Is it worth invading the Kuril islands?

[Podolano]

Greetings,

I’d like to have your advice if you consider it’s worth invading the Kuril islands?

I’m playing against the Jap AI and I have built up a considerable force in the Aleutians, by mid-Dec 42.
I’m thinking about invading Paramushiro-jima and 2 other islands in the region and conduct an aerial warfare from there, aiming to reach Hokkaido.

Would that attract a heavy retaliation by the Japs and may be soften other fronts?
And Would you believe that they would render those bases non-operational by bombing them extensively from Japan?

Thanks,

Felipe

[Canoerebel]

Invasion of Paramushiro triggers Japanese auto reinforcements.

Against the AI, an invasion in '42 would almost certainly succeed. In a game against a human opponent, it would fail (unless the newcomer was a newbie, and perhaps even then).

Japan AI won't effectively counterattack by air no by counterinvasion. It may do some things by sea. You're more likely to break the AI, making the game untenable or unenjoyable, as Japan throws assets away right and left.

[GetAssista]

My experience is that the best way to quickly win a campaign against Japanese AI is to attack from the north, through Kuriles and Hokkaido. There are few airbases on the route, and AI is poor at reacting in force.

Wherever you want such a win is another question.

[spence]

In reality the Japanese worried greatly about an invasion through the Kurils and committed significant resources to their defense. Their invasions of Attu and Kiska were specifically in order to forestall such an invasion.

Possibly due to map distortion in that region though many allied land based aircraft that could and did bomb Paramushiro are unable to reach there from the closest (ultimately) bases in Aleutians (Attu): PV-1s/PV-2s from USN squadrons VPB-135, VPB-136, VPB-139 (and another sqdrn I can't recall) participated in bombing Paramushiro starting from Attu as part of the Empire Express.

An interesting article re the Empire Express can be found here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-hi ... re-express

Squadron histories and official reports of some of the missions can be found at vpnavy.com

[RogerJNeilson]

OK I have recently done just this, but in a rather different context.

It is 1945 and for the whole of the war up to spring 1945 I deliberately kept the theatre as quiet as possible... encouraging my opponent to think this was a backwater and to concentrate his troops and defences on the other side of the map. What I did do was build up Adak Island in the Aleutians which can go to Lvl 7 airbase and currently is building beyond Lvl 7 Port. This has plenty of naval support units there so I am hauling large cargo convoys there. The reason for this is that the Kuriles have poor basing limits in terms of air base level and port level so most of my supplies are picked up by Amphib convoys and taken to the Kurile Islands from Adak. This is working fine to date.

What this has enabled me to do is take Paramushiro and then island hop right down the chain. I now have airbases that essentially can support fighter sweeps over the Home Islands, and also my CV forces etc can be replenished from those bases using the AE and AO fleets. You can base your heavy bombers in Okinawa etc and the Marianas and they can strike targets all over Japan, but fighters can struggle to sweep all bases. I was able through the sudden Kurile switch to bottle up and eliminate all of the remaining Japanese navy.

This has now offered me the opportunity to land on Hokkaido and use it a bit like Sicily before we hit the mainland.....

So if you go now into the Kuriles you run the risk of a backlash and you miss the opportunity in the end game of using the sudden unleashing of this theatre and unbalancing the japanese defence posture. Not sure how relevant that is of course against the AI.

Cheers

Roger

[Podolano]

ORIGINAL: RogerJNeilson

OK I have recently done just this, but in a rather different context.

It is 1945 and for the whole of the war up to spring 1945 I deliberately kept the theatre as quiet as possible... encouraging my opponent to think this was a backwater and to concentrate his troops and defences on the other side of the map. What I did do was build up Adak Island in the Aleutians which can go to Lvl 7 airbase and currently is building beyond Lvl 7 Port. This has plenty of naval support units there so I am hauling large cargo convoys there. The reason for this is that the Kuriles have poor basing limits in terms of air base level and port level so most of my supplies are picked up by Amphib convoys and taken to the Kurile Islands from Adak. This is working fine to date.

What this has enabled me to do is take Paramushiro and then island hop right down the chain. I now have airbases that essentially can support fighter sweeps over the Home Islands, and also my CV forces etc can be replenished from those bases using the AE and AO fleets. You can base your heavy bombers in Okinawa etc and the Marianas and they can strike targets all over Japan, but fighters can struggle to sweep all bases. I was able through the sudden Kurile switch to bottle up and eliminate all of the remaining Japanese navy.

This has now offered me the opportunity to land on Hokkaido and use it a bit like Sicily before we hit the mainland.....

So if you go now into the Kuriles you run the risk of a backlash and you miss the opportunity in the end game of using the sudden unleashing of this theatre and unbalancing the japanese defence posture. Not sure how relevant that is of course against the AI.

Cheers

Roger

Roger,

Very interesting strategy that you’ve just described!
[:)]

In fact, I’ve already conquered Paramushiro by May 42, but was thrown out by the Japs some 4 months later.

As I’ve made constant recon missions with my Catalinas since then, I’ve noticed they’ve weakened their troops in there (probably to reinforce other areas I’ve been pushing hard, such as Rabaul, Tarawa and Dilli/Saumlaki.

Therefore, comes the temptation of invading the Kuriles again but with a larger force...

Cheers,

Felipe

[KenchiSulla]

ORIGINAL: Podolano

Greetings,

I’d like to have your advice if you consider it’s worth invading the Kuril islands?

I’m playing against the Jap AI and I have built up a considerable force in the Aleutians, by mid-Dec 42.
I’m thinking about invading Paramushiro-jima and 2 other islands in the region and conduct an aerial warfare from there, aiming to reach Hokkaido.

Would that attract a heavy retaliation by the Japs and may be soften other fronts?
And Would you believe that they would render those bases non-operational by bombing them extensively from Japan?

Thanks,

Felipe

Not sure if the AI could cope with such a scenario. Vs human players it might trigger a response. Your post made me think about an old game where I attacked North and attracted a lot of attention giving my main effort in the South much needed space...

It did cost me a couple of battleships but managed to destroy the better part of two Japanese divisions in transports....

North Pac diversion / South Pac attack

When you go North early vs a human player - be prepared to take losses....

[Mundy]

Shemya can be built up pretty big too, and it's closer.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: spence

In reality the Japanese worried greatly about an invasion through the Kurils and committed significant resources to their defense. Their invasions of Attu and Kiska were specifically in order to forestall such an invasion.

Possibly due to map distortion in that region though many allied land based aircraft that could and did bomb Paramushiro are unable to reach there from the closest (ultimately) bases in Aleutians (Attu): PV-1s/PV-2s from USN squadrons VPB-135, VPB-136, VPB-139 (and another sqdrn I can't recall) participated in bombing Paramushiro starting from Attu as part of the Empire Express.

An interesting article re the Empire Express can be found here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-hi ... re-express

Squadron histories and official reports of some of the missions can be found at vpnavy.com

The article jibes nicely with in-game realities Spence. Before late 1944, the PV-1s couldn't reach Paramushiro without exhaustive retrofitting of flight fuel tanks. "Extreme range" by definition. The article also reviews tremendous OPs losses due to flying long distance, poor pilot morale, high fatigue and heavy enemy flak and fighter coverage over the Kuriles. I imagine that the large numbers of bombers that had to divert to Soviet-held territory IRL should also be counted as OPs losses for purposes of the game.

So, to summarize, it *may* have been done, but was prohibitively expensive and, ultimately, not worth the effort.