• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

HoI 4 Dev Diary - Manchukuo

Hello and welcome back to another Dev Diary. This week we will look at the last unrevealed focus tree for Waking the Tiger: Manchukuo.


Manchukuo is perhaps one of the weirdest players in the Chinese Civil War. Formally an Empire led by an Emperor, it was also a puppet. Despite owning a large chunk of China, it was never able to field the numbers the other Chinese factions brought to the fight. Despite being ruled by the last legitimate Son of Heaven, no one particularly liked this government.


Capture_intro.JPG



As such, your position at the start of the game is precarious at best. You have practically no support from the population, your industry base is mostly working for the Japanese, your army is somewhat less than befitting your station and to start with, there are bandits running around the country causing havoc.


man_ft2.jpg



So your first step has to be the pacification of the countryside. You can do this by either maintaining a military presence in the relevant areas or spending some manpower and infantry equipment in a more aggressive campaign to hunt them down. You should hurry, though, as the bandit raids will damage your infrastructure and industry if you let them proceed too long.


raids.jpg



Once the country is reasonably pacified, you face a more difficult choice: Either you decide to be an obedient little puppet or you start down on your path to independence and restoring the Empire that has always been yours by birth.


We developers, of course, withhold any judgment about which path you take.


Should you choose to remain a mere pathetic lapdog of the Japanese, you sell your dignity and freedom very dear indeed, as that branch gives you a much more powerful economy. Five year plans allow you to shape the direction of your industry for the next, well, five years, giving you the option to focus on industrial growth, military production or aircraft development. You will gain more infrastructure and factories along the way.


Capture_fyp.JPG



Finally, by allying with the Kwantung Army, you can position yourself as the natural leader of China from the Japanese perspective and get all captured Chinese territories turned over to you. Only then can you gain some autonomy and finally arrive at an equal standing with your supposed “Brother-Emperor”.


Should you, however, decide to take a stand for your freedom and independence and assert yourself, you will have a much harder job ahead of you as your imperial masters will not invest nearly as heavily into your state.



hoi4_120.jpg


More than that, in order to gain your independence, you will have to be patient and gain some small concessions here and there. The next fundamental choice for you is whether you want to turn your country into a society dominated by Manchus, or if you will make good on the propaganda of five equal races under one banner. Each will give you different advantages.

Afterwards, you will at last prepare for the war of independence against Japan (we actually had to rewrite our war system to allow you to be at war with both Japan and China, while they are also at war with each other). However, this branch will allow you to eventually get rid of the penalties from low legitimacy as you climb the ladder to restore your Imperial rule all across China. Once you break free from your Japanese overlords, you will once again be known as Qing China. Conquering the rest of China allows you to claim the Mandate of Heaven and announce yourself to the world as The Chinese Empire (2.0)


hoi4_121.jpg



Much like the other main Chinese factions (Nationalists and Communists), Manchukuo has access to the shared focus tree that allows them to build up their industry and develop new technologies. Owing to its position in the world, the only viable paths at game start are Germany and Japan, but breaking free will give you the opportunity to reach out to new partners.


That is all for this week. There will be a dev diary next week, but we won't tell you what it is just yet (we are working on a number of things that may or may not be done in time for the dev diary). At World War Wednesday today, our intrepid team of Daniel and Gabriel will continue to try and conquer China while making some of the worst jokes known to humanity. Tune in at 16:00 CET and ask your questions about the focus tree: https://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive


Rejected Titles for this Dev Diary:

China - under new MANagement

This Focus tree sponsored by Burger Qing

MAN-spreading all over China

Henry Puyi and the Dragon Throne

This focus tree will make a MAN out of you

This DLC is basically MAN-datory

Hail to the Qing

Coming up with rejected titles took longer than writing the rest of this diary
 
Last edited:
For China? They will start with a national spirit that really hurts their factory output.

Partly China, partly Manchuria and Mengjiang. The reason I gave such a non-specific comment was that all the values seemed completely off with reference to all the others. The spirit for China should help that particular comparison, but it sounds strange to deal with it in that way.
 
Unless you have a good command of Japanese or maybe Korean, I'm afraid you're in for a hard time. The records are extremely scarce even in those, and the Enlgish language literature is primarily noteworthy for its non-existance.

If you ask specific questions about it, I'll point you to the sources if I'm aware of them, but the only good general overview in English that I know of is Jowett's Rays of the Rising Sun, which was a book published on a very limited run quite a while ago. It'll cost you a kindey and half a lifetime's worth of luck, at my best estimate.

Just had a look - I suspect what you meant here was it'll cost you a kindle, as it looks like it's available on there (on Amazon, it's for $3.62 on Kindle or over $900 in hard copy!) Hard copies look very rare indeed!
 
Just had a look - I suspect what you meant here was it'll cost you a kindle, as it looks like it's available on there (on Amazon, it's for $3.62 on Kindle or over $900 in hard copy!) Hard copies look very rare indeed!

They've digitised it now? Cool, that'll make it a lot more accessible. In that case, I'll change my answer to "Download Rays of the Rising Sun"
Anywhere I can have a good read on Manchukuo's army
 
Last edited:
@Axe99, where do you see the second volume on Kindle? I only see the first.

I'm a baddie, seems volume 1 does the Chinese puppets, volume 2 does the southern puppets and I just mis-remembered

The second one is the one I want. :(

Went back and looked more closely and the Amazon listing is a bit confusing (in ways I didn't spot when I first looked). The Kindle version is titled Volume 2, but the cover art shown is volume 1. Sorry I didn't notice this initially.

https://smile.amazon.com/Rays-Risin...sr=8-1&keywords=rays+of+the+rising+sun+jowett

Only $3.62, so I guess if it's not the one you want it's not the end of the world (and I'd guess it's more likely to be the second one, as it's easier to mess up one image, than a text title and description). A right shame they're not both on there :(.
 
Went back and looked more closely and the Amazon listing is a bit confusing (in ways I didn't spot when I first looked). The Kindle version is titled Volume 2, but the cover art shown is volume 1. Sorry I didn't notice this initially.

https://smile.amazon.com/Rays-Risin...sr=8-1&keywords=rays+of+the+rising+sun+jowett

Only $3.62, so I guess if it's not the one you want it's not the end of the world (and I'd guess it's more likely to be the second one, as it's easier to mess up one image, than a text title and description). A right shame they're not both on there :(.

Aye, not only that, but the customer reviews seem to be fairly explicit about it being volume 1. Strange. I'll try and download it tomorrow and report back.
 
For China? They will start with a national spirit that really hurts their factory output.

It would be nice if it seriously affects their ability to produce aircraft, tanks and ships. The KMT could make artillery, small arms and maybe some trucks, but they couldn't produce aircraft at all during the war. They never managed to make actual tanks for a while, or ships.
 
This is stupid of hiring Chanult and the flying tiger, chu x po fighter, and CAMCO for Manchukuo. No way that will happen. The Kwungtong Army is right there. Not historically. Once WW2 starts japan is just going steamroll you.