India

[canuckgamer]

We are playing our second PBEM game and India is getting destroyed again. It is only April 42 and almost all their forces are surrounded and Calcutta is about to fall. The Japanese have based about 6 air units who have a range of 10 in Thailand and steadily advanced up the coast using naval support. This past turn they invaded behind Calcutta amphibiously and dropped a paratrooper.

The UK fleet can't intervene because of all the land based Japanese air and lack of oil. Yes I shipped oil to them from the USA but the max you can trade is 10 per turn. In both games more Allied units are getting overrun than retreating. I asked in a previous post whether the overrun rule change had been made for WPP and apparently it has.

What surprises me is the number of Japanese ground and air units that can be supplied considering that Bangkok is a size 4 port and other ports are quite a distance away by road. I know that the further you are from a port the more expensive it gets to supply a unit.

This leads to unhistorical strategy for the Allies like shipping USA ground units to defend India. I built UK Corps as soon as I could and had one ready to deploy last turn but it takes two turns to transport it there. I have another one in the queue. Most of the defending Allied units are only divisions so no ZOC which makes it easy for Japanese units to infiltrate. In my previous post I said that I think supply in jungle hexes should be more onerous than what it is currently in the game. If you look at campaigns like Port Moresby the biggest problem was supply. In this game with the many roads it isn't even an issue.

My friend who is playing the Axis played World in Flames for many years and I've asked him how the Thailand/Burma/India front played out in that game because I know that some of the elements of the two WP games have been influenced by WIF.

[ncc1701e]

In the latest patch, Bangkok is a port level 8. Rangoon is a port level 4. And, Chittagong is a port level 4.

Few tips:
1. India has an air superiority unit to prevent paratroopers or enemy planes. Don't disband it on turn one. Even if this is not your priority on turn one, you should reinforce it little by little. Also, AAA guns are cheap and useful against planes.

2. Your priority for India is to form small corps as soon as possible. You said you are defending with divisions. You must form small corps for ZOC and to slow down the Japanese. Also, small corps is 20/20 strength so you will have less overrun.

3. You must defend Madras, Jaffna and Colombo with small corps. Colombo is a victory hex and a port level 6. It is vital to the protection of India. It is also vital to upgrade and repair your ships. Put AAA guns in these locations.

4. In Burma, you need to retreat on turn one from Rangoon. Try to form a first line of resistance with small corps around here. Then, if Japanese commits plenty of troops, you may fallback to the second line of resistance also called the Dacca line.

5. India has manpower and logistics to form plenty of land/air units. Send PP to them from UK or from USA. UK has low logistics. I use them more for ships, AAA guns, merchant marines and supply trucks. Their supply trucks and/or AAA guns can be used by Indian units. Concentrates Indian production to land units and to upgrade them. Then, when Japanese are blocked, buy and upgrade some planes.

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[canuckgamer]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah I combined divisions to corps when I could for ZOCs but because they are garrisons their movement is one hex a turn making more difficult to do that. I also did transport the unit out of Rangoon on turn one. Not sure about Indian air superiority considering it is one air unit against 6 Japanese. My air unit was actually overrun and is in the queue.

The point I was trying to make is that I think it should be more difficult to supply and move units in jungle. I doubt the roads were as modern as those in western Europe so maybe the roads in jungle should cost 2 OP. Units can already move in to a jungle road hex from a non connected jungle hex and only pay 1 op like they can in War Plan Europe so even that mobility is unrealistic.

Does it appear to you that overruns are working like they are supposed to since the patch to fix it was released. By the way we are playing the latest version and my comment about Bangkok being a 4 was actually a comment about Rangoon so my mistake.

I don't think the Japanese even considered invading India given the supply issues but they sure can in this game. I believe they made one carrier raid early in the war and that was it and they certainly were not able to base a sizeable air force in Burma/Thailand/India.

[ncc1701e]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah I combined divisions to corps when I could for ZOCs but because they are garrisons their movement is one hex a turn making more difficult to do that. I also did transport the unit out of Rangoon on turn one.

Welcome, the rail move can definitely help you. You need to start the whole process on turn one without delay.

The point I was trying to make is that I think it should be more difficult to supply and move units in jungle. I doubt the roads were as modern as those in western Europe so maybe the roads in jungle should cost 2 OP. Units can already move in to a jungle road hex from a non connected jungle hex and only pay 1 op like they can in War Plan Europe so even that mobility is unrealistic.

This is why ZOC is important because it costs more for the Japanese to move.

Does it appear to you that overruns are working like they are supposed to since the patch to fix it was released.

Yes but beware of infantry division. When they start to be at 7/10 strength, danger! You need to reinforce them. An army versus a division is never good.

I believe they made one carrier raid early in the war and that was it and they certainly were not able to base a sizeable air force in Burma/Thailand/India.

And, in the game, there are plenty of airfields by default in the jungle to do this indeed. Maybe historical airfields location, I don't know.