I'm in a PBEM game as Japan. We started a 42A campaign (Coral Sea and beyond), Stock. Not much in the way of house rules.
As well as other small troubles I had, my biggest issue is a couple of large allied stacks marching against Burma (UK, Indian, Chinese). Lashio has fallen and I'm currently falling back to Malaya where I hope to make a stand with about 1300-1500 AV with 5 Fort (hopefully I can build quick enough). Burma is properly supplied from Rangoon.
I did some recon flights and there is hardly any troops in his back court around Calcutta and surrounding bases. Looks like only base forces and air. Only 3500 troops reported at Calcutta. I have already sortied 4 CVs and some Bombarbment ships that are near Singapore. I'm thinking that I could land at Calcutta and cut off all the British/Indian forces while they are in Burma.
I have the Imperial Guards Division, a Parachut Regiment ready to go in a few days with a TF of about 20+ APs. I'm bringing in some engrs, a Tank Regiment and an AA regiment from the home islands to land as second wave. I have a 3rd Wave planned and will be moving that way as soon as I can get the APs together and begin transport of 2 Div's from the DEI area, replacing some of the guard duty with SNLF units.
I have a concern about game mechanics. Will cutting off those divisions hurt at all?? I know my divisions in China do not carry much supply with them outside of the base. But east of Calcutta are numerous bases that could have sufficient supplies to allow him to turn around and counter attack me with the same superiority he has now in Burma.
Any thoughts or concerns about this move?? My opponent is known for traps. I'm weary of this, but he has ALOT of divisions/arm reg's marching into Burma. I'd be surprised if he had more. The Imperial Guards Div looks very capable as well.
Question (No Jones Please)
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- aphrochine
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Question (No Jones Please)
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RE: Question (No Jones Please)
The classic Allied error is to put all his eggs into the Burma basket, stripping India of its defenses... if he has enough AV in Burma to actually put you seriously on the defensive, you can pretty much be sure that the rest of India is stripped of defenses... if you land in India and get a serious lodgement, all those Allied units in Burma are pretty much isolated and probably wouldn't be able to get back to defend in time (in stock, at least).ORIGINAL: aphrochine
I'm in a PBEM game as Japan. We started a 42A campaign (Coral Sea and beyond), Stock. Not much in the way of house rules.
As well as other small troubles I had, my biggest issue is a couple of large allied stacks marching against Burma (UK, Indian, Chinese). Lashio has fallen and I'm currently falling back to Malaya where I hope to make a stand with about 1300-1500 AV with 5 Fort (hopefully I can build quick enough). Burma is properly supplied from Rangoon.
I did some recon flights and there is hardly any troops in his back court around Calcutta and surrounding bases. Looks like only base forces and air. Only 3500 troops reported at Calcutta. I have already sortied 4 CVs and some Bombarbment ships that are near Singapore. I'm thinking that I could land at Calcutta and cut off all the British/Indian forces while they are in Burma.
I have the Imperial Guards Division, a Parachut Regiment ready to go in a few days with a TF of about 20+ APs. I'm bringing in some engrs, a Tank Regiment and an AA regiment from the home islands to land as second wave. I have a 3rd Wave planned and will be moving that way as soon as I can get the APs together and begin transport of 2 Div's from the DEI area, replacing some of the guard duty with SNLF units.
I have a concern about game mechanics. Will cutting off those divisions hurt at all?? I know my divisions in China do not carry much supply with them outside of the base. But east of Calcutta are numerous bases that could have sufficient supplies to allow him to turn around and counter attack me with the same superiority he has now in Burma.
Any thoughts or concerns about this move?? My opponent is known for traps. I'm weary of this, but he has ALOT of divisions/arm reg's marching into Burma. I'd be surprised if he had more. The Imperial Guards Div looks very capable as well.
If you start picking off major cities (Madras, Calcutta, etc.) you should be in OK shape as far as supplies go.
RE: Question (No Jones Please)
If I was you I would consider sending in your Regional Reserve (Assuming you have one) to assist your Imperial Guard.
You do not want him to walk into Malaya!
I would recommend you consider a Landing in Chittagong, and then secure a Major port fast.
If you think you can move to and size Calcutta BEFORE his reserve shows up then of course do so, as you already know he has of course at least 40% of his strength in the rare, so expect his reserve to be deployed fairly fast. In the game I'm playing now I managed a huge breakthrough in 42 by using Paratroops, and by landing Patna (behind Asnoal) and behind the bulk of the British Army, and then by Airlifting in a entire Division, supplies and more I cut off large numbers of troops in Calcutta area and blocked their retreat, on the same time i made a Navel Landing in Vigatzapan, My Patna Pocket held out until my armor (all jap Arm units) catched up, (took 16 days) and the some 140 000 Britts in the Calcutta area was encircled and eventually destroyed. I used some 1000 Aircrafts from bases in Burma to support the Operation. Today it is 1944 and I hold all of India.
Something like that you "could" manage if you use Speed and Maneuverability, but you need to make sure you can deploy at least 5 Divisions fairly fast, (So you need your regional reserve here) and as soon as your encirclement is ensured, (and when you have stopped supplies from India) you can move in another Regional Reserve from another Region to start pushing him back into Burma again. Within 3-5 Months you might have managed to destroy his army, who will get problems when supplie lines are cut. Of course you blockade Akyab and Rangoon, and establish a large air presens in Calcutta, Dacca and Dimond Harbor. You need Air Supremacy, but if you plan the Operation well this can be achieved. I recommend you to eventually consider a major Air Campaing, supported by Paratroops ect if possible to Cut him off From China (if it can be done, remember you must secure a Airbase between him and china for it to be possible, this can eventually maby be done if you plan it right, something who is far ahead, but maby in 3-4 months it can be done if you start preperations now, and of course this has to be combined with a general Hard and Brutal Push from Armor and Infantery from Rangood / Malaya area (depending on were the front is).
Anyway, for now.. Once you have cut him off he will either Keep moving, and let his reserve come down from Delhi ect to deal with your Calcutta forces, or he will initiate a general withdrawal when his flank and rare is thretened, it all depends on his Situational awareness.
Whatever you do, do nothing until you have a solid plan, and plan ahead for 3-5 months at least. This is a a major camping, and if you do it right you will be victorious.
I recommend you also to distribute forces from Kwutang (via Political Points) and into Manilla so that you can start to form a new reserve there in the event you will find yourself bogged down in India in 8+ months from today. (if things does not go as you intend)... (Depending on mod, expect +/- 3500 pp pr divition, and I recommend you to eventually pull out from Kwutang as much as possible untill you only have 9000 AV in Kwutang, this should give you a good 5-8 divitions eventually availeble for future ops and by starting now it will eventually add up... so that in a year you have 5-8 divitions in Manilla... its good in the event your current army reserve is not back in Manilla by then).
I recommend you to invest a serius amount of time into planning this, a plan of this size will take a significant amount of time and many days of planning, and all the time with paper charts and diagrams will be worth it in the end. Do not rush anything, take your time, know all the details and factors, and make sure your reserve has a reserve, plan it down to the 500'th of Supplie numbers, consumption, waste, time, backup groups...ect.. take your time!
Ok, that was my two €uros...
You do not want him to walk into Malaya!
I would recommend you consider a Landing in Chittagong, and then secure a Major port fast.
If you think you can move to and size Calcutta BEFORE his reserve shows up then of course do so, as you already know he has of course at least 40% of his strength in the rare, so expect his reserve to be deployed fairly fast. In the game I'm playing now I managed a huge breakthrough in 42 by using Paratroops, and by landing Patna (behind Asnoal) and behind the bulk of the British Army, and then by Airlifting in a entire Division, supplies and more I cut off large numbers of troops in Calcutta area and blocked their retreat, on the same time i made a Navel Landing in Vigatzapan, My Patna Pocket held out until my armor (all jap Arm units) catched up, (took 16 days) and the some 140 000 Britts in the Calcutta area was encircled and eventually destroyed. I used some 1000 Aircrafts from bases in Burma to support the Operation. Today it is 1944 and I hold all of India.
Something like that you "could" manage if you use Speed and Maneuverability, but you need to make sure you can deploy at least 5 Divisions fairly fast, (So you need your regional reserve here) and as soon as your encirclement is ensured, (and when you have stopped supplies from India) you can move in another Regional Reserve from another Region to start pushing him back into Burma again. Within 3-5 Months you might have managed to destroy his army, who will get problems when supplie lines are cut. Of course you blockade Akyab and Rangoon, and establish a large air presens in Calcutta, Dacca and Dimond Harbor. You need Air Supremacy, but if you plan the Operation well this can be achieved. I recommend you to eventually consider a major Air Campaing, supported by Paratroops ect if possible to Cut him off From China (if it can be done, remember you must secure a Airbase between him and china for it to be possible, this can eventually maby be done if you plan it right, something who is far ahead, but maby in 3-4 months it can be done if you start preperations now, and of course this has to be combined with a general Hard and Brutal Push from Armor and Infantery from Rangood / Malaya area (depending on were the front is).
Anyway, for now.. Once you have cut him off he will either Keep moving, and let his reserve come down from Delhi ect to deal with your Calcutta forces, or he will initiate a general withdrawal when his flank and rare is thretened, it all depends on his Situational awareness.
Whatever you do, do nothing until you have a solid plan, and plan ahead for 3-5 months at least. This is a a major camping, and if you do it right you will be victorious.
I recommend you also to distribute forces from Kwutang (via Political Points) and into Manilla so that you can start to form a new reserve there in the event you will find yourself bogged down in India in 8+ months from today. (if things does not go as you intend)... (Depending on mod, expect +/- 3500 pp pr divition, and I recommend you to eventually pull out from Kwutang as much as possible untill you only have 9000 AV in Kwutang, this should give you a good 5-8 divitions eventually availeble for future ops and by starting now it will eventually add up... so that in a year you have 5-8 divitions in Manilla... its good in the event your current army reserve is not back in Manilla by then).
I recommend you to invest a serius amount of time into planning this, a plan of this size will take a significant amount of time and many days of planning, and all the time with paper charts and diagrams will be worth it in the end. Do not rush anything, take your time, know all the details and factors, and make sure your reserve has a reserve, plan it down to the 500'th of Supplie numbers, consumption, waste, time, backup groups...ect.. take your time!
Ok, that was my two €uros...
RE: Question (No Jones Please)
It seems to me your major risk is his air wrecking your invasion force before it lands. As long as you spread your Guards among lots of transports so no ship is carrying very many troops, you have insurance against having your invasion stopped as the fleet comes abreast of Rangoon. Make your the KB is following that TF so you don't get separated and leave the convoy naked.
- aphrochine
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RE: Question (No Jones Please)
My concern is my immediate force. I can drop my Para Regiment at one of the small bases near Calcutta and take an unopposed landing for the Imperial Guards Div, then march out from there. My Tank Reg is still 8-12 days away, and my 2 Reinforcement Divs is probably about 18 Days away. I'm pretty confident that the Imperial Guards can take Calcutta by land if they can get there within 3-6 days of marching. As far as Air Superiority, I only have 3 groups in the area. I've been trying to refrain from contact due to how poorly Oscars handle Allied fighters. I could bring in another group or two, and I'm currently upgrading those units to Tojo's. Most of my bomber force is in China, helping with offensives there.
The biggest problem I've faced is the deployment of the Jap forces in the 42A campaign. We are only 3 months into the campaign and I really dont have any reserves anywhere, and have been unable to coffer the Political Points to pull troops from Kwang or Home Defense.
The biggest problem I've faced is the deployment of the Jap forces in the 42A campaign. We are only 3 months into the campaign and I really dont have any reserves anywhere, and have been unable to coffer the Political Points to pull troops from Kwang or Home Defense.
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RE: Question (No Jones Please)
ORIGINAL: aphrochine
My concern is my immediate force. I can drop my Para Regiment at one of the small bases near Calcutta and take an unopposed landing for the Imperial Guards Div, then march out from there. My Tank Reg is still 8-12 days away, and my 2 Reinforcement Divs is probably about 18 Days away. I'm pretty confident that the Imperial Guards can take Calcutta by land if they can get there within 3-6 days of marching. As far as Air Superiority, I only have 3 groups in the area. I've been trying to refrain from contact due to how poorly Oscars handle Allied fighters. I could bring in another group or two, and I'm currently upgrading those units to Tojo's. Most of my bomber force is in China, helping with offensives there.
The biggest problem I've faced is the deployment of the Jap forces in the 42A campaign. We are only 3 months into the campaign and I really dont have any reserves anywhere, and have been unable to coffer the Political Points to pull troops from Kwang or Home Defense.
Well, If you do this you must understand that it is going to become a major camping.
The enemy will not sit back and watch you doing this, and I can almost ensure you that there is at least 1 Division in the Calcutta area
(if you play against a fairly ok player that is), and for this reason I do not recommend you to rush anything.
If it seems to be light defended then it is probably a trap.
If you land, you must be guaranteed that you can size a major City like Calcutta within fairly short time, so that your Supplie situation is guaranteed. If you can Guarantee this, then I would go for it, but make sure you get in another 4 Divisions of strength within the next 35 days or I would not recommend you going for it.
I get the impression that you do not understand the size of the operation, this will probably pin down significant recourses from you for the next 4+ months, and for this reason I would
(if I seriously was considering it) make sure that any Bomber needed, any Fighter needed, any division needed would be made available. China is good and handy, but this is a chance to destroy a significant amount of British Divisions, and a chance to secure parts of India, something I would prioritated if the chance was presented to me like you describe.
But don't rush anything, take a few days timeout or something from the game, and work over the plan in great detail, invest 3-4 hours a day for a few days or a week to look into your actuall possibilities before making up your mind. An anwser here requires significant study and significant time investment in analyzing the situation, and then when that is done, you should use similer amounts of time to make the actuall plan and logistical sulution. Remember that a Logistical plan in a operation like this needs to be equally detailed planned if you are going to be sucsesfull.
I personally more or less always find Logistics to be my only limitation, not troops or aircrafts. Regardless I strongly recommend you to not rush anything.
Preperation and Planning is the key to sucsess.
Also if you do not have any reserve, then you are already overstratched and involved in to many operations, so due to that alone this might be impossible.
Always have a significant reserve availeble, do less operations if you must, but never get yourself into a situation were you have no significant reserves availeble.
- aphrochine
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RE: Question (No Jones Please)
Thanks for all the information. I'll work out a detailed plan and begin a better assessment of my situation. I'll probably need to recon the Calcutta more as well.
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