The Power of Inexperience / GreyJoy(A)-Rader(J)

[Crackaces]

Hmmm there is 1 BB that needs mommy to escort them home and I see only 4 DD's in the TF ... and critical damage I wonder what the speed of this now disabled monster ...I suspect real frustration here ...

[GreyJoy]

May 19, 20 1943

Another good turn.

We sent 3 subs to try to intercept the Haruna TF thinking that she will be moving back to Truk...

....we didn't get the damaged BB but instead we got a CA[:D]

ub attack near Ponape at 115,114

Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
DD Kiyonami
DD Ishikaze
DD Takakaze
DD Asashio

Allied Ships
SS Harder, hits 1


Another major ship that will need to be repaired...it makes 3 BBs and for sure 2 CAs that must visit the homeland shipyards[8D]

if it was a "bait"...Rader got a bloody nose for that attempt!

For the rest, our Eastern Army is only 2 hexes from Hyderabad, while the usual 400 bombers pound Karachi and while he's moving away his troops at Multan...only 30 units spotted now...[&:]

We conquered Exmouth on the N-W of Oz. Already 4 eng regiments are enroute along with 2 base forces.

Another division is arriving in SOPAC. Still i have to decide how to use it. for the moment it will stay at Suva guarding the big HUB.

Well, soon we'll discover the P-47...i'm looking forward to see how it performs against his georges (which are the best he has on the market till the Franks arrive)

[GreyJoy]

It seems that my subs are finally becoming a factor, even if i'm unable to use them to harrass his "economic assets", using them as a "normal" anti-warship weapon seems to work now that the torpedoes are starting to work.
I still have to "revenge" those 3 CVEs and 2 BBs he sunk with his subs, but we're getting better and better[:)]

[GreyJoy]

In the meanwhile TULAGI has reached 5 port and 5 AF, which means no more malaria for my units there...not bad.
Still i can hardly believe he doesn't want to try to save those experienced 5 divisions stuck at Tulagi...seems really strange...he's not even try to extract them by float planes....[&:]

I've counted 1270 fighters south of Rabaul...[:o]...won't be easy to move on from this "status quo" front...

[JohnDillworth]

I still have to "revenge" those 3 CVEs and 2 BBs he sunk with his subs, but we're getting better and better

Soon you will be up to your eyeballs in CVE's, although those first 3 were good ones. I think the first 3 American CVE's were the ones build on tanker hulls. It was decided that they needed tankers more than CVE's so that was the end of that.

[GreyJoy]

May 21, 22 1943

We followed and managed to catch that damned CA Chikuma....2 more fishes and she goes down[8D]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Truk at 114,113

Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
DD Ishikaze

Allied Ships
SS Harder, hits 1



....we finallu located the KB....and....[:-] she's moving between Midway and the aleutinas!!!!![:o]...raiding the west coast probably...or PH....dispatched immediately a sub division (8 subs) stationing at Midway....wonder what is his target!?!?!?

[GreyJoy]

You can see the full KB (2 CVTFs and probably a SCTF) preceded by two scouting TF...seem to be minesweepers... does he really wanna bomb the west coast? Will he turn south instead? will he turn north? Will he invade?!

[GreyJoy]

However...i don't think he's invading....i think he's just raiding the WC...hoping to catch some convoys full of troops and precious ships.... i will lose some TKs, some 20/30 xAK/xAPs but nothing too precious... hopefully...and if he comes too close...at SF i have lots of planes

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

However...i don't think he's invading....i think he's just raiding the WC...hoping to catch some convoys full of troops and precious ships.... i will lose some TKs, some 20/30 xAK/xAPs but nothing too precious... hopefully...and if he comes too close...at SF i have lots of planes

This is the kind of response my opponet does .. if I get an edge somewhere .. he takes the KB and executes a raid. But I question if that will get him toward his end goal . either instant victory in India or last 'till '46 ,,,???

[Smeulders]

He might turn back now though, a KB raid on the West Coast isn't exactly effective if you've got advance warning. Just move the precious ships to a port with level 9 airfield and give all those training squadrons CAP orders. Too bad your carriers aren't anywhere near, a battle near PH and the West Coast and far from Japanese bases is inviting as it is, if he would raid the WC and lose a lot planes first ...

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: Smeulders

He might turn back now though, a KB raid on the West Coast isn't exactly effective if you've got advance warning. Just move the precious ships to a port with level 9 airfield and give all those training squadrons CAP orders. Too bad your carriers aren't anywhere near, a battle near PH and the West Coast and far from Japanese bases is inviting as it is, if he would raid the WC and lose a lot planes first ...

You're right mate! He's turning back!

May 23,24 - 25,26 1943

The KB is moving back west, chased down by my subs which are deploying in a big arc around her...

At the same time, as soon as i got sure the KB was so far away, i've ordered a general attack on Russell, Thousands and Auki bases. My BBs pounded Russell and another DD TFs bombed Auki, while Thousands Ships Bay was visited by 160 4Es.

I probably made a mistake cause i didn't let the 4Es go on their own and i ordered a good escort and a couple of sweep runs.
25 P-40Ks and 18 Hellcats swept Thousands, finding 60 enemy planes (georges, Zeros and Tojos). My guys suffered badly and they achieved a terrible 1-2 kill ratio (and they were CRACK!)...then my 4Es arrived and the escort did a good job, sacrifying for the safety of the big guys....who did not suffer a single loss.
However at the end of the day we have destroyed 120 planes on the ground, closing 3 bases, but we lost a total of 25 (between KIA and MIA) priceless fighter aces...too bad.
There was no reaction by his LBA bombers...clearly the last defeats has thought him to be very carefull with them and that gave me free hands in the Solomons...
For the 27th we have ordered a general attack with 3 naval bombardment runs against the 3 bases and 2 naval sweeps (only DDs) along the Slot.

The good news is that there were no mines present and his subs weren't a factor despite their presence on the targeted hexes.

The general plan is to slowly enlarge the dominion over the skies of the Solomons, making, step by step, his bases unavailable...And if i manage to get back in force over Lunga we can then use our surface assets to bomb the hell out of everything south of Shortland...

[GreyJoy]

For these bombardments i've deployed my surface forces in the following manner:
 
Each Bombardment TF is composed of 2 (modern) BBs, 3 CAs, 2 CLs, 8 DDs and 2 DMS
These are preceded by a SCTF composed of 3 CLs and 7 Fletcher Class DDs and my a dedicated ASW TF composed of 4 DDs.
AMs in minesweeping role were moved in too, in order to clear the path.
 

[GreyJoy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 25, 43

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Night Naval bombardment of Russell Islands at 113,136 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 37 damaged
A6M2-N Rufe: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 68 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 7 destroyed on ground
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 115 damaged
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 5 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 48 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 4 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 40 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground

15 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Massachusetts
BB Indiana
CA Wichita
CA Quincy
CA Astoria
CL Santa Fe
CL Denver
DD Aylwin
DD Case
DD Mahan
DD Fanning
DD Dunlap
DD Morris
DD Walke
DD O'Brien
DD Gansevoort
DD Frazier
DMS Hopkins
DMS Southard

Japanese ground losses:
434 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 28 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 23 disabled
Guns lost 6 (4 destroyed, 2 disabled)



Airbase hits 29
Airbase supply hits 13
Runway hits 83
Port hits 22
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 4



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Auki at 115,136

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 38 damaged
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 8 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground
N1K1-J George: 11 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 5 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Downes
DD Cassin
DD Flusser
DD Smith
DD Perkins
DD Cushing
DD Shaw
DD Conyngham
DD Lamson
DD Drayton
DD Cummings
DD Lang
DD Benham
DD Hammann

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 51
Port hits 20
Port supply hits 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Thousand Ships Bay at 114,136

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-44, hits 6, heavy damage

Allied Ships
AM Chevreuil
AM Heed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Thousand Ships Bay , at 114,136

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 9
A6M3a Zero x 36
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 60



Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIc x 15
B-24D1 Liberator x 96


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 9 damaged
A6M2-N Rufe: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 12 damaged
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 3 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter VIc: 4 destroyed
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled



Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 18
Runway hits 59


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 26, 43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Shortlands at 109,131, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Kaikei Maru, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Piet Hein



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Shortlands at 109,131, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAK Kasuga Maru #2, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Terushima Maru, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Imizu Maru, Shell hits 1
PB Sensan Maru, Shell hits 4
xAKL Dori Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Tonegawa Maru

Allied Ships
DD Piet Hein



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Auki , at 115,136

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 37,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 32
N1K1-J George x 32
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 27



Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 18


Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Auki , at 115,136

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 31
N1K1-J George x 32
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 27



Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 24


Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 5 destroyed


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Thousand Ships Bay , at 114,136

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 20



Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 31


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
18 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 34000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Auki , at 115,136

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 28
N1K1-J George x 31
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 24



Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIc x 3
B-17F Fortress x 5
B-24D Liberator x 15
F4F-4 Wildcat x 62
F6F-3 Hellcat x 25
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 48


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 37

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Auki , at 115,136

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 30,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 26
N1K1-J George x 29
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 22



Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk III x 16
F6F-3 Hellcat x 26


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk III: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Thousand Ships Bay , at 114,136

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 9



Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk III x 10
B-24D1 Liberator x 86
P-40K Warhawk x 32
F4U-1 Corsair x 13


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 7 destroyed on ground
A6M3a Zero: 12 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 34

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Thousand Ships Bay , at 114,136

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 5



Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 11
P-40K Warhawk x 14
F4U-1 Corsair x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Thousand Ships Bay , at 114,136

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 1



Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 6


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

[DOCUP]

Nice couple of turns Greyjoy.  Still enjoying and learning from your game. 
 
doc

[Graymane]

Hi GreyJoy, seems like you are really starting to learn! Something to think about from Rader's perspective is that he is probably looking at the whole war and game, not just these operations in India and SW Pac. His goal is going to be to get into 1946 with as high a score as possible. He is probably sensing that there is a turning point in the operational tempo.

I think he is done with major offenses unless he sees some kind of mistake or opportunity. He is going to keep strong reserves and simply react to your offenses. Counter-invasions, air and naval support, etc. I believe that is what he is doing in SW Pac and India. He has drawn his line in the sand and is going to fight at those perimeters as long as possible because he doesn't want you in Burma or Marianas.

I'm sure he'd be happy to end the war with the dispositions you see now.

[GreyJoy]

May 27, 28 1943

The bombing runs dind't go as well as hoped cause he managed to evacuate almost everything...meaning that yesterday results were less than what we thought.

However the result has been achieved. The combination of the Rabaul raid and the latter bombing runs at Russell/Thousands/Auki forced Rader to move back all his naval assets from the Solomons/New Britain and his air-coverage has been reduced to Rekata Bay, abbandoning the bombed bases.
Now my ships will return (heavily escorted) to Ndeni HUB but i wanna to keep the pressure up in the area, so more raids are planned for June 43.

The KB is moving back to Tokyo. Confirmed.

By the end of june i should also be able to re-equipp all my CVs with Hellcats and Helldivers and new SDB-5s.
For the moment i'm moving my CVs to Perth...i'm pretty sure he has noted the "movements" on the west coast of Oz and it can be possible that he tries to harrass with his combat ships my convoys...will try to lure him into a trap there as soon as the Essex will join my other 6 CVs stationing at Melbourne.

In India my Eastern Army arrived safely at Hyderabad while it seems that he's really abbandoning Multan....[&:]...again

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Russell Islands at 113,136 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 36 damaged
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 10 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 21 damaged
A6M2-N Rufe: 2 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 5 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

83 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Massachusetts
BB Indiana
CA Wichita
CA Quincy
CA Astoria
CL Santa Fe
CL Denver
DD Aylwin
DD Case
DD Mahan
DD Fanning
DD Dunlap
DD Morris
DD Walke
DD O'Brien
DD Gansevoort
DD Frazier
DMS Hopkins
DMS Southard

Japanese ground losses:
114 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 5 disabled



Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 25
Port hits 7
Port fuel hits 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Thousand Ships Bay at 114,136 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 damaged

230 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Hawkins
CL Columbia, Shell hits 4
CL Cleveland
CL Trenton
CL Richmond, Shell hits 2
DD Saufley
DD Radford
DD LaVallette
DD Jenkins
DD Eaton
DD Cony
DD Conway
DD Chevalier
DD Bache
DD Abbot

Japanese ground losses:
45 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled



Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 3
Port hits 9

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Auki at 115,136

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 13 damaged
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
A6M5 Zero: 8 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Washington
BB North Carolina
CA Australia
CA San Francisco
CA Salt Lake City
CA Louisville
CA Chester
CA Houston
CL Boise
DD Caldwell
DD Bancroft
DD Duncan
DD Nicholas
DD DeHaven
DD Fletcher
DMS Chandler
DMS Lamberton

Japanese ground losses:
494 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 41 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 31 disabled
Guns lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)



Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 74
Port hits 30
Port supply hits 13





Oh, and finally he decided to try to lift out of Tulagi his units....3 Mavis-L shot down today... tomorrow we'll land bomb his garrison at Tulagi to see what he has managed to get out by now. However i won't let him doing that with ease...wanna keep that POW camp for the whole war!

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: Graymane

Hi GreyJoy, seems like you are really starting to learn! Something to think about from Rader's perspective is that he is probably looking at the whole war and game, not just these operations in India and SW Pac. His goal is going to be to get into 1946 with as high a score as possible. He is probably sensing that there is a turning point in the operational tempo.

I think he is done with major offenses unless he sees some kind of mistake or opportunity. He is going to keep strong reserves and simply react to your offenses. Counter-invasions, air and naval support, etc. I believe that is what he is doing in SW Pac and India. He has drawn his line in the sand and is going to fight at those perimeters as long as possible because he doesn't want you in Burma or Marianas.

I'm sure he'd be happy to end the war with the dispositions you see now.

Thanks mate.

Yes, but in India will be difficult for him to stop me once i manage to get Multan...Multan is the key. If i can manage to break that strong-point my tanks and my paras will be able to run down to Calcutta and Madras... but now it's early to say that. We need first to get all those reinforcements to Karachi and then we'll see what to do (an amphib landing at Surat is still a viable option -and the best one- imho)

In the pacific will be more difficult...but i see improvements so i'm confident

[Canoerebel]

GreyJoy, you still have alot of time left in the game, so you may choose any of a number of offensive strategies to take you to Japan.

One possibility would be to continue grinding forward very slowly along the axis points you are fighting along right now.  IE, slowly (and to him it will seem "plodding" - very slow) grinding down Japan's offensive assets.  At the same time, you can open up some new fronts, just making sure that they add to the appearance that you are plodding along (for instance, New Guinea).

While you are meeting rader far forward on these fronts, lending great credence to the appearance that you are plodding along and won't ever get anywhere, you are planning a massive "late in the game" invasion of Japan's heartland on a scale that will overwhelm rader.  This is a situation where you bypass the "hard outer crust" of his defenses and penetrate so far that you find the "soft inner core," cathcing him off balance and forcing him to spend valuable time and assets retrieving the bulk of his army from forward bases that have suddenly been rendered irrelevant.

There are a variety of targets in a scheme like this one - Sikhalin Island, Hokkaido, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Formosa, and Luzon come to mind.  The key is to keep rader deceived and to develop the massive amount of troops and other assets needed to pull off such a huge invasion.

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

GreyJoy, you still have alot of time left in the game, so you may choose any of a number of offensive strategies to take you to Japan.

One possibility would be to continue grinding forward very slowly along the axis points you are fighting along right now.  IE, slowly (and to him it will seem "plodding" - very slow) grinding down Japan's offensive assets.  At the same time, you can open up some new fronts, just making sure that they add to the appearance that you are plodding along (for instance, New Guinea).

While you are meeting rader far forward on these fronts, lending great credence to the appearance that you are plodding along and won't ever get anywhere, you are planning a massive "late in the game" invasion of Japan's heartland on a scale that will overwhelm rader.  This is a situation where you bypass the "hard outer crust" of his defenses and penetrate so far that you find the "soft inner core," cathcing him off balance and forcing him to spend valuable time and assets retrieving the bulk of his army from forward bases that have suddenly been rendered irrelevant.

There are a variety of targets in a scheme like this one - Sikhalin Island, Hokkaido, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Formosa, and Luzon come to mind.  The key is to keep rader deceived and to develop the massive amount of troops and other assets needed to pull off such a huge invasion.

One question I have CR .. is how massive is massive? For example, in my little gambit I would like to drop in on Formosa but GreyJoy might want to attack one of the other choices you have explained in your post. Do you have any thoughts to AV? or is it just depends?

[Canoerebel]

If you pull a stunt like this, you can count on a extremely violent reaction by the enemy.  He'll throw everything at you, so you have to be prepared to stay and fight with whatever you get on the ground.  For a major target like Hokkaido, Formosa, or Luzon, you'd probably want ten divisiions, though you might end up compromising due to lift capacity limits.  I would be very, very, very reluctant to try it with as little as five. 
 
For a more isolated, smaller target like Iwo and Okinawa, you can come with considerably less.  Okinawa you'd probably want five divisions.  Iwo you'd want to invade with three or four and then extract a few to comply with the garrison limit.
 
You also have to be ready to jump on the opportunities created in a gambit like this.  IE, the enemy reacts so violently and with so much concern for their deep lines, that the Allies will often have chances to strike almost unopposed at distant locations.  It's important to be able to timely follow with additional good moves.
 
Okay, that's enough along these lines.  I don't want to hijack GreyJoy's thread.  Good luck!