von Murrin
Posts: 1760
Joined: 11/13/2001
From: That from which there is no escape.
Status: offline
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That's an interesting way of playing, FJ. 
I'm definitely more of the Frag school of active defense. IMO, the longer you can tie up the Japanese in the SRA, the more time you have to move war materiel to your own prospective operational arenas. Active defense requires a much higher commitment of troops by IJ and will likely force an IJ player or AI to recycle combat units from Philippine and Malay operations. Successful defenses of those areas can stall out an IJ advance for weeks.
Here's my war plan:
1. Set fort construction to expand in critical bases. Move HQ's to these locations. (Singapore, Mandalay, Bataan, Batavia/Soerabaja).
2. Fighting withdrawal in Maylay Pen. and Luzon.
3. Evac Manila to Soerabaja. Naga to PI bases with the intent of drawing off supply for Luzon.
4. Load single AK's with supply. Tarakan/Brunei/Balikpapan to Manila, Palembang/Batavia to Singapore. Repeat until futile. 
5. Load TK's with oil for Australia. Load AP's and AK's with fuel/supply for Australia.
6. Concentrate British combat vessels at Singapore for opportune strikes. Evac to Trincomalee at fall of Tavoy. Do not lose these ships if at all possible.
7. Concentrate Dutch/US combat vessels at Batavia/Soerabaja for opportune strikes. Evac survivors before fall of Java.
8. Move any and all Dutch engineers to resource/oil heavy bases. Use PP if necessary.
9. Concentrate submarines in Empire, Formosa, and South China Sea. Deploy short ranged subs in island choke points.
10. Evac USAAF air just before the fall of Manila. The P-40's provide cover for your unloading AK's. Evac British LB and FB air before fall of Tavoy. Evac British TB and F air to Sumatra/ Rangoon before fall of Rangoon. Evac Dutch air survivors to Australia before fall of Java.
11. Don't forget to set unit objectives! Prep points are worth entire divisions in the early war.
In a nutshell, anyway.
The idea is to give Singapore and Bataan/Clark/Manila the best chance to hold as long as possible. Even one extra week will give you at least two and maybe up to four by the time Java eventually falls. Keeping ABDA, USAFEE, and Far East air power in the SRA forces the IJ to keep theirs in place, and allows for cover over your AK's moving materiel about.
I much prefer to pull oil and at least some resources out of the SRA as IJ needs it so very badly. I'd rather deny IJ HI and feed my own in Oz. While TK's do that, the AK's and AP's can shift supply to critical defense points around the SRA and fuel as well as supply to Darwin. Any AP's not moving engineers (usually just one or two) or supply can move resources. You don't really need them; this is pure denial.
Overall, keeping naval and air forces active in the SRA to the longest possible moment will force the IJ to do the same. Every squadron or ship used by the IJ in th SRA is one less to face elsewhere. I find I can move troops, supplies/fuel, and a/c almost unimpeded throughout the South, Central, and North Pacific. Most useful.
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I give approximately two fifths of a !#$% at any given time!
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RE: Early war Dutch primer - 
No sweat. To each his own i say. I've only played once so far as Japan in the GC but i found the wholesale evac of the Dutch created odd situations in other theaters not to mention accelerated an already fast pace.
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