Yes this is still an issue and not completely tested... I guess we will know in about 18 months time when people get there! It can't be fully tested.
Just as IRL the Japanese command don't know that increasing in one area will restrict operations elsewhere. As the Japanese player you need to be spending as much effort on the ecomomy (monitoring usage and stockpiles) as you do on the operations. You have a number of management options open to you, just like they did IRL.
The fantasy of PACWAR and stock that allows the Japanese to advance faster and do more than was realisticly possible I think is (almost) gone. Also the fantasy that saw Allied players doing unrealistic things in 43 and 44 has also (almost) gone. You have less units (thanks to the new withdrawel rules) compared to stock.
IMHO I think this combined will make the game MORE enjoyable to both sides. In Stock it is fun for the Japanese player until about Jul/Aug 42. Fun for both players from Jul/Aug 42 to about Jan/Feb 43 then generally unfun for the Japanese player from mid 43 onwards (frustration from just being overrun by numbers and capability).
Now I think the balance point will come forward a little bit, and extend until the end of 43 (guess, no real facts). 44 onwards will still be hard (ie frsutrating) on the Japanese player (just as it was in real life).
Of course this is predicated on my style of gaming where the "fun factor" is in having a credible challange (hence I don't play the AI!). I don't find it fun crushing (or being crushed by) my game opponants, I guess I get to do that IRL
Now if you wnat the economy fully tested then set the relase date back another 12 months... I don't think ANYONE wants that

At the moment it looks OK, but is being refined, I expect right up until release.
Cheers
Rob
ORIGINAL: herwin
ORIGINAL: khyberbill
Is anyone else out there wondering how on Earth a Japanese player is supposed to build enough engines given that there seems to be about 20 Engine types ?? ... I'm fully in favour of more choices and tough decisions, but isn't is difficult enough to repair at 1000 supply/per Engine Factory (and others too including Arm/Veh/Planes etc). I do hope that someone has tested this economic model sufficiently as I have yet to see a major thread on it (thanks to jrcar for doing this much) & we all know that supply can be a real issue for Japan...
I realise that all of this can be modded anyway -- I guess we will just have to trust in the test team and hope that the Japanese are not so stymied that they cannot compete longer than the first few weeks/months of the war & I hope I am not overstating it here.
Although I have plenty of other issues with the "pacification" iirc (from threads in this forum area) of the Japanese war machine and other issues mostly related to Stock but not necessarily AE(so far as I can tell), I applaud your efforts and in good faith hope that the model will be sound, while looking forward to the added challenges this game will bring.
Once again, thanks Jcar for enlightening an enthrawled public.
I am not a JFB, more of a JWB (w=whipping). At the beginning of this AAR JRCAE did mention that he has played into late 1942 to check the economic part of AE for Japan. I dont have the experience to know if this is long enough. The few times I have played Japan I started running out of engines in late 42.
My experience in RHS is the Japanese economy goes off the rails in late 1942/early 1943. The initial cause is resources running out.