PRE 1937

1937 - 1939

1940 - 1941

1942 - 1945

Miscellaneous

PHASE 3 - 1942-1945, Defence of the Empire

There is a scenario file which allows you to skip right to this phase.

Phase 3 is technically the most difficult phase and it is historically where the Japanese faltered.

Phase 3A consists of taking the remaining objective cities before resistance stiffens too much because of the accelerating Allied mobilization.  It will be difficult as you have limited manpower but several campaigns are of prime importance and you should try to achieve them all:

Singapore should be your first target as it is your launching gateway to the Dutch East Indies where much of your free resource units can be found. Attack by land from the North  if you don't want half your fleet destroyed by its chain of coastal guns. An important secondary target for this area of operation is the naval base at Surabaya.

Another area of operations which is important is Burma, specifically the town of Mandalay, to stop free reinforcements from entering China. This in turn will free up units held up in China for other important operations.

You will also need to control the chain of island bases north of Australia, including Rabaul and Guadalcanal, which will serve as your defensive perimeter against counter-attacks from the South while severing lines of supply from America to Oceana.

One final strategic objective, no less important that the others, is Midway Island. If you fail to occupy it, it will eventually become the staging point for the Allied counter offensive from the West.

Phase 3B starts in mid-1943 and consists mainly of defensive actions in your occupied territories which by this time will form a rough circle stretching from Attu to Midway to Port Moresby to Batavia to Port Blair to Rangoon and finally Chungking. At the same time conduct focused attacks on any objective cities still remaining in Allied hands. Your resource collection transport network should be fully functioning and free from submarines as there will be a fair amount of attrition due to multiple counterattacks on all fronts. As soon as you have the required objective cities, negotiate for peace with both Allied powers which is the final victory condition.


UNITS THAT BECOME AVAILABLE FOR THIS PHASE

 

Taiho Class 
Fleet Carrier

Taiho was arguably Japan's best carrier of the war. The design was essentially an upgraded Shokaku design embodying many wartime improvements - heavier armour all round, revised armament, enclosed bows, a much larger island, and various other improvements. These ships were meant to serve as the core of new fleet battlegroups and were the Japanese reply to the new American Essex and British Illustrious class carriers. Because of wartime constraints, only one ship of the class was ever built and went into action in mid 1944.

 

Unryu Class
Light Carrier

A final class of fast medium carriers each carrying about 60 aircraft, intended for strikes against US convoys, not fleet actions. They were lightly built and intended for mass production using cruiser engines. Three carriers were launched in late 1944 but only the Unryu was ever  deployed because of a lack of aircraft and crews. A further three ships remained half completed due to wartime material shortages and an additional 11 were planned.

These ships, if you ever get round to building them are much more cost effective than the Taiho Class but require a larger screening force of cruisers and other auxillary craft.

Matsu Class 
 Light Destroyer 

As losses from submarine attacks mounted, a new class of smaller and more importantly cheaper destroyers began to see action. These were the Matsu Class destroyers, designed much like the Destroyer Escourt vessels introduced by the Americans in response to the U-boat menace. Because of their cost-efficiency, more of these destroyers were built than any other class of Japanese destroyers. These sub hunting escourts were fitted with the same anti-submarine warfare platforms as their bigger cousins but carried typically only half the number of main guns and fewer torpedo tubes. They also used smaller engines which gave them 5 to 7 knots less in speed.

 

Nakajima Ki-84
 'Frank' 
Fighter

In the closing stages of the war, Nakajima finally produced a design which combined most of the virtues of Japanese aircraft without their vices. In October 1943 the Japanese Airforce saw a new multi-role fighter characterised by long range and what was by Japanese standards a high level of protection for the pilot and fuel tanks. 'Frank' performed well against the best Allied fighters but unfortunately, it was never available in large enough numbers because of Allied bombing and was uable to tilt the balance of air power back in favour of the Japanese.

note: All third generation monoplanes have a yellow nose cone.

 

Nakajima B56 
'Jill'
Torpedo Bomber

Specifications for a new three-seater aircraft that could carry the same weapons load as the 'Kate' but fly faster and over a longer range resulted in the new 'Jill' torpedo bomber. Because of improvements, the design weighed 1500 lbs more and operations were restricted to the Navy's large fleet carriers. While in some respects superior to the Grumman TBF or the Fairey Barracuda, the loss of air superiority by the time they were introduced in late 1943 meant that these bombers had a low success rate.

 

Yokosuka D4Y  'Judy' 
Dive Bomber

In 1938 Japan bought the rights to develop and build further on the Heinkel He 118 and the basic configuration showed much resemblance to the German design, but was smaller, lighter and more advanced in its structure and aerodynamics. Its powerplant was the Aichi AE1 Atsuta engine, itself a Japanese license-built derivative of the venerable Daimler Benz 601 engine. One of its unique featues was its internal bomb bay. It entered service as a dive bomber in mid 1942 and first saw action during the Battle of Midway.

 

Mitsubishi Ki-67 "Peggy"
Medium Bomber

The "Peggy" was undoubtedly the best medium bomber produced by Japan, incorporating good defensive armament, good speed, self-sealing fuel tanks, and crew armor. In addition, it had the excellent maneuverability of a fighter. Unfortunately for Japan, the plane didn’t enter service until late 1944 because of conflicting plans for fighter and other variants, even though it first flew in 1942 at around the same time as the U.S. B-25.  Only around 700 were built.

These bombers have a much higher defense factor than the 'Betty' and can be used with fighter escourt for the most part.

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