PRE 1937

1937 - 1939

1940 - 1941

1942 - 1945

Miscellaneous

PHASE 1 - 1937, the Pacification of China

By 1937, Japan was already in control of a huge chunk of  territory on Asia's main landmass encompassing Manchuria and its neighbouring Jehol province, the Korea Peninsula and part of the Shandong Peninsula where Tsingtao is located. While the Nationalists had had some success in uniting China during the 'Northern Expedition' a decade earlier, much of China was still essentially controlled by local warlords who only pledged nominal alliegence to the Nationalists. A map of  the objective cities (click for a seperate window which you can keep open in the background while playing) is provided and it shows the area under the control of the Japanese Empire at the time as well as its intended path of expansion .

During this campaign, you should strike early to wrest control of Peking and Tientsin from Chinese factions not under the direct control of the Nationalists. Thereafter, you will need to instigate an incident by inducing the Chinese to attack you first, otherwise the Allied attitude towards you will sour immediately leading to a 'sneak attack' on you before you are fully mobilized. The best way to do this is to mass your troops outside major Chinese cites without attacking.

Once open hostilities begin, quickly capture the port of Shanghai and conduct your main attack along the Shanghai - Nanking - Chungking Axis before turning south towards IndoChina. Forces opposing your thrust will not be unified and using only antiquated equipment and tactics. While it may not be easy to gain new territory as the campaign drags on, it should be relatively easy to hold on to whatever areas you have occupied.


UNITS THAT BECOME AVAILABLE FOR THIS PHASE

 

Agaki Class 
Fleet Carrier

Japan had four fleet carriers by 1937. Akagi, flagship of First Air Fleet and her contemporary, the Kaga were both converted from battleship hulls in the late 1920s. Both carried about 90 aircraft.  Two smaller but newer Soryu class carriers which carried 70 aircraft are also represented by the Agaki unit in the scenario.

These units have no attack factor and must rely on their compliment of aircraft for attack. One advantage of using carriers instead of land based aircraft is that they allow you to almost double the striking radius of your attack planes. Carriers have double defense against air units and are typically more vulnerable to surface combatants which manage to get close enough or submarines, the bane of  Japanese carriers.

 


Nagato Class
Battleship

 

Prior to the launching of the IJN Yamato,  Japan had to rely on four aging battleships as the backbone of the fleet. The IJN Nagato and her sister ship IJN Mutsu were commisioned in the early 1920s with very powerful 16-inch armament, good protection, and very respectable speed. Also represented by the Nagato unit in the scenario are two Ise-class battleships. While almost two decades old, Japan's battleships had been extensively modernized during the interwar period, and most were capable of being used in the front lines of a modern naval war. Nagato units have very high attack factors are very useful for shore bombardment. They have the additional advantage of being able to carry one land unit.

 

Fuso Class
Battleship

Also in service were a pair of older World War I era Fuso-class battleships, the first battleships built with Japanese technology and armament. While they had a major engine refit in 1933, they were still less capable of frontline service then the other Japanese capital ships because of their out-dated design and relatively slower speed. They are represented by generic WWI Battleship units.

Kongo Class
Battlecruiser

 

These four 14-inch gun bearing sister ships were Japan's first modern warships and were designed in Britain with the first of the class, IJN Kongo, built by Vickers in 1913. During the inter-war years, all of them were upgraded in terms of propulsion and armour and they were fast and capable capital ship consorts, comporting themselves well during the war.

Kongo units are best used in attacks against cities with no shore batteries and as escourts for carriers.

 



Colonial 
Infantry

 

After many years of  Japanese colonial rule, some Koreans and Taiwanese volunteered to join the Japanese military, often because this offered them the opportunity to study in Japan and advancement in Japanese circles. Many of them served in China and the Philippines. In 1944 as the war situation deteriorated, conscription of colonials began to take place and there were about half a million Korean and Taiwanese military personnel by the war's end.

These troops are slightly inferior to regular Japanese Infantry in terms of attack (because of inferior equipment) but have the same defence factor. As with other infantry units, they cannot be built and appear randomly as free units.

 

Mitsubishi A5M
 'Claude' 
Fighter

This was the first monoplane fighter of the Imperial Japanese Forces. The 'Claude' performed well against its rivals in China after it was introduced in the late 1930s. While it had an all-metal construction with fabric covered control surfaces, its fixed landing gear and open cockpit showed the age of its design and its successor was already on its way by the start of the Pacific War. Even so,  it was numerically the most important Navy fighter until 1941 and over 1000 were brought into service.

These sturdy fighters should fare pretty well in the Chinese theatre throughout the game but should be pulled off active naval deployment once a more advanced design becomes available.

 

Yokosuka B4Y 
'Jean'
Torpedo Bomber

The 'Jean' was a biplane torpedo bomber introduced in 1935. It was only an intermdiary model and like the Royal Navy's Fairey Swordfishand biplane, it was pretty much obsolete by the time it became operational. The 'Jean' saw combat in China and one carrier was still carrying some of them when the Pacific War broke out.

A rather obsolete unit with very short operating radius and a sitting duck even against the poorest of fighters. Still it has a heavy punch and is useful against ships that travel without escourt, such as submarines and merchantmen. Like all other torpedo bombers, this unit cannot attack land-based units.

 

Mitsubishi G3M 
'Nell'
Bomber

The 'Nell' was the world's first bomber designed with a very long range in mind and attained operational status in 1937. Probably the most notable achievement of this type of bomber was the sinking of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle-cruiser HMS Repulse in 1941, Admiral Sir Tom Phillips had completely underestimated the range of Japanese bombers. The 'Nell' had excellent maneuverability and handling for an aircraft of its size but however sacrificed armor protection for its crew, machinery and fuel tanks, making it an easy target when it encountered any fighters.

A bomber with good hitting power. Particularly useful because it can spend 4 turns in the air.

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