Japanese Amphibious Operations

[Sir Garnet]

I have played communist china many times in black Ice and even when Japan lands on a port they don't hold it. Japan also tends to avoid amphibious assaults when they are making progress on land, even if that progress is painful and slow. Honestly the problem with the whole system is the AI would rather bash its head against fortified mountains until all its crack troops are drained rather then destabilize the front with strong amphibious landings backed up with a coastal push. The Japanese AI needs to think of the sea as home base. A front-line that cannot be attacked but allows for the capture of strategic locations.

Regarding amphibious operations , "the IJA had little practical experience in opposed amphibious landings. The 5th, 11th and 12th Divisions had been designated for amphibious duties in the 1920s and had received some training but that had ceased by the early 1930s as attention turned to the Asian mainland. As a result, doctrine stagnated, calling for landings well away from enemy defenses, followed by a fast overland march to the objective. The IJA did conduct sixteen landing operations in China beween August 1937 and March 1941, but almost all folowed the pattern of avoiding defended beaches in favor [of] a relatively unopposed landing, often at night, followed by a a march to hte objective." Amphibious training resumed to some extent only in October 1940 for the 5th Division. (Rikugun - Guide to Japanese Ground Forces: 1937 to 1945 Vol. 1 p. 33 (2014))

This seems like a case where doctrine and consequent missing training mattered..

 

[Alias72]

I don't disagree. My problem was that the AI doesn't attempt any serious invasions from the sea, only minor land grabs. I don't expect them to attempt D-Day on China especially because china's coast has so many open zones.

 

[mdw1985]

I don't disagree. My problem was that the AI doesn't attempt any serious invasions from the sea, only minor land grabs. I don't expect them to attempt D-Day on China especially because china's coast has so many open zones.

Hmmm...it would be really cool, if you could adjust the AI a bit, like you can do in many games (agressive, defender, economist), but i guess, this will be too complicated for HOI4...

 

[Sir Garnet]

Maybe Focus choices as well as doctrine shape AI behavior. Japan of course suffered from an Army/Navy clash that dwarfed US inter-service rivalries and profoundly affected strategic decisions.

There is the old trick of avoiding unwanted tasks by being unprepared for them - maybe that played a part so they could leave amphibious operations to the Navy and its landing forces.
I've seen the AI in HOI3 make landings, but it seemed mostly to be opportunistic yet cautious, and sometimes undermanned (hard to be sure since I don't know what the AI saw in the area).

 

[Alias72]

The AI needs to be able to set medium scale goals. They need to say " I want to take these coastal regions in 6 months with these troops against these opponents and this is the best way to do it." after that the AI only needs to check in from time to time to say "have I reached my goal?" and "can I reach my goal?"