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One thing I'm big on is building up the islands between PH and Oz. 2 BDE's and a base force bare minimum as forces become available add more. This string of islands is important in my eye since it helps keep your LOC with Oz safe. If the Jap player takes some, you'll be able to get them back later, but make him fight for them.

I also like to take the base forces out of the island SW of Sydney (tasmania?) and move them to Oz since the Allies didn't train enough mechanics for the airplanes for the first part of the war. They will help you out a lot.

I also agree with saving force Z. You can keep them in south DEI as a threat, but don't risk them at first, it's too much of a crap shoot.

Excellent post, RUPD3658

Some other thoughts:

PH:

Do _not_ try to fly ASW from Pearl. The damaged airfield will hamper you until it is repaired. You

can fly ASW from Hilo and Lahaina with PBYs the first few turns. And for the same reason don't fly

A/C into Pearl until the airfield is repaired (there is a B=17 unit in Seattle IIRC. Just have it

fly ASW in Seattle to train the first few turns.

When you make those ASW TFs use a lot of the DDs in Pearl. I make about 4 TFs with LOTS of DDs (10

or so IIRC) plus any MSWs just to add experience to the MSWs. Move them every turn. cover all the

hexes on the Southwestern and Northeastern approaches to Pearl.

And to NOT bring the TFs near Pearl (including the Air Combat TF starting about 8 hexes SW of

Pearl) near Pearl until the Subs go home.

Regarding sending ships back to the West Coast, once the subs are gone I break the moderately

damaged ships up into TFs by speed (about 5 and about 10 knots in two separate groups). So the 5

knot ships don't slow down the 10 knot ships.


West Coast.

I don't pair AKs with TKs, nor do I pair 7000 ton AKs with 4500 ton AKs. The reason is the entire

TF then takes as long to load/unload as the largest ship. So I would make smaller, more homogeneous

TFs to move stuff.

CV Units

I hide until I have all of the above:
4 CVs (in two TFs, 2 CVS and a total of 15 ships each TF, but both staying in the same hex (one set

to follow the other)
All Fighters on the 4 CVs upgraded to F4Fs
That will take until about mid January, 1942.
Then I have to spot the KB.

Then and only then I will start raiding to gain experience or cover small moves in places far from

the KB.

(I kill the KB eventually by attrition with my Land Based, not Carrier based air units)








PI and DEI

In the PI I try to get a cadre of PS, PS cavalry and PA out (so I can use the replacements that will eventually accrue to rebuild at least one, probably two, of each of those units.

In the DEI and PI I evacuate first a cadred of each Engineer unit that has high Air support **On Its TOE *** (ie not at present). There are some dutch and PI engineer units that have 90 to 150 max Air Support (rather than just 30) so I get a cadre out by sub or air evac early (some to Oz and some to India).

Then I save more as PPs allow. Remember for victory conditions the Filipo units cost fewer VPs to lose than the other allies (ie less than US or Dutch, not less than China or Soviet, obviously).

Basically I have two objectives: Save lots of tiny cadres and (secondary) save VPs by pulling out troops at the last minute. When pulling out troops I remove spent units rather than those with more combat (Assault Points) so as to delay as long as possible.

To remove the max Aircraft for the minimum PP cost: First change HQ for an air unit (maybe a Dutch Patrol Unit) with only 2-3 A/C. That will only cost 8-12 PPs. Then (same turn) Disband a couple of other Patrol Units (same nationality and airplane). That will get 8 or 9 A/C out but only cost the PPs for 2 or 3. (the disbanded unit will reappear in 90 days in Oz).

I find the Patrol and transport units of the Dutch more valuable than the combat A/C. The Combat A/C tend to need rarer planes to re-equip and the pilot pool has low experience. By the time the combat units are ready to commit you will already have zillions of US planes.

The fighters (in India) are probably worse more than the Bombers (I want fighters for air cover along the Burma Coast).

Malaya

I evacuate TF Z (The Prince of Wales and Repulse) to India right off. I want to have a bombardment TF to harrass the Burma coast (under air cover from Dacca and Chandpur).


Burma

I build up Akyab and Jorhat and try to hold their. There is a scattering of troops in front of that line, but that is where I actually plan to hold. I use Bombardment (3 BBs or so, from Chandpur back and forth under LR Cap from Akyab/Chandpur) to hammer anyone who tries to take Akyab. My prejudice is that the inland route (Jorhat, Myitkynia etc) is a sump to suck up Japanese troops. The more he sends way inland the more trouble he is in when I retake Rangoon.

Oh yeah, and I use air transport (not marching) as much as possible in Burma (much faster). I salvage the two Dutch air transport units with that in mind.

One more thing:

You will have a short time (about December 1941) during which you can move long ranged air units into or out of India via DEI and Malaya.

You will eventually have zillions of aircraft in the Pacific. So I use this period to move air units into India. One or two B-17 units can make a big difference on the Burma-India border.

This is a tough call as they are also needed in the Soloman as the only planes lba that have the legs to reach out and touch the JAp bases in Lunga if taken and Rabaul..
But I do agree they help alot in the Indian ocean area as well...
My plan... make the bastards pay as high a price as possible for sra... slow them down and prepare to counter attaclk in 43, my first forey has yeilded mixed results as my ship losses have been very high, as well as carrier losses...
in late nov 42 pbem game, next game as allies, again pbem I will be somewhat more conservative in my use of ships

The reason I move B-17s to India is:

The Allies will inevitably win in the long run if they can avoid losing in the short run. I don't think I can _lose_ the war in Lunga or Rabaul. Eventually I will crush both (or ignore them and sail an Invincible Armada straight to Saipan in early 1944 or similar).

But I worry I could lose the war in India in 1942.

Just so you know, evacing the HQs from PI/Java/Malaya may not be necessary.

I love the RAF Group HQs, MAF/PAF/DAF Aviation. I evac'd the RAF 224(?) Group from Sing, and U2 was nice enough to put 3 torps into their single transport (stupid me). Of course the darn sank in about 4 seconds, and everybody became shark food. So next turn, I clicked on the LCU reinforcements ("When am I gonna get another RAF group to replace those knuckle-heads?), when lo-and-behold, there's the 224th, 30 days out. It's even full and complete, not the shot-up carcass that it was when it boarded the transport. Naturally, this was actually in documented in the manual, but I must have read that part as, "Blah, blah, blah. Need 2x supplies. Blah, blah. Don't cross into SEAsia with China. Blah, blah-blah, blah, LCUs die and don't come back." But the 224th will arrive in Karachi at full strength, sooner than it would have taken me to transport the thing somewhere, and rebuild it. (which I'll admit is a little "quirky", but who am I to complain)

I don't know if the major Av units (PAF/MAF/DAF) units work this way (anybody know?), but it might very well be that they aren't necessary to evac either.

Cheers.
-F-

True, depends on who you are playing, both my two JAp oponents are not attacking India, and in game number one I did move one group now b24 s to DAcca

Hopefully my PBEM opponent isn't reading this... hehe

1. Move every engineer unit you can to Palembang/Balikpapan/Kendari etc... When captured, these units will damage the facilities there.

2. A trick to get ships out of the PI region: Send ships EAST. At start, there are no Japanese naval attack aircraft based in Iwo Jima, Marcus, etc. And no LR Recon either. Sending single ship task forces through this gap works like a charm because most Japanese players don't bother building that area up yet. Have them head to a way point and return to Midway/PH/Seattle. An added bonus is that if KB is in that area, their search/strike aircraft will tip you off. You may lose some of these ships, but you'll know which direction KB went after the PH strike. Invaluable info.

I don't think you saw a "respawning" feature, I think that there are two units with the same names out there. (More than two, actually.)

I'm at work, so I can't do it myself, but load up a fresh new campaign, and check your ground reinforcement schedule (sort by unit type). I think you will find some RAF HQ's due in that have the same name as some already on the map.

It's not a problem for me, as I lose most of the stuff in Malaya, anyway...

So let me get this straight:

This group advises that I put all my DEI/PI engineers in rubber boats and float them into Yokahama so I can tell (from the number of explosions occuring in the vicinity) when the KB arrives home.

And so their "heirs and assignees" can rebuild more units with the same name.

Memo to self: Stay out of rubber boats if you are a Dutch engineer.

ORIGINAL: Platoonist

Thanks Herr Kaleun. Wimmen and war. They go together like butter and toast. [:D]

Rup...do you usually try to send some APs north and pull those Australian units out of Rabaul?

I pull out the survivors by sub.

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Thanks for the write up!

A couple of brief notes...

AE's only start to work in 1945, so making them right away is a waste (I found out the hard way). Better to put a heavy emphasis on AR's.

AS's need a port size 3 or larger to function. It takes Wake a while to build up to that level. Midway gets there first, so watch the port sizes and put an AS in Midway and then in Wake as each becomes ready.

AEs work if in a PORT prior to 1945. The work at sea from 45 on.

ORIGINAL: Caltone

Decent list but I would question the need of sending Chinese units to Hanoi. Once a Chinese unit enters Indochina, a Vietnamese militia type is created. Additionally, you get one for every Chinese unit that enters up to a max of 4.

While they're not great units, they function OK on defense and will start in the cities you're trying to attack. They will be superior to the Chinese units as well.

As with all things Chinese in the game you make up for lack of quality with quantity. 4-5K worth of Chinese units will steamroller all the way to Hue (No pun intended for those who know the correct pronunciation). This will destroy a few Jap units that get pocketed and will also build up experience for your units.

One thing I think is important for the Allies early is score some points! It is not enough to run for it, hide and try to keep the Japanese score low. You have to rack up points yourself.

The reason is that the Japanese, to win, need to win early (if the game runs to 1944 they will lose). And to win early they need a big multiple of your score (is it 4 times your score in 1943?). It is easier to get a high multiple in a low scoring game. I.e. it is easier to win 12,000 to 3,000 than to win 20,000 to 5,000. Every point you score means they need FOUR points.

So seek out some things to kill. AKs and APs are good if you can find them. Better if they have troops on board. I got an AP filled with troops off the Phillipines with my PTs for a bunch of points. And go for air attrition. Even if you lose more A/C than the Japanese, as long as you are costing him A/C you are a) eating up his hard-to-replace pilot pool b) burning up supplies he can't afford and c) you are, even if you lose 1.5 or 2 A/C for every 1 he loses, putting him farther behind his 4:1 goal.

Eventually you will rack up a huge score. Just don't let him get a high multiple early in the game.

Beezle, very good point! In the air as long as you are killing 1 for every 3 you lose in 1942, that will help your score since he needs 4:1 for auto victory in '43 (I think at least). Same thing with killing AKs and APs, he has to kill about 4 for every one of yours otherwise it's helping you prevent auto victory (of course depends on size of AK/AP). I find my biggest loses are in Army points and a lot of those you can't prevent-PI, Hong Kong, and in my opinion DEI and Singapore (since I think you need to slow him down by fighting for these). Garrison rear areas so he can't get easy points late in 42. Also, husband your resources and prepare to launch some offensives late summer/early autumn '42 to take back some higher point areas and kill some of his army to get points.

Remember to recheck your first turn.[8|]

Bump for the noobies

A couple of points to add, valid mainly for playing the AI.

When trying to get ships out of the Philippines, I find that 1 or 2 ship convoys have a much better chance at escape. The larger task forces will gather more attention. I expect to lose 2 to 4 ships out of Naga. You're going to have enemy forces in Naga quickly, so you don't have a lot of leeway in waiting to fill those ships. However, there's the Japanese CVL (Ryujo?) TF that lies SE of Legaspi waiting to feed your ships to the fishes, thus I expect to lose a few of those ships.

Don't waste the effort to send an HQ to Bataan in hopes of bringing in enough supplies that the Corregidor unit will fire at passing TFs. They'll only fire at AI TFs that are invading Bataan. If you move USAFFE to Bataan, then the CD unit in Manila won't have enough supplies to defend itself when invaded a month later.

You can sneak in to Manila/Bataan the occaisional single ship supply TF, espeically in December/January. By February they might still get there, but are usually sunk before they fully unload.

I believe that against the AI, it is definitely worthwhile to send Force Z to contest the Khota Bharu landings. Even if the results are bad, the Japanese surface combat forces have to return to base for more ammunition. In games where I didn't send Force Z, I lost far more of my Malaysian AF to attacks on the SCTFs rather than on the Transport TFs. Didn't sink as many transports either. When I send Force Z, the transports are left uncovered for a while.

I like to send the extra Dutch forces (those smaller garrisons and base forces that are scattered about) to start building and holding PM and Milne Bay. I think that if they're built up early enough, they can be held (at least against the AI!).

ORIGINAL: Beezle

The reason I move B-17s to India is:

The Allies will inevitably win in the long run if they can avoid losing in the short run. I don't think I can _lose_ the war in Lunga or Rabaul. Eventually I will crush both (or ignore them and sail an Invincible Armada straight to Saipan in early 1944 or similar).

But I worry I could lose the war in India in 1942.

I think Dacca is a great B-17 base. You can supply China from there, hit anything as far south as Rangoon, and its inland so the IJN can't bombard it. And you can have plenty of aviation support there no worries.

ORIGINAL: EUBanana

ORIGINAL: Beezle

The reason I move B-17s to India is:

The Allies will inevitably win in the long run if they can avoid losing in the short run. I don't think I can _lose_ the war in Lunga or Rabaul. Eventually I will crush both (or ignore them and sail an Invincible Armada straight to Saipan in early 1944 or similar).

But I worry I could lose the war in India in 1942.

I think Dacca is a great B-17 base. You can supply China from there, hit anything as far south as Rangoon, and its inland so the IJN can't bombard it. And you can have plenty of aviation support there no worries.

I very unhappily agree with this, being at present on the receiving end[:@]. Damn you, Halsey![:'(][;)]