Battle for the Pacific AAR

[scottsmm]

Tim, you must have at least 20 ships to fight right? I can't say I've destroyed much more than a dozen of your ships so must still have a sizable force.

BTW Tim, when the war is over, I would like to show you a few things as Japan. The first six months is absolutely pivotal to the Japanese, as once a year or so passes the Allies can either decide to build their forces up to the max to ensure the death of Japan, or they can began an immediate counter-offensive. The choice is up to that Allied player.

Tim whenever you feel like it, please feel free to point out some of the mistakes I've made in this war so that I can improve myself.

[Timskorn]

It's late 1944 and Japan is running out of ocean estate for the IJN to hide in. The bulk of Allied naval ships are closing in on the Phillipines with what I imagine the US CV's close behind. He has op-moved in at least 3 corsairs and two heavy bombers into Brunei (or whatever the capital is just SW of the Philippines).

Lots of Brits are swarming into Vietnam but supply is hurting them. I have defensive forces to the south and garrison forces on their way to protect Hanoi. Slow going in China as rain and mud hamper movement and offensives, but clearly China is barely getting enough MPP's to reinforce a single unit fully.

I imagine a major battle is on its way and it won't be pretty for the Japanese!

[scottsmm]

The US Navy has decided to recently pull back, as she's not ready for such a major battle yet.

I can only imagine that Tim’s income must be suffering pretty badly without any oil right now.

[Timskorn]

Oh and I forgot to mention Scott that I will definitely run over some things that I think you could have done in our game differently, but as it stands right now there really isn't that much!

[scottsmm]

The British along with the rest of the Allied combined forces celebrate today, as the first of many Japanese carriers has been sunk. This of course is likely the beginning of a major confrontation between the Allied combined fleet and the IJN.

[scottsmm]

The big battle is sure to get underway any second now, as Tim will be left with no choice, but to engage my allied fleet off the coast of the Philippines.

[Timskorn]

I, and hopefully Scott, will take some screenshots. Even if this doesn't end up being the final battle, the array of ships that are in the area from both sides is something to see.

[scottsmm]

Tim, what screenshots do you think I should put up from previous battles? I'm thinking something along the lines of showing the painful procedure of transferring the US navy from its bases in San Francisco to its new base at Calcutta, an image of the war in India as it was turning against me and subsequently an image of the battle of India once I turned the tide of war in that theater, and maybe I should put up a screenshot of the last road of China. The last road of China is a source of comedy for me right now, as Tim is trying everything to break through and he simply can't move up there because of the terrain.

BTW don't worry I'll take a few screenshots of the big battle .

[Timskorn]

Yeah anything from the Indian campaign should be fine. I'll post some of the ones I have plus some more from China.

[scottsmm]

[Bill101]

Thanks for the screenshots. It looks like the Japanese got pretty close, but not quite close enough to victory in India there!

My own invasion of India in a current game captured Ceylon and Madras, but faltered because I failed to keep a string of new units arriving to replace my losses. The distance from Japan makes this pretty difficult, especially when you're having to keep sending off units to garrison (and even recapture) islands from the Americans.

[Timskorn]

Yep it's very tough. If I were to do it again I'd push hard with as many units as possible from the east, out of Burma. Concentrate ground forces and airpower into a single front. I underestimated how many units the Brits get. I'm not sure how many free units Scott got, but between those and whatever is in the queue, they seem to get enough to replace any losses you inflict on them. So two things are imperative for having a chance in India…speed and concentrated power.

Splitting forces like I did is expensive (amphib costs, landing casualties and potential for Allied air to strike), and while it may draw away 2 or 3 of his units, you won't have enough firepower to push fast enough north. On top of that, anytime you capture a city it gets scorched and hurts your supply. And if you only have a couple of cities, US bombers can hammer them and keep your supply down, further hurting any offensive you plan.

I'd rather have 2 HQ's with 8+ units and 4 aircraft moving all together from Burma. There's more cities to draw supply from and the double HQ's will help, and with concentrated air (plus carriers in the area) you'll be able to carve through British defenses quickly. That of course doesn't guarantee a victory there but it'll give you a better shot than dividing your forces.

Scott- Sorry I haven't gotten to a turn yet, my bro-in-law is in town. We had a Madden all-nighter yesterday and tonight we're going to the Sox opener!

[scottsmm]

Guys I'm sorry but I don't have much sympathy for people who complain about the distance between Japan and India, I mean take a look at the distance between the US and India. I was able to reinforce the Indians with US units even though it took about 10 turns to do, and I had to run the gauntlet of enemy ships off the east coast of Australia all the way to the shores of India. That is something no Japanese player has had to do when trying to reinforce India with units. Not to mention after the huge build up of naval forces, it rained for three consecutive turns which gave Tim an advanced warning (probably from some Japanese intelligence report) of my US naval activities, and he was able to escape with all his carriers . Thus meaning Operation India Freedom wasn't a decisive victory which I had hoped for. This of course is why I'm currently engaging my opponent in a huge naval confrontation, which is something I hoped to avoid especially because the battle will be on his terms and not mine. I guess this is the price you have to pay for Mother Nature’s unpredictability.

As for the question of free units I only received the British 8th Army (1 HQ, 1 Tank, 2 Corps, and 1 AA). Although I was able to replace the British units rather easily when they died as they were extremely cheap.

[SeaMonkey]

That's interesting Scott and Tim about your Indian campaign perspectives as I have thought numerous times of prosecuting something similar. With Scott revealing the rather sparse UK reinforcements for India, I'm wondering if a split force strategy in conjunction with bomber deployments might restrict Allies from operating in air units to help.

Also with efficiency reduced(cities< 50%) perhaps those rejuvenated UK cadres could be limited to narrower areas of redeployment dictated by Japan's bomber raids?

Another possibility Tim, what about using Port Blair and Ceylon to stage TAC air from to inhibit Allied naval activity in the Bay of Bengal? Perhaps its worth the extra HQ/logistics support.

[Timskorn]

SeaMonkey: What you're suggesting will require a much greater allocation of resources to India, which is certainly an option but will hurt your effort in China. In my opinion you should always have at least one bomber and fighter for China. Bombers are also invaluable for scouting which becomes critical when you've focused all your energy in India. I had one in the DEI for awhile just as an early warning system, as I anticipated the US to either reinforce the British or launch an attack there.

Personally, I don't think you'll be able to prevent Allied air units getting into India. There's simply too many cities. But I do agree in regards to the benefits of having at least one bomber in the theater, as you can shut down key rail links, de-entrench units and hit their MPP supply.

As for dealing with the Allied navy near India, I will post a much longer "post mortem" on my strategy and decision making, but ultimately I pulled my entire navy out of the area because I just felt time running out. I figured the USN would be coming to strike and I didn't want to be trapped there like the RN was when I attacked. As for deploying TAC, the problem is that there's a massive expanse of ocean the USN can move up through. I preferred to use subs and a DD or two to screen any oncoming ships. When fighting in India you need all the airpower you can to break their defenses. Remember, time is critical!

I still believe that concentrating your air, naval and land assets to a single front in India (and not splitting them) is probably your fastest and most efficient way to push to Delhi. And Scott is right, it's closer for Japan to get to India than the US. He had a long way to go to move all his assets over there. If you plan on going for India it's easier as Japan to begin shifting your forces over there early on, and with naval dominance it's easy to transport units via sea to reinforce your units. You even have a rail line you can use.

[scottsmm]

Tim, to be honest I reacted to what you were doing in India until I launched a major counter-offensive which ended all Japanese resistance in the area. So if you concentrated everything from Burma, I would then move troops up to combat you where ever there were rivers, and well if you take a look at that route there are a lot of rivers, so it would be an easy defensive position for the British. Not to mention you would eventually have to split your forces up as you would have to go for both Delhi and Colombo. So in the end whether you like it or not if you want to win in India you would have to split up your forces. The real mistake that you made was not attacking and taking Ceylon, as that would have given you a great defensive position, and it also would have revealed the position of my naval fleet.

[Timskorn]

They key to that situation though Scott is having all the IJN carriers over there for support, plus whatever ground based aircraft that's around. If your units are behind river lines it will help against ground attacks, but if I hit them with 8 carrier strikes plus any bomber/tac strike you'll lose a unit on almost every turn.

Also, even though the Japanese player will have to split their forces eventually, by concentrating them early the advantage is that they can kill off Brit units much faster. It makes a big difference if it takes 4 or 5+ turns to destroy a unit instead of one or two. Weather permitting, of course.

I also agree that not taking Ceylon was a mistake. It becomes a mini-fortress for the Allies, and an easy location to bring in reinforcements and supply your fleet. Definitely some hard lessons learned!

[scottsmm]

Is India worth 4 carriers? You'll lose every single one of them if you use that strategy at least against 95% of the people here, I'm sure though that you already know this.

I've tried your idea against the AI quite a few times, and it works, but this is only the AI and it isn't a person. For example the AI can't take China out, but a human player can.

A conclusion that I've come to is no matter what strategy you implement over in China you will always lose her. I've tried quite a few things out in defending China and the best strategy there is would be to be extremely flexible and flow with where ever your opponent wants to attack, and do your best to delay your opponent as much as possible. This of course means using partisans, air raids, construction of fortifications, building your DESTROYED Armies, making the most of the terrain, etc. Back to this specific game however I would give myself about a B- for my defensive strategy in China. Another good way, to decide whether or not your China strategy was successful or not is whether your opponent regards her as a "major pain".

[Timskorn]

Yeah China was a major pain, and I'm not sure how big of a difference it'd have made had I occupied Dimapur but I'll definitely not skip that town again!

India is worth 4 carriers, until it gets to a point where it isn't. In fact that early in the game I would say is the best time for Japan to use the full force of their navy. There's always risk involved, even facing one Brit or US carrier that early, but to let the navy sit while it could be helping somewhere isn't good either.

Just finished my turn. It's November. No less than 30 Allied ships converge on the Phillipines, all of them support ships except for 2 carriers. My carriers launch some strikes but only manage to sink a BB. Kamikazi's out of Manila hit a US carrier. I abandon Saigon. We'll see how aggressive he wants to get in pursuing my fleet into the teeth of Japan...

[scottsmm]

It's going to be a bloodbath in Japanese waters, as Tim still has an abundance of Japanese ships, but he's underestimated my own fleet so hopefully I will be able to win the big battle ahead. At this point Japan doesn't have any safe places to hide, so Tim won't have much of a choice but to engage my fleet. Meanwhile I've launched an attack on the Philippines, and will likely secure her by Feb 46'. I've also recaptured Saigon.

[Timskorn]

And nobody get too excited for me, I'm sure he meant Feb. of 1945 as we are close to entering that year.

[scottsmm]

hahaha typos don't you love em'.

[scottsmm]

Tim I would just like to inform you that I will be leaving for Europe on April 16th, and thus won't be able to send you any turns until I get back on the 25th. I will of course be available up until the 16th, and I would appreciate it if I could bang off a few turns before I depart.

[Timskorn]

Si Capitan! I'll do what I can to make sure I put in at least a turn a day until then.

Here are some pics from earlier in the game:

This was essentially at the peak of Japanese aggression in India.

These were the forces I had commited to China.

[scottsmm]

Tim right now I pity the position you’re in. I have well of 70 Allied ships with even more on their way, and meanwhile you've lost about 20 of your ships. As for my turn I've sunk the Musashi BB, Ise BB, and Shokaku carrier. Not to mention Chinese partisans keep popping up and liberating city after city and as of right now it appears as if Tim might be giving up on taking China out of the war. You are going to need much more than just a divine wind to stop the Allies!