jwilkerson
Posts: 10525
Joined: 9/15/2002 From: Kansas Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Q-Ball That is a very good question. A VERY good one. Defending the Empire in general is going to be very different in AE. I am not set on any strategy, and I would love to hear opinions, but my initial take: 1. Develop the airbase at Kwaj to the max, leave the HQ there, and rely initially on Betty/Zeros to defend the atoll. The USN is unlikely to want to bring CVs within Betty range in the early going. That should be enough initally, regardless of what's on the ground. 2. Max out on forts of course, and don't build any additional airfields. I don't see a need for any more than 1 good one. Sure, having 2 is some redundancy, but if the Allies are strong enough to shut down one, they can probably shut down 2 no sweat. Expanding airbases, however, will give the Allies more targets. At least make them BUILD it once they take a base, will buy you considerable time, as it takes longer to build that airbase in AE. ALOT longer. Because you can't stack 10 SeaBee units there anymore like in the old days. So, BUILD FORTS ONLY, IMO. If the Allies control the air over the Marshalls with CVs, you are toast. It's over, no matter how many units you have there. With only a handful of defenders, you can't repulse an invasion if you are subject to BB bombardment and air, no matter how good or well dug-in those troops are. They will die, and the Allies will win. So, no point in committing many ground troops. The good news is this: They ain't worth as much to the Allies, because they can't really be used as a springboard to other conquests. The Allies can't "store" units there, so successive invasions start at Pearl anyway. The bases are too small for large-scale 4E operations; they can't base many, and at any rate, a couple base units will be hard-pressed to keep 100 4Es operational. Mostly, it clears supply lines, pushes the IJN further West, and is handy for sub basing. That's my 2 Yen anyway My take is that the bulk of the CENPAC Atolls and small islands are not worth much any more. In WITP, these could become mutually supporting medium sized airbases. And with level-9 forts and 500 AV or so, they could stymie and Allied landing long enough to hit back. Toss in a few thousand mines and the WITP Japanese could make things dicey. But all that is basically gone now in AE. In AE neither side can really defend these places against an enemy determined to take them. If the Allies do reach out and take one or two of the islands early, the Japanese can, if they wish, counter-attack and take them back. This type of activity could generate a carrier battle and subsequent activities would depend on the outcome. So, net/net, as Japanese, I would put about as much effort into these places as the historical Japanese. I'd trickle in the reinforcements, so that by mid-1943 the area will at least be a speed bump, but I would not invest the kinds of efforts that players did in WITP, that just can't be done in AE. As the Allies, depending on who I'm playing against, I might very well try an early landing in the Marshalls or Gilberts, the purpose would be to try to steal the initiative from the Japanese. If the Allies can get the Japanese reacting, this takes away much of the power of the Japanese attack.
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AE Project Lead New Game Project Lead
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