Need Some Help Changing Factions :)

[TheMoe]

Okay. Wow. I thought I understood how to move troops. J So Japan is not technically at war yet, but I have been able to join their faction. Looks to me like they are moving troops to get ready to invade. I thought I would do the same, so I created a line in Mengkukuo, which usually doesn't do to well in the Japanese - Chinese war. With the AI playing, the Chinese usually push into Mengkukuo and I see the red "capitulate" line reach 100%.

1. I deleted all the orders (fallback line) for the field marshal that the general was attached to. So no troops had any orders.
2. I took two divisions and the general they were attached to and added them to a new theater - China War
3. I added a field marshal to the general in the new theater.
4. I clicked on the field marshal in the China War theater and created a new front line.
5. I expected the troop would start moving over there, but they won't. They just sit there. What did I miss? Do I have to wait until Japan formally declares war before my troops will move? We're in the same faction.

Armies just sitting there


They are clearly assigned to this front line


Japan is not at war yet, though I had the popup saying the Chinese were agreeing to work together to combat the Japanese war


I'm in their faction


Japan doesn't think they are at war yet, either.


Edit: I just thought about this. The MEFO bills will be canceled the minute I go to war. So when Japan declares war, I will have to as well because we share the same faction. It might be easier to start over and send volunteers, then join their faction once I declare war on Poland. Hmmm.

Japan just declared war, and my guys are still not moving. I looked into possibly why, and I discovered that Japan won't let me join the war.

 

[eastcoastceojam]

You need to wait for Japan to finish the Marco Polo Bridge focus. Once that finishes, they usually declare war on China within a few days.

 

[Synicus]

I think I tried this in the past but in reverse. sending Jap troops to Germany in attempt to get the Netherland to surrender to Japan due to Germany claiming the Dutch.
Didn't know I couldn't attack from a non aggressor territory. I don't recall how I managed to get them there.
Try move them to a port, delete all orders and set a fallback line at Japan port.

 

[TheMoe]

You need to wait for Japan to finish the Marco Polo Bridge focus. Once that finishes, they usually declare war on China within a few days.

Thanks. They did, though they don't want me to help.

 

[TheMoe]

I think I tried this in the past but in reverse. sending Jap troops to Germany in attempt to get the Netherland to surrender to Japan due to Germany claiming the Dutch.
Didn't know I couldn't attack from a non aggressor territory. I don't recall how I managed to get them there.
Try move them to a port, delete all orders and set a fallback line at Japan port.

Haha! That's really something. It may work. They still don't want me to fight with them, though. That's the funny part. Maybe I can get my guys to their country, but they won't let me do anything.

 

[Synicus]

Ask to send volunteers.
Hirohito's warrior code is a negative modifier for calling or joining allies.

 

[TheMoe]

I left the faction, and then joined again. Japan had already declared war on China. Suddenly, I'm at war. My troop still won't move.

 

[TheMoe]

Ask to send volunteers.
Hirohito's warrior code is a negative modifier for calling or joining allies.

Thank you. I see that now. I could have sent volunteers if I hadn't joined the Japanese faction. Now I'm at war, though.


Edit: I still have the MEFO bills, too. This is a strange game.

 

[TheMoe]

I set a fallback line in Mengkukuo and now my troops are heading over there.


Edit: What a wonky game. So, if you want to go against the grain and join the Japanese faction early, and if you want to send your units over there to fight, this is the order in which you'll have to follow.

1. Delete your faction before you attack anyone.
2. Improve your relations with Japan.
3. Wait until after they declare war on China.
4. Join their faction.
5. Create a fallback line near where you want your troops to fight.
6. Wait a couple months for the sea journey and for them to arrive.
7. Delete the fallback line and assign your troops to the line you wanted them to have in the first place.
8. If you try and divisions in Germany from another general (select and right click to the general already in the China War theater, the troops you've added will just sit in Germany and not move, despite them being successfully added to the General fighting in China. It just gets better. J

Oh my goodness! It's so much easier to simply send volunteers, and then join their faction if you want, after you attack Poland. You can't have any collaborations or you can't delete your faction and join theirs.

Thanks for everyone's assistance. I feel like the game just didn't want me to do this.

Success!? I was able to send my troops to a highly under-supplied region, only to watch them waste away under attrition.


I tried selecting five more divisions stationed in Germany and then ctrl-clicking on the front line in China, and after a week of game time some yellow icons appeared. "Cannot find path to target" or something along those lines.



Yep. The only way to move troops from Germany to China is to assign them to a general and create a fallback line in China. Then once they get there and are close enough to the front line, you can select them and ctrl-click to the front line and they'll go. What a mess!

 

[Synicus]

How about a Garrison order to try trigger movement?

Edit: great!

 

[TheMoe]

How about a Garrison order to try trigger movement?

Edit: great!

Sure appreciate the ideas, Synicus.

 

[Synicus]

No problem, also keep in mind that volunteers will be sent home if go to war you can also attach an air wing, might have to manually move them though and should arive around the same time your volunteers do.

 

[TheMoe]

No problem, also keep in mind that volunteers will be sent home if go to war you can also attach an air wing, might have to manually move them though and should arive around the same time your volunteers do.

Thanks for reminding me. Volunteers next time. Hey, one more quick question before I abandon this game. What do the numbers at the top mean?

Fielded Manpower --900k-1.32 million
Losses--942.30k


Does that info indicate that even though the Chinese alliance has lost 942.30k that they still have another 900k-1.32 million in the field? Thanks again!

Edit: This screen shot of China appears to indicate they have another 2 million manpower remaining, with around half a million in the field. Is that how you beat China? Drain their manpower or get rid of all their guns through attrition? The either run out of people or have very poorly supplied and easily defeated troops?


Looks like they have no guns in their stockpile. Might be onto something here?

 

[Synicus]

Yeah it's total manpower on the field and total manpower lost.
Running them out of man power is not the way, It is the equipment as noticed.
Plus encircling the north as we talked about on page one.

 

[TheMoe]

Yeah it's total manpower on the field and total manpower lost.
Running them out of man power is not the way, It is the equipment as noticed.
Plus encircling the north as we talked about on page one.

Thank you very much! Next game, what volunteers should I send to Japan? Infantry with artillery or light tanks?

 

[Synicus]

Infantry with Arty if you plan to help in Shanxi or Mountaineers with arty.
Don't expect to much of an impact with a small force, the air wing will help lots.
It will be interesting to see how the AI is doing.

Edit: one more thing, being in the same faction, do not call them to war in Europe or they will eventually try to sail entire armies thru very hostile waters.

 

[TheMoe]

Infantry with Arty if you plan to help in Shanxi or Mountaineers with arty.
Don't expect to much of an impact with a small force, the air wing will help lots.
It will be interesting to see how the AI is doing.

Edit: one more thing, being in the same faction, do not call them to war in Europe or they will eventually try to sail entire armies thru very hostile waters.

Thank you! Very helpful. Yes, that's very good advice about the war in Europe. I'm going to try and be their helpful big brother, as opposed to asking for their help. Seems they have their hands full with China. As you know, they historically never did well in the China campaign.

 

[Synicus]

The AI's attempts at circumnavigating during war may be the reasoning behind the extra faction, yet it happens with Neutral Japan when they fight the Soviets as an Axis member. As with the normal front line, I don't think the AI considers time of travel.
Yeah the China campaign, Japan had the same problem America has today. Nice complex attack plan but 0 end game plan. Not to mention the non sense of declaring war on a nation when your current war is in question.

 

[Silverhood]

Thank you very much! Next game, what volunteers should I send to Japan? Infantry with artillery or light tanks?

The infrastructure in China doesn't really work with big tank divisions. I would build an expeditionary force template that's 40 width, 20-30 width of infantry, rest arty, with engineer company, cav recon, logistics company. The Japanese and their puppets have plenty of infantry to hold the line, but they struggle to punch through the Chinese wall of pure manpower until the front line is big enough. You can use your 3-4 units to create small isolated pockets of Chinese troops, then pound them into the ground. Using the sea as one side of the pincer, you can advance down the coast (Using lakes works nicely too) until you reach Shanghai. You can then use your force as a bunch marauders, just going across the front line smashing Chinese infantry divisions and letting your allies hold the newly taken land.

If you want to learn the about the Chinese conflict and have Waking the Tiger DLC, I highly recommend playing as Manchuko. Be the obedient puppet and focus on building infrastructure and infantry divisions to help out Japan.

One of the reasons Japan got their own faction, was the need to isolate the Chinese conflict from the rest of the European theater. Before the Japanese focus tree overhaul, Japan would join the Axis while still at war in China, and then attacking the USA while horribly overextended, and they'd collapse in 6 months, and then it was game over Axis. Today, the Japanese would usually join the Axis once China was defeated, but if that war dragged out, they never do.

 

[Synicus]

This is still a big problem for neutral Japan. There is often a big opportunity to attack China before the Soviets if the government changes. No matter the war some Axis member is bound to head for Asia. My work around is to diplomatic declare war and Join Axis later for the Allied war.

When Chinas government changes hands, Hirohito loses all penalties for attacking China and a Penney incident never happens.