Answering the non China-related questions first...
ORIGINAL: John 3rd
4. Should there be changes to Japanese equipment? We've had Tank Proposals and some comments about different guns... What is good, solid and dare I say realistic things that could be done?
The thing to remember here - all weapons in the game just cost points in the armaments pool. As the result, once a device is available, it will very quickly fill all available slots. Consequently, Japanese forces will have a lot of Type 1 medium tanks and modern radars in 1943 already... This can be counteracted by only allowing a handful of units to use new devices.
Simplest and most logical ways to utilize the certain increase in production capacity that we postulate I can think of:
1)Speeding up replacement of 6.5-mm infantry weapons with 7.7-mm ones.
2)Introducing a maximally simplified and spartan SMG model into mass production. As a note, a change like this most like requires a serious initial investment into building a large factory to start paying off, a design suited for speedy mass production won't be easy to make in small workshops and factories. Together with the change #1 it should serve to make firepower reduction of the Japanese infantry squad in 1943 less severe.
3)Disbanding separate mortar units and attaching mortars to regiments/batallions normally (introduce them into infantry TOEs, I think primarily to second-rate divisions in place of extra artillery they don't have). This is not so much a change in production as adopting a more sensible approach to deployment.
4)Standardizing weapons calibres and ammo used between IJA and IJN when possible. In Scen 70 we already started doing it, regarding airplaces. Probably accept Army-type flanged 7.7 cartridge (and rifle-calibre machineguns of IJA design for aircraft), 13.2 as the unified HMG calibre for various purposes (as IJA already used some 13.2 weapons, why keep rounds of different calibres in production?). I'm not sure about what calibre use for light AA guns. For those who didn't know, the only relatively mass-produced IJA flak machinecannon, 20mm Type 98, was very similar to IJN's 25mm Type 96, derivative of the same Hotchkiss design in fact. But even Type 98 was produced in really small numbers, less than 1/10th of Type 96 production run, so I'm inclined to think that just developing a mobile carriage for the Type 96 barrel might be the most efficient decision.
5)Continuing this policy, the new 76/60 AA gun roughly based on the design of guns that were installed IRL on Aganos, whuch is discussed in my fleet armament proposal above, probably should be adopted by the Army instead of copying the old German 88mm gun that became Type 99. However, producing this relatively cutting-edge design won't be as simple, so at the beginning of hostilities IJA probably should have only a couple of these guns, much fewer than Type 99s in stock, with the numbers gradually increasing over the war. Considering deficiencies in fire control, this gun won't have more than mediocre stats, but considering what pieces of junk old Japanese 76mm AA guns are...
6)Adding a bit more of AA machinecannons and 47mm Type 1 AT guns to TOEs, particularly in 1943 and later. Don't bother with bigger dedicated AT guns (at least with producing them in numbers warranting inclusion in the game), due to their relatively low priority - extra resources will be better spent producing AA guns. Also, small and relatively easily transortable guns are more suited for conditions of the theatre. Following the same logic, produice more infantry AT weapons, including 20mm Type 97 AT rifles, and Type 4 rocket launchers (the latter entered mass production IRL, but produced units were hoarded for the mainland defense and apparenrtly saw no real combat), giving late-war Japanese infantry squads slightly higher anti-armor rating as well.
7)As about tanks, placing the barrel from 47mm AT gun on the chassis of the obsolete Type 95 can probably be done earlier than 1945, with addition of the resulting SP gun to Japanese armored units (primarily those that don't have Type 1 tanks) around early 1944. Don't really see much changes here - armor is not only low on the list of priorities, but expensive as well. The game already gives Japanese more than they had, particularly if a player rebuilds all three (four in Scen 2) tank divisions.
ORIGINAL: John 3rd
1. A more air-minded Army that has two additional years to see development across the world before launching its attack into China in 1939. More R&D for airframes that might emerge in 1941/42 perhaps?
More on that when I finally gather enough strength to finish the preliminary air proposal.
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