ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
It's hard to figure out what your status is because you haven't said the game date with each post. In general, it sounds like you are still early in 1942 and expecting to make significant offensives or set up solid barriers to the Japanese. That will not happen - the Allies are still trying to concentrate from their dispersed game start and they need to recruit and train new troops. Even the veteran reinforcements arrive far away and need to be brought to the action.
In the first six months of 1942 the Allies are not going to stop a major IJ effort in Burma, nor create a solid roadblock in China if the IJA tanks show up. I think harassing raids are possible on land but would not expect to do much beyond that yet. You should expect to work on the foundations of your comeback well beyond the lines and forget about throwing weak units at the Japanese spearheads.
We're on th 28th of December 1941.
In line of principle, my main target is to be able to exploit an eventual overextension from the Japanese side. I do agree with the need of going slowly, but I don't want to end up as many of my allied opponents who have gone very cautiously for the first months and weren't prepared to exploit my weak strategic position when I did overextend myself.
Say Omar heavily invades Australia. If I have a proper deployment in India, I can easily strike into Burma. If I have to bring there troops and place them and so on, it takes several months, months that are wasted.
Given the fact that he seems somehow poised to go deep in the SOPAC, my basic idea is to fight a holding battle in Australia proper, leave NZ to its own devices and strike back in Burma in the meanwhile, with the idea that I can credibly retake the place and then hold it, while I should be able to defend successfully at least the key Australian locations.
Bottom line is to be prepared to counterstrike heavily in case the Japanese gets in an unbalanced position. If he doesn't, fair enough: it means I am not facing huge crisis around the map.
If he invades India, fair enough again: I have in the place the troops to defend it.
That is the reasoning behind my buildup in the area.
I won't for sure send my armies in a "charge of the light brigade"-style charge into enemy territory with the Japanese landing behind me in a blink of an eye.
Admittedly, I've been tempted to explore the idea of sending a relevant army into Burma and letting actually he land behind me, but I think it's too much of a gamble and the situation is more likely than not to explode in my hands. It would be funny to try, maybe in another match... [:D][:D][:D]
My forces in India are very weak and the Chinese Corps being airlifted there will take a while before they'll be ready. Sending to the frontline now would transform them pretty quickly from Chinese Corps to Chinese Corpses. They will be however a powerful force in the next months, when they'll be able to fight backed by western tanks/AA/ART. Basically, they put the manpower and the allies put the machines: it's not rocket science, I know [:)]
As per China, it's difficult to block enemy tanks, but it's still too early: my anti-tank units are marching into the theater and it will take a while before they do arrive there. For the time being, we do with what we have.
ORIGINAL: ny59giants
Allies need to focus heavily on pilot training for the first six months as they don't have the airframes to throw away that Japan does. I focus on setting up my logistics between USA and Australia. Staying and fighting in Burma makes it easy for Japan to land at Chittagong and then drive to Ledo to cut them off and force a retreat into supply starved China. Patience my young Jedi!
Pilot training is in full gear around the map, except the units committed do Java defense. They are a relatively minor force, after all and I haven't committed any kind of LCU in forward positions. That's a very relevant point accordingly to me, since ships, by definition, have a good mobility and can disengage quite quickly from the area.
Planes can be somehow managed so that losses aren't crippling (yeah, take aside the awful 2nd day strike on Palembang...). LCUs are a big problems for the allies early on and I'm not committing them in forward positions.
For example, I've sent a small bunch of reinforcements to Ambon (where they died miserably) but it was very little and in my opinion worth the attempt. Omar landed with over 300AV and they didn't make any difference, but it was reasonable to try to make him find some more AVs and maybe entail a reinforcement convoy to be sent (and engaged by me).
Same goes with Suva. I added enough troops to require a divisional landing but nothing more.
I don't believe in the concept of
festung at all and I think that static defense is the poorest for of defense. Now, in some areas I plan to act along the static defense mode due to the lack of additional troops being available, but that's life.
In Burma I have a very thin defense currently. My opinion is that I want him to possibly commit more than the 33rd Infantry Division to take Rangoon and nothing more. I don't plan any kind of "redoubt" around: my forces are concentrated between Madras and Calcutta, leaving the entire area between Calcutta and Rangoon open.
The basic idea is that I first need to have my troops a little bit "fixed" and then I can start deploying them in more exposed positions. Should he decide to land in Chittagong, he would cut nobody off currently.
My vision is that I don't have the strength to cover everything right now and I prefer to be sure I have the bulk of India covered rather than covering in a mediocre manner both the Indian mainland and the strip of land between Calcutta and Ledo-Rangoon.
Once my troops are in a better shape, I can start thinking about that. Now, I secure vital points so that a Japanese offensive can hurt but cannot blow up entirely my position in the theater.
Incidentally, I have abandoned Celyon, a decision I might regret if he goes quickly for it. I will re-occupy the area in few weeks, when the first bunch of USArmy reinforcements will be available in the theater.
As per USA-Australia sea highway, I need to fix it. I have ENG and troops on ships to key points such as Tahiti and Christmas Island. As soon as more troops and ENG become available, more will be sent a little bit farther WEST. So far, I setup key bases well behind.
USA-Australia route is difficult to fix right now for various reasons: A) I don't have any idea of where Omar plans to stop his advance; B) without rear area bases, my logistics is even more awful than the IJN one and so I cannot do much; C) I have such a small amount of assets, that I have to decide where I place them and I prefer to keep them behind rather tan forward.
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; Julia Child
