don’t understand is why you needed the entire Japanese navy

[@briankenward8820]

Sorry to hear about your tripod

[@primroselane1]

Thanks. I've replaced it now but it sure was a disappointment that a member of our community would be so low.

[@cupcupcupcupcup]

So if the British player is good and blocks Japan with a ship for a turn or two are you screwed?

[@ForeverDoubting]

They can't block you for more than one, making it a turn 4 attack on Calcutta, generally speaking. Worst case you might have to throw some planes at a blocker destroyer to get rid of it. They can force you to attack them at malaya on turn two though. The only way i think UK Pacific can stall for another turn is by buying another destroyer at least. But that's just less infantry to deal with in Calcutta. Either way, I'd personally attack on J2, to grab Hong Kong and Malaya so you deny UK Pacific significant income and start strat bombing Calcutta on J2.

[@jacobente5600]

How does your UK 'Middle Earth' Strategy hold up against this?

[@primroselane1]

I haven't had the opportunity to try it against this strategy. My guess is that you might need to put a complex down there to hold the Japanese from skating through the Middle East and beyond. You would need to get it down by turn 2 though or you would just be building it for Japan.

[@hongyuzhang5631]

I have to say the Chinese player is really not good if it does what you did

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Yeah, that's a nasty move! I have about 4 versions of A&A and other similar games running through my head right now, but at 24:20 the British go into Chinese territory to take Yunnan. Can they go in there before they are at war? If so, I know what to do with FEC stuff from now on! Great video!

[@primroselane1]

They can go in but it is considered an unprovoked act of war. What that means is that Japan would be at war with the UK and ANZAC but not at war with the US. You wouldn't want to do that on the first turn because then Japan would have 3 turns to kick the piss out of you. The second turn isn't so bad and in this case you would want to in order to prevent the crush.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Ah, gotcha! Thanks for the clarification! So many things have to go right for Calcutta to fall, eh? But, as you said, if the player is less experienced... The good news is that they won't be less experience for long! That's what I really love about this game!

[@primroselane1]

They don't have to all fall into place to sack it on turns 4-6. They do have to go as planned to get it on the third turn though.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Ooops, I guess I wasn't clear...I was referring to a Turn 3 kill. Calcutta rarely survives past Turn 5 in any of our games. I think I might change things up a bit and take Sydney instead one time...might be too out of position, though. Probably have to bulk up my infantry on the mainland if I hope to then take Calcutta. Oh well, that's why we play!

[@primroselane1]

Adding that naval base on Hainan is a boost when you want to hit the Aussies too. I would throw down a minor complex in FIC after Calcutta was gone to mop up the mainland and then boom, down goes Australia if the Americans get too busy in Europe an don't prevent.