Strategic Importance of Marcus Island

[BossGnome]

Ok, Oleg please don't read this...






Alright, it is in my game VS Oleg, of which there was (or still is I don't know) and AAR. It is november 1942, and he has taken wake island on october 20th, and just had the strenght to push on to marcus island before I could oppose any serious resistance to his advance. Now, marcus island is a very small size 1 port size 1 airfield place. The thing that worries me is that it is potentially in heavy bomber range of the home islands. I have been opposing heavy resistance to his presence on Marcus island, but he has also been opposing heavy resistance to my heavy resistance. Retaking marcus island could prove very very costly.

The question is: how much should I fight for it? Is it a target important enough that he almost wouldn't have to take saipan? I am worried that, if he keeps marcus, he could be bombing tokyo by january/february 1943! So what should I do? Should I make marcus "the guadalcanal" of our campaign? I have about 1500 assault pts prepped to disembark on the island, but it looks like he has a lot of troops as well, and I just don't trust the japanese troops that much [:(]...

help me! I need counseling!

[KDonovan]

what about cutting off Marcus...by retaking Wake???....whats your position in the Marshalls....if its still strong then this is feasible

[BossGnome]

well, wake has as much if not more troops than marcus. It would be feasible, but I'd have to launch from Kwajalein. I own the entirety of the marshalls, he tried to invade eniwetok, but I repulsed him.

[ChezDaJez]

Marcus can only grow to a level 4 airfield IIRC. That means B-17s can operate from there but will take ops losses. They do not have the range to hit the home islands. In fact, only Wake, Iwo and Bonin are in B-17 range of Marcus. So while he may be able to exert some sea control there, it really doesn't do him any good.

If Marcus really concerns you, try interdicting his supply lines between Wake and Marcus with subs and KB. Force him to provide a lot of cover for these convoys. Conduct occasional bombardments against both Wake and Marcus, just enough to remind him that he needs to keep strong forces in the vicinity. By him having to keep them there, it will reduce the chance of his major operations elsewhere for the time being.

You might also want to consider quickly building up Iwo Jima and Bonin. His strategy may be to take those next and establish a bomber base there. He'll have a hard time supplying them but he may think it worth the risk to bomb Japan.

Hope this helps.

Chez

[BossGnome]

Iwo Jima and Bonin are being built up. Yes, marcus can only be built up to a level 4 airfield, but it was my understanding that 2 engine bombers can fly without problems from a 4 level, and 4 engine bombers can fly, but with higher OP losses... is this not the case? If he bases B-17s on Marcus he could easily reach the home islands, or at least half of Honshu. Marcus is 4 hexes closer to Tokyo than Saipan!!

[ChezDaJez]

B-17 range is 10/13 so B-17s can't hit Japan from there. B-24 range is 11/14 also out of range of Japan. B-29s can hit from there but it will be a long time before you see those.

He can not hit Japan from Marcus with any current bomber.

Chez

[Dereck]

ORIGINAL: ChezDaJez

Marcus can only grow to a level 4 airfield IIRC. That means B-17s can operate from there but will take ops losses. They do not have the range to hit the home islands. In fact, only Wake, Iwo and Bonin are in B-17 range of Marcus. So while he may be able to exert some sea control there, it really doesn't do him any good.

If Marcus really concerns you, try interdicting his supply lines between Wake and Marcus with subs and KB. Force him to provide a lot of cover for these convoys. Conduct occasional bombardments against both Wake and Marcus, just enough to remind him that he needs to keep strong forces in the vicinity. By him having to keep them there, it will reduce the chance of his major operations elsewhere for the time being.

You might also want to consider quickly building up Iwo Jima and Bonin. His strategy may be to take those next and establish a bomber base there. He'll have a hard time supplying them but he may think it worth the risk to bomb Japan.

Hope this helps.

Chez

From an Allied viewpoint:

One thing to consider is that PB4Ys flying from there at 1000 feet on naval interdiction missions CAN do major hurt to merchant shipping in that area. They DO have long range.

[witpqs]

Also, heavies based there would fly all missions as if at extended range due to the small size of the airfield.

Marcus is best as a jumping off point and rally point. He can put search planes there, AR's, figther protection, dive bombers or B-25's to keep you at bay, etc. Heck of a place for him to draw you out and kill your ships if that's what he wants to do and you go for it.

[ChezDaJez]

Marcus is best as a jumping off point and rally point. He can put search planes there, AR's, figther protection, dive bombers or B-25's to keep you at bay, etc. Heck of a place for him to draw you out and kill your ships if that's what he wants to do and you go for it.

That's why I would recommend interdicting the supplies rather than immediately assaulting Marcus. Without supply, he can't launch offensive strikes. A couple of Glen equipped I-boats patrolling the direct lines between Wake and Marcus should give plenty of warning of any Allied moves. Make it painful enough and the Allied player will either withdraw or send in major fleet units to protect the supply lines. Hopefully then you can make it really painful.

But assuming you are unsuccessful, Iwo and Bonin are the next most likely targets so use everything you've got to protect them. If he takes them, its going to be game over so quickly you'll never have a chance to have your Zeros decimated by Corsairs!!![:D]

Chez.

[Mike Solli]

Marcus is a nice recon base from the Japanese perspective. From the Allied perspective, it can interdict your supply/reinforcement convoys from Japan to the 4th Fleet area. As the Japanese player, I vigorously defend Marcus Island.

[niceguy2005]

Trying to retake Marcus seems like a costly undertaking. I would vote for the isolation strategy. I assume the IJN is still strong. Don't forget bombardment missions. You can considerably slow the progress on Marshal by bombing the heck out of it with your BBs. You destroy supply force him to repair his air fields and weaken his ENG units.

[DeepSix]

Dig in and defend the Bonins rather than retake Marcus. I think you'll get more mileage out of letting him have Marcus than he'll get out of taking it.

[Przemcio231]

Well the solution i would like to propose is costly... and it will only work if you have large Airfields in Range of Marcus... just set some 2E bombers to bomb the place when the Airfield damage will reach 100 you just need to pound the place all the time and you will be sure that no planes will operate from there... well but you must do it before it reaches Lv2 to be sure you will not encounter any fighter oposition...

[BossGnome]

uh, I can't really bomb it that well, see, he has about 100 ftrs operating out of it on constant CAP... he's taking heavy OP losses to be sure (about 5-8 a day) but I can onnly launche night strikes... which is what I think I'll start now. It seems that since his progress on marcus has been blunted, he has switched his attention to the marshalls. I am expecting an attack in the area within days...

[Mike Solli]

Form up your BBs into a nice bombardment TF, move them to about 10-12 hexes from Marcus, put em on full speed and watch them trash the island.[:D]

[saj42]

Whats the CV situation ?
Do the BB bombardment runs when the allied CVs are not around, or cover them with the KB.

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: Tallyho!

Whats the CV situation ?
Do the BB bombardment runs when the allied CVs are not around, or cover them with the KB.

YOu need only 2 bombardment TFs with 2 BBs and 4 CAs each to close that AF. While one is shooting, the other is at port reloading.

IMHO you need the KB in the Marshalls, along with most of your bombers. It's much easier to stop an invasion if you can sink half of it on the way to its target. Don't worry about Marcus right now. Make the Marshalls a bloody mess for the Allies.

[AmiralLaurent]

IMOO taking the battle right on Japan doorstep in fall 1942 is a bad Allied move. Do it your Guadalcanal, your logistic will be easy while the Allied one will be awful. And if it allows you to kill Allied LCUs it is a huge bonus, you won't have much other occasions later in the war.

[von Beanie]

As the Allied player I tried this exact strategy, and went on ahead to take Bonin. Looking back on it, it was a mistake to go beyond Marcus. Marcus is a nice base which to use to interdict Japanese convoys, supply submarines and make life tough for your opponent, but it is too far from anything else for it to be useful in an island hopping campaign. If you defend the Bonin's well and ignore Marcus except for bombardment missions it won't cause you much grief.

I discovered that one of the best benefits of taking Marcus island is that you can transfer long range bombers from there directly to China where they can do significant damage to the merchant shipping lanes. Operating bombers from both China and Marcus forces the shipping into a narrow belt that can then be interdicted effectively with subs.

[JeffroK]

If the US is strong on Marcus, where are they weaker??

Find a soft spot and hit it hard, and in the mean time wear him out with the previously mention Land bomber & Bombardment tactics. Make it an expensive place to hold.

(Playing Allies aginst AI, Marcus is a useful base for many of the reasons mentioned, but then the AI doesnt get pissed at a base like this being captured.)