The Mouse that Roared?

[ppccctu]

In my current game, I was dealing with the Comintern faction, which, in addition to the usual players such as Tanna Tuva, included The Netherlands, Dutch East Indies, China, and Communist China (I'm playing Germany). I reached late December 1941, and I was working on China, having forced the Soviet Union to capitulate). Interestingly, the other Chinese countries -- Shanxi, Xibei San Ma, Yunan, and Guangxi Clique -- never joined with China in China's war with Japan, and they remained separate and at peace in December of 1941 in my game. Then on January 1, 1942, I saw the map coloration for China's territories suddenly change color, and I discovered that China no longer existed; they had been somehow dissolved into Xibei San Ma, and I could find no explanation of how such a thing happened. Has this change ever happened to anyone else? What could be the possible explanation?

 

[Bunnytob]

Waking The Tiger's Chinese Politics.
Completely intentional and basically something you can't avoid without either 1) Playing China yourself or 2) Having China try & conquer the warlords.

 

[squid_hills]

China has an internal political PP-based minigame wherein the warlords try to wrest control away from Chiang Kai-Shek and proclaim themselves the true leader of Nationalist China. The system is based on political influence in the various areas of China. ROC starts with the most areas and the most influence; each of the warlords just has influence in their home territories. As time goes on, each warlord tries to boost influence in other regions and if they get more than Chiang has, they can sieze power. When that happens, "China" briefly disappears from the map and is replaced by whichever warlord won the contest. After a small amount of time, the warlord's territory is renamed to "China" and the process starts over.

The interesting thing about the system, is that Chiang and the warlords can only claim influence in territories that are in the hands of one of the Nationalist factions. So, if Japan has conquered any of China's provinces, those areas can't generate political support/influence. This is why you will always see China disappear after Japan makes a lot of headway into China, and why it is usually Xibei San Ma or Yunnan who grabs power first (in peacetime its anyone's guess who will grab power first) as those two warlords are the furthest away from the Japanese invasion.

 

[ppccctu]

China has an internal political PP-based minigame wherein the warlords try to wrest control away from Chiang Kai-Shek and proclaim themselves the true leader of Nationalist China. The system is based on political influence in the various areas of China. ROC starts with the most areas and the most influence; each of the warlords just has influence in their home territories. As time goes on, each warlord tries to boost influence in other regions and if they get more than Chiang has, they can sieze power. When that happens, "China" briefly disappears from the map and is replaced by whichever warlord won the contest. After a small amount of time, the warlord's territory is renamed to "China" and the process starts over.

The interesting thing about the system, is that Chiang and the warlords can only claim influence in territories that are in the hands of one of the Nationalist factions. So, if Japan has conquered any of China's provinces, those areas can't generate political support/influence. This is why you will always see China disappear after Japan makes a lot of headway into China, and why it is usually Xibei San Ma or Yunnan who grabs power first (in peacetime its anyone's guess who will grab power first) as those two warlords are the furthest away from the Japanese invasion.

Guess I need to play China one day to see how all this works. My ignorance of these changes to the game has been thoroughly exposed, but I bear you no ill will. I have benefitted from your insights. Now, I'll have to think about how much I like or dislike about these changes. They seem a bit anti-historical, but they do spice up the game. Thanks