quote:

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson

Because "Burma" technically includes Tavoy and Vickie's Point" ... you really want to know when they went against Moulmein and hence towards Rangoon. This was on 20 January 1942 ( page 412 Empires in the Balance, Willmott ), 15th Army ( Iida ) with 33 and 55 Divisions. However, it was not until 8 March 42 that Rangoon was captured. The the 56th Division was then landed as a ( Japanese ) reinforcement in Rangoon, and 18th Division came as well, bringing 15th Army up to 4 divisions. Lashio was captured ( by the Japanese ) on 29 April 42. Can't find exact date for Mandalay but probably between 12 and 20 May 42. Also no date for Mytchina ( the allies seem to have simply melted away in May. Same story for Akyab - no date for Japanese capture - but it was captured and held as were Mytchina and Lashio ( and Andaman too ).

In my current game ( scenario 16 - mid-March ) I am way short of resources to go after Akyab, Lashio or Mytchina ... and am "driving" on Akyab while holding Mandalay. But I still only have 33 and 55 divisions.

In the game ... the power of fortifications tends to make the IJ player want to move more quickly ... but you have to balance that against the requirement to "close out" your campaigns ... as you need the troops from one, the finish the other. So careful planning and execution are absolute requirements ... for my money any house rules restricting the Japanese advance in the early going are unecessary ... but that's my two cents.

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ORIGINAL: Grotius

Thanks for the explanation. I did a search and found some of the other threads on night bombing. In my first little PBEM (Scenario 3), my Allied opponent indeed is night-bombing me every night, and I seem to have no defense. I tried setting a Zero squadron to night-CAP (Sweep with a 50% CAP setting) but it didn't contest the bombing raid. Still, the losses so far have been minimal.

So in a PBEM, what might be the "top five" house rules? I don't want to have to remember two dozen. :)

quote:

1. ASW TF's. No more than 6 to 8 ships allowed. No Admirals allowed to command.
2. Night Bombing. City attacks (Manpower only) for non-game designated air units.
No restriction on night naval attacks.
11. GT1 landings, for the Japanese, must be within range of Japanese LBA recon. (Mogami rule?)(scenario specific)Play balance feature.
13. No invasions against hexes that do not contain a dot/base in them. Not every coastal hex was suitable for amph ops. Play balance feature.
14. LCU's belonging to the Kwangtung command may not leave Manchuria unless PP's are spent to change their command. Play balance feature.

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ORIGINAL: irrelevant

quote:

ORIGINAL: Grotius

quote:

1. ASW TF's. No more than 6 to 8 ships allowed. No Admirals allowed to command.
2. Night Bombing. City attacks (Manpower only) for non-game designated air units.
No restriction on night naval attacks.
11. GT1 landings, for the Japanese, must be within range of Japanese LBA recon. (Mogami rule?)(scenario specific)Play balance feature.
13. No invasions against hexes that do not contain a dot/base in them. Not every coastal hex was suitable for amph ops. Play balance feature.
14. LCU's belonging to the Kwangtung command may not leave Manchuria unless PP's are spent to change their command. Play balance feature.

I can't see much to argue about with this list, but a couple of points come to mind. One
is that nobody made much use of ASW TF's (except Ernie King running DD squadrons up and down the East Coast at high speeds and accomplishing nothing) until late 1942. In
a current game, we've limited ASW TF's to 3 ships (no Admirals) and still had some success. 6-8 seems excessive for such s specialized use---have you tried reducing it to 4?
Secondly, given the tremendous range of Betties/Nells, limiting Japanese attacks to with-
in such a boundry isn't really much of a handicap. Historically they tended to stay within Fighter range when making their jumps (Though where there are Zeros this can be quite an distance). Has that been suggestted?

quote:

I would also like to see the idea of "restricted units" removed. I think the best way to handle Dutch and US units in the SRA and Philippines is to have the game give the Jap player Victory Points based on the size of the unit being withdrawn. Withdraw too many units and you've dug a deep hole