Matrix Games Forums

Any day now I will be starting my first PBEM as the Allies. Undercovergeek and I already have one game going with him playing the Allied nations and have decided to start this game with roles reversed. Having played only a couple of turns versus the AI as Allies I am coming to this game almost completely new to the part so this should be interesting. Undercovergeek has not studied the japes to closely so we are both pretty green.

We have agreed a historic first turn. The Japanese will limit how much r&d they swap to current production and I will use no more than 2 4E bomb groups from a base and keep them at 10k+ if attacking ships. PDU is on. (Although not a house rule I intend to pay PP for swapping units around and keep 2E groups as 2E. I might not be 100% strict with myself on these but will stay within the spirit - a unit might change command with paying PP immediately but will do so as soon as is practical.)

In this first post I want to discuss my ideas for overall strategy and maybe get a little input from more experienced players.

My overall plan will be conservative but not a complete "Sir Robin". This is just not historical. Therefore I will fight for the DEI, Philippines and Malaya. However I will also try to get cadres out where possible - even a few Dutch and Philipino ones to continue the fight once their home territories fall.

Basic strategy - Do as much damage as I can with the forces in place in DEI, Malaya and Philippines whilst prepping a few strong points from which to begin a war of attrition. My planned stop line for the Japanese runs Australia - New Zealand -? In Eastern Pacific Pearl harbour - Alaska.

In front of this I plan to establish a number of bastions for which I really plan to make the Japs fight . Singapore and Bataan will be the first two, but with no more than start forces and with some air units pulled back to defend my first two main positions at Java and Timor. Timor in particular will be fought to the bitter end and receive reinforcements from turn 1. I expect to loose both Java and Timor but this is where I plan for my opponent to begin bleeding.

In Burma a will go back as far as I am pushed - hopefully I can mount defences of Akyab and Mandalay but I won't strip India to do it.

The Solomons are expendable - Noumea and Port Moresby will be the first places I contest in the South Pacific. Again if I loose them then I loose them but I won't do so without extracting a price. Main defence line though will be the coastlines of Australia and New Zealand.

Midway will be reinforced but not excessively. The two start divisions in Hawaii stay put.

The current gap in my plan lies between PH and New Zealand - how far can I let the Japs get here before communications with Australia get impractical.? Again I am looking for an initial point of resistance and a final "they shall not pass" point. Can I afford to lose Pago-Pago ? Suva?

On a final note I intend to keep my carriers out of action with the KB until either he hits my final line of resistance or he splits the KB and gives me a shot at reasonable odds. I will take a shot at Japanese carriers if he lets me do so at 1-1 odds.

Long term I want to mount my major offensives through the DEI from Northern Australia and the Island hopping route across the Pacific, cutting out the historical Solomons/ New Guinea fighting as far as I can.

So, is this a workable Allied plan ? Can I put up credible defences of both Java and Timor without weakening Singapore and Australia too much ?

On a side note I do intend to try to keep some Dutch and Philipno units alive - including he ABDA HQ, although the latter will stay on in Java or Timor as long as it can before relocating to Northern Australia to help with the eventual recon quest of the DEI. This might take a little manipulation of commands to achieve. I am not going to pull anything out until the fighting in their home area looks a lost cause. Would players consider this gamey ?

In my PBEM game http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1281902 I forgot Malaya to put my eyes in the Java Defense, I knew about my very conservative enemy player, and I tried to get time for a massive renforcement of the Java south triangle (Soerabaja-madicen-malang).
 
Good luck with your game !

8th December 1941

Sitrep -

Initial Japanese attacks did slightly less damage than I feared. My opponent choose to stick with a historical start so nothing weird happened

My air forces at PH, Clark and Singapore got hit pretty hard but I have seen and heard worse. They should be functional in a few days.

Central Pacific
The US fleet has no undamaged BS but none were sunk, worst hit has 56 system, 20 floatation and 20 fires. With PH repair facilities I should keep it afloat. Frankly I don't much care what happens to these old BS, at best they have a future as bombardment units. My opponent's decision to stick to a historical start is fine by me, I would have been much more concerned had he hit Manila and sunk 20 of my submarines.

Even if the KB hangs around PH for few days trashing things I will not be too worried. As a Japanese player I want the KB in the thick of the fighting as often as possible in these early days. Central Pacific is not the key theatre at this stage of the war. By launching the PH attack he has put the KB at least a week, probably more, away from the main fronts. The only real benefit he can gain from this is if he kills my carriers, anything else in CentPac, except maybe PH itself is expendable.

My carriers have run SE and are just trying to stay out of harms way for now, and PH garrison is not going anywhere. If the KB wants to float around here for a while killing antique BS that is fine by me. Callous I know but an allied player early on is going to take losses whatever he does, all he can hope for is not to lose stuff he needs later on.


I hope Wake will hold but have flown the Wildcats to Midway. My intention to start fortifying Midway, Johnston and Canton once the KB withdraws. If the Japs really want these they will take them but I intend to extract a price.


West Coast
On the West Coast I have started shuffling units. San Francisco will be my supply base and most AK and TK are moving here. I will let the auto convoy run rear area supplies for me. I also intend to start regular convoys from here to PH and Suva, although I will control these manually and not begin them until I know where the KB is headed.

Los Angeles is going to be a repair yard and the launch point for troop convoys. All APs have been ordered here and all troops not under WC control are marching towards LA. Along with Concord and some flush deckers. As soon as KB is confirmed out of the way troop convoys to SOPAC and PH will begin.

Saratoga is staying at San Diego for now, Colorado is sailing to meet her as are the handful of modern destroyers on the West Coast.

Australia/Solomons
The Aussie/NZ fleets will concentrate at Brisbane, then wait quietly until I have some ground units. If the Japanese want Rabaul and the Solomons I don’t plan to stop them. The first places I will try to really defend here are Noumea and Moresby. If I can evac some of the Rabaul forces by submarine I will but I hope the majority of these will die bravely buying me a little time to get defences in place further south.

Philippines.
This turn I almost emptied Manila harbour, except for a few AKs who will run supplies to Bataan. I will try to hold Clark and Manila for as long as I can. As and when I can spare PPs the B17s, P40s and Catalina will try to get out either to India or the DEI. Same goes for cadres of a few units. Most will try to hold on and tie down enemy forces.

The B17 from Cagayan where the first to leave and they are already in India. Although long term I intend to move them to Java there are just not enough base troops here to support my aircraft.

All warships are moving to Seorabaya to concentrate with Force Z and the Dutch. From there I will think about limited strikes against Japanese invasions if his air cover ever looks a little overstretched. My hope is that if I can keep a potential naval threat on the edge of his vision it will force him to be conservative, and therefore slower, in his expansion,

DEI
The Japanese can take Borneo and Sulawesi any time they feel strong enough I cannot stop them so I am not going to take loses trying.
The strategy here is Fortress Java and Timor. Of the 2 Timor is more important to me and is my first real stop line. Both Aussie units at Darwin will head for Timor and a lodestar squadron has already rebased here and will fly in troops from the more exposed DEI stations - especially base forces as I want to build up a major air force here.

Similarly on Java my Lodestars are trying to evacuate the isolated Sumatra base forces to enable me to cope with the aircraft I hope to base here. A couple of units on Sulawesi and Borneo had there HQs changed so I could move them to Java. I do intend to stay within the spirit of history here. Dutch units might fort up on Java but I wont move any out of the DEI completely until it is unavoidable - might base a few aircraft defending Timor in Australia but that feels reasonable.

A few Malaya units will move here as I evacuate the air units there,. Most will go to India but some will reinforce Java.

Malaya/Burma/India
The historical first turn means I have a little time in Malaya and I intend to make use of it. Units north of Johore/Mersing will fight a delaying action will as many brigades as possible failing back rather than being forced to retreat, on brigade per hex forming a rearguard. Johore, Mersing and Singapore itself are fortifying as quickly as possible and the port has been evacuated. Aircraft are split between Singapore and Georgetown and base forces are concentrating in these to locations. Those in the North will run for India/Burma when the Japs reach Georgetown. Most of those at Singapore will rebase to Java as and when it can cope with that number of aircraft. If I can hold here until early February I will be happy.

A token force remains in Rangoon, whilst I build a defensive line at Mandalay. One division is coming up from India. A few artillery/tank units are being shipped from the Karachi and the western Indian ports. However I am not sending troops from Eastern India into Burma - my inland Indian forces are going to concentrate at Asanol.

China
Totally confused here. On the defensive everywhere except around Canton - if I can get some pressure here whilst he moves to Hong Kong I might tie down some forces he want to use elsewhere. What look like spare units are reinforcing Changsha and Yenen. My air forces here are just training for now. Apart from that it is a case of fort up and pray hard.

Hello , good luck as allies , can be tough for a year so bear with it. One div at PH can be split into 3 and cover midway, johnson and palmyra. will stop cold and jap smaller grabs with SNLF and the like from kwajelien. get someone to canton asap too. very valuable base imo. (the SE Pac one not the chinese one [:D]).

Japanese escorts and air craft can't be everywhere so careful use of force Z and the american CA houston and the CL's marblehead and boise can overpower pretty much all jap ships bar the BB's.Forces japan to properly escort invasions and can keep java alive for a lot longer.

Agreed with your point in burma, mandalay can be held but dont move a single indian unit into
there just in case. Dakotas relly help in getting more men into burma and more importantly
you can fly out the depleted/damaged brit troops and re-form them in chandpur then fly em back in a month or 2 .. get SEAC HQ out of colombo too. chandpur is a good target and set the objective to mandalay as its in range from here.

Other than that just make it up as you go along, you will have time to recover from ANY mistakes you might make and you will learn from the inevitable cock ups that occur. Losing every US CV doenst really affect the allies much too as you get 4 essex in 43 to make up for them. Just try not to lose the brit ones ..

Political points are valuable early on to move the dutch etc. if churchill wants some ships back you might want to seriously consider it in the early war (dont send DD's back EVER). The exception to the DD rule are the 3 ones in HK as they suck badly. assuming they get out .. i load up a part of
the base force on them and sail to south bornea ASAP. can be useful down there. (PS go full speed too else you'll get Bettied [;)] from saigon and formosa).

so much to say , but its more fun doing it yourself imo ..

and above all have fun


PS .. covert some AK's immediately to AR.s MLE's and maybe some AS's .. AE's dont work till 45
so dont worry about them for now.

10the December 1941

Not much to report.

Wake continues to hold but I have evacuated the F4s to Midway.

North of Pearl a Jap sub put a torpedo into the already damaged Oklahoma as it ran for the West coast sending back to port.

My opponent is being cautious but forgot the Manila shore guns, a mistake that has cost him several destroyers and maybe a CA.

My own forces continue a tactical withdrawl to defensive positons The real figthing will begin when the Japs reach, Clark, Manila, Johore and Mandalay. Timor and Java are both being reinforced by units withdrawn from more exposed positions. It has cost me almost all my PP so far but several air units and baseforces have been transferred to SW Pac to allow me to move them about.