Attending to airfield building in back areas is not one of John's priorities - perhaps because the IJA is not rich in engineers.ORIGINAL: Barb
IMHO, John should:
1) Try to run MKB to join forces with KB - either to the north or south, the decision is his, but it should be done sooner than later.
2) Try to keep line Japan-Mariana-New Guinea under KB - you will be forced to run the long way around with any reinforcements/supply.
3) Try to keep the SRA "on the cheap" - less valuable combat ships, escorts, light striking forces, plus LBA
4) Run every available drop of oil/fuel/resource/supply to the Saigon/Haiphong/Hong-Kong as quickly as possible (IIRC - you are running a standard game, so supply will be generated by refineries too), before even that opportunity closes up.
5) Keep the Singapore-Sumatra-Java with troops already in the area - he should be able to shuffle them around rather quickly to keep them in strength while allowing for delaying action.
6) Try to keep Formosa-Okinawa-Kyushu line (but it could be already late)
7) Keep the Singapore-Sumatra-Java area with some land planes - both for protection and opportunistic attacks. Airfields should be plenty there...
Engineers are the reason Dan has been able to grab small toeholds and then out-build the Japanese to get airfields to cover his next jump while suppressing the Japanese. Durable 4EB are the other piece of this dominance.