NationStates Jolt Archive

Being as chronically bored as I was today, I did an all-American pastime: channel flipping. I found something interesting on the History Channel. It had a documentary about German-Japanese cooperation in WWII. It argued that one of the blunders of the Axis, although it recieved virtually no attention even back then, was the failure to control Madagascar. The northern port of Diego Cuares was critical to control of the Indian Ocean. It'd cut the UK from India, Australia from Europe, and overall, divide the Allies into two, while allowing for military coordination between the Axis powers.
In 1940, Madagascar was under German control via Vichy France. It was already vital, resupplying Japanese submarines operating in the area. However, what passed for a local force there was a rag-taggle militia, unable to stop a British invasion. Hitler urged that the Japanese invade. It'd have great consequences. Controlling the Indian Ocean meant landing troops on India, possibly causing a revolt, as many Indians were anti-British. It'd open a new front to attack Australia. It'd essentially smoke the British from all of Asia and steal their valuable colonies, making things easier for Hitler, too. However, the Doolittle raid was launched as these plans were being considered, and the Japanese instead leaned toward the idea of an assault on American troops in the Pacific.
I never even knew such a plan was ever on the table, let alone being deeply considered. I wonder what the outcome would be if the Japanese invaded Madagascar.

Hmm I never even knew that there were plans for an invasion of Madagascar.

More interesting would have been a coordinated attack on Russia in 1941. However Japan refused to open a front. They had some interventions in Russia in the 1920s during the Russian civil war (Siberia). But it was too cold and the Russians still put up to much resistance.

More interesting would have been a coordinated attack on Russia in 1941. However Japan refused to open a front. They had some interventions in Russia in the 1920s during the Russian civil war (Siberia). But it was too cold and the Russians still put up to much resistance.
Still, with the Russian army busy elsewhere, Japan could've just walked right in, and they'd be at the Urals before the Soviets could mount an effective resistence. Wasn't the Russian army guarding Manchuria pullled to reinforce the rest of the army, after all?
Anyhow, long story short, the Germans and Japanese would meet around Perm', and the Russians would've been defeated. It'd be a superhuge victory in the war, although an invasion of Madagascar would still be useful.

The Swastika and the Samuri, right, what about the planned attack on the panama canal, if okinawa would have been just a little later, man, that would've been bad........

I always land with a dozen divisions of marines in Vladivostok. While my panzer troops role over Mongolia and into several Soviet key provinces thanks to Japan giving me military acces through China. I crush them in no time. Since I also send several divisions through Turkey to invade the Caucasus. And at the same time I can take out Iraq and attack the British in Egypt. Once I get to north Africa Britain is already under my control and my first troops have moved into western Canada.

Samurai and the Swastika, yep i watched it twice, the technology the Axis had was amazing. like the I-400 Carrier Sub. The German Technology was extraordinary.

I always land with a dozen divisions of marines in Vladivostok. While my panzer troops role over Mongolia and into several Soviet key provinces thanks to Japan giving me military acces through China. I crush them in no time. Since I also send several divisions through Turkey to invade the Caucasus. And at the same time I can take out Iraq and attack the British in Egypt. Once I get to north Africa Britain is already under my control and my first troops have moved into western Canada.

You don't happen to play Hearts of Iron do you?

You don't happen to play Hearts of Iron do you?
:D Yes...

Samurai and the Swastika, yep i watched it twice, the technology the Axis had was amazing. like the I-400 Carrier Sub. The German Technology was extraordinary.
I think that was the name. It's been rerunned for that long?
Anyhow, it's amazing what these two powers would do to help eachother. They actually sent their submarines, removed the torpedos, and stuffed the compartments with supplies. I think they said that it actually held about 500 tons.

Being as chronically bored as I was today, I did an all-American pastime: channel flipping. I found something interesting on the History Channel. It had a documentary about German-Japanese cooperation in WWII. It argued that one of the blunders of the Axis, although it recieved virtually no attention even back then, was the failure to control Madagascar. The northern port of Diego Cuares was critical to control of the Indian Ocean. It'd cut the UK from India, Australia from Europe, and overall, divide the Allies into two, while allowing for military coordination between the Axis powers.
In 1940, Madagascar was under German control via Vichy France. It was already vital, resupplying Japanese submarines operating in the area. However, what passed for a local force there was a rag-taggle militia, unable to stop a British invasion. Hitler urged that the Japanese invade. It'd have great consequences. Controlling the Indian Ocean meant landing troops on India, possibly causing a revolt, as many Indians were anti-British. It'd open a new front to attack Australia. It'd essentially smoke the British from all of Asia and steal their valuable colonies, making things easier for Hitler, too. However, the Doolittle raid was launched as these plans were being considered, and the Japanese instead leaned toward the idea of an assault on American troops in the Pacific.
I never even knew such a plan was ever on the table, let alone being deeply considered. I wonder what the outcome would be if the Japanese invaded Madagascar.

The History Channel, while reliable, has a tendency to hype things up (the most glaring example being their peice on the Amerika Bomber). Japanese Control of Madagascar did not give them control of the Indian Ocean. If they could secure Madagascar, Diego Suarez, and Singapore, they could wrest control of the Indian Ocean from Britain. But, they controlled Singapore, and might be able to take Diego Suarez, they had no hope of holding Madagascar as a valid base.

The Indian Rebellion was not quite the massive revolt waiting to happen that the History Channel and Chandra Dubose would lead you to believe. They did not revolt during the retreat into India, and from examples of the Burmese military units, they would only switch over after being captured.

The Royal Navy was almost passed the nadir of it's fortunes in the Mediterranean, which would free up capitol vessels for Pacific and Indian Ocean campaigns, along with the US Navy (which is no longer defending what is left of US holdings, since in this scenario the Japanese have gone Southwest). Assuming Vichy caved in and gave Madagascar to Japan, they could not hope to hold this base, for the same reason they could never attack Hawaii. Even before the war, the Japanese merchant fleet could not keep up with the demands of supplying military outposts and keeping home industry going. With the outbreak of war, and the stunning American sub campaign (Which, admittedly, will not begin for another year), Japanese merchant losses soared. The simply did not have the ships to keep such a faraway outpost as Madagascar both supplied, and defended from RN and USN forces.

Their submarine force was also primed to target warships, not commercial shipping, so even if they hold Madagascar for several weeks or months, they are not going to cause quite the disruption a squadron of German U-boats would.

:D Yes...

That is really eerie, I was literally just playing it until I had a CTD and decided to com online.

That is really eerie, I was literally just playing it until I had a CTD and decided to com online.
Ah well....I just stopped playing it. Those commie bastards just dared to brake through my incirclement with their 72 divisions. :mad: Bastards!!! I'm seriously tempted now to throw everything into researching rockets, cheat for some nukes and nuke the US.

Ah well....I just stopped playing it. Those commie bastards just dared to brake through my incirclement with their 72 divisions. :mad: Bastards!!! I'm seriously tempted now to throw everything into researching rockets, cheat for some nukes and nuke the US.

72 Divisions? I barely ever play the Germans (for the same reason I never play the US, it's only tough for about a year, then boring), my record encirclement is 56 Soviet Divisions, but I will never do it again, it took almost an entire year to take them out becuase it was in the Pripet Marshes and Pinsk takes forever to march too.

And if you plan to fight the US, generally a good idea to hit them first, the US AI is nuke crazy in 1.06b. Plan all the rockets to hit the US at the same time and watch it, it's a beautiful site, so many explosions.... not that I've done the nuke cheat, but it also looks pretty cool on Germany and Africa.

72 Divisions? I barely ever play the Germans (for the same reason I never play the US, it's only tough for about a year, then boring), my record encirclement is 56 Soviet Divisions, but I will never do it again, it took almost an entire year to take them out becuase it was in the Pripet Marshes and Pinsk takes forever to march too.

And if you plan to fight the US, generally a good idea to hit them first, the US AI is nuke crazy in 1.06b. Plan all the rockets to hit the US at the same time and watch it, it's a beautiful site, so many explosions.... not that I've done the nuke cheat, but it also looks pretty cool on Germany and Africa.
Haven't got 1.06 yet. When the going gets though, I always keep at least 3 divisions of paratroopers at hand.
Yeah, I hardly ever play as the US. Thats just boring. They sit at their side of the pond and can get almost all research areas done before even entering the war. France is pretty much impossible to win with. I at least never did. Britain is a tough game. But once I get the Royal Navy up and running and manage to recruit enough troops to man important provinces their wealth in resources gives me a small edge. But it's always a pain to get the navy up and running. Italy is ok. As long as they don't get involved to soon. I usualy take Venezuela playing as Italy. That way I have OIL!!!!!! Never played as Japan. The Soviets are pretty much the same as playing with Germany.

[QUOTE=Purly Euclid]Still, with the Russian army busy elsewhere, Japan could've just walked right in, and they'd be at the Urals before the Soviets could mount an effective resistence. Wasn't the Russian army guarding Manchuria pullled to reinforce the rest of the army, after all?

The Japanese tried to do a push North into Russia in 1939, only to get themselves smoked by none other than Marshal Zukov. This debatcle solidified the other strategy of striking into the south pacific, eventually leading to Pearl Harbor.

Haven't got 1.06 yet. When the going gets though, I always keep at least 3 divisions of paratroopers at hand.
Yeah, I hardly ever play as the US. Thats just boring. They sit at their side of the pond and can get almost all research areas done before even entering the war. France is pretty much impossible to win with. I at least never did. Britain is a tough game. But once I get the Royal Navy up and running and manage to recruit enough troops to man important provinces their wealth in resources gives me a small edge. But it's always a pain to get the navy up and running. Italy is ok. As long as they don't get involved to soon. I usualy take Venezuela playing as Italy. That way I have OIL!!!!!! Never played as Japan. The Soviets are pretty much the same as playing with Germany.

I also use CORE v.83. I like playing France the most, as it is the only contry I've been able to win with that presented a threat (Poland is impossible, though my record is November 1940, but those damn panzers never stop coming). The Soviet Union in CORE is actually fun (if Germany doesn't get stuck up, which they do in Greece, they station 172 divisions in Skopje and don't move, I've no idea why, but it is really annoying), but it does get boring if you can survive the first year or two, which depending on what level your playing at is either nail-biting or a breeze.

I've only played as Italy once, and in CORE (the mod) you can't attack Venezuela (They have spheres of influence represented by the Monroe Doctrine, so if you DOW Venezuela the US will DOW you via event). Japan gets boring real fast since the US AI is inept at Naval command, and the Chinese are easy to beat, the only problem there is the low infrastructure. And China is boring as hell to play as, since it's really easy to defeat the Japanese invasion, so you pretty much just sit there until you get the edge in the 40's and take Korea, then have to sit and build a fleet to take mainland Japan, it's just a real boring game.

Britain is definitely a fun game, balancing out Naval, Land, and Air and at least 4 theaters to worry about (Atlantic, Mediterranean, Europe, Pacific). CORE makes it a lot harder since you get only about 50 MP at the start (And only about .3 MP gain per month), so you can't upgrade industry a lot, and you can't build much of a military until you get the mobilization events after Munich.

The Japanese tried to do a push North into Russia in 1939, only to get themselves smoked by none other than Marshal Zukov. This debatcle solidified the other strategy of striking into the south pacific, eventually leading to Pearl Harbor.

That would be Khalkin Gol (If your Russian) or Nomanhan (if your Japanese).