Alikchi2
Posts: 1785
Joined: 5/14/2004
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I've been mowing the lawn, which has given me a chance to ruminate about my long-term plans for this game-year. 
I'll go through it theatre-by-theatre, AAR-style.
1942
India/Burma: I'll start with India, which has not seen major action yet.
In my last game, India was essentially empty - every combat unit I could find was pushed into Burma. Looking back, it was successful but not smart or fair.
Right now, I have India pretty well garrisoned, with strong reserves at Dacca, Hyderabad and Madras and small garrisons sprinkled elsewhere. Air defenses are pretty much nonexistent at this point, but Hurricane groups have been earmarked for the major bases.
As for Burma.. In my last game I was able to hold him at Mandalay and even gain air superiority with the aid of the AVG and many, many Hurricanes. I don't think I can repeat that this game. For starters, I'm playing more realistically, which means no more China Command Chinese marching in to help, and the majority of the AVG (2 out of 3 squadrons) will be deploying to China.
My troop deployments in Burma are fairly spread out now with concentrations at Moulmein, Rangoon, Lashio and elsewhere. I don't expect anything to stand up very long to an IJA division, but I hope to delay. The line I expect to establish will end up with him controlling Mandalay and (possibly) Akyab, with my main bases being Imphal, Kohima, Chandpur, Ledo and Dacca.
By the end of 1942 I may be able to begin a limited counteroffensive, depending on whether he has put more troops into the theatre.
In the air, I can at least attempt to hold. If he commits only Army aircraft, we may even keep each other in check. After the lack of heavy bombers in our last game, I've begun moving in several groups of B-17s to Burma. My primary airbases right now are Rangoon and Mandalay; by the time he's finished, I expect them to be Dacca, Chandpur, Imphal and Ledo.
As for the naval war - there's not much I can do with the Eastern Fleet, but I plan to keep him on his toes. Raids on Palembang, northern Java and eastern Malaya should force him to keep a few air units in the area.
China: I've learned a lot since the last game, in which I lost Changsha and most of Northern China. I don't have any grand offensive plans for 1942 - yet. Right now, I'm interested in holding what ground I have, and if I still have control over Changsha, Nanning and Sian by December 1942, I'll be a happy man.
Changsha is especially important as a supply-producing city. About 3000 assault points worth of troops are there, protected by the AVG. He has 100,000 troops outside. My goal right now is to force those 100,000 Japanese to go someplace else, please.
Malaya: I can't really plan a long-term strategy for this theatre, as I don't think this theatre will last longer than another month or so.  I've been divided into three pockets. Once he's reduced the first two (Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur), only about 250 assualt points will be left for the defence of Johore Bahru and Singapore.
All naval units have been evacuated except for two AKs (I'm not sure why they're still there, actually). In the air, my Buffalos attempted to engage his Oscars only once and were utterly mauled. Now they serve as ground attack aircraft.
Anyways, I expect him to be at the gates of Singapore in roughly a month. By then the air units will have been evacuated south to Java or north to India. In the meantime, all I can do is wait.
The Philippines: My hopes here are slightly higher than in Malaya, but not by much. Again, it's only a matter of time before things end here.
In Luzon I've done fairly well so far, I think. The battle at Clark is going fairly well considering his superiority in numbers and quality. Once Clark hits a low fort level, the troops fall back to Manila.
Currently occupying Manila and feverishly building forts are the troops that held off the Japanese at Naga for a while quite successfully. I expect him to make a move on Manila at any time, at which point troops will be sent from Clark to reinforce.
In Mindanao I have a few Filipino divisions stacked up at Cagayan - 250 assault points total, looking surprisingly tough. I may be able to hold here for a while, which means the level 4 airfield is still useful.
Speaking of, my air forces have been pulled out to the DEI where they're getting replacements and recovering morale. I've been considering bringing them back to the PI in a week or two, if I still have good airfields available. But right now everything is pretty smashed up, and I'll be needed them in the DEI soon..
Finally, my naval units in theatre consist of about 5 PT boats, one of which has 42 systems damage and is effectively useless. They're based in Butuan, just waiting for opportunities to sink stuff.
DEI: This was always my favorite theatre.
My play style here isn't particularly radical, but I've brought in extra assets. Prince of Wales and a reinforced Force Z (minus Repulse, wah) sit in port at Kendari awaiting developments. Boise, Marblehead and 4 DDs are the only members of the Asiatic fleet remaining in Dutch waters and are now based at Tjilitjap. Dutch and American submarines have made Soerabaja their home and are beginning to get hits. Soerabaja port, by the way, is 59% of the way to a level 9 - at which point the many Dutch MLs will go into a frenzy of minelaying.
I have significant forces at Palembang, including two Dutch base forces, the fragments of two British, an Australian brigade from Malaya and the 4th Marines from the Philippines. All have been switched to SWPAC Command, and they're sitting on a significant stockpile of supplies, 1200 mines, and level 5 forts. The most important thing is the number of engineers - 44. The British, Dutch and Americans know how much the Japanese want that oil, and they're ready to fight for it and if necessary destroy the refineries.
In Java, extra forces include most of the FEAF and aircraft evacuated from Malaya. Incoming is a British tank regiment, American field artillery and A-24 Dauntlesses, and 32 Hurricanes ferried by CV Formidable.
At Amboina, the garrison has been reinforced with two "Bird" battallions and an Australian brigade, plus American artillery. 11 T.IVa torpedo bombers sit on the airfield, as well.
My strategy in the DEI is to inflict as much damage on him and slow him down as much I can without losing too much.
SWPAC: Not much happening here yet, but he's started to advance. I have not reinforced New Guinea or New Britain and I expect them to fall. Port Moresby is on my list of places to prepare for defence but right now it's weak.
My strategy here is simple defense. I don't believe he'll go for Australia and I can afford to lose New Guinea and the Solomons. If he's extra slow I may land at Lunga but this is not likely.
SOPAC: He's moving very, very fast here, taking Canton Island and in the process of taking Fiji and Samoa.
I can't stop him from taking these places. I want to hold on to what I have left. That means Noumea and Papaete. If he went for Papaete I would be amazed, since it's so isolated, and in any case I'll have about 20,000 Marines on shore in a few days.
Papaete and Noumea are to be my primary bases in this theatre. From Noumea I plan to (eventually) take back Fiji and Samoa. Canton Island will be dealt with by CENTPAC forces.
CENTPAC: Wake has been lost but nearly every other island has been well-garrisoned.. if he attacks any farther north than Canton Island I can and will squash him.
Strategy here is to hold for the remainder of 42. Eventually I will rebase the fleet at Pearl, but for now it stays at the West Coast until the primary upgrades are done.
Strategy? I really would like Canton Island back. Christmas Island is being developed into a base from which I can launch an offensive against it. But it'll be a while.
I doubt I'll see any island-hopping until much later in the year - if at all.
NORTHPAC: My strategy here is about the same as the last game - Cruft has made no moves, so I'm building up a base at Attu Island to launch a bomber offensive from. I may perhaps do some raiding with CVs here later in the game (Dutch Harbor is going up) but right now we're static.
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Now to run the next turn...
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Printable Version
1/10/42 - 
LOL. If he does what you suggest things could get pretty bad once he gets enough of them in service. 
Wirraways and Hudsons are getting good target practice bombing the NLF. 
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