Should I go for Calcutta?

[moose1999]

As Japan, should I try to go for Calcutta?

I was thinking whether it would be worth the trouble as I'm sure the British would throw me out eventually anyway.

But with all the industry in Calcutta I would be denying the allies a nice chunk of their on-hand supply in India.
And the 1500 supply the city generates per day would also allow me to use it as a self-sustaining fortress later on.
Build it up to fortification level 7, stick a few Manchurian divisions there and it could be left to itself as a really hard nut for the british to bang their heads on while I deal with the Americans in the Pacific.

Or is that plan a Market Garden guarantee for catastrophe...?

[stuman]

I want you to try it. Not sure if it is a good idea, but let's experiment with your troops [:D]

[Sardaukar]

I want you to try it too. [:D]

Might not be a good idea, I think Allied get something like 5 extra divisions in India etc. if you invade that far north.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

I want you to try it too. [:D]

Might not be a good idea, I think Allied get something like 5 extra divisions in India etc. if you invade that far north.

Calcutta isn´t far North, could it be you mistreated it with KARACHI? [:D]

[vlcz]

..stick a few Manchurian divisions...

If you bringed them over there by land move (meaning china is a japanese suburb now...) I'm sure there is no way the British would NOT throw you out [:D]

enjoy your co-prosperity sphere!![8D]

[moose1999]

Ok, I'll do it then.
Just for the hell of it - and to prove my plan will work. [;)]

Playing the first 6 months as the Japanese, where you can go anywhere and do anyhting you want, gives you a really good sense of the megalomania that gripped the Empire back then and made them overstretch their capabilities.

I really do feel invincible...!

Now, maybe if I took Ceylon, too, to disrupt British shipping - and then made a cunning plan to ambush the American carriers in the pacific...
Maybe fake an island invasion or something... [:)]

[xj900uk]

Ceylon would be far better & easier for Japan to take, not to mention the disruptions to Allied shipping.  Also another place overlooked is Christmas Island, which lies midway along the sea-lanes between SW Australia and the indian subcontinent.  If Japan coudl take that and build up the airfield so that it could mount some long-range Nelly torpedo bombers...

[Sardaukar]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

I want you to try it too. [:D]

Might not be a good idea, I think Allied get something like 5 extra divisions in India etc. if you invade that far north.

Calcutta isn´t far North, could it be you mistreated it with KARACHI? [:D]

Ah, I misread it! [:'(]

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

I want you to try it too. [:D]

Might not be a good idea, I think Allied get something like 5 extra divisions in India etc. if you invade that far north.

Calcutta isn´t far North, could it be you mistreated it with KARACHI? [:D]

Ah, I misread it! [:'(]

that´s what I´ve thought... [;)]

[Q-Ball]

I think your objective shouldn't be to take Calcutta, but to destroy a bunch of British units up in Assam or over in Burma. If you can do that, it's not a bad idea. But if you can't, it's kind of a waste, because India to the Japanese is kind of like Russia to the Germans; the Brits can just pull back and let you have it, but you need to detail more and more troops to garrison, and protect your sea flanks.

[offenseman]

ORIGINAL: briny_norman



and then made a cunning plan to ambush the American carriers in the pacific...
Maybe fake an island invasion or something... [:)]

[:D]
very funny.

Against AI I thought about going for Calcutta but went for Australia instead. I think Calcutta might be a better idea as it is more defensible. Give it a shot and let us know how it goes. I might try it in my PBEM which is in its infancy. Depends on how it goes in China...

[moose1999]

ORIGINAL: offenseman
Depends on how it goes in China...

Yes, good point.
My plans depends on the situation in China too, of course.
But I'm about to take Changsha and I'm marching 6 divs plus a buckload of artillery to Chungking along the northern route through Sian, which has just fallen.
I'm feeling pretty confident Chungking is mine before the end of June (it's mid-April now).
Then I can move some of the crack Manchurian divs to Burma (the invasion of which is underway) and march on Calcutta.
Or maybe try a daring amphibious invasion at Diamond Harbor.
We'll see what happens.

About catching as many troops in Burma as possible:
Would it be a good idea, then, to try and go for Mandalay before Rangoon - to cut off the escape route of the British forces?