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How do you WitP'ers determine what to put where?

For example, you see an island with nothing on it....how do you determine what to send? Do you send a division? Engineers? Are all islands targets? Are there some you think aren't worth occupying?

And one other Q - how do you determine what to do to defend? If a city is being attacked - how do you know what to send? How do you determine you're going to be able to defend? When do you say pull back?

That's what always gets me with WitP. I see islands with nothing on them and think "Oh - I'll occupy that"...but then I sit and wonder what the hell I am to send there!

Some more questions than one...[&o]

The only answer is "it depends"... And it depends on about a million things.

This is what I've learned and I am by no means an expert.  I don't take an island because it's there.  i take an island because it gets me to my next goal/objective.  Generally you take an island base to increase your LBA coverage.  This provides the umbrella for your transports and amphibs to travel under and allows the next step.  As far as what to send...recon provides an idea of the troop strength, ground attack with air provides an idea of the strongest Assault Value unit stationed there.  The more recon you do on your objective, the better your opponent can guess your next move though so you also need to try and implement a deception plan to mask your truo intentions.
 
I'm weak on land combat so I won't attempt the second question.
 
That's my two cents and now I'll sit back to be corrected by the experts.

How about, "it depends on how badly you want it/need it". If you absolutely have to have it, then go there with everything, dig in and make it , and keep it yours. If it doesn't really matter, then neither should the forces. Many a battle has spent tremendous amounts of blood and treasure over territory that no one reall wanted. So ask yourself, "how much do I really want/need it?". And, "how much does my enemy want/need it?".
 
 Another major question is how well defended is it? Recon a target to death, then after prepping your troops , plan to hit it with overwhelming force. At least 5;1. I'd use more troops if I had them. Once you obtain your objectives, you can always pull the assault troops out and send them some where to rest and rebuild. But the experince is invaluable.

Makes sense that you take an island because it's your next umbrella stage. Good answer.

First you need recon to be sure what is or isn't at your target.  Based on your recon you can send what you think you need to take and develop the base.  You don't need or can take every base, but take what fits your strategy.  For defending look at what is there and what is the most valuable to your enemy, defend it and try not to allow him to encircle you.  Cities will usually take a greater effort than an island to take as there will probably be more opposition there, especially if the hex has an urban bonus.  It's easier to cut off resupply and reinforcement of an island than a city. Bombard with air and naval (if possible) as much as possible to reduce the enemy and disrupt him.

The Pacific islands were all about building an airfield and then basing what it could support there.  The Allies advanced under an umbrella of land based air whenever they could.

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

How do you WitP'ers determine what to put where?

For example, you see an island with nothing on it....how do you determine what to send? Do you send a division? Engineers? Are all islands targets? Are there some you think aren't worth occupying?

And one other Q - how do you determine what to do to defend? If a city is being attacked - how do you know what to send? How do you determine you're going to be able to defend? When do you say pull back?

That's what always gets me with WitP. I see islands with nothing on them and think "Oh - I'll occupy that"...but then I sit and wonder what the hell I am to send there!

Some more questions than one...[&o]

I'm no expert but here's what I'd ask myself:

1. Where is the base in relation to major bases of yours/the enemy? Is it in an important location (like, say, along a major supply route, or within B-29 range of Japan)?
2. How big is the current and maximum port/airfield size?
3. Is the base close enough to enemy territory or shipping routes for your bombers? If within bomber range, is it close enough for escorting fighters as well, if you are bombing a heavily defended target? Also, is it within range of enemy land-based bombers, and if so, approx how many?
4. Do you have enough "spare" support/engineer units to mount sufficient flight ops or expand/fortify the base in a reasonable amount of time?
5. Once you build up the base, will it be a problem to keep it adequately supplied?
6. If the enemy were to launch an invasion TF, how long would it take for a reinforcement convoy to get there? How long for a surface/air combat TF to get there to interdict the enemy?
7. Could the enemy isolate your forces easily?
8. If occupied by the enemy, how many troops/aircraft/ships/TF's in the area, and what kind, and how many? Do you have sufficient force to capture it? To capture it before the enemy can reinforce/counterattack?

Remember one thing, it is sometimes better to bypass strong IJ bases that you are able to isolate and control their airpower than attack each and every island.

Judge, sometimes what I send is determined entirely by what I have available. Sometimes it isn't enough.

I am giving an IJN answer here.

Summary?
1.Do I need it ? And why ?
2.Recon, recon, recon.
3.Getting there is the easier part. Clear and hold is a different story.
4.Task force: in my experience you need sufficient escorts for self defense and to get your troops ashore (DDs, AGC, fast AK, AP or landing craft).
5. Initially enough supplies to hold out.
6. Troops: Combat engineers to smash fortifications, seabees for rebuilding apart from infantry (depends on what your recon tells you).
7. Time factor: how fast can I upgrade my position there (next supporting base).
8. Air cover, transport AC in range ?

You also want to be thinking about "what happens next".  After you take a position... (You did send enough to be sure to take it, didn't you?)... you then will be doing something from there.  If you took the position to serve as an air base, make sure you send enough aviation support to serve your needs.  Send engineers to repair and to improve the air fields.  Send supplies.   
 
Will the new position serve as a base for shipping?  Send fuel.  Send the ships you want to base there.
 
Will the new position need fighter protection?  Can you transfer fighters to the new position from a base you already have?  If yes, position the fighters.  If no, load the fighters on ships and send them.

A gamey answer but something to consider: 
 
For the IJN:  You need to capture the SRA as intact as possible and kill everything you can during 1941 & 1942 before the Allied reinforcements start making offensives painfully costly (and to try get to a 1/1/43 auto-victory).  Some islands you'll want because they offer good bases, other bases you want because they give you lots of points, still other bases you want to take because they take lots of points from the Allies. 
 
For the Allies:  It's the mirror image of the Japanese.  You have to survive through 1941/42 without letting the Japanese get to an autovictory and then grind down the Japanese lead until you get to a points victory.  The interesting point on your side is that unless the Japanese have just gone hog wild in 1942, you'll get to a place in 1943 and 1944 where you have lots of idle SeaBee battalions.  Then you will want to land them on every islet in the Pacific and build them out in order to get a handful of victory points for each of the bases there.  Of course, that's really low on the priority list after doing all the other stuff.   

Thanks for the advices. Do we talk about playing against the AI or a PBEM game ? (which I never did so far).

ORIGINAL: Balou

Thanks for the advices. Do we talk about playing against the AI or a PBEM game ? (which I never did so far).

That's the most important question of all. Almost every answer is different if your opponent is the AI instead of a human. The second most important question is, are you playing as Japan or Allies?

Allies. So far vs Jap AI. And since the AI is very predictible, collecting islands i.e. in the DEI was rather boring in the long run, but hopefully good for my learning curve.