More Strategy Questions and Garrisons

[joliverlay]

I mostly play allied and have failed miserably as Japanese.

As Allied I see 10 Division stacks against me in India or China (early war) which I can't manage to do as Japanese myself. My opponent told me how he is able to do it. Don't worry, he says, too much about garrisons early game. After thinking about this I wanted to ask about this strategy.

If I remove a 350CV unit from Shanghi and go under 50%grarrison, there is a chance (50%) I will lose 1 point. On the other hand if I take a 15CV unit from a minimum garrison of 30 (leaving another 15CV present) in a village somwhere, I still have a 50% chance of losing only one point.

It seems to me that it makes sense to garrison the low garrison requirement spots fully, and then rob decent units from the sites that require major garrisons fully, because the down-side is at most 1 point vp loss and perhaps minor repairs? Am I missing anything?

If this is how the game works, if so I ask why is the garrison penalty not scaled in some way by the size of the garrison deficit or city size. And is it "normal" game play as Japanese to give up a few vps per turn in exchange for perhaps 1000cV of high-quality units to use in the field?

Is this a good game strategy, and was this done historically.

Finally, after thinking on this I don't see why a full Sir Robin and early abandonment of Burma is not a good Allied strategy. If the Japanese play lose with garrisons, they can free up sufficient units to out flank india and land north of bombay in Feb/March 42. An immediate withdrawl from Burma, and use of reinforcements to shore up the Indian defenses makes more sense if Japanese can access an additional 5-10 good division by trimming their garrisons.

What is the consensus in the War room about this if there is one.

[RangerJoe]

It depends upon the HRs for the game. If the Japanese has to buy out the units in China to send them overland to India, that takes time. It also takes time to buy out the artillery and armor from Manchukuo to send to China.

As far as reducing the garrison and the damage, it is one permanent VP which by taking the free division from Shanghai can make a difference in getting VPs faster elsewhere. If there are enough engineers at Shanghai (or elsewhere) then the damage will be quickly repaired.

By abandoning Burma too quickly, it frees up units and supplies for use elsewhere such as invading Ceylon and wiping out the units there and/or invading India itself sooner. That said, don't waste your units in Burma. Check your upgrade paths for the devices in those units. The units that disband have their devices go into the stockpiles with only a 50% chance of doing so if the device is disabled. If it goes into the stockpiles disabled, if I remember correctly, it comes out disabled. That said, against the AI, I do abandon Burma . . .

BTW, you can delete your double post . . .

[BBfanboy]

It isn't so much the loss of a VP if low garrisons lead to a partisan attack on your base - it's the huge amount of damage they can do to airfield and port. If you want to generate VPs by expanding your AF/Port, you cannot do that until the damage is repaired first. And if the AF/Port is near the front lines and needed to support your troops - too bad.

[joliverlay]

I play mostly solitaire, but like to play as if the AI opponent is human, and then use the AI to practice for an ocassional PBM. However, sometimes I get a major wake up call against a real human that makes me rethink everything.

I'm playing PBM in early March 1942 against a human and have lost most of East and North Central China to 10 Division Stacks and now I've gotten more major forces near Deli in India as well. IJA landing north of Bombay by sea and with paradrops on key points, followed by rail movement, put Deli under Japanese air cover and land threat in a few turns. KB blocks landing of emergency resources and my forces at BURMA/India boarder are stuck along with everything in India south of Deli one day away from cut off from supply sources.

So, how do I approach strategic defensive plans as Allied player in any game knowing the IJN can land 10 Divisions north of Burma within 90 days of pearl harbor while also having 10 Division stacks in China if he is willing to accept the vp losses for garrisons?

I'm not arguing against this play as unrealistic (I believe it was beyond their logistics capability) what I'm asking is, given they it can be done in game (in scenario 2 anyway) what is the counter strategy for the Allies in the first 6 months of the war? I'd like to know what folks recommend and then practice the strategy against the AI in preparation for the next PBM. Its early March 1942 and I'm already in deep trouble without much naval action.

Comments really welcome.

[RangerJoe]

I suggest reading this thread, or rereading it as the case may be. This is the thread that got me interested in buying the game:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 5&t=200968

But remember, this is before some of the updates changed things and is even a reason for many of the changes.

[joliverlay]

Thanks for the post.

Same opponent, similar situation. Lots of information or responses and dealing with the problems this specific IJN/IJA approach causes. I think perhaps this may be outside the opening that most Japanese players will attempt. I'll read this, carefully, but I don't think it's going to give me much insight on what should be done to prepare for this opening, or even if it is wise to do so. To prepare for this specific opening might cause even worse problems.

Looking for a historically possible style oriented game, maybe I should look for a "Bottlenecks" opponent and stay away from scenario 2 in the future.

All comments appreciated, I really like this game and hope it continues for a long time.

[RangerJoe]

If it gets bad enough in India, fall back on Karachi. The LBA can make the KB pause if it comes around. Karachi is a quick hop from the map edge and ships at full speed can make it in one turn. If he keeps his KB there anyway, it is not elsewhere which gives you opportunities.

[joliverlay]

I may not get to Deli before he does. His northward advance is faster than mine. His shipboard stuff was already in the correct mode for rail, and his airborne folks captured the railheads, so started railing right after landing and he has more stuff near Deli now than I do. So I may not make it to Karachi with much of my force. I only got one of the 2 Aussie divisions landed before KB showed up, just as the second was about do debark.

Since I only had 2 turns of warning that he was even going to land on NW India, I think I need to plan for such an attack starting on turn one, which means giving up Bruma and garrisoning ports north of Bombay right away. He landed in February after all, not even 90 days into the game.

Against a really good player I don't think this can be stopped (at least in scenario 2, don't know about 1). I've not done anything risky, just basic sir Robin (interrupted by paradrops) and defense of sea lanes. I need to know how to prepare India for a strike like this?

[RangerJoe]

Check on the emergency reinforcements. Some come in at Karachi. You can also use air transports to move at least parts of units around. Put them into bases for speed bumps.