So, how do you defend (as Japan)?

[sanderz]

Hi all

Am playing as Japanese (first time) in Scenario 1 (vs AI) and its the end of March 1942.

I think i should have asked for tips about attacking as i am not doing too well. Just to set the scene i only took Singapore in early March but still haven't taken Rangoon and Bataan (though have got a division in Magwe) . Took Palambang a month or so ago but have only just invaded Java. I got Rabaul early but not Port Moresby and i think its unlikley i will even try for it now.

Anyway, i'm really not sure how to best prepare defenses for the years ahaed. Are there key places i should occupy/garrison (and with what). Should i aim for level 9 forts and highest possible ports/airfields?

Any tips much appreciated

Thanks

Sanderz

[PaxMondo]

Defense is like offense, a bit style dependent.  So specifics will vary.  Overall though, think interlocking base defense with reaction forces.  Read, PzB's AAR to get good idea.  Cap&Gown's AAR also has good examples.  Both also show their interlocking strategies of defense.  Air HQ placement is a key, as is location of reaction forces.
 
Fort levels are to give you time to get your reaction forces into play.  Levels above 6 are $$$$ in supply, so you are trading off supply cost versus reaction force distance/time.    

[EUBanana]

I think defined killing grounds might be a good idea, though how feasible it would be is anybody's guess. Have a redoubt of interlocking airfields. Ensure that the nearest airfields to it are undeveloped, thus adding to the woes of an advance.

To explain what I mean - eg, in SOPAC, assuming the Japanese have everything as far as Lunga, build up Gasmata, Talasea, Rabaul and Shortlands, but leave Port Moresby, Milne Bay, Lae, Finschafen and Lunga as undeveloped as possible, aside from LCUs with fortifications, floatplanes for recon, and (maybe) ports.

Assuming the enemy wants to advance in SOPAC they have two choices, a full on amphibious assault to bypass the periphery and strike directly at Rabaul or Shortlands, or the usual slow nibbling that the Allies are good at under an LBA umbrella. The full on assault plays into Japans hands and runs the risk of KB + multiple bases, which is bad news. If the Allies nibble at the periphery then with lots of Helens et al and aggressive sweeps you should have the advantage of better basing, while he has to build everything from scratch, and immunity to heavy bombers because your bases would be too far away (eg at Lunga, the Allies might have heavies at Luganville, but your own airfields at Shortlands/Rabaul/Lae would be too far away for them to hit). Certainly in the late war everything within 16 hexes of an Allied base is in grave danger, and unless you have an airfield 9 and a vast quantity of IJ airpower there its going to be cracked, so you want to deny that as much as possible, ie force him to build level 5 airfields from scratch while sitting under the nose of your airforce.

Needless to say you'd need IJN reaction forces as well to interdict reinforcements and especially engineers as much as possible. Engineering vehicles cannot be airlifted so he will be forced to land by sea and thus be in theory interdictable. And even SeaBees need supply.

Your next set of defensive redoubts should be ideally 16 hexes minimum from your built airfields (which is why you dont develop Lae, you want to bear in mind your next set of dead ground). So even when he captures Rabaul, Gasmata and Talasea and forces an evac, you rinse/repeat, by having airfields at, say, Sarmi and Hollandia.

This is pretty dependent on terrain though, in some cases the bases are already built (eg Port Moresby) that make easy base hopping unpreventable.

[henhute6]

Better take Port Moresby early so that it would be easier. I used Lunga and PM as a main defence bases in my game against AI. Just kill the US carriers as soon as they arrive. AI will form single carrier raiding forces which makes it quite easy. In my game I didn't lose even a single CVE and victory was announced 1944. And I started playing grand campaign without practising game first. So I guess AI would do better if it didn't touch the forces at all.

Be agressive and don't save fuel. Your big ships are not meant to be in port. They should be killing stuff all the time.

[henhute6]

Good tactic is also put BB task forces near enemy bomber bases. They like to naval attack with heavy bombers. Occasional bomb hits only scratches your BB, but AA takes toll on bombers. These BB fleets also have guard job when AI tries some crazy landing without support.

[mike scholl 1]

All of the above sound not so much like tactics and strategy, but "crib notes" on how to take advantage of the failings of the AI. Usefull if you ONLY play the AI..., useless if you decide to take on a real opponant.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: mike scholl 1

All of the above sound not so much like tactics and strategy, but "crib notes" on how to take advantage of the failings of the AI. Usefull if you ONLY play the AI..., useless if you decide to take on a real opponant.

+1

I agree with Mike. Don´t abuse the shortcomings of the AI. Play as you would play a human because sooner or later you will probably take the plunge to play PBEM. It might not be this year or next. Took me six years before I started my first PBEM

As someone else said I would start by reading PzBs AAR. Found here:
tm.asp?m=2324032

[Shark7]

The longer you can stay on offense, the better...once the allies get momentum, its all downhill from there.

Like others have said, figure out what's important, build up in areas that can support each other and have your SAGs and CVBGs ready to respond.

Some people prefer a full out defense, others will take a lot of land and abandon it, choosing to build up really heavy defenses in places they know the allies are gonna want, like Saipan, Iwo, etc.

[sanderz]

thanks all - some really good stuff, particularly about allied air range and interlocking bases

am 3 pages through the AAR, only another 104 to go
(i have been following Mikes as its very helpful for new Jap players like me)

whilst i have had the game for a few years its only the last couple of months i have been really getting into it - i think i am hooked

[when i go for a walk up the coast i swear i can see Jap CVs on the horizon - particularly as i live in a place with the same name as one of the towns on the map that might actually see CVs off the coast in the game! Also, am trying to work out if the small local ships/boats are xxxAKL or just xxAKL, and what troop capacity of the ferry has - IS THIS NORMAL?]

but i digress

the thought of PBEM is pretty scary - and you all seem like total addicts here - no offense [:D] - and i couldn't manage a turn a day to keep up

i'm a bit like Bullwinkle and play other stuff and sometimes would want a break etc etc - but having said all that the PBEM games look very challenging and a lot more fun - who knows, maybe sometime. I still have an awful lot to learn about the game and its such a big commitment you don't want to mess things up

[Shark7]

PBEM is fun if you have the time for it. So much more of a challenge than the AI.

[SqzMyLemon]

I'm learning this aspect of the game as well. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is logistics. Interlocking airbases, reactionary ground and naval forces are all keys, but make sure you have the logistics in place as well. All these forces require fuel/supply in order to react, build forts or replace losses. Without these, you'll find you may not be able to respond to a threat as you wish you could.

Try and determine what are must haves and plan your defence accordingly. And as Pax said, customize your defence to accomodate your style. Whatever that style is, will go a long way to helping you understand what is required in order to implement it.

[Shark7]

I have personally found that the Marshalls, Truk and the Solomans are really not that important in the end. Saipan is a key location though, as the B-29s are in range of the HI from there.

Those other places are a nice buffer, but they are also hard to keep supplied...even Truk is hard to supply when there is no real air cover for the last leg of the journey.

Saipan is a good defensive position as well, since you bases at Tinian and Guam that can be enlarged to support G3M/G4M and both within a few hexes of Saipan, you also have Ulithi (great anchorage), Yap, and that little island just north of Saipan that can be enlarged to handle fighters.

[henhute6]

ORIGINAL: mike scholl 1

All of the above sound not so much like tactics and strategy, but "crib notes" on how to take advantage of the failings of the AI. Usefull if you ONLY play the AI..., useless if you decide to take on a real opponant.

Why wouldn't you use the most efficient ways to crush your enemy? If he takes pbem game, he can surely adapt tactics.

There is no need to talk even defence. If your first carrier battles are won, the game is won. Essex class is not going to save AI. Just remember to use navy bombers only against naval targets. Don't deplete carrier planes in futile port attacks.

I was little bit disappointed of AI as I thought I would get to use kamikazes and late war weapons. But it's not really possible to make working AI for this kind of game.

[mike scholl 1]

ORIGINAL: henhute6

ORIGINAL: mike scholl 1
I was little bit disappointed of AI as I thought I would get to use kamikazes and late war weapons. But it's not really possible to make working AI for this kind of game.

EXACTLY! Which is why if you actually want a challange (as opposed to just "kicking puppies") you eventually have to turn to PBEM. Andy did an amazing job..., but this game is just to large and complex to "automate".

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: mike scholl 1

ORIGINAL: henhute6

ORIGINAL: mike scholl 1
I was little bit disappointed of AI as I thought I would get to use kamikazes and late war weapons. But it's not really possible to make working AI for this kind of game.

EXACTLY! Which is why if you actually want a challange (as opposed to just "kicking puppies") you eventually have to turn to PBEM. Andy did an amazing job..., but this game is just to large and complex to "automate".

after all those multiplayer games got going I don't know any game's AI that is really up to the task... none, no shooter AI, no flight sim, no strategy game, I just can't think of any game I bought in the last 15 years that would have an AI as good as a human opponent.

[sanderz]

playing the ai is still fun for me at this stage - and i am learning lots about game mechanics etc

it helps (the ai) that i am doing so badly i think

its quite daunting to start something that could in all probability take as long as the real war!