Allied Defensive/Offensive Strategy

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> Allied Defensive/Offensive Strategy

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Allied Defensive/Offensive Strategy - 3/23/2004 7:44:51 PM

paullus99

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Since we already have a lively discussion going from the Japanese side of the fence, I thought it would be interesting to start a discussion on US/Allied tactics - either on the offensive side or defensive.....considering the kinds of tactics we are likely to see from our wiley opponents, here's a start:

1) Save as much as you can, as early as you can - but bleed the oncoming Japanese hordes where practical & hold on to resource areas to maximize damage when they fall.

2) Concentrate your strength on the perimeter - set a maximum limit/line of expansion, and prepare the make the Japanese player fight hard for anything beyond that line....again, bleed them as much as possible.

3) Once a balance has been reached, either by mutual exhaustion or the Japanese player achieving their initial goals - prepare to find an area to fight a battle of attrition....like the Solomons, New Guinea, etc. Use your superior resources to drag the Japanese into a long, drawn-out campaign.....you will get replacements much faster than he will, and it might force him to abandon strategic areas, rather than see valuable pilots & ships go up in flames.

4) Do not overextend yourself too early....a Midway-type victory is not necessary, and a good human opponent will probably not give you the chance. As the allies, you have plenty of carriers coming down the pike, and plenty of escorts to go with them. Use your land-based air to create carrier-free zones - a good Japanese player with loathe to put his valuable carriers in range of rested medium bomber squadrons - a couple of decent hits will put a carrier out of the war for months.

5) No breathing room - do not give the Japanese player time to consolidate....always be doing something - picking off an isolated garrison, LR-CAP against an airbase, use your subs aggressively against supply lines.....every AK, AP, or Tanker sunk hurts Japanese supply and their economy. If the Japanese player extends themselves towards Fiji & north to Alaska, use those areas for training - they are difficult to supply & support, and provide you (the US player) with the opportunity to conduct some limited offensive operations to gain experience - you are closer to your own supply sources than the Japanese player - take advantage of it.

6) Full Offensive - if you have properly attrited the Japanese Air & Naval forces and are ready to go full speed ahead on the offensive (late 43 or early 44) - take stock of your position & when the enemy is concentrated. If he has fortified the Central Pacific, consider using Australia & New Guinea as a jumping off point - use diversions, but at the main point of attack, concentrate your power - both naval & land. You can throw plenty more at the Japanese then they can return, be prepared to accept losses in the initial battles, but if you can draw him into a conclusive battle, be prepared to stand and fight - if you've concentrated your forces, you will win.

7) China & Burma - well, this will mostly be a defensive fight but don't feel the need to sit still. The Japanese player has a lot of troops on the ground here & if he is forced to keep them there, they won't be sitting on those atolls in the Central Pacific waiting for your marines to land. Be prepared to give ground - maintain your supply lines, and look for opportunities to strike at his....If you can stop the Japanese short of the Indian border in Burma, make him bleed to stay there. If the Japanese carriers are facing off against the Americans in SWPAC or SOPAC, or CENPAC - use your British ships aggressively to support your ground forces - if they head your way, preserve your forces & rely on airpower to grind them down.

That's what I've been able to gleam so far - from desciptions from testers, AARs, historical references, etc. Let me know what you think & how you might pursue your own campaign.

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RE: Allied Defensive/Offensive Strategy - 3/23/2004 7:51:42 PM

mdiehl

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1942 is all up in the air. Shoot n scoot, with targets du juor determined by the knowledge of Japanese dispositions and intentions.

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Didn't we have this conversation already?

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RE: Allied Defensive/Offensive Strategy - 3/23/2004 7:56:30 PM

Mr.Frag

Posts: 13410
Joined: 12/18/2002
From: Purgatory
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Whoa!

The Allied can not fight the war that way. That is a sure path for Japan victory.

One needs to look very carefully at the Victory Points when talking strategies as they more then anything else dictate your actions. He who ignores them does so at his peril.

Unlike in UV, Victory Points for troop losses play a major factor in the game. No longer does the loss of a couple of CV's so overwhelm the score that the game is over after a major CV loss.

As I don't honestly know if these rules will be changing, it makes discussion of strategy rather difficult.

(in reply to paullus99)

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RE: Allied Defensive/Offensive Strategy - 3/23/2004 8:04:33 PM

mdiehl

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You are mistaken. Also, I'm talking 1942, not the entire war.

In 1942, the Allied player MUST fight that way, otherwise he merely hands over CVP to the Japanese player for no appreciable effect. Consider, for example, Asiatic Fleet. It starts with a complement of vessels that, taken together, comprise about the equivalent of one small early-war task force. Only a fool would, on seeing a strong Japanese invasion TF bound for, for example, Balikpapan, escorted by several IJN CAs or a BB, uselessly throw these ships away in a futile and ill-advised effort to but time. You won't buy any time. You will lose ships. On the other hand, if that BB TF is headed for Balikapan, let the fool Japanese player suck up fuel, and send Asiatic fleet to attack the CL-escorted TF bound for, for example, Bali. You get a 1 sided engagement with, for example, Houston, Marblehead, and a desron of 4-stackers wiping the floor with a Japanese CL and a couple DDs and APDs. Lather, rinse, repeat.

With US CVs, hit and run is the watchword of the day. Where Kido Butai is, you ain't. Instead, you are harassing outlying bases, slamming poorly escorted troop convoys (as the USN did in March 1942 near New Guinea), drawing Betties out from their bases and shooting down 15 or 16 with four or five F4Fs flying CAP (as the US did to Rabaul in February 1942) and so on. When the IJN gets irritated enough, draw him into a well conceived trap. Rope-a-dope Kido Butai with land based air and slam the IJN with a surprise air strike.

_____________________________

Show me a fellow who rejects statistical analysis a priori and I'll show you a fellow who has no knowledge of statistics.

Didn't we have this conversation already?

(in reply to Mr.Frag)

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RE: Allied Defensive/Offensive Strategy - 3/23/2004 8:30:25 PM

mogami

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Hi, The Allies have everything in their favor. They know they are going to lose the SRA so all they have to do is improve on history. Save a little more and do a little more damage.
The Japanese player with big plans is going to telegraph his intent by moving his CV. (They are the weapons that do the most damage)

The Allied player simply ducks and hopes the IJN gets within LBA in area he has a good ratio of aircraft.

I think Mdiehl knows what he is talking about in 1942.

The Japanese dictate where and when the Allies conduct their first offensives. If the IJN suffers a disaster and loses a few CV then an Allied offensive agaisnt an advanced Japanese base is not too distant.

If the Japanese stay at home and dig in then the Allies will adopt a slower approach. Find an airfield (or complex of airfields) in range of Japanese base and build it up and begin air campaign. Certain targets will get a Japanese response. (Allied airfield in range of SRA resource/oil center)

I'm only interested in maintaining a pace of forward movement that places me on Saipan in (around) May 1944

There are bases in PI within range of Japanese Home Islands but only the Central Pacific airfields place all of the Home Islands in range.
(20 hexes from Saipan to Tokyo. 20 hexes from Clark only reaches western portion of Home Islands. (B-29 normal range is 20 extended 27 )

< Message edited by Mogami -- 3/23/2004 1:33:20 PM >

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I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> Allied Defensive/Offensive Strategy

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