Mighty Manchukuo
This guide is meant to be a more in depth guide based on this one here.http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi2wiki/index.php/Manchukuo_strategy
Manchukuo is one of my favourite nations to play in Hearts of Iron and is IMHO the most powerful puppet nation you can play. You can also load up a Japanese game in 1936, release Manchukuo from its puppet status. The main reason to do this is because the Japanese AI is moronic at trading for resources and you will be critically low on rares in particular throughout the game. Manchukuo’s manpower per day is slightly higher than Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania and it has a similar amount of IC. Manchukuo for the most part also has better tech teams than most of the Axis minors and even compares favorably to Italy. Most are available by 1939. Most are level 4-6 with relevant fields.
More importantly Manchukuo has tech teams for land, air and naval doctrines. Even if freed from its puppet status Manchukuo remains allied with Japan and benefits from blueprints and you can trade with Japan to gain the important ones. Manchukuo lacks a naval tech team but you won’t need much of a navy before 1944 or so and their airforce team can do an adequate job of researching carriers aided by Japanese blueprints.
Regardless if the fact that Manchukuo has been released as a puppet or not, either way the early game is much the same. I send Manchukuo’s starting army to the border with Nationalist China and start X3 serial builds of factories with a production run of X5. Any remaining IC goes into supplies. On January the 2nd start a trade with Japan for 1-1.5 money as you wil need this to set up deals with Japan to trade for blueprints you want. Japan will give you blueprints for free but you probably won’t get the ones you want when you need them. Specifically focus on.
All agriculture: More manpower = more infantry.
Industrial: More industry = more infantry.
Infantry: Focus on infantry and supply technologies. If you can, cavalry and mountain troops.
The goal is to have 40 I available by 1939-40. This will give you a third tech team. I don’t start researching land doctrines until 1939 when you get a new level 6 tech team available. With Japanese blueprints you can research the firepower focus doctrine tree and by 1940-42 your army will be giving doctrine blueprints to Japan!!!! Use you porr untrained militia in China to support Japanese attacks as you want to level up a few leaders if you can, but Japan can win in China usually by 1939 all by themselves.
If Manchukuo has been freed trade some resources with Japan and aquire Dailan from them. If you are still a puppet, Japan will make the trade but you need to aquire a large stockpile of supplies and money. Your precious IC is needed for other things. You only need Dailan at this poin tif you plan on building a navy for use in 1941/42. Also try and have lvl III tactical bombers researched by late38/early 39. The air doctrines can be researched slightly later through mid-late 39 onwards. By now you have 2 paths to follow.
1. The way of the wanderer
2. 2. Prepare for fighting the Big Red Bear (USSR).
Either way start a single production line of tac bombers and maybe buy 1-2 off Japan. 8 of them by mid 42 is achievable. Also have 2-3 airfields being built and put them on provinces bordering the Soviets and continue to deploy them as you advance.
The Way of the Wanderer. In 1938 or so build a single production line of convoys, and later some transports. You will need at least 9-10 transports available by late 41. Your army will be slightly smaller than usual and building much of an airforce at this point may be wishful thinking. Manchukuo will launch Pearl Harbour. Put all your army in Saigon as Manchukuo has no beach provinces and is safe from naval assault. If Germany doesn’t launch Barbarossa the Soviets will most likely DoW Germany in early 1942.
Park your transport fleet off the coast of Calcutta and DoW Britain and invade India. Allied fleets don’t tend to hang around the coast or defend the beaches. This ensures captured territory goes to Manchukuo, not Japan. Cavalry can blitz through India and capturing it isn’t to hard. Let the Japanese fight their way through Burma. Indian IC will usually give you a 4th tech slot.Once the border with Persia is reached strategic redeploy back to Manchukuo although it may take a few months. Its most likely winter anyway. If you can spare 2-3 divisions grabbing Colombo or parts of Indonesia may be an option as well, just be aware of Allied fleets and Manchukuo won’t have a huge amount of convoys to transport resources in any event and if you are still a puppet Japan will take excess resources off you anyway. If Germany gets wiped out by the USSR Manchukuo is gonna be in a lot of trouble as it borders the USSR. Much better to strike first and take advantage of the German/Soviet conflict.
Taming the Bear.Summer 42 seems to be the best time for DoW the USSR.The Germans will have probably got stuck fighting the Soviets over winter or the Soviets DoW Germany in early 42. Any later and the Red Army will be that much bigger and that much closer to Berlin. Rarely the Germans may capture Moscow but I wouldn’t put money on it and the USSR can still keep fighting even if they get tnat far. Manchukuo will have to engage and destroy around 100+ Soviet divisions. I normally aim for the following by mid 42.
1 HQ unit
8 tac bombers+ more or less up to date doctrines. No escort fighters as you don’t have the tech teams to research them and the required doctrines. You need the range of the bombers anyway.
50 divisions (starting militia, 3-6 cav, 3- mountaineers, the rest 39&41 inf).
Doesn’t matter if your infantry is still 1939 level. Your army and airforce may also be smaller depending on if you have done the way of the wanderer but you will have extra IC to build a larger force as you advance. Manchukuo often still has over 100 MP in reserve but you really need the IC to build the HQ unit and bombers. Don’t count on much in the way of Japanese help and they’ll probably get bogged down in Burma if you haven’t done the way of the wanderer. The tac bombers are very important as they will be used to destroy most of the Red Army facing you. The Manchukuo offensive has 3 primary goals.
1. Destroy as much as of the Red Army as you can.
2. 2. Liberate the nations of Kazakhstan, Trans Ural Republic and Siberia
3. Liberate any other nations you can particuly ones bordering Persia.
4. Capture Moscow if you can beat the Germans there (not required as such but you get a lot of resources).
You have to suck p a 5% dissent hit for each liberated nation. Micromanage your airforce to interdict the Soviets, and then ground attack them as they retreat. The bitter peace will fire and you will lose everything but not if you have created your own puppets. With long distances to retreat over low infrastructure provinces you can destroy large amounts of the red army. You can also pocket a few Soviet forces north of Vladivistok. Even with Cavalry the advance is going to be slow due to terrain, winter, and overloading your TC. I normally send my mountaineers and Cavalry into Mongolia and strategic redeploy my forces west once Winter arives. Summer 43 is usually spent advancing towards Sverdlosk, and in 44 you will be at the gates of Moscow and Persia. Your IC will be over 80 at various points of the western march and I start building convoys and transports at some point alonf with stockpiling supplies and upgrading units. IN 42/43 I start researching carrier techs and naval doctrines. Might take a few years it takes a while to build capital ships.
Kazakhstan carved out of the USSR
Capture Moscow if you can, and strat redploy your army to Persia and let the Germans mop up the Soviet remnants. The bitter peace will fire at some point and you will lose anything that isn’t a puppet. Try and have a line of puppets stretching all the way back to Manchukuo so your army is always supplied. Advance through Persia, bomb the heck out of the Allies and break through into India. If tech team capture is on Persia will most likely be the first country annexed that has teams that can compliment your own. With the Allies crushed andprobably down 50+ divisions,the USSR a even more pathetic remnant than it usually is and and the Indian sub continent yours, now you are going to need a navy. Spend some time mopping up the middle east if you feel the need, and grabbing Turkey may be an option. Australia and New Zealand have some very nice tech teams to capture and even a small Manchukuo carrier navy can fight off Australian fleets to secure a landing. Australaia has great tech teams that Manchukuo lacks such as very good carrier, nacval, and air doctrine teams.
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