jimh009
Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: seydlitz If I defend along the current perimeter with interlocking bases then I do not risk having large garrisons cut off and starved. I am open to opinions here, but judging by what I learned in WITP, I think that I may be able to conduct a better defence with a shorter perimeter. For Japan, a shorter perimeter is always better. This is especially so if you have the KB still together in 1943. Too many players throw away one of the biggest advantages Japan has in the game - interior supply lines and mutual supporting bases. By not over-expanding, you better concentrate your forces in areas you must defend - the Marianas and South Pacific in particular. I guess I'm just a stodgy conservative Admiral, but I rather not waste valuable, high experience units in fruitless battles that accomplish nothing more than waste a valuable LCU. And by sailing Japanese naval forces far away from any land bases, Japan also gives up another huge advantage - the ability of land-based air to provide some support, reconnaissance in particular. I've always thought a solid inner defensive perimeter for Japan went from Iwo Jima > Marianas > Truk > Rabaul > Somewhere in Central New Guuinea. Then Japan can have an outer defensive perimeter that runs from Enwietok > Kwajalein > Shortland > Somewhere in Southern New Guinea (not Lae, though...it's too close to Moresby). By setting up a line like that, the Japanese can safely retreat (and disappear to the Allies) behind their solid inner-defensive perimeter and fight with the Allies along the outer defensive perimeter. If the Allies take a base along the outer-perimter, Japan can then quickly strike and take it back. I dub it the "counter-strike" defensive strategy. Japanese naval forces would be based in Truk...which has a superb location since it's such a quick and easy sail to any point along the outer-defensive perimeter. And since the Allies can't be everywhere at once - even in 1943 or early 1944 - the Japanese can retake lost territory in one place while the Allies are moving forward in another place. The ability of the Japanese to quickly move along their defensive perimeter - while the Allies spend weeks sailing from place to place - is a huge advantage that I don't think many players fully take advantage of. Of course, this "counter-strike" defensive strategy is only possible if Japan has the KB and it's surface forces in-tact, plus enough land units and transports based in Truk to allow for quick counter-strikes. And obviously by early to mid-1944, it won't work either as the weight of the Allies finally takes hold. But if Japan is still fighting the Allies along the outer perimeter beginning in 1944, Japan is doing very well indeed and stands a good chance of extending the war. Anyways, my two pennies. :)
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