Japan: another PoN newbie testing the waters

PoN/Japan: early Aug. 1853

Hello all,
Man it's been almost a whole year of turns and not much has happened. Of course I knew what I was in for when I chose to play this nation. It was for learning the intricacies of the game. With that said, it's time to turn to some of the colonial aspects.



I decided to actually use some of the limited (ony four), colonial actions available to me to see how they worked. Apparently, from the manual, the whole spectrum of colonial actions will be unlocked to me after the Meiji restoration event occurs, (1860-1865?), not soon.

First, I used: 'Military Expedition: Pacify' on the Ryukyu islands since the revolt risk was still hovering around 81%. The first attempt failed , but next turn I played it again, and it was sucessful. I have to wait for 12 turns to pass to see the effects, as in that time my required 2 elements of combat troops ( I have 7), are suppose to be patrolling and policing the natives; rooting out subversive groups and activities.



Secondly, I used the 'Local Chief; Cede Territory' card on Sakhalin. This will also also incease my colonial penetration (CP) rating and lower any revolt risk the Russians might instigate up there.



Also during the past year, we've finally managed to finish research on percussion cap muskets which opened up 28 more contemporary-styled unit formations to build. I now have access to corps-sized units with HQ's, and garrison troops. I'm able to build the colonial exploration, prospecting and expeditionary forces; but without the expanded colonial options, are not much good at the moment.



I've taken to fortifing the 3 major cities on the home island (Nagasaki, Kyoto, and Edo), and have extended the fort in Nagasaki and placed regular fortress-sized (4 elements of 3200 man infantry regiments) garrison units. I will use these to free up my starter troops into 2 or 3 mobile 'guard' defense forces. These will suffice until I have the resources to build more modern units and disband them, or launch them onto the objective provinces later as cannon fodder :laugh:. I hate to waste perfectly good 'free' troops.

I've also added an anchorage to the Ryukyu Islands for added supply generation, and as a supply link to the nation. I'm not sure, but i may be able to use my riverine transport points to move units there. I will experiment later since they are adjacent to my home islands.

And yes, even a year later that, darned US 'advisor' is still there. I guess the salary that general draws is worth hanging around that little atoll. Maybe they are preparing it for the invasion in 1945? I guess the AI's pathfinding can't figure out how to bring him back home, lol. Oh well.

PoN/Japan: early July 1854

Hello all,

Another game year has past with nothing very exciting happening. I will go over the highlights, and perhaps some concepts I learned that you may already know. Hopefully I don't bore you with drivel, but I warned you earlier before; this is my first GC game, lol.

I. Economics:
I originally, if you recall, was only able to build four small merchant fleets when the game started. With those limited units I reasoned that I should to try to cover the MTB's that would give me the greatest assortment of the world's goods. I put one fleet each in the North Sea, North American, Mediterranean, and Caribbean Sea MTB's. This seemed to work well, at first. However; after carefully studying the matter, I realized that I was being forced to pay a subsidy on most products to guarantee a steady supply. I refer you to the game manual below:




I therefore decided I should try and boost my 'commercial capacity' in two of the more important MTB's ,(IMHO), and drop the subsidies I was paying out to save money. To do this I moved my fleet from the North Sea, and combined it with the North American fleet. This roughly doubled my commercial capacity from 240 from 120. I did the same with my Mediterranean fleet and moved it to the Caribbean Sea. This seems to be working favorably.

II. Colonies:
I launched an invasion on one of my objectives, not only to experiment, but for some excitement as well. Kuching has had a British trading post on it from the beginning of the game, and I was apprehensive at first, not wanting to draw any wrath from the Queen. I wanted to see if i could increase my CP, (then 0%), by a bit since I couldn't use any of my available colonial actions on that province.

I loaded up my War Junks with a small force and headed down south. The fleet ran headlong into a monsoon? (tropical storm, very harsh weather). You'd think I'd check the weather, but you would be wrong. hmy: My little invasion force got knocked around on the sea and suffered a few hits before it even got within sight of the coastline.

KUCHING EXPEDITIONARY FORCE:


By default, they were in offensive posture when they hit the beach. Almost immediately our 17000 strong expeditionary force encountered a meager force of 500 hostile native calvary. Then Daimyo Naomasa (3-2-0) after sounding the attack, destroying them; managing to capture 200 prisoners as well.






After a few subsequent turns the landing force started suffering hits due to attrition. The fleet meanwhile was still getting battered offshore by the torrential rains. Eventually I decided to load the men up and return home. I wasn't able to score any CP's with that outing. I'm pretty sure I have to wait until Japan has more colonial options before I can.

On a good note: I didn't seem to attract any negative attention from Great Britain by stirring up trouble in one of her areas of interest. We'll see how it plays out.

III. Politics:

I tried to test out our diplomatic relations with both Korea (whom i want to invade for their rice fields), and China, who has military control over Korea (for now). Korea wouldn't even respond to me and then there was the Chinese Ambassador's response, lol:



They may be on to something there.....

Japan suffered the Shogun death event:




And we signed an agreement opening Japan to further Western Intrusion. This event has split the country's population, roughly 75% loyal/25% rebel, in outrage over the agreement. This is manageble and there is no revolt risk at this time. I imagine this would not be the case if it weren't for careful economic management earlier on in the game.




IV. Military:

I've initiated building a full infantry corps and reorganized the forces on the home islands. The naval technology now allows me to build sail frigates and (woot) 4 ea clipper merchant fleets. I am also massing the antiquated armies and junk fleets in the south for the future invasion of Korea.



-happy gaming till next time.

PoN/Japan: early Dec. 1855

Hello all,

A few lines to report over the last, virtually uneventful, year for Japan. I've actually taken to playing some EU3 as well, just to satisfy my thirst for conquest/battle. This helps to alleviate the boredom whilst I plod through they early years of this game, lol.

I. Economics:

The country has hit on a major research milestone = railroad technology! This is going to double my agricultural output when i finish connecting all my provinces by rail. Almost immediately this creates a huge demand for steel coupled with manufactured goods.




Two new fleets of merchant clippers were launched and sent out on the high seas to cover more trade routes. This makes 6/8 operational merchant fleets. These newer tech ships however; for some reason, have only 50% of the commerce rating of the older style ships?! Seems odd but there must be some underlying benefit to them <shrug>.:huh:

II. Colonies:

Nothing's changed here. I just keep repeatedly using 'Military Expedition: Pacify' on the Ryukyu islands and building up my CP by a few percent each year as a result. Of course this also alleviates any revolt risk, but i'm wondering if I should let them make a scene, just so i could have some fun with crushing them. Haha. All a waste of my time it seems as in reality; I read somewhere that a game event in the future automatically annexes them to me. Regardless, I need something to do to pass the time.

On a side note: apparently the 'intelligence network' is larger than i thought. Now Great Britain has taken over guard duty on Okinawa! It seems my notions about pre-WW2 monitoring of the potential airbase site were correct. It was the Alliance all along. Creepy.:ninja:




III. Politics:

More evidence of Japan's ongoing efforts to join the world community; regardless of the conservatives' wishes:



IV. Military:

I tried loading up all my junk fleets with most of my starting forces and invading Korea after declaring war. The game will not let me disembark. I guess Japan is 'hard-coded' not to allow it until a future time? Bleh.

I'm subsidizing the research of 'muzzle-loading rifles' to speed it along. This will unlock even more advanced units in the near future.



Until next time - happy gaming!

loki100 said:

aye, I think that for most countries, the opening phase is slow, Japan seems especially so.

disembarking in Korea - did you use the arrow on the fleet tab and did a province start to flash and then change colour? I can't imagine that it is hard coded to stop you going somewhere so I'd guess there maybe a more pragmatic reason ... not that I have ever played Japan in this game

Click to expand...

Yes loki100, I tried everything i could think of including that several times. I may give it another go and try different configurations of units? Baffled, but it's not like i don't have time to fiddle with it, yaaaawn, lol. Thanks.

Thandros said:

What it seems like in my game that Korea owns nothing. All the Regions are owned by China. That may be what is preventing you from landing.

Click to expand...

Well, it says that military control = 100% China, and protectorate status = China. I will create a separate save game file to practice with declaring war on China rather than Korea; or perhaps both? If I get myself in too deep then I can always re-load, lol. Thank you.

PoN/Japan: late Apr. 1857

It's official; the game will not let me invade Korea or China. I have been officially at war with Korea for 5 turns and cannot land on any of the coastal provinces. In fact, there isn't even the option to declare war on China in foreign affairs screen either. Ho-hum....

It's mid-1857 and I'm simply trying to gather steel and manufactured goods together to link all my provinces by rail. (I've sucessfully managed to get a trade agreement with the USA to help me procure these a little easier). The railroads are increasing my resource collection by about 50% (e.g. where I was collecting 2 rice, now i collect 3).

The economic aspects of the game can be fun; especially if you've ever tried business sims before. However; a conflict or at least peaceful territorial expansion would definitely add to the fun factor.

-happy gaming.:closedeyes:

In the beginning Japan only has very limited colonial options (4) of which none are playable on any of my objectives. It seems odd to start with objectives, and have the game keep adding objectives as I go along, (which I can do nothing about) until some time in the future I assume? Why not just wait till I have the options available and THEN reveal them? Strange. Also the only treaties available are the standard give, ask, mutual supply access treaties. I was able to declare war with Korea as state above, but not with China.

PoN/Japan: late Nov. 1858

Hello all

It's been another year of slogging along building up Japan's industry. I've managed to connect almost 70% of the nation's provinces by rail now and have taken to building chemical factories (2 ea) one of which is fully operational. I intend to become the 'New Jersey' of the Pacific Rim, lol.

After checking the market it seems chemicals are the one currently unexploited commodity in the whole global glut of mechanical parts, steel, manufactured goods, ect. The plants also produce synthetic dyes as a bonus; boosting my production in that area as well.

Here's a couple pics:

Rail network coming together:


Current listing of industries (the one chemical factory is still under construction. hence; the switch in the red 'off' position):


Data supporting industrial strategic goal:



Also in the news:



and:


-Happy gaming