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ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

Betty's smash the shipping at Soerbaja including DD's under repair and the ARD's that cannot be moved.

Those ARDs can too be moved.

I have moved them in every game I have played.

Why leave them there to die?

They have something like 100 endurance which gets them 2 1/2 hexes before they need refueling. How do you keep them alive?

Denpassar falls as well.

On turn 2 I start prepping for the exodus of the short legged Dutch auxiliaries by using the small (1825 capacity) tankers to distribute fuel to the small island bases between Java and Timor.

Once the fueling stations are set up the exodus begins.

Against the AI the entire Dutch navy, air force and most of the army can be transferred to Timor to create a bastion the AI can't deal with.

Obviously, against a human opponent this isn't viable and to get them to a relatively safer location you would need to facilitate a longer "jump" to OZ.

This can be facilitated by coupling the short legged craft with a long legged ship to refuel them every couple of hexes.

Granted, this will be an inexorably slow move, fraught with peril all the way, but I would rather take a shot at getting them to a place they can survive and serve longer than simply leaving them in place to be lost when the Japanese arrive.

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

On turn 2 I start prepping for the exodus of the short legged Dutch auxiliaries by using the small (1825 capacity) tankers to distribute fuel to the small island bases between Java and Timor.

Once the fueling stations are set up the exodus begins.

Against the AI the entire Dutch navy, air force and most of the army can be transferred to Timor to create a bastion the AI can't deal with.

Obviously, against a human opponent this isn't viable and to get them to a relatively safer location you would need to facilitate a longer "jump" to OZ.

This can be facilitated by coupling the short legged craft with a long legged ship to refuel them every couple of hexes.

Granted, this will be an inexorably slow move, fraught with peril all the way, but I would rather take a shot at getting them to a place they can survive and serve longer than simply leaving them in place to be lost when the Japanese arrive.

It is a good idea and might work against a player at a slower pace. Unfortunately it is only 18 days into the war and the Japanese are within 100 miles of Soerbaja, have and ampibious assault going in at Canaervon and a light carrier force off the northwest coast of Australia.

I did try a different tactic with many of the smaller ships 400 end - 1500 end. It seems to be working up till now and is a long haul to columbo using an AO. Escaping with about 30 ships in that direction. The ships with 100 endurance or less I usually leave where they are or move them a small space away.

I was thinking that against a human opponent heading towards Colombo with a shepherd to refuel them might be more viable than sending them to Oz where they will never make it or be destroyed soon after anyway.

Well played.

I hope you are able to get them to somewhere they can be useful and deny your opponent the minor VPs for them.

December 28, 1944

One of the dutch subs proves their worth.

The Imperial Guards Division crosses the river and attacks troops near Pegu.

I forgot about the british division reinforcing Shanghai and it ran into a japanese force 3 times last night but neither side engaged. I am running at full speed but fully expect to lose some or all of that division.

Oversights are the worst feeling mistakes to make IMO.

Palembang Falls

Geraldton Falls...

Jakarta

Brisbane falls and it is only January 3...

January 10, 1942

This game has been pretty depressing so far. I have killed a total of 2 of NJP's ships for 4 points. One of my carriers took a torpedo despite trying to avoid shipping and is now stuck in the middle of nowhere.

On the bright side if you can call it that, I just realized that NJP's attack at brisbane completely smashed the city. So 250 light industry and all the resources and heavy industry. It will take 1/2 a million supplies and 8 months just to repair the damage.

February 6, 1942

NJP is being really agressive across the map. In China he is attempting to take Chungking from the Northeast while leaving the rest of the map alone. I am trying to follow Alfred's comments on defense. To that end I have taken back Kwiteh and moved elements into mountain blocking areas. I am also moving 1800+ AV down towards Hankow. I probably couldnt take the city by surprise but getting that much AV into a heavy urban hex wouldnt be bad. Dont want to keep troops in the open as NJP loves ground bombing.

India

I managed to hold Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Karachi last game against NJP. It is early February and he has almost completely taken over Ceylon already. In this game I am looking at an almost full sir robin and moving all troops except small garrison forces up to Bombay.

NJP got a lot of troop points off of me in India last game. This game it appears he wants to get it through VP's bombing Australia. This tactic might lose me the game to VP's or enable me to move out faster near the end of the year after the troops have had time to train and the game stabilizes.

Australia

NJP has taken down to Brisbane. His forces air attack the city daily. There really is no good defense against this with the current fighters, etc. I managed to sneak in a group of Trop II b's and some carrier fighter aircraft but the pools are too low and the pilots do not have enough skill to have much of an effect against the 50 zero sweeps coming in with the bombers.

He cant take Sydney without a major commitment of troops. I have over 1000AV in the base right now. At Melbourne I have over 600 as well. Also, sydney has 300K of supplies and Melborne over 100K so I can hold out on a siege for a while.

He is really committed, chasing me out of everywhere including tenant creek, birdville, etc. It appears as if he is going to stay.

Pacific

In the Pacific NJP has been more aggressive also taking Pago Pago, Canton and Baker Islands which he didnt take in the last game.

Score February 1942

I havent done much damage to the Japanese forces. Subs cant find and/or miss targets - I need to work on this but it is early 1942 and there isnt much that can be done. Air forces are the same, I cant kill anything of his without catching his bombers unescorted.

State of the Game - February 1942

When the game was proposed, NJP said he was trying to figure out a way to attempt to achieve a VP win without causing economic collapse of the empire by late 1944.

My take on what he is attempting is doubling down on the last game. He is spreading himself out in every direction as far as he can go.

The reason NJP lost the last game in early 1945 was that he expanded too far and was not quick enough to respond to changes on the strategic battlefield. Now he is going to expand even farther than the first game. Will he be quick enough to respond to changes now that I have a full game under my belt?

Several Japanese players have been able to win by VP's using the tactics that NJP is employing now. However, I believe in each of those games there were significant losses of Allied shipping/naval power and ground troops. Whether NJP achieves that remains to be seen.

For shipping I am massing it at EC and pipelining to CT. I am not going to expose shipping that is not necessary.

As for a defensive line, I will fight tooth and nail for Pearl Harbor, Sydney, Melborne, the American coast, and Bombay. I may lose Karachi, I dont know how far NJP is willing to push this.

I have not added any defenses to the line islands yet, I am not sure if he will take this area or not. At this point in the game the KB cannot be denied and you only put out what you want to risk. At this point I dont want to risk much.

It will be interesting to see how things play out: serious sir Robin vs hyper aggressive Japanese (your description).

Here is hoping that NJP can pull off a win and even the score. No offense![:D]