Japanese AARt of war - Conanteacher's way

[Conanteacher]

@ bosman

What do you mean by same version?

I play IC+Arma 1.04a KANH.
I also like to play historical, but this is a challenge.

I remember some years ago when I was inexperienced, I saw a video of an Arma player having landed as Japan in Central America and I was astonished - how was this possible?
Well, the years have passed and I am now in a situation to achieve this and more.

I like the historical trail more than sandbox though.

Anyway, what do you mean by "typical"? That NatChi hasn't already annexed the minor warlords?
Well, in the end I might subdue China some months earlier. The big game is against the US though.
I promise to make this AAR as interesting as possible.

@Ericafaq

Not really, the USSR got industrialized with a locomotive speed as well and didn't suffer the consequences of the '29 crisis.
If you like I can start a scenario from 1939 or something else which looks more difficult on paper.

 

[Conanteacher]

News from the front:

The Chinese "Unified Front" has proved to be a paper tiger.
As August came the Japanese Army continued its advance, though in a slower pace due to increased resistance and supply overstreching.
It would be wise to clear up the remaining enemy units and then reorganize to penetrate deeper into enemy territory:

Hohhot will be the capital of a new administrative entity, as Gen. Hisaichi Terauchi briefed us.

Even the communist forces are in disarray, being cought off guard they try to buy time using every mean possible:

But this option is not according to Imperial plans.

The Nationalists, facing the Japanese army at the outskirts of Nanjing, decided to move their industry to the interior, an operation declared complete by August 25.
5 days Later, the puppet state of Mengkukuo is created.

Japan organizes a new order in China, an order which aims to feed its industry with vital resources.

Note the green number on the top of the screenshot, and compare them with previous red ones:

The 3 divisions in Yinchuan were destroyed by the Imperial Airforce, the 4 divisions in Guyuan surrendered.

Being sufficiently supplied, one can expect that the industry grows "back"...

Aided by the troops from the North, Japanese Army in the center manage to take advantage of the terrain and capture another large portion of enemy units:

The upgraded MTN-II / Eng. move really fast on mountainous terrain.

Note that 14 "Utsonomi" Hoheishidan is supporting defence of Nanyang rather than attacking the encircled units.
The reason is not to aid the defenders, the defender's mission would be acomplished if they could just hold ground until the 5 enemy units are destroyed.
I want my army to move fast, and swampy terrain is a hinderness, so I took advantage of the situation

In the mean time, 2 expeditional army corps embarked from Manchuria to aid the effort of Japanese troops.

It proved to be a questionable move. Their aid in the capture of the Chinese Capital was questionable, but their performance on looting was unmatched.
After 3 bloody days of fighting...

well, the date should be September the 14th. Looks like I'm advancing pretty fast...

 

[Kipperian]

nice to see an AAR of IC!

 

[bosman]

@ bosman

What do you mean by same version?

I play IC+Arma 1.04a KANH.

I mean previous alpha patch. I don't remember checksum, but it's not that important anyway.

I remember some years ago when I was inexperienced, I saw a video of an Arma player having landed as Japan in Central America and I was astonished - how was this possible?
Well, the years have passed and I am now in a situation to achieve this and more.
I like the historical trail more than sandbox though.

I played a lot of Hoi2 series, especially AoD, which (except map) is very challenging game, so i'm not really inexperienced. There are things, that impress me too, but this is a different story to compare things totally ahistorical and things that should be quite easy to manage as historical.

Anyway, what do you mean by "typical"? That NatChi hasn't already annexed the minor warlords?

I mean China beeing still at war with Guangxi. Don't get me wrong, i'm not neglecting your skills, but in this case it's a lot easier to conquer China, than in situation they annexed Guangxi at least several weeks earlier.

Well, in the end I might subdue China some months earlier. The big game is against the US though.

Maybe, but then then you would lost some other advantages too, so the outcome is not exactly clear. As for US it's rather obvious, that the earlier you defeat China, the better chances you have against US, so these aren't really separated things.

To be clear, my point is not to criticise your AAR, but to show, what things in the game need changing.

 

[Conanteacher]

I mean previous alpha patch

Is there anything new? I thought it is the same, just re-uploaded.

I mean China beeing still at war with Guangxi

Yes, it looks easier. But in most of my games they settle for a peace deal.
Only seldom do I use the "complicate the game a bit" choice, I don't like the very a-historical paths it often leads to.

This time I selected it to make my AAR more interesting, I never thought there would be so many hastorcal-path -freaks like me here!

my point is not to criticise your AAR, but to show, what things in the game need changing

I appreciate your arguments and consider them to be useful both for me and other readers!
What things in the game need changing is a major goal of my AAR - I already pointed out that the Marco Polo event is broken.
Perhaps I will later realise that I cannot release both India and Pakistan as puppets because of core provinces problem.
I plan to write more AARs and I will take into consideration the opinion of whoever has something to suggest.

Thank you all for your feedback, it makes AARing more fun!

 

[bosman]

I already pointed out that the Marco Polo event is broken.

At first i expected, that the event itself is broken, cause you get dissent drop before war declaration fires and it's like
EVENT (dissent drop) --> WAR DECLARED BY EVENT (dissent rise) but it's not exactly the case as once it worked fine. So i'm not sure how to deal with it, but probably 2 separated events would work better.

I plan to write more AARs and I will take into consideration the opinion of whoever has something to suggest.

I must say, that it could be great.

 

[Conanteacher]

Late September - China collapsing

No signs of winter yet to delay the Japanese advance.
It's armed forces continue their remarkable victories now in berserk mode - often to the dissapointment of their leaders who feel an international pressure against the empire's conquests.
The sinking of the Panay is such an example:

Facing the following two options, but knowing that war is inevitable in the end, compensating the enemy is seen as a waste of resources.

"Let them know fear" is the new motto and sliders move to full interventionism.


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Information on October's events is informal, since censorship allows only for an estimation about the true ongoings in Asia.

News emerged that the Nationalists took full control over Shaanxi region on Oct. the 2nd and Xibei San Ma's territories on Oct. the 4th.

There are no signs of further resistance of the communist army's remnants around Xianyang, according to rumors they fought till the last man.

As the date is October the 18th and recent reports emerged about heavy fighting around the city of Xi'an, I have to abort the current report due to a severe CTD that occured on 00:00, right after the discovery of High Frequency detection.

-------------------------------------------------

More accurate details about the war after I reload from October the 1st...

 

[Conanteacher]

October 1937 - Every resistance collapses

Generals of the General Staff realised that theier campaign was coming to an end.
The astonishing success as result of their careful planning made a deep impact on Chinese morale.
Capitulation was imminent as there stood no hope even for a last stand.


Political figures in Tokyo were busy preparing a their new order:

Nationalist government fell into despair. Their last efforts of their defence's reorganisation was taking direct control of Sichuan, on Oct.24th and Hunan, on November the 4th.

Even when a hurried storming of Chongqing was repelled, the Communists knew that if the Nationalists surrendered they would be lone defenders of China.

But with the bulk of their army destroyed, low morale and being trapped in lands where they could not support their cause...

Their leadership made a seperate deal: On November the 7th, celebration of the First National Assembly, a last parade of the troops was followed by the anouncement of an armistice.

Amnesty was the exchange. No arrests and no repression, a term the Japanese proposed and a promise they wanted to keep.

First, to demoralize the other participants of the Unified Front. Second, to strike a deal with the Soviets and relax the growing border tension.

Mao and all prominent political figures were sent to the USSR. The soldiers previously under their command would continue to move like fish in the water as common civilians.
If someday the Now forming Japanese empire was about to collapse, they would re-emerge. But this day seemed very far away...

The deal stoke a blow on Nationalist morale... Soon they send their own proposals, to no avail.

Japanese reply was a unified chinese administration under Tokyo's direct control:

The treaty was signed on November the 12th, 1937. Representatives of Guangxi also took part.

And then came the decision about the spoils of war...

-----------------------------------------

PS= bosman, you were right - the campaign ended one year earlier than planned due to the ongoing chinese civil conflict.
On can tell that it would be a possible historical outcome of the Unified Front was not as solid as it proved to be in reality.
Others could claim that the game turned sandbox and I got lucky.

Anyway, I will continue this AAR as intended.

 

[bosman]

Please continue. It's always interesting to see an AAR no matter what happens.
Maybe You could make video AAR next time ?

P.S. How many divs Communist China had when Marco Polo fired or You did encounter during campaign?

 

[Conanteacher]

How many divs Communist China had when Marco Polo fired or You did encounter during campaign?

I don't know exactly. I even saw the eight route army event fire, but when I annexed them they had only 12 divisions left.

It is possible that they lost most of their units in encirclements against NatChi.

Soon there will be update.

 

[Conanteacher]

After the Victory

The quick victory brought euphoria to Japan's economy. Industry bloomed and soon exceeded 300 effective IC...

Chinese were angry for the defeat, but collaboration was their only option.
Enuring that all the terms of the armstice with the communists were imposed, the victors soon passed control of various ex'Comchi held provinces to the authorities of Nanjing.

A bright new era seemed emerging:

Kanin Kotohito was replaced as Chief of staff with Shimomura Sadamu, to hepl with conscription.
On February, slider was moved to +1 Authoritarian transforming my government to a fascist state.
Imposing harsh terms on the defeated Chinese might have caused such a characterization of the glorious Empire by the international community.

A secret term of the agreements with the Chinese authorities was "unifying" with Tibet.

Operations started on June 12th, 1938 and within 40 days the operation was complete.

...and though some terms for China were harsh, some others helped them recover - to serve the long-term interest of Japans plans for the future, of course:

Infrastructure in high IC provinces helps boost my puppets IC, as well as their building of additional IC.
Manchu soon got a third research slot, china has over 100 base IC.

One might argue that my puppets IC eats up my resources. I won't ever be scarce on them though, just check my numbers at the top of the screen.
Now they can support a larger Army to defend themselves effectively and have better TC.

All the choices on Manch so far have been "invest in industry"
For China I chose "invest in industry", "Boost the defence" and now will only "produce supplies" - they have dozens of divisions I mil.ctrl.

As predictes, relation with the USSR are worsening:

A treaty must be signed as soon as possible.
Note the IC and the research of China.

Christmas time 1938, the Empire carefully plans a "New Asian Order"...

I decided to replace the armaments minister.
Having 5% IC boost is no more vital - gives about 11 IC.
Having -20% consumer goods is also helping about 9-10 IC plus the additional money, which is not really needed btw.
So I choose Hatta Yoshiaki for the position, who produces additional supplies.
According to my calculations, if I allocate more than 50-60 IC on supplies, his efficiency will be greater than 10 IC more allocated there:

So now that I have a large Army, excess of IC and need to build up on supplies I prefer him.

Btw about an argument of trade:
When I used oil and money to trade for metal and energy...
Oil I got for free and had surplus. Money was also produced anyway beacuse I had to allocate some IC on consumer goods and also I got a lot of offmap production due to my techs (taxes),
So I claim it was worth it.

In the meantime, Anschluss fired normally and Slovakia has been created. It is the summer of 1939 and war is imminent in Europe...

Just in case - and for flavor - I decide to invest in STR bombers... 4 of them and a couple of techs.
Historical, right?

 

[Conanteacher]

ON BRIGADES - and other preferences:

In this post I will explain what kind of brigades I use and why, and also explain some of my tactics.

AIR UNITS

- Esc on everything except TRA.
It is important to have them up-to date, Obsolete Esc will hamper the range of bombers.

- I Never build many INT. Even Germany won't need more than 2x4 on offense, may be more if on defence after 1943.

- Fighters are good for both air superiority and training new pilots:
I allocate various leaders and then send them to interdict or gr.attack single divisions.
You can have a skill 1 MajGen Fleet Destroyer raised to skill 4-5 within a month, then promote him and assign him to the NAVs.

- Interdiction preferably with TACs, gr.attack with CAS. Never send CAS without Fighter protection if the enemy is present.

- Radars can boost defence at the English Channel and over Europe. Vital ports/air bases such as Cherbourg or Portsmouth could have lvl 4-6 radars, lvl7+ AAA.
Only if you don't play too aggressive, of course.

-Some regions are corridors for many enemy Air units - Adriatic Sea or The coast south of Portugal are heavily used by the allies. A patrol there might prove devastating.

- If you do STR bombing, lower enemy installations first, then reduce Infrastructure to zero - it takes a lot of time to rebuild. Concentrate on specific region each time.

DOCTRINES are the most important part, never upgrades. Morale can help raise org. A minister with +20% Org. regain is very important.

NAVY

Always give FCs to your ships, especially capitals.
I prefer=

TP - Nothing, sometimes AA
SS - TOR
DD - ASW (TOR if DDs are old)
CL - FC+AA
CA - FC+AA+TOR
BC - FC+AA+TOR+RA
BB - FC+AA+TOR+RA ad later IH to the best / new ones.

SS are not really useful. I use them for flavor. I managed to sink the entire UK convoy fleet within 2 years once as Germany, but I could just invest on Seelowe instead.
For flavor they are cute, but not really worth it.

In the end, Carriers will prevail. Don't invest very heavily in BBs - They'll always be more than 100km away from the enemy carriers...

GROUND UNITS

INF = L Art mostly, AT some, H Art few. AC for poor mans fast units.
CAV = AC
HQ = AAs always.
MTN = Eng, L Art some.
ARM = SPAT, SPART, AC... SPRART is the best though - but takes a long time to research. Never anything not self propelled.
MOT/MEC = same.

I Use 2 INF+LArt / 1 INF+AT combo, and 1 ARM/2MOT with various brigades for the comb.arms bonus.

Speed is the most important issue - it helps you encircle.
I almost always prefer speed and light armor to defence and heavy. Unless I decide to play as Germany / USSR and do nothing till 1943.


Always choose your leaders and their skills carefully, have all units within Region and Divisional single HQs range, they get enormous boost and consume less.
-----------------------------------------
Aggressive offense is the winning strategy. I could write more but I think that most of you already know these facts...

 

[Conanteacher]

A NEW WAR IN EUROPE

But not the one that you expect. Don't forget I chose "complicate the game a bit".

After a historical MR agreement, the Poles fold on German pressure to cede Danzig on Aug 30 1939.
Germany dows Poland nevertheless and USSR get the eastern part without the allies to intervene.
After that, Luxemburg agreed to becoma part of the reich on Oct 15.

Japan backs the German policy and tries to ally with powers who wish a new world order.

On January the 2nd, a US Oil embargo is declared.
Various other events lead to trade cancellations with several partners.

China is developing into a valuable ally. Manchukuo gave me 3 blueprints already, of INT and air doctrines.

Not so suddenly the time has come: France DoWs Germany on January 5, 1940.
Exactly 5 months later they lose the war and Vichy France is established, which means that I get Indochina.

Having more than 350 IC, I keep building up supplies and som e air and land units.
After developing 43000 ton BBs I place an order for two.
Having delayed to research Industry techs means I won't eploy a modern fleet at the early stages of war.

 

[Ericafaq]

>Сhina defeated
>Re-create Imperial China as puppet
>IMPERIAL
>JAPANESE PUPPET

Im fell from my chair

 

[Conanteacher]

Well, it probably should be "puppet China with imperial era boundaries and no other authorities within these bioundaries, such as Manchu and Mengku"...

 

[Conanteacher]

After the German victories in Europe, it is about time that Japan changes the rules in Asia - and not only there:

Especially after Germany attacked the Soviet Union, a non-aggression pact was signed allowing the Empire to focus on the Allies...

The Germans would prefer a different interpretation of the Tripartite pact. Well...

Let us see what forces are available:

Most seem more than enough. I will not produce any more Air units.

Land divisions are in a slow rate production, about another 20 will come - with Lart, AT and AC brigades to counter the US armour and vast distances.
Some MTN will be also needed later, in case the Rocky Mountains Front becomes stagnant.

I could use some more ships. I have 2 BB.4 in production and another 3 CV.6 - But the latter will be available in 1943 !
Hopefully the surprise bonus of Pearl Harbor event and superior doctrines will give me the edge. NAV's will do the rest.

And finally, here is a picture I am very proud of:

Well, the forces of the right are not yet redeployed. I'm showing them to give a picture of how I organize my fleets.

I split my forces into 3 directions, the best units to the East against the US.
Land divisions and especially Marines will also be appointed to the fronts according to the needs.

Note the resources - I am only running low on Energy, but not for much.
376/221 IC is much more than needed and 400k+ supplies is the result. well, the additional TC will be helpful.

 

[Conanteacher]

Attack on all fronts!

The time had come... on 5 Nov. 1941 the war was just about to explode, changing the world forever.

Declaration of War followed on November the 17th. The Japanese fleet had taken favourable positions all across the pacific.

The big gamble has just started.

The empire's armies attacked to the 3 general directions that the aforeshown OOB described.

The closest target was Hong Kong, which was unguarded (as usual, unfortunately) and captured by a single division.
Next came the Philipines:

Every attack is supported by fleet and, wherever possible, the Air Force. Even when it is not really needed, like here.

A rapid advance is necessary. I focus on VPs to annex the Philippines and Netherlands quickly.
Singapore is blockaded. So are the Hawaii islands, by several fleets.
The only way to land succesfully and defeat the 8+ divisions guarding Pearl Harbor is to starve them off first.

Germany hoped to have gained a new ally. It is not time yet.

Siam seems more valuable for now, taking on the Soviet bear by cancelling our precious non-aggression pact is definately a foolish idea - besides, the Chinese Army has only 8 available divisions.


A great Naval Victory

I did not expect this to happen, nor have I ever seen that before, but the small fleet of IJN Fuso and IJN Yamashiro took on a large american ship concentration and with the help of superior doctrines (all available researched) and, of course, the PH surprise bonus, had a Turkey shoot:

The enemy lost 9 BBs, 1 CA, 4 CLs, 6 DDs and 1 TP. We lost several shells fired upon the enemy.

Soon there will be more pics as well as reports from the various fronts.

This is definately a World War.

 

[Conanteacher]

The year changes, the tides turn forever

During the first month the allies were cought in complete surprise.
The Japanese Army attacked them in every direction:

From the snowy peaks near Karakorum...

...to the dense Burmanese jungle...

...(love the STRs ) and the countless Indonesian isles...

...To the American strongold of Pearl Harbor and Hawaii...

All major American Naval bases have to be captured before the enemy recovers:

On the 24th of December Kenji Doihara replaces Shimomura Sadamu as Chief of Staff, the 10% speed bonus is more important now that manpower is over 1000 and supplies are endless.

Guam, Wake island, Midway and Johnson island are taken.

The Philippines are annaexed on December the 4th, about one month later it was Netherland's time to succumb.

Next on the list was Singapore, then Pearl Harbor itself. Not directly though:

The succesfull invasion was followed by a naval battle that lasted days, and the result was a Japanese defeat.. oh wait!

I didn't want to lose another BC.

 

[Oorlog]

subbed

 

[Dominicia]

Thanks guys , this was so helpful!