A Japanese Walkthrough
Index;
Post 1-summary and initial analysis
Japan in AOD 1.05 is a huge challenge for even experienced players, they suffer from just about every possible challenge, relative low IC, little advanced tech and big bad neighbours.
in the following posts i intend to explore several different strategical paths, these are:
1. Historical/semi Historical - Japan follows the basic historical lines, attacks China in 37 and the allies after 41
2. The Zaibatsu Way - the Industrialist way - Japan does not attack till they are ready and builds up a large Industry to compete with the allies warmachines
3. Early attack on US - taking on the giant early and decisive (hopefully)
4. Bushido - join the axis completely and/or world conquest
Each of these paths offer a completely different play style and as it is a game, results may vary a lot between each individual game, I don't have infinite amounts of time so if my test games goes a-historical you will just have to bear with me. I start with the Historical path and I will post when I have the time to do so.
Japanese Overview 1936
Japan has 91 core IC facilities distributed mainly over the Japanese home islands with 3 centres for IC at Tokyo 20, Osaka 10 and Nagoya 7. Effectively Japan has a starting IC of 109 Effective IC, part of which comes from the concentration of IC in Tokyo which has an effective IC of 24 due primarily to the Effects of Concentration- an effect the Japanese Player has to be ACUTELY aware of since it is virtually decisive in any path the player choose to take
Japan starts with one of the largest navies (ranked 3rd) which is compared to the british and American navies decent when compared technology wise, ship for ship each is equal or only slightly inferior.
Japan has 3 carriers from start (1 lvl 1 and 2 lvl 2's) decent if slightly aged carriers who will keep their edge against any allies minor power or the communist well into the late war as it is the CAG that gets upgraded.
6 pretty battleships (2 lvl 3 modern, 4 lvl 2's) these are comparable to any battleship in operation in 36 but the time of the big battleships are nearing the end and their use will be better suited to covering amphibious operations than going toe to toe against the US and British ships later in the war as updated Carrier Doctrines will start to dominate the seas
4 decent battlecruisers (4 lvl 2's) still fast and still pretty furious in battle though as with battleships their time is passing too, they are still good for escorting carrier fleets due to their higher speeds
18 Heavy Cruisers of various classes- some old and pretty obsolete, others decent lvl 3's with good upgrades, pretty much a mix of every low tech upgrade exist on the ships and with a bit of wrangling they can be applied to the best - Some of the older cruisers are still valuable if for nothing else then to escort your transport fleets and soak up damage from your newer and costlier ships
19 Light cruisers of various classes - most are older 1's and 2's but the tech exist to build newer class 4's which some of the strategies will be very dependent on
19 destroyers of class 1 & 2, old but still usable for escort duty, to soak damage and hunt submarines
8 submarines of various classes, these are valuable if used to hunt convoys and not in the historical fashion
21 transport flotillas gives the Japanese excellent transport and amphibious mobility.
Overall a decent navy compared to the allies but still outnumbered
Japanese Air force
4 Interceptors are a decent core and useful against the Chinese early on
5 Tactical bombers gives Japan a good opportunity to provide close air support to her attacks
2 naval bombers gives Japan excellent naval strike power though naval bombers have limited spotting capabilities
Japanese Army
25 Infantry Divisions may look pitiful compared to the AI Chinese forces but these can be upgraded and several (8) have artillery brigades which compliments their fire power very well - all are out of date but tech exist to bring them up to 36 standard.
6 cavalry divisions make for very good manoeuvre elements in china but will take losses against armoured opponents or dug in defenders
3 HQ makes going into china a somewhat more fun experience as they give +4% supply efficiency, which in the low infra areas are noticeable differences
31 garrison divisions protect the Japanese islands and will also help protect any acquisitions from partisans.
Enemies and Neighbours:
Manchuria; your only ally to start with, has lower tech than you but will keep you supplied with low tech infantry divisions during the war and very useful against the chinese warlords.
Soviet; Your biggest baddest Enemy connected by land, largest Army and Airforce makes this a very formidable enemy, unless you are allied to the axis, attacking is almost pure suicide and getting attacked tends to be an end to any continental dreams you might have... at least for now
China; your big neighbour, low tech, little industry and a huge army consisting of mostly militia... a very nice little challenge in particular in logistics.
Chinese Warlord States; each small and seemingly insignificant but together with Nationalist China can put together a huge army (luckily for you) mostly consisting of militia troops.
USA; Your Pacific Opponent, larger navy, better tech teams and a huge IC advantage when unleashed, if they cannot be defeated quickly then there will be little hope of success.
Philippines; usually a roadbump for a dedicated japanese operation but can manage to hold against the odds as it is hard to get airsupport over the islands without having taken an airfield on the islands
Allies; UK and France are both great powers with large and larger navies, airforce and armies but they will be concerned with European affairs (hopefully), Australia is also a regional force to be reckoned with.
Holland; has control of some very valuable resource areas and a thirsty Japan has to look in that direction at some point...
(will add pictures tomorrow and post more)
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