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It's end of 12/41, japan advances at a slow speed in Malaysia and I'm wondering if I should bring the 18th british division from Karachi directly to DEI or Singapore or if I should keep it in India/Burma theater.
I'd say there are 3 options to go, Palembang, Batavia or Singapore. The problem is, once I send them to one of these locations the division can easily be surrounded and crushed by occupying the ohers and bombing it to dust. Seems like every location down there would be a oneway ticket. On the other hand it might still be worthwile if it helps to get the jap player commited to the place for some time. Singapore might be the best choice for this approach as it also has the most fortifications but on the other hand it cannot be supplied very well once Palembang has fallen. How much supply should I bring anyway?
Any ideas?

This is just my take, but I wouldn't send it forward. Keep it on the Burma front, where there's only a risk of losing it, rather than sending it down south, where it will most certainly be destroyed for very little in return.

Only put it in Palembang if you are going for the "big solution" of heavily defending Palembang with lots of ground, engineers, supply and aircraft - to hold it for as long as possible and then have engineers there to thoroughly wreck it when the Japanese put in the effort needed to take it.
 
Cost = lose what you put there in the short term, benefit = make Japanese spend a lot of supply to repair it (over a long period of time) and disrupt the oli supply.
 
If you are going to do this you may need to move stuff out of Singapore/Malaya as well, if you can do that without giving the IJA a free pass accross the causeway.

I assume from the way your post was written that this is a PBEM.

Moving the 18th UK forward is an interesting proposition...just a few thoughts on that.

1. If you do move it forward protect your flank. If your opponent spots it out of India, it would make India an extra tempting target.
2. If you do move it forward you had better plan a path for its retreat that doesn't involve water. Once Japan gets its Bettys firmly established in DEI, there wont be a place safe for transports, as was the case IRL.
3. If you do move it forward bring a heck of a lot of supply with it. Supply routes will eventually be cut off and without supply its next to useless.
4. Might you be able to use it in Burma to hold the line once Malaya falls. Supply is still the issue, but at least worse case scenario you might be able to retreat through the jungle to india with it

In stock and most mods (Treespiders recent mod where he changed the size of the airfields might be an exception) I think you will find it all but impossible to get much if any of the 18th into Singapore and it'll be very risky to even try to get it to Sumatra or Java. Too many torpedos in the way - you might survive bombs long enough to land but torpedos will sink your ships before they get a chance to unload and the Japanese have plenty of torpedo a/c and plenty of places to launch them from in most permutations of the game (the fact that 18th Div or a good part of it actually got to Singapore IRL is pretty much irrelevant to the way WitP plays out). I've never tried cause the risk is too great.

An interesting strat
But my question is, if you move that brit div forward, what do you have to protect India?
Before March 1942, only 7th armor Brigade can be expected

My opponant did this and delayed the capture of the DEI by 2-3 weeks. However, when I invaded India I had a much easier time of it.

ORIGINAL: spence

In stock and most mods (Treespiders recent mod where he changed the size of the airfields might be an exception) I think you will find it all but impossible to get much if any of the 18th into Singapore and it'll be very risky to even try to get it to Sumatra or Java. Too many torpedos in the way - you might survive bombs long enough to land but torpedos will sink your ships before they get a chance to unload and the Japanese have plenty of torpedo a/c and plenty of places to launch them from in most permutations of the game (the fact that 18th Div or a good part of it actually got to Singapore IRL is pretty much irrelevant to the way WitP plays out). I've never tried cause the risk is too great.

Correct in the game, but not in reality. The Malaya garrison had enough AA and air defense assets to keep the torpedo bombers from doing more than harass the ship traffic in the Penang Straits. The way the game engine allows the AI (and PBEM players) to strangle Singapore is totally ahistorical.

The AT battalion was a local Sunderland unit. The memorial is at my church.

Valuable info, thx gents.

I'm still thinking about this and as this is an PBEM I will not let you know the outcome - for now.
Regarding defences in India I've checked and I receive three more INF divisions and an Indian Brigade until MAR/42, so India is not completely defenceless. But as many of you stated above it's a high risk and I too think it's a sacrifice mission. Question is if it is worth it...

Those Indian divs. come in at much less than full strength.

I don't like to commit anything for suicide defense.  Sending one division (pretty much anywhere), isn't going to be sufficient.  Holding off the surrender at Sinapore or Pal or Java for an extra 2 - 3 weeks that it takes Japan to grab an extra 2 divs to deal with you...  Not worth the cost.
 
IMO, you commit your units to where you can hold or at least delay, but where they can also retreat if necessary.  Perma-destruction of a UK/Oz/US Division hurts BAD.  You DON'T want to lose a division just for 2 - 3 weeks, or even 300 oil points at Pal.
 
18th Div at Batavia delays the inevitable.
18th Div at Madras elimates the possible (and is central enough that she can be further deployed when there are other friends to protect India).
 
My 2 pfinnigs.
-F-

Or a move from right field....
 
Send it to OZ, in conjunction with 6 & 7 OZ Divs could ake a strong force to take back PNG & New Britain.