Need Opinions, *No rroberson*

[TommyBoy84]

It's 01/02/1942 in my PBEM against rroberson. I'm Japan. Things have gone relatively well so far...lots of allied merchant shipping sunk, Brunei and Tarakan taken relatively undamaged, and I control down to Kuantan, just North if Singapore. Haven't made much progress in the Phillippines yet, but I've been focusing on taking Singapore rather than Manila first.

So here's my question: KB is in Tokyo right now, fully fueled, air wings fully stocked with planes and pilots, and ready to go. What do I do with her?

Should I keep KB intact and use it as a death star as I trudge through the SRA? Should I split it up into two separate carrier groups so I can have strong air support in two different operations? Or do you have an opinion far away from either of those two?

What is your opinion, and what have your experiences been?

[stuman]

If I could borrow your KB, put it with mine, I could really get some things done !

[herwin]

ORIGINAL: TommyBoy84

It's 01/02/1942 in my PBEM against rroberson. I'm Japan. Things have gone relatively well so far...lots of allied merchant shipping sunk, Brunei and Tarakan taken relatively undamaged, and I control down to Kuantan, just North if Singapore. Haven't made much progress in the Phillippines yet, but I've been focusing on taking Singapore rather than Manila first.

So here's my question: KB is in Tokyo right now, fully fueled, air wings fully stocked with planes and pilots, and ready to go. What do I do with her?

Should I keep KB intact and use it as a death star as I trudge through the SRA? Should I split it up into two separate carrier groups so I can have strong air support in two different operations? Or do you have an opinion far away from either of those two?

What is your opinion, and what have your experiences been?

Choose a Schwerpunkt and take it out. Just remember that the KB is very visible once it launches sorties and consider how to minimise that visibility. You want to disappear again quickly.

[TommyBoy84]

Choose a what?

[flaggelant]

a  single dot on the map that you really want/ need to be yours!
 
you might reinforce mini KB with 1 or 2 (preferably slow) carriers and head the rest towards the Sopac
 
that way you have 2 KB's 

[Nemo121]

Do one thing well rather than two things poorly.
 
It may, at times, be possible to conduct split operations and still succeed but the majority of the time this is just the prelude to disastrous failure.

[castor troy]

In 8 out of 10 times an experienced Allied player is able to punish the Japanese for splitting up KB. At least when he wants to...

[ny59giants]

How ambitious are your plans?? What is your opponents playing style - aggressive, passive, or a combination??

Beyond the historical conquest, what else do you want to be invested in or have taken by 1 Sept 42?? India?? Australia?? New Zealand?? Aleutian Islands (how many)?? Line Islands?? Hawaii??

The use of KB is critical and sometimes just having "big brother' around, but unspotted helps you conduct needed operations.

If you haven't started it yet, you will need to begin your pilot training program in China.

[engineer]

Ideas in no particular order:

• Deep Counterforce:  Go to Kwajelein or Truk and ambush his carriers if they probe your perimeter
• Shallow Counterforce:  Where did the Asiatic Fleet and the ABDA forces go?  Find them and kill them if they aren't on the south coast of Australia or the Arabian Sea.
• Western Counterforce:  Head for the Indian Ocean with the intent of sinking so many capital ships he can't fulfill Winston's orders to the Admiralty for withdrawals.  You get hard VP for killing ships and can cost him political points to tie troops to Australia or the US West Coast. 
• Secure the SRA:  Sail up and down the Java Sea to get a head start on securing Sumatra and Java before Singapore falls
• Isolate Oz:  Get a division and some SNLF then jump down to Noumea.  Pick up Port Moresby on the return and fill out the Solomons. 

[stuman]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Do one thing well rather than two things poorly.

It may, at times, be possible to conduct split operations and still succeed but the majority of the time this is just the prelude to disastrous failure.

That pretty well describes all of my games ..... " prelude to a disastrous failure ". Also can substitute phrases like " spectacular " failure , " stupefyingly idiotic " failures and " actually embarrassed to be playing this moron " failures."

[niceguy2005]

If you're playing rroberson go for a full carrier engagement ASAP. [:'(][:D]

[AirGriff]

I've never played Japan, but if I did I have always wondered what if the IJ had been sold on Yamamato's plan of going into Fiji or Somoa rather than a Midway operation. It's still pretty early for you to do that in early January, I suppose, but it's a nice goal to work towards.

[TommyBoy84]

Niceguy2005, your post begs a story....do tell

As far as what's going on now, I have an invasion force on their way to Suva, backed by a bombardment TF and air cover from Mini-KB.  I figure I can get a good jump on things if I can seriously impede the sea lanes to Oz, and with my new Emilys, there will hardly be a place in the central and south pacific the allies can go without being seen.

I'm about to make a large (did I say large?  I meant LARGE) landing of forces at Mersing, then just walk them down to Singapore and avoid Singapore's mines and coastal guns.  I have minesweepers with air cover on their way to clear out Singapore so I can have my BB's in the area help melt away the ground troops.  I have plenty of fighters providing LRCAP in the area, and Singapore's runways have been bombed to smithereens, so air counterstrikes aren't much of a threat.

Will KB be of much use with an invasion of Singapore, or is it better used stoftening up somewhere else?

I'm still figuring out this whole pilot training thing though.... I've read through Mogami's patented method a couple times, but I think it will take a few more before I really get it.

[John 3rd]

ORIGINAL: stuman

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Do one thing well rather than two things poorly.

It may, at times, be possible to conduct split operations and still succeed but the majority of the time this is just the prelude to disastrous failure.

That pretty well describes all of my games ..... " prelude to a disastrous failure ". Also can substitute phrases like " spectacular " failure , " stupefyingly idiotic " failures and " actually embarrassed to be playing this moron " failures."

THAT made me laugh! Well said Sir.

[engineer]

TommyBoy84:
Will KB be of much use with an invasion of Singapore, or is it better used stoftening up somewhere else?

 
Since you already have Kuantan, I usually provide my air cover and tactical bombing against Singapore from there.  Once you get Johor in hand, you can also march some base forces up there, too.  In short, I think using the KB on Singapore is overkill. 
 
The Allied bomber pilots have gotten some experience from going after your convoys landing on the east coast of Malaya so they can do some damage.  Your opponent should have pulled them back to Palembang and/or Batavia instead of leaving them in Singapore to get smashed by your aircraft.  The KB can cover landings at Palembang in parallel with your reduction of Singapore so your Zero's can eliminate the ABDA air threat while you use some of your bombers to smash the defenders at Palembang and hold the balance on Naval Attack against a possible sortie by the ABDA surface forces.  (You may also flush a bunch of merchant shipping out of the various Dutch ports if he's been trying to get as much resource/oil out of the SRA as possible ahead of your conquest). 
 
The AI always concentrates a lot of shipping at Surabaya, it is a good port with plenty of fuel so human players often do as well.  If your opponent doesn't flee at the first sight of the KB, it's only a day's sail away from Palembang.   Once you have landed the bulk of your troops at Palembang, and drawn most of the Allied air units morale in futile strikes on the KB, then you can run LRCAP over the Palembang landing with Zero's out of Kuching.  The KB is no longer necessary to secure victory at Palembang  
 
A bit of warning on the Suva attack, if he has Enterprise, Saratoga, and Lexington intact, you may find the mini-KB on the bottom, especially if you've already shown your hand that the KB is positively identified near Singapore and not lurking in ambush a few hundred miles behind the mini-KB. 

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: TommyBoy84

Niceguy2005, your post begs a story....do tell

Just that RRoberson used to post in the forum regularly and most of his posts began with "My planes refused to launch again. [:@]", or "I lost all my carriers again."

[:D][;)]

[erstad]

ORIGINAL: TommyBoy84
  I have minesweepers with air cover on their way to clear out Singapore so I can have my BB's in the area help melt away the ground troops. 

If you minesweep in Singapore, the coastal guns will fire at your MSWs. Results will not be pretty.

[Nomad]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

ORIGINAL: TommyBoy84

Niceguy2005, your post begs a story....do tell

Just that RRoberson used to post in the forum regularly and most of his posts began with "My planes refused to launch again. [:@]", or "I lost all my carriers again."

[:D][;)]

I once engaged him with 3 CVs vs 6 and won the engagement. I lost 1 CV with 2 moderately damaged, he lost 2 sunk, 1 heavily damaged, and 2 moderately damaged. [8D] He is notorious.

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

hi Tommyboy84, i'm in a similar position in a February 1942 CHS PBEM game (against Nomad, who just posted above).  I cannot reveal my KB ideas or location etc, but i can give a quick idea for pilot training: find an Allied infantry hex (not a base or city) and fly your fighters at 1,000 to 2,000 feet and strafe the infantry. 

You will not take many losses (especially if you train large amounts of fighters at once, the Allies won't want to try and break up the Zero or Claude party) and your pilots will train up to 70's experience relatively quickly.  It may take a few weeks, but its better than throwing a bunch of 50-60 experience pilots up against the Flying Tigers or the Hurricanes that arrive in Burma later... 

I think pilot training is probably almost as important a focus as taking a line of islands somewhere...

And the question on what do with the KB after the Manila & Singapore operations is of course, one of the greatest of the entire war   I would argue that historically raids on Darwin or Ceylon were a waste of time and not decisive enough in the long run.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: AirGriff

I've never played Japan, but if I did I have always wondered what if the IJ had been sold on Yamamato's plan of going into Fiji or Somoa rather than a Midway operation. It's still pretty early for you to do that in early January, I suppose, but it's a nice goal to work towards.

As the Allies I've lost Fiji, Samoa, and pretty much everything else in SoPac and it didn't bother me a bit.

There are two viable strategies for the Japanese player:

1) Aim for auto-victory on 1/1/43
a) If you make it, wow!
b) If you miss, do your best for the rest of the game, but you've lost.

2) Aim to lose, but enjoy the game as best you can.

In order to have a shot at auto-victory, the Japs will have to take out either Australia or India (I'm not sure if taking out Hawaii or Russia might also give the Japs a shot, but I doubt it).

The Allies are incredibly powerful by 1944 and can recover from just about any situation short of auto-victory, so the only winning Jap strategy is to achieve auto-victory. Oh, there's also the possibility of demoralizing the Allied player so much that he quits, which sometimes happens after a major Jap carrier victory.