Centuur
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Joined: 6/3/2011
From: Hoorn (NED).
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The Japanese has to choose between the following options for the remaining impulses of this long summer turn:
1. Declare war on the US. Attack the Phillipines War with the US is about to start somewhere this year, so why not now? The Japanese can attack the US at Pearl Harbor and get a shot at the two carriers there. But that will mean the US is in the war early and gets an early production boost. Also, the CW will immediately DoW Japan in it's impulse to prevent a Japanese surprise impulse upon them. With the US in the war (even only against Japan) that would be a wise thing to do...
2. Declare war on the CW (and France). Sure, the Japanese can get some nice surprise invasions going, but they are still short on land units to garrison the area's attacked. That means that those invasions will end up to become phyrric victories. Also this adds at least two or even three chits to the Japan entry pool, which again rises the possibility for another DoW attempt of the US on Japan...
3. Declare war on both the CW and the US? No option, since the Japanese, due to the lack of land units, than has an even larger problem.
4. Declare war on the Netherlands. There's oil there, and there isn't anything the CW can do to interfere in the taking of the oil fields and Batavia, because of the threat the Japanese have put against the CW positions. That resulted in the movement of transported units to Australia and Ceylon. Also, it is possible to put a garrison in this country. Downside is again the chit draw and the fact that the CW gets 10 precious convoy points...
5. DoW the CW and the Netherlands? That seems to be a little to much for the Japanese. You don't want to have too few forces to achieve anything by trying to get everything at once in WiF. A lot of low odds attacks usually results in attrittion warfare and that type of warfare favours the Allies...
6. Do nothing. Downside is an awful amount of oil spend...
To succesfully grab the Phillipines or NEI, with minimizing possible losses on the Japanese forces, Japan needs at least 2 impulses. For the possible conquest of Australia, three impulses are needed (and that's a lot, given the fact that the Royal Navy will try to attack the Japanese convoys in that case. SUB's and BB's are available).
I go back to the most important thing in World in Flames. That's economics. To add 4 oil points this turn to the Japanese war effort is a lot. Let's hope Mr. Kurusu can persuade US Congress to again not change it's stand regarding the Declaration of War Bill.
This also gives me the one and only problem I'm having with the boardgame as a whole. That's the fact how the Dutch are handled in this game. The Netherlands are a trade nation and whoever would pay for the oil would get it. Would they have instated an oil embarge against Japan if they wouldn't have been invaded by Germany in 1940? No way! Cash and carry was the way the Dutch behaved in WW I and that's also how they behaved in the first months of WW II. How did the Netherlands become the richest country in Europe after WW I? By trading to whoever would pay during WW I.
Also, the European map is drawn incorrectly. The hex east of Antwerp should be a Dutch hex. That would make a German attack on only Belgium more difficult and therefore the decision to let the Netherlands remain neutral more difficult on the Axis.
A neutral Netherlands should continue to give 2 oil to both sides. A CW controlled Netherlands should embargo Japan. And to make things historically correct, the European map should be changed. There is only about 220 km's of border by Belgium and Luxemburg with Germany and not 360, as it is on the map...
The Japanese embassador in The Haque gives an ultimatum letter to the Dutch government. Either you lift the oil embargo within 24 hours, or there is a state of war between the Japanese Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Dutch governments statement is direct: we don't want to be blackmailed. The British pay more. If you don't do so, we won't deliver. An hour later, the German embassador in The Hague gives another letter to the Dutch government: either you allow the Japanese claim on oil, or there will be war between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the German Reich (the surprise impulse by Germany is needed to avoid that the Dutch army is set up in the NEI. Without the surprise impulse, the CW would do so, since Dutch ships and planes setup in the Netherlands would simply sail or fly away to the UK).
The Japanese, being in the newspapers due to the Congress debating on the country, gets three chits drawn in the entry pool. The German DoW isn't given any attention in US papers. Mr. Kurusu is shocked and asks to be relieved. The Japanese government refuses and advises him to continue his good work in Washington...
And here is the “Wilhelmus”, the National Anthem of the Netherlands, with a video of the inspection of the Dutch East Indies Army on the Queensday in 1941:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxAyDOVlsk8
The Dutch align to the CW. The convoy points, the SUB and the TRS are setup in Curacao (in the Caribbean). The Dutch army and airforce are setup in Amsterdam and the Dutch ships are in the Netherlands too. The NEI is defended by the TERR.
Japan and Germany take land actions, Italy takes an air action.
Italy flies a NAV into the Red Sea. It tries to find the CW cruiser there, Search rolls fail.
Two groundstrikes by Stuka's take place, one near Pskov:
 Attachment (1)
< Message edited by Centuur -- 1/10/2015 7:06:08 PM >
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Peter
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RE: A musical global war AAR... - 
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