Advice for IJN player

[Grotius]

Hi all,

I've read the excellent "Strategy Guides" posted by Mogami and Cap & Gown, but I still seem to need help learning how to play the IJN. I can whup the AI when I play the USN in Scenario 17, but as IJN I have more trouble -- yes, against the AI. I mean, I'm ahead on points in my current game of Scen 17, but in the long run I might actually (shudder) lose. So I would surely be slaughtered if I tried IJN in PBEM, which is what I'd ultimately like to do. Some questions:

1. Should one seek auto-victory or victory on points? Cap & Gown's invasion guide implies that he goes on the defensive after taking PM, which in turn implies he seeks a victory on points. Is it *possible* to win on points as the IJN? If so, what do you need to hold by game end to win: PM and Lunga? Just Lunga?

2. Does it do any good to bomb the airfield at PM? I never seem to take it out of action with my level bombers. Is the idea just to bomb something -- port, TFs unloading, airstrip -- with the goal of attritting the Allied fighters? (I know Bombardment TFs can shut down PM, but in my current game, my surface fleet was kept constantly busy in June-July with USN surface TFs coming up the Slot to challenge me at Lunga. Maybe I shouldn't have taken Lunga?)

3. What do you do about Lae? Build it up or ignore it? If you're going after PM, must you operate from Lae to reduce pilot fatigue etc.? It's no fun to resupply it, though barges do help. If you decide to lunge toward Lunga instead of PM, can you neglect Lae? Is it possible to take PM while neglecting Lae?

4. My IJN ASW stinks, even vs the AI; I imagine Allied subs would brutalize me in a PBEM. The IJN ASW seems a bit weak to me (see separate thread), but leaving that aside, what's to be done? My "hunter-killer" TFs of 4-5 DDs and a few PCs don't kill anything. My ASW planes, dozens of 'em, do a nice job of spotting and occasionally shooting, but not killing. Any advice?

5. I just got burned by the dreaded 1-hex reaction, in which I had two CV TFs following a third CV TF. (The "leader" CV reacted one hex, but the followers didn't, splitting my CVs and leading to ignominious defeat.) I know this has been asked before, but so I'm sure: What's the best way to keep CVs together -- a single, multi-CV mega-TF? Or create a little surface TF (of DDs or something) and instruct all CV TFs to follow *that* around?

Thanks!

[Veer]

1) Holding Lunga only should allow you to win on points. But not holding PM makes this more difficult.

2) PM if untaken by Aug '42 can be a major pain in the @ss. The allies will deploy level bombers there which can make life hell of anything you have at Rabaul. Bombing PM early on - when you can take advantage of the higher experience of IJN pilots is important. This should be used in conjuction with picket subs to block off supply to PM. The odd bombardment TF will help too. However keeping PM shut down permanately is impossible. For that you have to invade.

You should take Lunga. Having the allies base level bombers out of Lunga is even worse than PM.

3) Lae - good question. If i've taken PM, i usually ignore it. Operating out of Lae is not really advisable. IJN planes can reach PM from Rabaul just fine. Holding Lae does however secure your right flank. If the allies are going to attack Rabaul via PM, they have to take/neutralise Lae first. Better you have it than the enemy. It is a good place to base recon craft out of though.

4) Go with DD's. ASW planes aren't too good for killing, but they will allow you to spot subs. Once a sub is spotted send a DD TF to the area. Don't mix PC's with DD's - they slow the TF down. Try and get your PC experience up.

5) I've never like mega-TF's. Not enough operational flexability.
If you have two carrier TF's make sure that the admirals in charge are are cautious or aggressive. Very aggressive admirals will always react. AFAIK TF's on follow do not react, so it's also a good idea to keep all your CV TF's on follow. However DD's are good AA platforms, so you will want them in you CV TF. Yet AP's and PC's are too slow and will slow your entire force. If you want to create a 'lead' TF, CL's are a good idea - fast and not much good for anything else.

[Yamamoto]

I feel it is very important to own both Port Moresby and Lunga if you want to have any hope of winning on points. Owning those bases forces the enemy player to cover large expanses of open ocean to reach you. That’s pleanty of room for your torpedo bombers to go to work on him. Any ships you damage have a long way to go to make it home and many will sink, which only gives you more points. Also, your level bombers can hit everything on the map from those two places. That will force him to keep fighters back at any base where he sends supply runs to.

I like large CV groups. If I can get four CVs together I feel mostly immune from land-based air and can go where I want to go (until fatigue starts to affect my fighter pilots). True, putting all of your CVs into one group makes you a little more predictable, since you can’t hit two different targets at once, but it’s a lot safer.

Yamamoto

[CapAndGown]

Originally posted by Grotius
Hi all,


1. Should one seek auto-victory or victory on points? Cap & Gown's invasion guide implies that he goes on the defensive after taking PM, which in turn implies he seeks a victory on points. Is it *possible* to win on points as the IJN? If so, what do you need to hold by game end to win: PM and Lunga? Just Lunga?

How far you can go will depend on the time frame and the correlation of forces. The longer it takes to grab initial objectives the less likely it will be that you can grab more distant ones as the your supperiority in ground forces will wane. Also, keep in mind that as you spread out, grabbing PM, Gili-Gili, Lunga, Tulagi, etc. you will spreading your ground forces thin as you must garrison these bases. This will leave you with fewer troops to mount an assault. Meanwhile, the allies will have fewer bases to garrison, which means he will be able to defend them in greater strength. Therefore you will need even more ground troops just to increase your odds. This situation strikes me as similar to the dilemna the Germans found themselves in during Barbarrossa: too much front, too few troops.

If, however, you have achieved a major victory at sea and outnumber your opponent in carriers by a comfortable margin, then you can keep up the offensive. At the very least you can continue to damage his fleet, making it that much harder for him to make up the lost ground.

At the very least, I think you need to make the Coral Sea into a moat that stands between NG/Solomons and Australia/Santa Cruz. If you cannot secure an auto victory, then having this moat will force him to commit his fleet to come after you. Your goal then will be to decisively engage his fleet once he makes his move and stop him from establishing a foot hold on the NG/Solomons sides of the Coral Sea. If he can gain a foothold, then his level bombers will flatten every thing in sight.

2. Does it do any good to bomb the airfield at PM? I never seem to take it out of action with my level bombers. Is the idea just to bomb something -- port, TFs unloading, airstrip -- with the goal of attritting the Allied fighters? (I know Bombardment TFs can shut down PM, but in my current game, my surface fleet was kept constantly busy in June-July with USN surface TFs coming up the Slot to challenge me at Lunga. Maybe I shouldn't have taken Lunga?)

And just how did he "challenge" you? Did he run an invasion? Do you really need to worry about an occasional harrasment? Even if if he does invade, will he not be stretching himself thin? Let him land. The troops he commits to Lunga will not be available to defend PM/L'ville/Noumea.

I had one player send the Americal, Aus 7th Div and Aus 3rd Div to Guadacanal in mid-june through late August. What did he have to defend PM? One brigade! Not only did I hold on to Lunga, and severly maul his carriers and transports, I took PM in early July. (And I had plenty of surface forces to maintain a constant bombardment of the airfield there.) We decided to call that game and start again. But it is easy to see that L'ville and Efate would have been push overs considering everything he had in the way of ground forces was sitting on the Canal accomplishing nothing except dying.

But in direct answer to your question: I really don't bother to bomb the field at PM until my invasion starts. Even then, this is merely a supplement to my bombardment missions. Betty's and Nell's make for very poor bombers. I would rather save them for naval attacks.

3. What do you do about Lae? Build it up or ignore it? If you're going after PM, must you operate from Lae to reduce pilot fatigue etc.? It's no fun to resupply it, though barges do help. If you decide to lunge toward Lunga instead of PM, can you neglect Lae? Is it possible to take PM while neglecting Lae?

I let it sit. Depending on his actions, I move some Mavis's in to do naval search of the Aussie coast. But I really don't run any supply in, except through a barge line that I set up from that small island north of New Britain.

Just before my invasion of PM I will probably move a squadron of zeros into Lae to provide LRCAP over PM. I also use Hoskins and Woodlark for this, plus LRCAP from the carriers.

4. My IJN ASW stinks, even vs the AI; I imagine Allied subs would brutalize me in a PBEM. The IJN ASW seems a bit weak to me (see separate thread), but leaving that aside, what's to be done? My "hunter-killer" TFs of 4-5 DDs and a few PCs don't kill anything. My ASW planes, dozens of 'em, do a nice job of spotting and occasionally shooting, but not killing. Any advice?

The massing of USN subs in base hexes does seem over done. I hope something is done about this. Right now, I just keep the float planes on ASW and use my PCs to absorb torps when an important task force is about to enter harbor. I hope to run him out of ammo before he can hit one of my more valuable ships.

5. I just got burned by the dreaded 1-hex reaction, in which I had two CV TFs following a third CV TF. (The "leader" CV reacted one hex, but the followers didn't, splitting my CVs and leading to ignominious defeat.) I know this has been asked before, but so I'm sure: What's the best way to keep CVs together -- a single, multi-CV mega-TF? Or create a little surface TF (of DDs or something) and instruct all CV TFs to follow *that* around?

Thanks!

Do not go with the mega-CV TF. Set up a little surface force for your CV TF's to follow. This is especially nice as some of the enemy's plane may go for the little surface TF instead of you carriers. I had one battle where one of my AC TF's was not attacked at all because his planes went for one of the AC TF's and the little surface TF. (Shades of the sinking of the Neosho.)

This thread: showthread.php?s=&threadid=30218 has some suggestions on TF composition.

[Grotius]

Cap and Gown, Yamamoto, and Veer: Many thanks for your insightful comments. It's nice to have some sense of one's long-term goal as IJN. It sounds like "winning on points" is, at the very least, a viable alternative to auto-victory. And from what you guys say, it may be a preferable alternative in Scenario 17. (Scenario 19 sounds like a different story, judging by the Mogami/Arto AAR.) As Cap and Gown says, the longer your supply lines get, and the more you've got to garrison, the tougher things get. And, as Yamamoto says, owning PM/Lunga means there's a very large moat between you and the colonialists -- er, the Allies.

And Veer, thanks for the suggestion about CLs. At last I have a mission for those stray CLs that sit around in port!