What Techs Should Germany Focus On Immediatly?

[baronbowden]

LOL SM my next challenge for you is

Accomplish something significantly 'challenging enough' alexey doesn't feel the urge to call you out or generally demean your methods of accomplishment:P

All kidding aside why is raise threat considered an exploit in a game? The feature is WAD is it not?

[Lord Curlyton]

Actually, Secret Master, here's my new challenge: is it possible to deplete China's MP while making divisions that are actually useful, by the start of '39 (by Marco Polo would be mighty impressive)? In this case I consider MIL+support brigades to be useful (though not nearly so as INF+support, obviously). I fired up another game as Nat.China just because I like playing them and on a lark decided to at least give it a partial go. I think its still possible even when building MIL+AA or MIL+ART (3x1 or 2x2) divisions. If I enact Volunteer Army and make them all reserves I was churning out divisions at a damn good clip but I still had some 700 MP left when I decided enough was enough.

[Secret Master]

the problem (at least real world) in building up these huge militia armies are leaders. Given
that the US in WW2 (as well as most other countries) were strapped to get trained leaders out
even with a high education level how can these huge milita armies expect to get started to go
anywhere with political hacks, cousins, and idiots commanding them among a sprinkling of real
officers? China has no real officer institute, at least not of the type to turn out real lower level
officers let alone higher level and a warlord does not a general make nomatter how many stars
you sew on his collar. Very similar to the Russian 1940 army that was still stripped of real officers
due to the purges that not only effected front line troops but all rear area elements as well.

Well, MIL represents units that do NOT need tons of leadership to get moving. As far as I can tell, MIL represents either asymmetrical warfare units in large formations or WWI style units (throw soldiers into the meat grinder). They don't represent well organized military formations with extensive staff and substantial NCO leadership.

That's one reason these units have such crappy toughness (aside from balance). It's closer to some dude with an officer rank yelling at 3,000 men to charge into a general direction than it is a well-led division of Marines executing an assault against an objective on Iwo Jima.

A huge multimillion man Chinese army would be lucky to get 10% moving in one direction in a week.
This is not a stab at the quality of Chinese troops but the dearth of officers and communications
and real staff means you just have huge masses of men wandering about

That's officer ratio, me thinks.

However, China has only a finite number of actual leaders to put in charge of divisions. My MIL army had tons of divisions with no general because I ran out quickly.

baronbowden

All kidding aside why is raise threat considered an exploit in a game? The feature is WAD is it not?

Well, threat mechanics are screwed up in the beta patch anyway. The USA enters the war way to easily right now. Also, neutrality/threat is not impacted properly by cores in the beta patch I have, either, so China has to abuse threat just to DOW the other warlords, even though cores are present (which isn't supposed to happen).

But aside from that, the exploit is that there are no consequences from enacting better laws (you can mobilize the economy for war for a decade with no ill effects and no complains from your own people), so there is no balance to just firing up some spies, raising threat on a useful target, and then using that threat to enact better laws or to invade absurdly ahistorical nations. (i.e. USA raising threat on Haiti so it can DOW Mexico for no damn reason)

Lord Curlyton

Actually, Secret Master, here's my new challenge: is it possible to deplete China's MP while making divisions that are actually useful, by the start of '39 (by Marco Polo would be mighty impressive)? In this case I consider MIL+support brigades to be useful (though not nearly so as INF+support, obviously). I fired up another game as Nat.China just because I like playing them and on a lark decided to at least give it a partial go. I think its still possible even when building MIL+AA or MIL+ART (3x1 or 2x2) divisions. If I enact Volunteer Army and make them all reserves I was churning out divisions at a damn good clip but I still had some 700 MP left when I decided enough was enough.

I'd probably not be able to do that. Adequate support brigades should save you manpower.

However...

I did fight Japan in my last real China game with 3xINF/1xART divisions (plus MAR and MTN divisions) and got bogged down in Manchuria with bad logistics. The casualties from my offensives, their counter-offensives, and units suffering attrition in bad terrain, seriously impacted my manpower. It didn't kill me, but I was glad I had grabbed agriculture techs.

By the way, research agriculture as China and, if you can, invade Vietnam once Japan takes it. You can grab the Black Soil from Vietnam to boost manpower and deny it to Japan.