Here we go again! tc464 (A) vs. Mike (J) - No tc464

[Smeulders]

The ways an allied player can torture you are endless. Sink a convoy and watch you figure out how to rearrange your ships, decimate an auxilliary Chinese unit and you'll tear out all you hair moving troops to their new garrison locations [:)]. Then again, wars are won by logistics and I don't think there are many that'll beat you there. Good luck

[Mike Solli]

Smeulders, you're right and Ted is an expert at driving me nuts.  But then, I do my best to drive him nuts too. [:D]
 
Oh, by the way, logistics is important, but if you lose KB, it's meaningless. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

Here's my supply cost for my initial industry increase. This is just for airframe and engine increases:

[Q-Ball]

I like these opening moves:

*GUAM: Cancel this invasion. Send 144th Regt and Base Force to Rabaul. You can take Guam at your liesure with a Nav Gd or something.
*WAKE: Postpone this invasion. Take the Nav Gd heading for Tarawa, send it north to join the Wake Invasion TF, and use BOTH of them on Wake. They will take it 100% of the time. You don't need to land on Makin now. Divert the Makin Inv. force to Tarawa.
*LEGASPI: Cancel the landing at Legaspi. Take the 2 SNLF units pointed there, land them at Ambon instead. They will take the base first try. That will kick you off on Southern DEI move. As soon as Ambon is taken, land them on Koepang. Just have an AIR HQ, a Base Force from Takao headed there turn 1, and send Fuel/Supplies from Japan turn one. A Bat Div wouldn't hurt either.
*16th Div: Don't land it at Legaspi either. Try Altimonaon, or whatever that is. Why walk all the way to Manila, when the Allies are unlikely to defend that whole stretch?
*2nd Div: Cancel the landing at Kuching; you don't need to sail all the way from Japan for that move. Personally, I unload that TF, and send it to Malaya. 2 Regts are already 100% prepped for Singapore.

Prep Gds Bde or that elite Manchukuo regt. turn one for Port Moresby. That, and the 144th Regt will allow you to take the place early Jan no problem.

That's my opening move advice on the IJA, hope it helps!

[stldiver]

I used the Naval unit that attacks Bataan to take Guam. Its one of the units that gets the quick first jump move. The Eng unit can take Bataan on its own. This cleans up Guam quickly for little expense.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

I like these opening moves:

*GUAM: Cancel this invasion. Send 144th Regt and Base Force to Rabaul. You can take Guam at your liesure with a Nav Gd or something.
*WAKE: Postpone this invasion. Take the Nav Gd heading for Tarawa, send it north to join the Wake Invasion TF, and use BOTH of them on Wake. They will take it 100% of the time. You don't need to land on Makin now. Divert the Makin Inv. force to Tarawa.
*LEGASPI: Cancel the landing at Legaspi. Take the 2 SNLF units pointed there, land them at Ambon instead. They will take the base first try. That will kick you off on Southern DEI move. As soon as Ambon is taken, land them on Koepang. Just have an AIR HQ, a Base Force from Takao headed there turn 1, and send Fuel/Supplies from Japan turn one. A Bat Div wouldn't hurt either.
*16th Div: Don't land it at Legaspi either. Try Altimonaon, or whatever that is. Why walk all the way to Manila, when the Allies are unlikely to defend that whole stretch?
*2nd Div: Cancel the landing at Kuching; you don't need to sail all the way from Japan for that move. Personally, I unload that TF, and send it to Malaya. 2 Regts are already 100% prepped for Singapore.

Prep Gds Bde or that elite Manchukuo regt. turn one for Port Moresby. That, and the 144th Regt will allow you to take the place early Jan no problem.

That's my opening move advice on the IJA, hope it helps!

Interesting Q-Ball. Here's my comments on your suggestions:

Guam - I do exactly the same thing. I haven't figured out who to use on Guam yet.
Wake - I do exactly the same thing. [X(] [:D]
Legaspi - I have already cancelled that invasion. Didn't think of Ambon for the SNLFs. Great idea!
16 Div - I do exactly the same thing but for a different reason. I want to cut off anything that may be further down the peninsula.
2 Div - I do exactly the same thing. Since they're already prepped for Singapore, why waste all that prep time.

Still not sure who to send on an all expense paid tour of PM. Will decide soon though.

That's truly amazing how similar we've been thinking about this. The Ambon idea is genius. Thanks!

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: stldiver

I used the Naval unit that attacks Bataan to take Guam. Its one of the units that gets the quick first jump move. The Eng unit can take Bataan on its own. This cleans up Guam quickly for little expense.

I think I've decided on who's going to Guam. Thanks!

[Q-Ball]

You don't even really need Batan Is. You do need an airbase on Northern Luzon, but Appari/Tugegerao is fine, take your pick. Will require some construction though.

For what it's worth, I like these first week moves:

1. Miri: It's ready to go, why not?
2. Singkawang: Bigger airbase than Kuching. Put an AIR HQ here. That will close the area to Allied shipping first week.
In my PBEM, I then landed on BILLITON. I brought a bunch of engineers, but had a big airbase in about 2-3 weeks, and it's perfectly positioned to support Sumatra, Java, etc.
3. Ambon, Kendari, Koepang; pick up and drop off same units over and over
4. Northern Luzon: Initially, just get troops ashore and set up airbases. Objective is to make Allied commit to Manila or Clark, and then begin the siege.

I would prep 21st Mixed Bde and 4th Mixed Regt up by Hanoi for Batavia. Land them on Java early January; they aren't strong enough to take it, but you can start wearing down the Dutch airforce. The Dutch troops get stronger if you wait, better to move early while they are weak. Same with the KNIL air units, in march they start getting real fighters.

Overall, I try to land on any airbase that is size 2+, and bypass everything else for later. If the Allies can't fly attack aircraft off it, the only real way a size 1 airbase can hurt you is by having Search Planes there helping the subs, but that's it.

I just feel that speed is key for Japan in the SRA. And speed depends almost entirely on the Japanese player's ability to plan ahead and have the logistical pipeline going; by that I mean fuel, supplies, engineers, base forces, air HQs, and other stuff to keep pushing ops. You have plenty of Infantry at the tip of the spear to work with, it's the stuff behind that will slow you down. Unless the Allies commit CVs or something, they can't seriously slow you down.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

You don't even really need Batan Is. You do need an airbase on Northern Luzon, but Appari/Tugegerao is fine, take your pick. Will require some construction though.

For what it's worth, I like these first week moves:

1. Miri: It's ready to go, why not?
2. Singkawang: Bigger airbase than Kuching. Put an AIR HQ here. That will close the area to Allied shipping first week.
In my PBEM, I then landed on BILLITON. I brought a bunch of engineers, but had a big airbase in about 2-3 weeks, and it's perfectly positioned to support Sumatra, Java, etc.
3. Ambon, Kendari, Koepang; pick up and drop off same units over and over
4. Northern Luzon: Initially, just get troops ashore and set up airbases. Objective is to make Allied commit to Manila or Clark, and then begin the siege.

I would prep 21st Mixed Bde and 4th Mixed Regt up by Hanoi for Batavia. Land them on Java early January; they aren't strong enough to take it, but you can start wearing down the Dutch airforce. The Dutch troops get stronger if you wait, better to move early while they are weak. Same with the KNIL air units, in march they start getting real fighters.

Overall, I try to land on any airbase that is size 2+, and bypass everything else for later. If the Allies can't fly attack aircraft off it, the only real way a size 1 airbase can hurt you is by having Search Planes there helping the subs, but that's it.

I just feel that speed is key for Japan in the SRA. And speed depends almost entirely on the Japanese player's ability to plan ahead and have the logistical pipeline going; by that I mean fuel, supplies, engineers, base forces, air HQs, and other stuff to keep pushing ops. You have plenty of Infantry at the tip of the spear to work with, it's the stuff behind that will slow you down. Unless the Allies commit CVs or something, they can't seriously slow you down.

Q-Ball, one of us is reading the other's mind, although not quite as much as the last time.

1. Miri: I'll most likely take that base the first week. The goal is to base some fighters and possibly recon there.
2. Singkawang: I've eyeballed that base. I'm a bit reluctant to take it the first week because of Allied air power in the area (primarily Singapore). I'll probably take it after Miri.
3. Ambon, Kendari, Koepang: With the adjustment to Ambon with the 2 SNLFs, that's the thing to do. [;)]
4. Northern Luzon: I'm going to push a substantial force to Lingayan. The forces for Aparri and Vigan are still going on as scheduled. The Aparri invasion has some air support so I may add some engineers to build up the base somewhat.

I was planning on keeping the 4th Mixed Reg where it was, but I really doubt Ted will advance there. He has little interest with China other than an occasional air offensive that will die out when the supply dwindles. Now I'm going to reconsider....

In WitP, the important airbases were those that were 4+. Gotta remember that that's not the case anymore. Gotta read up on the airfield rules....

[Q-Ball]

Mike, you are right on Lingayen; the thing to do on Luzon is to put only an SNLF up north, but a pile of construction troops and base forces; in Ligayen, unload the bulk of the combat troops. You don't need to unload troops at Appari, but you do need base forces up there.

[modrow]

Another so-far-only-Allied-in-any-scenario-with-economy-on player just subscribed. Maybe this way I will finally learn how the Japanese economy is to be run, so I can join the dark side at some point of time [8D].

Looking forward to this !

Hartwig

[Mike Solli]

My my, you guys all think I know what I'm doing.  Just wait until the Japanese economy comes crashing down around my ears. [:D]

[ny59giants]

Don't forget that some of your early conquest may include capture of a base to deny it to the Allies vs. it being important to you. Case in point is Port Blair. After Tavoy and Victoria Port, this is a must have to deny that air bridge from Malaya back to Burma/India for those short legged fighters like the Buffalo (transfer range - 16). I would think a para SNLF or two should be enough. [;)]

I'm still waiting for that gusty Allied player who picks up the fighters at Wake Island and heads Big E and Lexington through the island gaps and hits Truk on their way to Australia. Truk is a "target rich environment" and if those 4 older CAs happen to be there, then......

[SqzMyLemon]

Can I ask what you mean by "prepping" a unit. I see that term pop up in many threads, but no idea what is meant by it. Some units start the game "prepped" for a location, do you have to send them there ideally?

Mike, I'll be following your AAR closely, just call me grasshopper!

[USSAmerica]

As an AFB, I'm still fascinated by the management of the Japanese economy.  I enjoy your thoughts, plans, and organization, Mike.  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?  [;)]

Subscribed. 

[Mike Solli]

Yes, Pt. Blair.  I've already allocated forces to take it.  I plan on having it in Dec.  An airborne op followed up with some infantry, engineers and avn spt, along with fighters to start.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

Can I ask what you mean by "prepping" a unit. I see that term pop up in many threads, but no idea what is meant by it. Some units start the game "prepped" for a location, do you have to send them there ideally?

Mike, I'll be following your AAR closely, just call me grasshopper!

When you prep a unit for a location, you accrue preparation points for that location. It gives a bonus in combat, both defensive and offensive. If you prep the HQ that unit belongs to and have the HQ within range of the target, you get a bonus for that too. You can get some hefty combat bonuses with prepping a unit/HQ. It does take some planning though.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants
I'm still waiting for that gusty Allied player who picks up the fighters at Wake Island and heads Big E and Lexington through the island gaps and hits Truk on their way to Australia. Truk is a "target rich environment" and if those 4 older CAs happen to be there, then......

I gave this some thought actually in my game vs. Cuttlefish. There isn't crap for IJN Air Search at that time, so sneaking up on Truk isn't really that difficult. The difficulty is that if Kido Butai leaves PH right away, and sails straight for Truk they will get there before you, or even worse, about the same time. CF only did a one-day attack on PH, so too risky. In most cases, KB is heading for Truk after PH, it's the most logical place to go.

Now, if KB hangs around for a couple days at PH..........very possible.[8D]

Mike: Sorry to keep butting in, 90% of the stuff I put out there you were already doing or on top of, great minds think alike I guess.......

What are you doing with KB after Pearl? I personally like splitting off 1 Car Div and sending it to the Southern DEI.

Splitting CVs is usually a no-no, but there isn't any risk the first month or two, since there are only 3 USN CVs in the Pacific; considering they also have Buffs on board, easily handled by the other 4.

Appearing in the Southern DEI does a few things:
1. You'll likely catch some fleeing Allied shipping
2. You might catch some ABDA cruisers. If you don't, you will certainly chase them from the area.
3. You can provide air support for Ambon/Timor landings, when they are otherwise tough to support from the air. Moving on Timor in late Dec is going "deep", but if IJN CVs appear, it will chase the ABDA Navy away.

I wouldn't keep them there long, because there is a chance that USN CVs can be in the area by mid-Jan or so. Worst case, you could probably win a fight against 2 CVs, though it could be bloody. Or if you are paired with Baby KB, it could be a good thing.

This just covers the first month, after that it's probably wise to keep everyone together.

Other CV Notes:
Don't forget to RESIZE the airgroups on Hosho and Ryujo; they will expand nicely when you do that. Hosho is now a 20-capacity CVE, and is more useful than before. Here is another trick: Load that 3-plane Val Chutai that starts in Pescadores onto Ryujo for a turn, and RESIZE; it now becomes a 19-plane Chutai. Set it to TRAIN, as you will need replacement pilots for KB.

[Mike Solli]

Q-Ball (and everyone else), keep those ideas coming. The dialogue is helping all of us. [:)]

Not 100% sure what I'm going to do with KB after PH. I don't expect to stay there more than one day, because there are many other tasks that KB can influence. Yeah, sure, if you stick around PH longer you'll accomplish two tasks:

1. You'll sink more of the old BBs. (Big deal. [8|])
2. You'll lose more irreplacable pilots. (Big deal. [:(])

Keep in mind that this plan may change. Right now I plan on having the entire KB swing past Wake to ensure the quick liberation of that island with no Allied interference. I'm delaying the Wake invasion force to coincide with KB's arrival and the 4 Aobas are headed there for bombardment support. Actually, I'd welcome Allied interference. KB will sink anything in range. After that, I'll move on to Kwajalein where I'll drop off CarDiv 1 (Akagi and Kaga), the 2 BBs and DD escort for defense of the Pacific. Why those ships? They pack quite a punch and they're the slowest ships in KB. The remainder will refuel at Truk and head south to support the securing of Rabaul and Pt. Moresby. I am thinking of sending KB around New Guinea, past Thursday Island and into the SRA for a little entertainment. The oilers will head to Palau and meet up with KB on the flip side of NG. KB won't stay there long. Just long enough to leave an impression. Then they will sail off into the sunset to prepare for their next mission (and out of Allied visibility).

Q-Ball, that's a GREAT idea with that Val chutai! Never thought of that. I did resize the Hosho and Ryujo. Ryujo will tool around south of Jolo to catch shipping and Hosho will sail west toward the Philippines in case Ted sends ships in that direction. They will eventually combine to one TF.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
Q-Ball, that's a GREAT idea with that Val chutai! Never thought of that. I did resize the Hosho and Ryujo. Ryujo will tool around south of Jolo to catch shipping and Hosho will sail west toward the Philippines in case Ted sends ships in that direction. They will eventually combine to one TF.

No problem, I guess I'm good for one tidbit per long e-mail. You can also re-size Jake units on AVs this way (start with the small Jake unit at Truk; load it onto AV Kamoi; now it's a 9-plane unit). You can expand all the reinforcement Val and Kate units that come in February. Some units can't re-size though.