AAP40 strongly favors the Japanese. The Japanese have a stronger initial force, the central position and the ability to open the war with a surprise attack. The Japanese can defeat their foes in detail. Another problem is the political rules, which are overly complex and require much errata. Political Rules You can't enter land areas controlled by nations neutral to you or sea areas adjacent to neutral land areas. Otherwise, neutral forces ignore each other. Surprise Attack On the first round of combat, in the Japanese turn, on turn 3, non-Chinese allied units do not make hit rolls.