PRE 1937

1937 - 1939

1940 - 1941

1942 - 1945

Miscellaneous

PHASE 0 - Pre 1937, Asia's Own Naval Power

As you can only play as the Japanese player, a little bit of historical perspective is in order.....

Japan's links with the West were severed for about two hundred years following the unification of feudal Japan and because of this, Japan became isolated from most of the important technological advances made during the Industrial Revolution. It was not until Commodore Matthew Perry's historic voyage to Japan in 1854 that Japan started to comprehend how backward it had become. The Meiji Restoration soon ensued and Japan began adopting numerous Western institutions, including a modern parliament and legal system, and most importanly a modern navy.

The Modernization of Japan was a daunting task but was pursued relentlessly and eventually transformed the Japanese Isles into a full-fledged Empire following victory in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) and  Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). By  the start of World War One, Japan controlled Taiwan, Korea, half of Sakhalin as well as several surrounding island chains such as the Kuril, Ryunkuy (Okinawa) and Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands. A propitious entry into that war on the side of the victorious Triple Entente gave Japan some ports in China and  several strategic German Pacific possessions including Saipan, Truk  and the Marshall Islands. One last important pre-war addition to the Japanese Empire was the resource-rich area of Manchuria, which was set up as a puppet state in 1932.

Resentment against Western efforts to contain Japanese expansionism began building after Japan was forced by the European Powers to cede territorial gains of the Sino-Japanese War, such as the Liaodong Peninsula where the deep water ice-free Port Arthur is located. This was worsened by the perception that U.S. mediation following their victory in the Russo-Japanese War was actually calculated to reduce the spoils of their hard won victory. The fact that Japan was subject to discriminating immigration laws in the U.S. and an unequal quota of warships in naval treaties made the situation even worse. This set the stage for a war in the Pacific, the likes of which the world had yet to see. The scenario joins history at this juncture.


UNITS AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE SCNEARIO

 

Infantry

The infantry unit is the most common unit of the Imperial Japanese Army. Although initially dismissed as 'little men' by the British, the Allied forces soon grew to both loathe and respect their enemy for their ruthless fanatical attitude.

Your infantry are best used for garrison purposes and up to three in a city can increases happiness by one. Manpower is severly limited for the Japanese and Infantry cannot be built. They will appear as free units at regular intervals.

 

Marines

Marines are a elite form of infantry with amphibious training. They tended to be more mobile and required less support then their American counterparts. For example, it was common for Japanese soldiers to carry dehydrated rations even in those days.

Marines are best used to spearhead attacks because of their higher attack factor and ability to ignore zones of control. As in the case of Infantry, Marines cannot be built but they will appear as free units at regular intervals.

 

Type 97 Chi-Ha Medium Tank

Introduced in 1937, the Type 97 medium tank, or Chi-Ha, was the most numerous of Japanese tanks of the WWII, and some 3000 vehicles were produced by Mitsubishi by 1945. Initially armed with a short barreled 57mm gun for infantry support, models from 1942 onwards began sporting a  larger turret with a 47 mm high-velocity anti-tank gun.

Unlike in Europe, tanks did not feature prominantly in the Pacific Theatre because of terrain constraints. In this scenario, you are meant to use your tanks in an infantry support role. Tanks have the all-as-road ability and the best use of the Type 97 is to fortify them on high defense terrain ahead of the arrival of other units, especially artillery.

 

Field Artillery


Flak Artillery

Field Artillery are the only units able to 'ignore fortifications'. They have a very high attack factor and are the only units which can dislodge defenders which are well dug in. They are however very slow and have very poor defense characteristics, which is why they often require support from tanks or fighters.

Flak Artillery on the other hand are defensive units with their defense factor doubled against air units. They also have the ability to attack and defend against land units, making them a very versatile addition to your forces. As the scenario progresses, reinforce your flak with Radar Stations to quadruple their effectiveness against U.S. bomber raids. 

 

Cruiser

The main modern classes of Japanese cruisers deployed during the war were the Tone, Mogami, Takao, Myoko. They were the workhorses of the Japanese Navy. Multiple torpedo bays gave them some ability to fend off larger ships while their medium calibre main armament, typically 8 inch guns, allowed them to perform shore bombardment on targets in the open when battleships were not available. At the same time, numerous secondary gun mounts gave them the ability to target aircraft, making them ideal escourts for larger ships. You start off with 12 cruisers but many more can be built in the course of the game.

 

Destroyer

Destroyers are an essential part of any naval formation given their ability to detect submarines. Their best use is as a screening element ahead of carriers and battleships as they are relatively cheap and expendable. At the same time they can patrol seperately in search of submarines and act as escourts for merchant marine. A destroyer has an even chance of sinking a cruiser if it attacks first because of its 'Long Lance' torpedo armament and Japanese destroyer flotillas were often used effectively in night engagements against larger Allied ships.

 

Submarine

Submarines are capable of sinking ships of any size and because of their stealth characteristics they should be operate independently of other ships, typically on long patrols in enemy held waters. They have very poor defense however and are as good as sunk the moment they are detected. Historically Japanese submarines were used primarily against enemy warships and had some measure of success in 1942 before Allied countermeasures became effective. You may want to use them against merchant transports instead in this scenario.

 

Merchant Marine

By 1936 Japan possessed the third-largest commercial fleet in the world at 6 million tonnes DWT. The Merchant marine unit represents this fleet and each unit is essentially a combination cargo ship and troop transporter, with four holds. Escourt your merchantmen with destroyers once hostilities break out as they are vulnerable to all forms of attack.

 

Resources


Supplies

The primary reason the Japanese went to war was the lack of natural resources on their territory such as oil and iron. This situation is depicted in the scenario using Resource and Supplies units. Resources units will appear randomly in certain cities once you control them. In order to use them, transport these units to the Japanese(P) port of Matsue use them to 'attack' the city. This will create Supplies units which can then be moved to other cities and disbanded for their shields. In many cases, this is the only practical way to build expensive units and improvements.

 

Civil Defence

You have two civil defense brigades at the start and can build no more. While they have some limited ability to improve terrain by building roads and power stations(mines), their main purpose is to put out fires started by escaped POWs (pollution).

Back to TOP