How to conduct Japan's invasions of DEI etc

[Grotius]

How does Japan set up and execute its historical gains in late 1941 and early 1942: Neth. East Indies, Malaya, Philippines, Borneo, Rabaul, northern New Guinea, etc? I'm playing with divisions, limited overseas supplies, pilots, CVPs, most other optionals, but not Cruisers in Flames.

I know I need to load several (4?) divisions onto SCS to invade undefended hexes, and larger units into TRANS and AMPHs to invade tougher targets, I assume. Before declaring war on the CW (or US), I should load up these vessels and sail them to a sea area adjacent to the target, putting them in the highest possible sea box there. In some cases, I imagine I'll need to stage loaded vessels to a port adjacent to the target sea area, to minimize movement into that sea area and thereby maximize the sea box I invade from.

Maybe a good AAR would help? Can anyone point me to a "textbook" Japanese blitzkrieg of the Co-Prosperity Sphere? Thanks.

[Joseignacio]

You pretty much defined the basics of it.

OF course you want to attack in a surprise impulse, which will let you invade with no or very few penalties, there will be no air (and/or naval?) support on their side, rivers don't exist for combat matters, and so on in this impulse, IIRW fortifications neither...

Also, you can cut supply with the invading fleet and a couple of cruisers in the surrounding seas, which will decrease the notional unit defense to 0 in most cases, making invasion automatic.

The Asian area uses to be extremely weakly defended because of the lack of units initially deployed there, so in many cases you can easily just invade a nearby hex and then unload units and destroy the bunch of scattered crappy MIL or TERR in the followinf impulses rather than in the invasion itself.

[paulderynck]

The fort sides of Singapore are unaffected by surprise.

Having your units out at sea already may reveal enough about your intentions for the CW to move some units to reinforce strategic locations, although it does save taking a Super-Combined with an O-chit.

Personally I prefer to DoW, get the surprise impulse and take a Super-Combined, because if you are close to where the US may DoW Japan, they just might try it and succeed [X(] when you reveal your intentions, and totally pre-empt your plans with a surprise impulse of their own.

[Joseignacio]

Supercombined is a good option, but if the UK hasn't taken precautions previously there is few they can do when they see your loaded ships at sea... No time to send units from UK/Canada, and very difficult to get them from India/Australia if there are some subs/cruisers at sea in some seas...

[Joseignacio]

Deleted. Nonsense. [:D]

[Grotius]

Thanks for the replies! I'll give it a go shortly and let you know how I do.

[paulderynck]

Another reason for my "all in one impulse" approach is the weather. Usually the turns when weather is optimal in both North Monsoon and South Monsoon are the shorter Fall and Winter turns. If you have aspirations in both weather zones, the chance for both to be Fine weather do not come along all that often. Spend an impulse of great weather getting the ships and invaders in position, roll bad weather and then the turn ends. [:@]

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

Spend an impulse of great weather getting the ships and invaders in position, roll bad weather and then the turn ends. [:@]

Isn't this the typical WiF plan, or at least my typical plan? It sure sounds (all too) familiar to me! [:)]

[Grotius]

I'm playing a solitaire game, now in J/A 41. Barbarossa is raging, and the US is around 35 entry, 15 tension vs both GE/IT and JP. Italy and CW remain at peace; each has sought to avoid the USE hit of DOW. Anyway, I'm pretty comfortable with the land rules; I've played the Barb scenario several times, and my Germany's Barbarossa is going okay. It's the island-hopping for JP that has me a little bewildered. I have a whole bunch of questions. If anyone can take the time to reply, I'd appreciate it!

1. I've positioned a Japanese INF in Singora, in Malaya. As of yet, it has no HQ with it, but I'm thinking I'll need one. I'm using LOS. As I read the supply rules, the INF can use Singora's port as part of a basic supply path, so it can grab the (undefended) Malaya resource and then move on to undefended Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital of Malaya. KL is 3 hexes from Singora, so the INF will be in supply if the weather is Fine, but OOS if it's rain or storm or blizzard. KL can't serve as a secondary supply source until Malaya is conquered, and that won't happen until the Conquest step at the end of the turn. KL is a port, but that won't help me unless I have CPs in the Bay of Bengal; maybe that should be part of the plan? It seems easier just to bring an HQ. I guess in Fine weather I could assault Singapore from the hex northwest of it, and for that matter use coastal sea supply for a unit in the hex northeast of Singapore. But an HQ would seem to remove all the supply risk associated with weather, plus it could help with reorg in a pinch. So: HQ to Singora, yes?

2. Malaya has a capital city (KL), so it's a minor country, not a territory. To conquer it, I could just sit in KL for the whole turn, as there are no factories -- but that wouldn't win me control of Singapore, which has CW land and naval units protecting it. The only advantage of waiting is that after conquest I could use KL as a secondary supply source, obviating the need for an HQ. But I'm not sure I want to wait around that long. So again I'm wondering if I need Yamashita or someone here. (I'm assuming that amphibious invasion of Singapore is a bad idea.) I suppose paradropping in conjunction with a land assault would be a good thing, though?

3. To capture the NEI, I just need to take and hold Batavia, and again wait until the Conquest stage. I'm playing solitaire, and my Allied self has garrisoned Batavia with two TERRs. But since Production takes place before Conquest, ideally shouldn't I also land at Balikpapan and Tarakan as well?

4. If I invade on hexes near Batavia, then march overland to the capital, maybe I can avoid the use of a HQ by relying on coastal supply? I don't mind using HQs, but they're tied up in China...

5. How urgent is it to take Rabaul? I'm hoping the US will remain neutral after my DOW, so I'm not planning a Pearl Harbor, and thus no Philippines.

6. Finally, how and when does one get to Burma? Overland looks slow; amphibious looks risky.

Thanks!

[Centuur]

1. Either a CP in the Bay of Bengal to get supply there, or a HQ. It also depends on what the defense of Singapore looks like to decide what's needed there. Difficult one to answer.

2. You don't need to occupy a capital to conquer a country. You only have to control the capital. It's enough to move a unit through the capital on the way to Singapore..

3. Right.

4. Yes.

5. Pretty urgent. If the CW can get white print defenders into the port, you're in trouble. During the surprise impulse, if the port is empty of CW land units you can invade with a division and should do so, since the notional defender has zero value at that time so no chance of losing the division.

6. That depends on where the CW fleet and possible land based air are located. If you've aligned Siam and get a fast moving in supply INF at the border with Burma, the distance to Rangoon isn't that far. But the Rangoon MIL is probably sitting in the city there, so you have to fight for the place. Usually the problem is that the Japanese don't have enough units to attack everything at the same time. Burma can wait a turn a two, I believe...

[brian brian]

For Japan, Rabaul is like the missing scale on Smaug's belly.

[Grotius]

Thanks, guys! Pretty much answered all my questions. I think I'll try to patch the missing scale on the dragon's body.

[paulderynck]

ORIGINAL: brian brian

For Japan, Rabaul is like the missing scale on Smaug's belly.

(giggle) and not taking it is like missing the scale's spot with your spear.

[Mike Dubost]

ORIGINAL: Grotius


3. To capture the NEI, I just need to take and hold Batavia, and again wait until the Conquest stage. I'm playing solitaire, and my Allied self has garrisoned Batavia with two TERRs. But since Production takes place before Conquest, ideally shouldn't I also land at Balikpapan and Tarakan as well?

4. If I invade on hexes near Batavia, then march overland to the capital, maybe I can avoid the use of a HQ by relying on coastal supply? I don't mind using HQs, but they're tied up in China...


Thanks!

The issue of the NEI is somewhat dependent upon the optional rules in play. If you are using the oil rules, and are willing to be stingy with oil-dependent units in the early game, you could potentially save extra oil, and then limit your invasion to Batavia and surrounding area. That does come with some risk, however.


The risky part is that Return to Base (RTB) phase is before the conquest phase. If your Churchill side has set up units at sea in nearby sea zones, they can RTB to an NEI port. During conquest, if a major power at war with the conquerer has land units in the conquered territory, all hexes occupied or in the uncontested Zone of Control of such units become controlled by that major power.
NOTE, I have assumed the "normal" tactic of aligning the Netherlands to the CW, and that the US entry option to allow the CW to reinforce the Pacific either has been chosen, or can be chosen this turn. If Netherlands is aligned to another major power, you would not even need the US entry option.

Yamamoto should also keep in mind that naval units that RTB can be intercepted by units that remain at sea. This requires an interception roll, so it is not a sure thing, but having no units that remain at sea does prevent you from even trying.

Maybe this is already known to you, from a close reading of the manual, but just in case, I thought I'd mention these thoughts.

[paulderynck]

Yeah even enemy aircraft at sea can RTB to an NEI port and will control that hex for their owner at the conquest step.

All the more reason to play with oil so those interlopers can't re-org and can be easily walked over, or at least force the enemy to keep a supply link open to the port in question. Which in turn implies what Japan needs to be doing about it.

[Grotius]

Thanks, guys. I am indeed playing with oil and LOS (and most optionals except Cruisers in Flames), and I think it makes sense to worry about CW naval (or air) units occupying NEI oil hexes. I'm inclined to have my Japan invade the oil hexes to ensure that it gets their production right away. It's a learning game, and I want to learn how to maximize JP's lift capability.

Yes, the CW has aligned the NEI, and the Netherlands has its home country in England. But the US hasn't yet chosen the entry option to let the CW reinforce the Pacific. My entry/tension for JP is 26/19, so not enough for option 36. The US has already chosen option 22 and is about to choose to move the fleet to Pearl Harbor at the end of this turn (J/A 41). I'm glad you mentioned option 36, because I don't fully understand it. It speaks of "territory"; does that include minor countries (as opposed to territories) like Malaya and the NEI? (I note that option 36 been reworded to explicitly include Malaya in RAW8.) The CW already has a Royal Engineer in Singapore, plus 5 cruisers. I'm not sure it has the forces to spread much more land units around Malaya or the DEI anyway.

That said, my CW certainly won't hesitate to sortie its Singapore fleet: it's got oil to burn, lol. I've been stockpiling way too much oil in Palembang and especially Singapore, as I can't figure out how to get it the heck out of there! I don't have enough CPs to send it all the way to England, and factories in Oz and India only need so much. I've got 8! oil stacked up in Singapore, and 3 in Palembang. Where should it be going? How and when do I get it there? I know I can voluntarily destroy it all before Japan arrives, but surely I can find a use for it somewhere?

[paulderynck]

You should have enough CPs to get it to India, maybe some to Perth and then by rail to eastern Australia. In an oil game, for turn end re-org, you can use any oil you store in your possessions and can trace a supply path to.

Ideally you want at least one CW CP in each sea zone from the South China Sea, past India and then around Africa and back to the UK.

So there was a time when you could have used it rather than other oil in safer locales. Now it's a very pretty plum for Japan to go after.

[Grotius]

Thanks. I do have a link all the way to England, but that transports only one oil a turn. At least I can use that link to reorg units in the UK and elsewhere -- I hope.

I imagine some turns I used my CPs to transport a resource rather than oil. The earlier glitches with the Production interface didn't help -- I'd struggle for an hour to route resources the way I want, only to see the program undo my efforts. (I've been playing this solo game for a couple years!) The Production system has been improved, at least somewhat, but as you say, probably too late now.

Also, I assume I can't move the saved oil by TRANS or AMPH or anything. Can I rail it out of Singapore?

[Centuur]

I usually save the NEI oil in either Calcutta and Bombay or in Australia. You don't need it in the UK.

And if the Netherlands is active, I usually use that oil for reorganisation.

[jboldt007]

In my very very limited experience it seems to me Japan’s priorities are getting NEI oil by hook or by crook and Rabaul - both critical - Rabaul is not so much about Japanese expansion as denying US a good major port . I’ve never seen Singapore as that critical an objective for Japan - and Burma is tough. Without NEI oil and if there is an oil embargo japan is in trouble until at least its refineries are built. Also - if Germany has a DOW on Netherlands then Dutch units can set up in Batavia- japan would still get surprise with a DOW but I’m not sure if CW could place reinforcements there in subsequent turns before the Japanese DOW?