ORIGINAL: KDonovan
what would be the best defense of PI then??
Against the AI a person could probably say: do this, do that, and when he gets to here do this. Against human players, it doesnt work that way. You have to react to what your opponent does.
On Mindanao, all you can do is run to either Davao or Cagayen (Davao is better because of the river). On Luzon what I do is defend San Macelino, Clark, and the Hex between Naga and Manila. Doing this, he cant land behind you (unless he wants to tangle with the shore guns) so you can wait and see what he is doing. Remember, the defender has to react to the attacker. Keep your PBYs at Manila and Bataan. Base your fighters where the Japs arent bombing. If he is hitting Clark, base at Manilla and vice versa. If he is hitting them both then base at one of the southern islands (north of Mindinao). Make him fight you. You will lose airplanes. This isnt necessarily a bad thing. The less planes you have, the less PPs it costs to change them to SW Pac. Pull them out to Aus when you only have a few left. If you have to pull out of the PI because of what the Jap is doing, go to Aus if you only have a few planes (4 or less), otherwise head for Java.
If the Jap isnt pressing hard on Mindinao, you can base B17s there. If he is, you might want to base them on Luzon, or you might want to pull them back to Java. Either way, you want to keep them in the fight (this in my opinion was the 2nd of his mistakes in this game, not fighting me tooth and nail with his airforce from the begining). Anything you can do to slow the Jap offensive is a victory for you. If you can sink a troopship filled with troops, thats a lot of points. B17s are very effective vs early war Jap planes, use it! I have one B17 pilot with 2 kills. [:D]
Again, depending on what the Jap is doing is how you conduct the evacuation of Luzon. First unit you want to get out is Asiatic HQ. You need this to assist ship repairs later in the game. 2nd units I try to get out is the PAF Av unit. These are the 2 most important in my opinion. Evac by sub, fly them out by PBY to Borneo (if the Jap isnt pressing hard here), however you can get them out. the HQ you can just save a fragment and you are good to go. The Av unit, you want to get the whole thing out, and ideally, you want it to be in Australia because of the Av support in it.
One game I have going the Jap ignored PI totally, so I flew the Marine C-47 unit that starts in the South Pacific, and the C-60 Dutch unit into Bataan and have been flying the whole American army in the PI out. I got the armored units out with the AKs that start there, and the rest I flew out to China. Marine AA and 4th regt, the 2 artillery units, PS Cav unit, PS regt, Asiatic fleet, PAF, EAB. All gone to China (walking them to India). 31 RCT is being pulled out now. This game is in early Feb 42.
As for your naval units. Use your PTs wisely. Keep them close to the front, but pick and choose your targets. If the Jap is hitting a lot of places at once, pick something that doesnt look like it is heavily escorted and hit them. You can re-arm torps in Manila. Send other PTs to PI from other areas. This is the best place to use them, so do so! Dont just hit the base that he is landing at. He may have bombardment group comming to hit it. Anticipate where he is going and hit him at sea before he gets to the beach. I have been known to hit Pesedores and Formosa with my PTs hitting a landing force as it is still loading! The nice thing about PTs is they are 1 point apiece if you lose them, but if they hit something ad sink it, you have just scored more points than the whole squadron costs [8D]
As for the subs, frankly I use them for troop transports initially. Use your Dutch boats as subs (they have better torps) and use the US boats to get troops out. There again, move the troops to where you can safely load them on AKs and APs and go back and get more. Dont run all the way to Darwin if you dont have to. The AKs that start here and there in the PI send them either out by any means possible or send them to Manila (sounds crazy, but hear me out). Heading these small groups (1 and 2 ship groups) can often make it out to the east sailing for Alaska or Hawaii. If the Jap chases them then GREAT! He is pulling ships and planes out where they are of no use. The AKs in Manila dont be in too big of a hurry to try to get them out. A lot of Jap players will circle the PI like sharks trying to kill these ships. Often staying in port is the best thing you can do. Put 1 or 2 ships (I use tankers) in a TF as cannon fodder to draw naval air attacks. Load fuel with them as well (never supplies). The planes he is using to hit these ships arent being used to hit your airfields. Then your P40s on LRCAP mix it up with them. Great attrition tool. When it looks like you have a gap, load your AKs with the armored units and scoot. Keep them all in 1 TF, cover them with as much airpower as you can and run for it. Commit your light surface ships from Java and elsewhere to help cover them. Again, the way out will be determined by where the Jap is. If he is strong on Mindinao or even Kendari slide along the Borneo coast (east or north, again depending on situation).
Edit: I forgot, move HQs to Bataan right away. This will help draw the supplies from Manila to Bataan.
Hope that answered your question [;)]
