ORIGINAL: sprior
Op Weasel now has 2 variants:
1. Op Otter. This is the sea borne version which would see 6th and 7th Aus Div, 2nd UK Div and 32nd US Div supported by 255th Arm Br land on the NW coast of OZ at Wyndham and Darwin and cut off the 5-ish Div of JJ troops at Katherine. East African Br can retake Port Headland or Broome as reqd.
2. Op Stoat is the land borne version. 6th and 7th Aus Div and 32nd US Div move up to Daly Waters and 32nd US Div move on to take Wyndham by land. If JJ reacts by movinf troops out of Katherine to retake Wyndham then 6th and 7th Divs move forward to retake Katherine.
Op Stoat is quicker to implement as all the troops required are now on Oz. 6th and 7th Divs are now unloading at Perth.
In both cases UK 18th Div will provide a secure base to fall back on if it all goes horribly pear-shaped.
Stoat is certainly less risky (especially to the RN and USN) but it has a lower chance of trapping the wee Jap dobbers in my estimation. I think you will be making about 5-6 days per hex and, and there is a good chance of discovery before forces are joined, giving the WJD's to to reinforce Wyndham by sea. Additionally, if Wyndham is captured it will likely not have enough supply for a big air campaign and will not be able to be supplied overland, which means you might still have to run ships in. Also there would be a lag to get support troops in unless you bring them along with the 32nd ID. Any delay in getting ground support and air to Wyndham after it is captured means the Japs can shut down the airfield by air.
I do like the idea of using 32nd ID as some kind of overland reserve for exploitation if the Japs pull out of Katherine or perhaps to move down teh track to Wyndham in concert with the seaborne invasion (although a bit hard to time, I think). Armor would be good too.
PS...the walk from Alice to Daly takes a LONG time but, ideally, any troops landing by sea should be well prepped (>50%) so it would take 50 d or so to get 2nd Br Inf and East Africa Brig ready....ergo..... we are a ways out either way.