seydlitz_slith
Posts: 2036
Joined: 6/16/2002 From: Danville, IL Status: offline
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As Japan, I decided that I would initially hold the KB in the Sea of Japan, well away from any prying eyes. This would leave my opponent guessing about where they would turn up and would maximize their intimidation factor with minimal risk. I would not use them offensively until the Soviets activated, at which time I would use the KB to suppress as much of the Soviet air as possible. Yes, that’s right. I planned to eliminate the Soviets right off the bat. I will say that this is easier said than done. First off because the Soviets have some good units, and secondly because the Japanese player has to force the Soviets to activate. That means intentionally pulling over 3,000 AV out of the Kwangtung Army area to try and trip the Soviet activation. Until the Soviets activate, Japanese units may not move into Soviet territory and Japanese air units can not fly any missions into Soviet airspace. Doing this would take time, possibly as long as a month. However, the time would allow me to position additional forces to be able to assault some of the Soviet ports in the first wave. Of particular importance is the Soviet Oil at Okha on the north end of Sakhalin Island (80 Oil) and Petropavlovsk (10 Oil). In China, my initial goals are to secure the remaining coastal ports (Wenchow, Hong Kong, Kwangchowan, and Pakhoi. Beyond that I want to stabilize my lines, clean up the Chinese units that start in my interior, and begin situating my forces for an eventual push into Northern China. My primary goal will be Sian and Lanchow, the only two sources of oil in China. Take them out and China’s heavy industry will starve. In the south, I would divert some of the second wave SRA forces from Samah to take Pakhoi and Kwanchowan. In the Philippines, I would land at Aparri, Laong, and Vigan in the North. I would use paratroopers on the first turn to land at Laong and Vigan. That way the ports would be secure when the ships arrived. This would greatly reduce my landing force casualties and limit unit disruption during the first few days. There were two paratrooper units sitting in Formosa along with enough air transport units to put both on the ground before the ships arrived. I elected to skip invading Batan Island and instead diverted that landing force to Naga in southeast Luzon. This would give me a decent port from which to conduct my southern operations and would actually arrive before the Legaspi landing force coming up from Babeldaob. With the early capture of Naga, I could divert some of the second wave PI forces to Naga and do an eventual advance up the Peninsula to threaten Manila from the south while the main landing force threatened Clark from the north. Done correctly, this would force my opponent to give up either Manila or Clark earlier than they wanted in order to concentrate their forces. In the rest of the Philippines, I elected to land on Mindanao at Surgaio Strait north of Butuan instead of the standard plan of landing at Davao. This would allow me to block off the eastern escape routes for the allied shipping in conjunction with my landings on the southern peninsula of Luzon. I could quickly establish an airbase at this location and built up my ground forces over a few turns in favorable terrain. Then, when I decided to begin my advance, I would be advancing into a clear hex at Butuan which would put the allied forces at a disadvantage in our first projected fight in Mindanao. In Malaya, I elected to stick with the initial landing forces at Khota, Patani, and Singora. Since I was diverting some of the second wave forces to southern China, I elected not to land at Kuantan or Mersing. I also elected to delay my incursion into Burma, and to use those troops to beef up my assault in Malaya. Turn one saw the Imperial Guards and several other LCUs moving by rail to Singora. Even if the invasion moved slowly, time would be on my side. In the Central Pacific, I would abort the Wake invasion and turn those troops south to take over the Gilbert Islands along with the other Kwajalein Island forces. Pearl Harbor I would leave untouched with the exception of my midget subs.
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