What is the point of the arctic?

[Tendraline]

I mean, of course, in real life, it goes without saying that the Arctic was a pretty important theater; it was the shortest route from the US to Japan, and both the US and Japan poured considerable resources into pushing each other out of it, as well as building innumerable fortifications and airbases. The US even had a plan to attack through the Kurils in 1945, but they of course chose to attack through the Central Pacific instead. In addition, these arctic regions provided a vital supply route for the Soviets in their war effort against the Germans.

However, in game, we see none of that, and not even the AI seems to garrison these territories. Attu and Kiska are combined worth 1000 morale points, Adak is just a piece of land, and the Kurils just have one settlement with no value. You have to get all the way to Sapporo and Anchorage for more major things, and even then Anchorage is only worth 1000 morale points too (Sapporo is 5000, but it is also the home islands, so a lot more difficult to crack). To put that into perspective, that is only 1 percent of US morale each, and combined are less than the coral reef known as Midway.

And there aren't even mountains either

So my question is has anyone found a strategy for this region?

[Platoonist]

So my question is has anyone found a strategy for this region?

Attu and Kiska make good launch points for the amphibious invasions of Sakhalin Island or Hokkaido. You can grab Paramushiro Island in the Kuriles along the way (which this game calls Shumushu). In my last game I used Allied-occupied Hokkaido in 1944 as a huge strategic and maritime bomber base to level Japanese cities and convoys. However, taking Hokkaido does activate a lot of the Japanese home guard corps in the other Japanese home islands if the Japanese have picked DE 804. I think the Japanese AI always does.

Terrain-wise, I think Hokkaido should be more rugged than it is presently portrayed in the game as the island is mountainous and was very heavily forested at the time. Currently, it's mostly clear, flat hexes making it very easy to overrun with armor.

Seems like going the other way would be a dead end for Japan given the long distances and weather, but I've yet to try it. Historically, Attu and Kiska were taken and held more for the propaganda value of occupying some tiny parcel of North America than for any strategic reason. The climate of the islands is sufficiently bad that the Aleutians remained a secondary theater for the rest of the war after the US retook them.

[Tendraline]

Yeah, I get that it might be good for invading Sakhalin or Hokkaido, but there is a problem: there are only three, or four if you count Adak, hexes from which you can launch your invasion from. This isn't as good as invading from China or the Philippines, or, given that for some reason you do not have those places, invading from the Marianas, which has five.

Might as well pick up Iwo Jima along the way for the sweet sweet 250 morale points a turn (plus the 5000 you already got from taking the Marianas). Compare this to the 1000 the Aleutians are worth (plus the Kurils, which are worth nothing) and it becomes... concerning.

Going the other direction, theoretically taking Attu and Kiska allows you to invade Midway, of course why bother since you have the Marshalls and Wake which have a combined nine tiles and allow you to invade Oahu potentially as well

That said, the Americans sent 40000 to attack Kiska, and the Japanese sent 80000 to defend the Kurils, which is a lot for what are only four sparse hexes that aren't even mountainous (and one without any supply at all, at least give Adak an airport)

As for Hokkaido, yeah it could be a lot more mountainous and forested, but it also seems to be regarded as the best tank country in Japan. So there is a balance to be struck, but I do agree that it should be more mountainous.

[Platoonist]

That said, the Americans sent 40000 to attack Kiska, and the Japanese sent 80000 to defend the Kurils, which is a lot for what are only four sparse hexes that aren't even mountainous (and one without any supply at all, at least give Adak an airport)

I always thought the US should have just left the Japanese alone with their "prizes" in the Aleuts as shipping shortages probably would have compelled them to withdraw or let everybody there try to subsist on eating arctic bog grass. Unfortunately, in this game leapfrog strategies like at Attu don't really work as there are no shipping lines in danger of interdiction. As long as a unit has a minimal supply resource with it on an island like a settlement it won't ever passively wither on the vine. You basically have to constantly bomb or bombard the resource to knock the number to zero.

However, historically the American effort to clear the Japanese from the Aleutians was not an entirely wasted effort. It allowed Lend-Lease aircraft for the Russians to fly to Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka without the danger that the planes would be attacked by the Japanese before entering Soviet airspace. The Japanese were just as paranoid about Stalin invading the Kuriles as the Americans so they likely would have had to fortify them either way. That paranoia certainly turned out to be justified in the end.

[Tendraline]

You basically have to constantly bomb or bombard the resource to knock the number to zero.

Yeah, that is a problem, although you can also trap the unit by setting two naval units on the ports and having supply deplete that way I can see your perspective about historical WWII, though

At the same time, the overwhelming airpower the Americans brought was important for the historical Aleutians campaign; land aircraft were instrumental in preventing the Japanese from building anything of note on the islands and depleting their supplies. Unfortunately, this is impossible in-game, as Adak has zero supply, and the nearest hex with supply is Dutch Harbor, which is way way too far away, so we might not be able to retake them if we tried (which sounds like a big oversight)