too few SEAC units.

Bernard · Post by **Bernard** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 3:37 am

playing my first PBE game as an allied.
appalled of few forces in India ! i am id february and only have about 5 divisions, low exp + 3 chinese that i took from China to help and 3 Malaya that i've been able to evacuate.
what if a jap player concentrates against india instead of agasinst philippinas ? how canSEAC hold several divisions ?

kisslove · Post by **kisslove** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 3:47 am

I would try to hold Rangoon or Mandalay, and hope that Japs wont make landing in Calcutta until 7th ArmBde arrives.
And it's hard to supply large jap force in that region, so try to save some bombers from Singapore to make it more harder.

Bernard · Post by **Bernard** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 4:38 am

in a ver 3.0 i have 7 div IJN) fighting i columbo, madras, and 2 other cities. 2 TF with 4 CV's and 3 CVL's and enough supply hips o give al these japs rice until 3rd millenium.
what if i do the same in ver 3.2 ? i'll start a game against IA.

kisslove · Post by **kisslove** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 5:47 pm

I don't know if there are much differences, but with such force concentration IMO there should not be a problem with JA supply.

varjager · Post by **varjager** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 8:00 pm

Got my a§§ handed to me by a Jap.Lost hole of India after 1,5 years of fighting.Because the Jap player concentrated on SEAC.Aint much you can do but fight as hard as you can.It will leave openings for USA to strike harder in the Sout pacific.

Capt. Harlock · Post by **Capt. Harlock** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 1:16 am

Assuming you guys are talking about Version 3.2, I have to agree that there are too few, and too poorly experienced units available to SEAC. (See my post about unit experience and recommendations for using the editor.) The Allied player has NO chance of holding Rangoon if the Japanese decide to take it.

Bernard · Post by **Bernard** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 3:12 am

i lost rangoon 1st of second week. opponent went both to Akyab and Mandalay. no troops in Akyab but city not taken (what miracle ?). Retook Rangoon with evacuated troops from Malaya but reevacuated. Gave me some time and disrupted supply. only holding Akyab by the tooth. i guess opponent has supply problems, it is certainly not my troops that deterred him.
had to bring back 3 Chinese div. and change Mandalay to KMT to have them garrison it.

Jeremy Pritchard · Post by **Jeremy Pritchard** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 5:02 am

I have tested this game over and over again, and the British experience is correct. Unfortunatley, the Japanese player will rarely ever follow history and send in more then just the 4 Divisions allocated to the theatre (until 1944 when more were sent). If I increase the experience of allied units, we will experience what all other versions experience, the Allies in Saigon before the end of 1942.

If I increase Allied experience levels, there would just be a thread stating that it is too easy for the Commonwealth to beat the Japanese. Unfortunatley the AI sticks to historic troop depolyments, while Human players put all resources toward one single thrust. The AI can never counter a determined human opponent.

This unbalancing can even ocurr in PBEM games. The PBEM Japanese player cannot conquer India if they keep to the historic OOB. The British player also could not liberate Burma/Siam/Malaya with the forces they have at hand either. HOWEVER, if the Allies or Japanese heavily reinforce the theatre, of course you will unbalance things. Of course things will be weighted heavily on one side over the other. Of course India will fall if the Japanese almost double their troop deployment in the theatre.

I have done countless tests, focussing in all regions, and the current troop strength is accurate enough for the historic stalemate to exist in the region based on historic deployments. If I unrealistically increase Allied strength in Burma/India to make up for a particular strategy then I am defeating an unhistoric strategy with unrealistic increases in troop quality. The Japanese never sent in 7 skilled divisions to India/Burma in 1942, and the British had only a few untrained and ill equipped divisions to defend India until 1943-44 when reinforcements arrive.

The British get 1 good infantry Brigade in December 1941 (29th Infantry), 1 good infantry Division in December 1941 (18th Infantry), 1 good Armoured Brigade in January 1942 (7th Armoured), 1 good infantry Division in March 1942 (70th Infantry), 1 good infantry Division in May 1942 (2nd Infantry). The earlier divisions do not start off at a very high quality, but can be built up to high strength before a Japanese attack can take place (no sooner then February 1942 or else they are attacking when Malaya/NEI/Philippines are still allied occupied). Most British players will keep their forces in India/Burma vs. sending it off to Singapore, which gives them an unhistoric advantage already (not losing the 18th Division).

Increasing the strength of Allied forces will not solve this problem, because it is not a problem but a strategy. The India/Burma theatre was at a stalemate. Neither side had enough good troops to advance further and defeat their opponent until years later. However, if one side throws in more troops into the region, while the other side does not, then expect the stalemate to be broken. If this happens again, ship over US/AUS divisions from Australia, but don't expect that 1942 Commonwealth forces will be able to defeat a massive Japanese attack. Remember, the bulk of the Australian 6th Division was actually deployed on Ceylon for most of the early part of the war in the Pacific.

Capt. Harlock · Post by **Capt. Harlock** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 1:24 am

See my reply in the "Allied LCU Experience Too Low" thread.