What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Gary Grigsby's strategic level wargame covering the entire War in the Pacific from 1941 to 1945 or beyond.

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Riva Ridge
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What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Riva Ridge »

Relatively newer player compared to folks here and am in two PBMs, one Japanese and one Allied against good players. Here is what I have learned as a Japanese Player in the early war months...

1. Relax and play the game. Don't get overly frustrated (it is okay to get a little frustrated). Don't advertise that you can do dozen turns a week when 3-5 is what you can really swing. If you find yourself getting burned out, take a break for a day or two. Don't quit on a player (I have not but I started two PBMs where players quit in the first couple of weeks without a word).

2. Singapore is the most dangerous point on the map. It is the most important military objective for the Japanese. It needs to be neutralized through massed air-raids immediately or else your opponet will build it in a near unstoppable air strong-point. Get your forces down the Malay Pensiula quickly and reinforce the drive until complete. May it the focus of your air-ground forces.

3. Critical to taking Singapore is taking Kuching. It allows you to dominate the southern approach to Singapore and bomb the Palemberg air-fields which will be used against your troops on their final approach to Singapore.

4. Don't attack into Burma right off the bat!!! Unless your opponent is negligent, he will be able build forces quicker than what you can commit. If he is motivated, he will accept sea losses and he can rapidly build 50-80,000 troops vicinity of Rangoon and Moulmein. You are better served committing those troops to the Singapore drive. The exception is taking Tavoy. It makes a nice place to put a squadron of Nells which which will pick ships off trying to reinforce Rangoon. Once Singapore and Manilla are secured, you will have more than enough troops to make a drive into Burma if that is what you want to do.

5. Don't be in a rush in the Phillipines. You are going to win. The only real variable is time. Opponents are gong to eventually hole up in Manilla or Bataan and then you can spend a couple of months bombarding them with artillery and LBAs and eat their supplies where they will fall easily enough. Don't waste your momentum on your drive into DEI or taking Singapore to hasten the fall of Manilla.

6. Don't land at Legaspi with anything less than a Division if you are going to land there at all. Allied player can get enough force down there to kick you out in the first week or two of the war.

7. Your opponent may attempt to evacuate his aircraft from Phillipines and the logical route for most is down to Davao or Cagayan and then out one of the DEI airfields. If you are quick in your drive into the DEI, you will reduce the ability to evacuate any of his short-range aircraft.

8. Allied opponents start off with lots of ships at sea that are vulnerable. Hit what you can but don't bother hunting down every one of them with your naval units. LBAs in the right locations will do wonders.

9. Allieds start with lots of ships in ports in Manilla and Singapore. Once air-defenses are suitably surpressed, hit his ports which will have a dramatic effect on any early game sub offensive that he may try to embark upon. Also, a surface task force posted near Manilla in the very begininng of the game will kill alot of allied shipping.

10. Pearl Harbor strike? Yes. A second strike will cause more damage to your squadrons but is still good idea. But afterwards, keeping the KB in the Pearl area will really hamper his ability to evacuate ships or attempt to reinforce positions in the Central Pacific. If you opponent is not paying attention, you can definitely cause some damage in subsequent turns if he tries to get ships to/from Pearl.

11. In the Central Pacific, the most critical piece of terrain is Canton Island. Taking Canton Island early is imperative and will add weeks onto any transit time from Pearl to Australia. The Allied Player will eventually take Canton Island away at some point but I am convinced that for every month in 1942 that you hold Canton Island, you are adding an extra month on to the game absent some truly momentous event elsewhere.

12. The most critical points in Ambonia in the early game are Mandoro, Kendari, Ambonia, Brunei. I suscribe that those need to be taken before any other objective in the DEI because this will hamper any efforts to reinforce the DEI and give you a commanding position to take the other objectives you need to take.

13. China. Nanchang is your most vulnerable position to begin with but you should be able to defend it. Don't get fixated on Changsa or Yenan in the beginning. There are other points that are vulnerable that won't require you having to fight through the teeth of Chinese defenses in the very beginning.

14. Aircraft, replace your dive bombers with Sonias as soon as possible. They are far more survivable than the other pre-war Japanese dive bombers and your Dive Bomber losses will be much less if you do this. Get the best fighters possible as quickly as possible. Replace Claudes with Zeroes as soon as possible. Replace front-line squadrons with Oscars as quickly as possible though Nates are fine for secondary theaters (China, Manchuria). Replace Nells with Betties and Sallys with Helens as soon as possible but choose carefully as your LBAs are one of your most precious weapons.

15. Besides Carriers, the three ship classes that need to be paid attention too are your CAs, DDs, and APs. Your heavy cruisers are your most potent all-around warship and will maul allied CAs in one-on-one fights in the early months of the war. Your DDs are INCREDIBLY precious and you will absolutely need them as the sub-war heats up. It is easy to lose track of losses in your Destroyers but you will miss them. Large APs are very important for troop transports and as you transition to the Defense, they will be what you need to rapidly move forces around to reinforce points on the line.

16. Your CVs are far more vulnerable than the Allied CVs and they cannot withstand a serious pelting by aircraft...but don't be too conservative with them either. They are your most powerful mobile asset and there effects are magnified in the first six months of the war. Use them to support your drive.

Anyrate, these points I believe are important and I state them because I violated near everyone of these and learned them the hard way. I wish I had known these going into my first games. I think I will be better opponent my next PBM by having failed miserably and learning these lessons.

C
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tsimmonds
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by tsimmonds »

Excellent summary, well analyzed.
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Big B »

Yep, I agree.

One sticky point though is the Philippines. There really is enough force and supply avaiable to the US that if the key resource centers on Luzon aren't quicky overrun - the US can build up and hold the Philippines almost indefinately - without outside help...that is if they are ignored.

To me, that makes prioritizing a bit of a sticky call. Then again if Singapore isn't quickly taken - it becomes a problem too.
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Vladd
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Vladd »

ORIGINAL: Riva Ridge

3. Critical to taking Singapore is taking Kuching. It allows you to dominate the southern approach to Singapore and bomb the Palemberg air-fields which will be used against your troops on their final approach to Singapore.

An excellent summary; Kuching has always kind of annoyed me though. Historically, there were no swarms of torp bombers closing the Singapore sea lanes, as inevitably happens in WitP. If it were a L3 Airfield, the result would be both a more accurate and interesting game.
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Terminus
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Terminus »

Nicely done...
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jwxspoon
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by jwxspoon »

Good points, Riva.
 
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AU Tiger_MatrixForum
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by AU Tiger_MatrixForum »

Reading that tells me how much I must suck as an Allied player.....[8|]
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RUPD3658
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by RUPD3658 »

Don't forget that airborn units are worth their weight in gold. They can be used to cut the Burma road and cut the retreat paths from Malaya.
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Big B »

ORIGINAL: RUPD3658

Don't forget that airborn units are worth their weight in gold. They can be used to cut the Burma road and cut the retreat paths from Malaya.

That is affirmative.
On Dec 12th in my game in the Philippines I rushed north to Lingayen to repulse a Japanese landing. I unwittingly left the hex below (San Marcileno) unoccupied for one day. In that day the Japanese parachuted in behind me.
I mauled the landing at Lingayen, but I couldn't swing south fast enough to clear out my mistake at San Marcileno - which gave the Japs a foot hold they never subsequently relinquished.

I figure that one airborne unit cost me a month in my doomed defense of the Philippines (considering the situation it forced me into). An oversight I will never make again.
Hipper
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Hipper »

An excellent summary; Kuching has always kind of annoyed me though. Historically, there were no swarms of torp bombers closing the Singapore sea lanes, as inevitably happens in WitP. If it were a L3 Airfield, the result would be both a more accurate and interesting game.

Well sort of, it was used by the IJN to mount mass bomber raids of singapore they just did not move torpedo handling gear there... agree that making it a level 3 airfield will give a more historical feel but if the IJN had thought it worthwhile they could have mounted torpedo strikes from that base !
As the IJN I always try to move torpedo bombers from indochina let them make one attack then move them back to bomb up .
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Mynok
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Mynok »

4. Don't attack into Burma right off the bat!!! Unless your opponent is negligent, he will be able build forces quicker than what you can commit. If he is motivated, he will accept sea losses and he can rapidly build 50-80,000 troops vicinity of Rangoon and Moulmein. You are better served committing those troops to the Singapore drive. The exception is taking Tavoy. It makes a nice place to put a squadron of Nells which which will pick ships off trying to reinforce Rangoon. Once Singapore and Manilla are secured, you will have more than enough troops to make a drive into Burma if that is what you want to do.

Disagree with this one. You do need to take Rangoon and Moulmein early, and it can be done. Don't get greedy past those two until Singapore is taken.


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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by moses »

Also if your opponent sends "50,000-80,000" troops to Rangoon then this should be your trigger to invade India. I wouldn't invade India normally but my last opponent sent tons of stuff to Burma so I just had to take advantage. India was an empty shell!!!!!
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John 3rd
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by John 3rd »

I agree with the previous coments.  You have a nicely thoughtout summation.
 
I am Moses 'last player' mentioned above and he is dead right!  I overcommitted to Burma and lost nearly all of India because of my units all fighting at Mandalay.  Ooooppppsss...
 
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tsimmonds
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by tsimmonds »

ORIGINAL: Mynok

4. Don't attack into Burma right off the bat!!! Unless your opponent is negligent, he will be able build forces quicker than what you can commit. If he is motivated, he will accept sea losses and he can rapidly build 50-80,000 troops vicinity of Rangoon and Moulmein. You are better served committing those troops to the Singapore drive. The exception is taking Tavoy. It makes a nice place to put a squadron of Nells which which will pick ships off trying to reinforce Rangoon. Once Singapore and Manilla are secured, you will have more than enough troops to make a drive into Burma if that is what you want to do.

Disagree with this one. You do need to take Rangoon and Moulmein early, and it can be done. Don't get greedy past those two until Singapore is taken.
I'd say this can vary depending on what map you are using. Burma is easy to take in stock, more problematic in CHS.
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Przemcio231
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Przemcio231 »

John 3rd don't worry with stock A2A model even if you will not send anything to Burma, and Japs will decide to land in India in Force you will not be able to hold them... i tryed but droped the game it was hopeless "Death Star" Effect coused all my massed assluts on the Invasion Fleet futile and since i had to cover all the bases on the coast the interior was unguarded so my opponent used Paras to land bechind my lines and cut off my supply[:@][:@] any way with stock A2A if Japanese player decides to attack some area (probably execpt West Coast) he can be sure to capture it as he will surly have air dominance over the target area as you will not be able to do anything about that[:@] 
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Nikademus
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Nikademus »

ORIGINAL: Mynok


Disagree with this one. You do need to take Rangoon and Moulmein early, and it can be done. Don't get greedy past those two until Singapore is taken.



Also agree. Burma can be made defensible far quicker than RL. A quick offensive is vital here. I'm in a PBEM right now and i've made Burma very defensible without gutting India (a big no no to gut India in favor of Burma)


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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Big B »

ORIGINAL: Przemcio231

John 3rd don't worry with stock A2A model even if you will not send anything to Burma, and Japs will decide to land in India in Force you will not be able to hold them... i tryed but droped the game it was hopeless "Death Star" Effect coused all my massed assluts on the Invasion Fleet futile and since i had to cover all the bases on the coast the interior was unguarded so my opponent used Paras to land bechind my lines and cut off my supply[:@][:@] any way with stock A2A if Japanese player decides to attack some area (probably execpt West Coast) he can be sure to capture it as he will surly have air dominance over the target area as you will not be able to do anything about that[:@]
Yeah, the stock a2a moddle is hopeless. That's a lot why people are using Nik's mod, and that was also what motivated me to do a mod - I just couldn't take a game with so much potential, but with combat results from a bad 'Hollywood' movie.
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Nemo121
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by Nemo121 »

IMO the RHS air to air model is superior to both the stock model and NikMod. I'm surprised more people aren't using it.
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by moses »

I disagree. An invasion of India is very difficult if the allied player takes precautions and keeps his India forces in India until all danger is passed.

In my recent game with John III I was almost stoped even after he had sent almost everything to Burma. I had 8 divisions in India and they almost stalled against his one good division dug in to the urban Madras.

If Japan wants to have KB sit of the coast of India week after week then he can maintain air superiority forever at the cost of giving up the rest of the Pacific. But that air superiority is of limited use against large dug in ground forces.

Unlessnot playing some kind of lunacy game, India has at least three months before Japan can bring full force to bear. By that time you can have every coastal position defended and the important ones heavily fortified.

Assuming,of course, that you haven't sent everything to Burma.[;)]
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RE: What I have Learned as Japanese Player

Post by TulliusDetritus »

Nemo, I hope you won't think I want to piss in your pockets (you already know I am a RHS freak, I guess) but that is maybe a wild statement.

RHS is still experimental. Did people do enough tests? Or play even games? The problem: we are re-starting our games constantly, as you know pretty well [:)] In other words, how could we prove this so-called superiority? Nik's Mod on the other hand has been around for some years. I never tried it, but from what users say it does work.

Needless to say, I hope the RHS air model will work as well, since this will be my mod [8D]
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