My own thoughts on Jap strategy (scn 17)

[CapAndGown]

I start from the premise that the Japanese must take Port Moresby. Why? As long as the Allies hold Port Moresby the Japanese will have no freedom of movement in the Solomon Sea and their main base at Rabaul will be subject to direct attack by American level bombers. With no secure base in either the Solomons, the Bismarks or New Guinea the Japanese player will be hard pressed to run supply to his bases or rotate his troops. By capturing Port Moresby by the end of June the Japanese player will be in a position to undertake extensive troop rotation and resupply of his bases during the month of July at precisely the time his forward deployed troops will need to be pulled out for R&R and his bases extensively resupplied in preparation for an allied counter offensive.

The capture of Port Moresby, however, cannot be accomplished right away since the Japanese player does not have sufficient ground forces available to accomplish this task. Normally the Japanese will need to await the arrival of the 2nd and 38th divisions in mid-June before he can try to assault this base.

In the mean time the Japanese can be accomplishing a number of tasks prefatory to attacking Port Moresby. During early May I try to get an airfield built at Shortlands very quickly. By focusing on just building the airfield there while stopping construction on the port and fortifications a level one airfield can be built within a few days. This then can become my main fleet base until Port Moresby is captured when Rabaul will become my main base. I also move the fleet HQ from Rabaul to Shortlands to provide more support (Shortlands starts out short of support).

To secure Shortlands I task the 144th regiment with capturing and holding Lunga while the 4th base force from Truk is moved to Lunga to develop the airfield there. The engineering regiments from the South Seas detachment can be working on the airfield their until the arrival of the 4th base force after which they can be transferred to some other base to help expand it.

As part of the same operation I secure Tulagi. I refer to this as an operation because I am not going to allow my transports to be subject to a raid from allied surface or air forces. Rather, the carriers, after making a stop at Shortlands to refuel and take on new planes (the squadrons start out under strength) sail to the south of San Cristobal to intercept and American carriers or surface forces that might interfere with this operation.

In general, the Japanese player should prevent American surface forces from interfering with his operations by stationing his carriers in a position from which they can attack these forces before they are able to run into the invasion site and retire. For an invasion or reenforcement of Lunga this means having the carriers positions around Rennell Island. For an invasion of Gili-Gili this means positioning the carriers between Gili-Gili and Townsville. Not only does this save your transports, it prevents the Americans from gaining a cheap boost to their experience levels. Just one night action against the weakest of opposition will raise the night experience level of the American ships involved from the 30's into the 60's.

I also like to secure Rossell and Woodlark Islands right away. By having Rossell Island I can set the home base of bombardment forces to Rossell when they are plastering Port Moresby. When returning to "base" after the mission, then, they do not need to round the tip of New Guinea. Woodlark is useful because it provides a forward airfield that is out of range of American fighters. Any Allied bombers that attack this base will, therefore, be unescorted. You can use the forces at Buin and Buka for capturing these bases. I think you should save development of these area until later.

Gili-Gili and Buna can also be captured right away by fast transporting in troops. I have managed to capture Port Moresby without holding either of these bases ahead of time. As such, I do not consider them as essential unless the US player should start to develop them. Even if the Japanese do take these bases, I would recommend that the motivation be one of denial rather than an attempt to turn them into operational bases, at least until Port Moresby is captured. They are simply too vulnerable to allied bombers and Gili-Gili is also vulnerable to being bombarded by allied surface forces.

Besides Woodlark and Lae I would also recommend turning Hoskins into a fighter base to support the invasion of Port Moresby. Hoskins is preferable to Gasmata because your transports can generally get supplies and troops to this base without being attacked by allied level bombers. And in the long term, Hoskins is invulnerable to bombardment missions because it is on the "lee side" of New Britain. (Dobadura and Buna can also be developed after the capture of Port Moresby because of their position on the "lee side" of New Guinea which makes them relatively safe from allied bombardment task forces.) The base force at Kanevig can be transfered to Hoskins to support your planes there.

After having accomplished these missions by the end of May at the latest, the Japanese will have a period where they are still not strong enough to take Port Moresby yet likely have enough forces available to accomplish an offensive mission. The American player cannot be allowed to rest. You must push him, probing his defenses and making him consider even his most secure and distant bases as vulnerable. The Japanese start out with a preponderance of ground and naval forces. This must be turned to your advantage. The Americans cannot hold everything in strength. If they reenforce Port Moresby with the Australian 7th division, then his bases in the South Pacific will be weak. If he impetuously tries to attack Lunga during June, then any forces he lands there can be destroyed while weakening his hold on the South Pacific. Your goal should be to stretch out the Americans so that your forces can be concentrated at one point for a decisive advantage.

Try to understand how your opponent operates. Is he brash and unconcerned for his defenses while he impatiently prepares for an offensive? In this case it may be advisable to let him commit himself to his offensive. Then meet him in a holding operation on the ground while attempting to decisively engaging his fleet. Should he commit himself too far forward too quickly his rearward bases will be lightly defended. Go for the throat! Has he landed the Americal at Lunga? Descend on Noumea! The American player who goes on the offensive before August has overstretched himself and can be defeated in detail.

At the same time you are trying to figure out how your opponent operates, do not base your moves one what you believe to be his intentions. You must assess his capabilities and plan accordingly. Just because he has repeatedly run bombardment missions against Lunga, do not assume that the fleet you see south of Lunga this time is another bombardment fleet. It may be a task force composed of carriers escorting an invasion fleet! Plan your operations and your responses to his according to what he could do, not what you think he will do.


Try to engage the American carriers as soon as possible. To accomplish this you must attack something that he must defend. A descent on Luganville and Efate, even if only a feint, may be one way to accomplish this. It will depend on your opponent's strength. Do not become wedded to land based air. Carriers are offensive weapons of great power meant to bring air assets into areas outside the range of your land based air. Be sure to recon the area of you attack ahead of time. Mavis's and Emily's can be used for this, though they are not very effective. For the best recon, load up some subs with troops and send them to probe your opponent's strength. When you have found a weak spot, attack it with overwhelming force!

A word of caution, however. If you go for Luganville, you must try to take Efate as well. If you do not have the force to take both, then try for neither. At most your move can be used as a feint to draw out his carriers. No matter which way you decide to go, however, force him to attend to his defenses. Do not allow him to hold anything on the cheap.

By the end of June you should ready for the assault on Port Moresby. I will not go into detail about how to accomplish that here as I have covered that elsewhere. One note should be made about this operation, however. Forego the overland route. Your troops will become too fatigued and disrupted by the time they reach Port Moresby and they will be subjected to continuous air attack as they make their way up the Koda trail. Also, try to deceive your opponent as to the timing of your attack so that you do not have to fight a carrier or surface battle, if possible.

Once you have Port Moresby in hand, you can clean up the rest of the Solomon Sea. Be sure to capture Wau. Dobadura can now be developed into an airbase as well as Gili-Gili. Now that you have freedom of movement in the Solomon Sea, start rotating forces back to Truk while fresh forces are brought forward. You should be receiving several new base forces about now. These can be used to relieve the base forces you deployed forward earlier. By mid-June you should be bringing at least 3 base forces that started out in the malaria zones back to Truk to refit. Your AAA and CD units, as well as naval garrison units should be brought back for refitting as well.

Now you must decide on where you can, or if you can, attack further. If you have decisive carrier superiority, you can aim for either the South Pacific or Australia. I you only have a parity in carrier strength, then you may need to go over to the defensive until your opponent commits himself. Once he has committed himself you may be able to use this as an opportunity to gain the upper hand.

By the end of September, however, the allies will have an overwhelming advantage in the form of their heavy bombers. You must prepare for this long before their appearance. Instead of trying to base your defenses forward, use rearward bases to defend your forward outposts. For instance, use Munda and Shortlands to defend Lunga. Use Woodlark and Gasmata to defend Gili-Gili and Rossell. The Americans can bomb your airfields into impotence in one raid. Plan for this; have most of your airforce out of range of his long range bombers. Eventually he must commit his fleet to an invasion to make up the lost ground. That is the time to react with both carrier and surface forces. Depending on your success, you may even be able to go after the bombers themselves with an invasion of his major airbase.


Every move you have made up to this point should have been in preparation to meet the overwhelming advantage the allies will eventually attain.

Good Luck!

[Inigo Montoya]

Outstanding post, Cap and Gown!!!

[Bradman]

Yeah, this is as good as the others, thanks.

[loader6]

Thank you for the tips! I like how you go for lunga while building up for Port Moresby...I think you show how both can be accomplished.