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Guadalcanal is a five-turn introduction to the naval system. Do not think that a short game isn't fun. This is a chess game. The text is presented as it is in the rules book or the official errata. My remarks, insightful commentary, and opinions will appear inline and be clearly marked. The following topics are available
24.2.2
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The following setup tables are available. Our
group does not play with SiF (Ships in Flames) or PiF (Planes in
Flames).
Our
group does not play with SiF (Ships in Flames) or PiF (Planes in
Flames).
Our
group does not play with SiF (Ships in Flames) or PiF (Planes in
Flames).
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Japanese Players Notes You have the advantage of interior lines and superior forces. You must use them aggressively in support of your early offensive. Don’t wait several turns to go on the attack; time and reinforcements favor the Allies in this scenario. You have few land units, so you must make good use of your interior lines and naval and naval air power to keep the Allies fleets from causing trouble. You need to decide which enemy objectives you will attack. There are three basic strategies: control the Bay of Bengal in order to take Colombo and Calcutta ; apply pressure in the Marshalls to try to destroy the American fleet quickly; or defend on the flanks and launch targeted invasions towards Brisbane. In all cases, use your MAR and a good INF with your AMPH as your strike force, backed up other fleet elements. Attacking India and Ceylon is probably the best strategy, as there are more objectives in this region and the Commonwealth fleet is no match for yours. You might try to mask this intention by setting up your fast fleet units in Truk or Rabaul ~ they can still be effective in the Bay of Bengal. You will, in any case, be forced to devote some attention to the Americans once their MAR is available to attack you. Try to keep only slight naval inferiority with the Americans, to keep them honest. Meanwhile, invade Ceylon quickly, and follow up with coordinated invasion and overland attack (from Siam ) towards Calcutta. Both should be within your grasp. Against an unwary Allied player you might even be able to hook around into the Arabian Sea and grab Bombay or Aden. Invading Honolulu will be difficult, but isolating it and trapping the American fleet could yield big dividends. As Honolulu is a three sea area port, this will be difficult. However, if Yamamoto is based in Rabaul or Truk, you could sail a fleet into the Marshalls, watch the American fleet flee, return some units (especially fast carriers) to base and reorganize them, and then go hunting! An invasion to the islands west of Honolulu could serve as air bases for your FTR and NAV, which could then lead port attacks against Honolulu. In reality, you will likely only chase the American fleet away, hopefully back to the USA. However, this will open the door to cutting supply to Honolulu and a possible invasion of it after all. The Brisbane strategy is more defensive in nature, and is really an attempt to lure the Allied fleets out to battle on your terms. Landing in Australia should not be difficult, but, as it is a Commonwealth home country, its supply is guaranteed. Invade north of Brisbane with a modest fleet so you may move in quickly to the attack, hopefully causing Allied consternation and naval sorties. This is what you want. Having kept much of your fleet in reserve, you may now sally forth, in coordination with your FTR and NAV, to attempt to smash the Allied fleets. If they don’t take the bait, you should be able to batter Brisbane and take it with massive shore bombardment and CV air support. Don’t waste your resources invading Darwin, it is of no value. Proper deployment and use of your land based airplanes is critical to your success, regardless of which strategy you choose. They can be employed to help you press home the attack but, if not, use them to ensure your own supply lines back to Japan and to protect your reinforcements as they arrive. By mid game your attempts at attacking will have played themselves out, in all likelihood. Now you must garrison all of your victory cities (Tokyo, Truk, Rabaul, Singapore, Saigon), and keep a reaction force on board your TRS and AMPH capable of repulsing attacks towards your resources or newly acquired victory cities. If you are playing with optional rules, break down some INF into infantry divisions. These can invade off SCS and threaten the Allies in even more places at once. |
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Allied Players Notes Allies: The Allies should follow the same strategy as that pursued by Napoleon’s enemies in 1813, “Hit ’em where they ain’t” (“Voici Bonaparte! Sauve qui peut!”). The Japanese player has more (and faster) CVs and supporting SCS units. It is imperative that you do not fall victim to an early Tenno-zan, a decisive battle, because the odds will favor Japan, and an early decisive loss at sea will ensure loss of the game for the Allies. Defend your critical areas ( Aden, Bombay, Calcutta, Colombo, Australia, Samoa and Honolulu ). Then use your excess units (particularly your precious MAR) to exploit the inevitable Japanese weaknesses. If it’s any consolation, Japan will have fewer land units in play than you do. Take advantage of this by severing her communication lines, possibly by using your SUB to ambush Japanese TRS or AMPH. If the Japanese concentrate their fleet in Singapore, you can bet they are attacking towards India and Ceylon. To counter this possibility, the Commonwealth fleet should be set up at a safe distance such as Bombay, or even Aden. The British fleet cannot defeat the Japanese fleet and should try to avoid any engagement against enemy carriers. Try to shuttle your reinforcements to vital hexes by using the cover of bad weather (you hope) and positioning your TRS in fringe sea areas (i.e. deploy to the West Indian Ocean when reinforcing Colombo ; an enemy fleet which chases you here cannot support efforts against the Indian mainland). Tell your American ally to apply some pressure or you may lose several victory cities ( Colombo, Calcutta, Bombay, and Aden are within easy reach). The USA should use the opportunity to attack Japanese bases. These include possible invasions of Kwajalein, Eniwetok, or Saipan. These multi-ocean ports will be difficult to take (it’s hard to cut their supply, and Japan may reinforce them), so make sure your planning efforts are precise. Ensure you are invading from a high sea box and try to cut enemy supply lines. Hit them with a 2 unit invasion (including the MAR) and you will usually succeed, inflicting heavy enemy casualties. Avoid risky invasions. Early loss of your MAR will give Japan a free hand for several turns, as your invasion capability will be gone until late in the game. If you can’t arrange an invasion, position your MAR on a TRS in Midway. This threatens a kamikaze invasion of Tokyo ! Use your newly minted Essex class carriers to lead an attack on some Japanese victory city. The early seizure of a forward base will keep Japan guessing as to your intentions. The American AMPH must be moved to a forward location as soon as possible; sail it out from the West Coast on the first impulse of Sept/Oct, and voluntarily return it to Honolulu. Nimitz can reorganize it and send it sailing again right away, possibly to invade or just to get to a more distant theater quickly. If instead, the Japanese concentrate against the US (the Japanese fleet deploys in Truk or Rabaul), the US should stand on the defensive, waiting for potential opportunities. The US fleet should set up its discretionary units in the safety of Honolulu. This base has both land unit and FTR unit coverage, the latter being especially useful to prevent enemy port strikes. Best of all it has an escape hatch: if the Japanese fleet sails into the Marshalls sea zone, you can escape via the Hawaiian Islands or Christmas Island sea zones and try to outflank them. Make sure you keep an INF unit in addition to Nimitz in Honolulu, to forestall any wild Japanese notions of invading Pearl Harbor. Brisbane makes an attractive forward base for later in the scenario, if you can get FTR coverage there. Keeping your main fleet concentrated and at a secure base is a wise precaution. The Commonwealth fleet could then support its army’s in attacks in Burma. Alternatively, it could support 10:1 invasions against any Japanese hex defended by an out-of-supply notional unit. You can use this tactic to capture resources and bases in the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea. Be careful though that the Japanese doesn’t use the opportunity to launch a sortie against you with their fast carrier fleet from Rabaul or Truk (be patient, and wait till the Japanese are committed). Keep in mind that the victory conditions reward successful naval play just as much as they do the seizure of objective locations, so don’t sacrifice your fleet late in the game just to grab a key hex. If you are playing with optional rules, you might consider breaking down an INF into infantry divisions. This will give you additional invasion opportunities if you use them on fast SCS, with the SCS invasion rule. |
