More Chinese weirdness

[pjg100]

No, this doesn't concern Covid19. So I am playing a solo hotseat game. It is October 1940. JA have taken Nanning, Kweilin, Changsha, Chengchow, all the usual stuff. I accepted the decision event to cut off Chinese trade through Haiphong, so the port is now Japanese. However, CH income has been climbing for several turns, and is now over 230 MPP/turn. It dropped somewhat (~40 MPP) when I took Nanning in June 1940, but then started climbing shortly thereafter, including the turn after I accepted the Haiphong harbor decision event. Any ideas as to what is going on here?

[BillRunacre]

Could the US be sending supplies to China via the Burma Road (see DE 305 in the Strategy Guide for details)?

That's not to say that China could also not have researched Industrial Technology to boost its income.

[pjg100]

This is a solo hotseat game so I control both sides. China is still at IndTech 0. The US has not yet been presented with DE 305, because Burma is not fully moblized. However, it appears that annexing Haiphong did not cause Indochina to become pro-Axis - it is still 3% pro-Allied (French, it appears). So, I guess China will continue to receive supplies via the Hanoi-Kunming railway until either I invade Indochina or accept DE 808 (or take Kunming, which is unlikely any time soon). So basically DE 802 was a total bust for Japan this game.

That explains why there wasn't a big drop in Chinese MPP after I triggered DE 802, but it doesn't explain why China's income has crept upward for several turns while it was losing territory. China's MPP/turn is about 175 (not 230, as I previously thought). However, by my calculations it should be about 148:

1 capital = 15MPP
5 cities @ 10 strength each = 25 MPP
3 towns at 8 strength and 6 towns at 5 strength = 10.5 MPP
1 mine 5 strength, 1 mine 10 strength = 30 MPP
Industrial modifier at 110%.
Plus 60 MPP/turn from the US.

So, either I'm missing something or something's not working per the MPP values outlined in the Strategy Guide.

[BillRunacre]

Has Communist China entered the war?

The occupation of Nanning swings Indochina 3-7% towards the Allies, though when Japan occupies Haiphong Port, Indochina will swing 15-20% towards the Axis.

There can be other factors affecting Indochina's political leaning, particularly Axis attacks on Vichy states, so I wonder if that has happened here?

[pjg100]

Nothing unusual that I can see. I was only playing JA and China, just let the other majors sit around and DOWed and conquered countries at appropriate times, so GE conquered Belgium late 1939 or early 1940, conquered France summer 1940. No Vichy. I will take a look at some earlier saved turns to see whether anything materially impacted Indochina's diplo status. Communists have not entered the war.

[Elessar2]

China gets "mystery" MPPs from somewhere the entire game.

Most recent one I had it bottled up in the NW corner, about to beseige their final capital (so the Burma Road had long since been cut off, tho for awhile a land corridor w/ India still existed). They were still getting 75 MPP/turn, even tho counting up every city that they still had only gave me like 20-25. For game balance tho this is probably preferred. Note no sea convoy lane apparently exists for the US imports.

[Tulius Hostilius]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

China gets "mystery" MPPs from somewhere the entire game.

Most recent one I had it bottled up in the NW corner, about to beseige their final capital (so the Burma Road had long since been cut off, tho for awhile a land corridor w/ India still existed). They were still getting 75 MPP/turn, even tho counting up every city that they still had only gave me like 20-25. For game balance tho this is probably preferred. Note no sea convoy lane apparently exists for the US imports.

China has 3 oild fields and Japan as 7 (if I recall correctly) oild fields in the southeast corner of the map that are covered by ice in the game, so the user/player cant see them.

[Elessar2]

Oh yeah, I forgot about them, that explains it.

[eightroomofelixir]

The corner trick... I checked the map editor, China has 3 and Japan does have 7.
This also explains why the Japanese income increase after conquering China is visibly larger than what China has on the map.

[Platoonist]

And I thought the Japanese only went down to the Antarctic for the whaling.

I should check further. Maybe the Germans have a Nazi UFO base down there too? [:D]

[Captjohn757]

The mystery oil hexes, one must surmise, can never be captured/occupied by enemy forces, so the MPPs will always be there. Strange that they're covered in ice during the winter in the northern hemisphere which is, of course, summer in the southern hemisphere. This is contrary to what happens in the real-world Austral summer when Antarctic sea ice retreats to the coastline . . . just a reminder that the weather in Strategic Command is, well, unpredictable.

[Elessar2]

You'd think that adjusting the default industrial levels upward would obviate the need for phantom resources, but that may have unintended consequences...

[Tanaka]

I am also curious Devs what is the reason for these?

[Xsillione]

Those oilfields is a good reason why could the battered defenders of japan repair all of their losses after a successful landing, they had only the center part of the central island, but still could field and maintain a ring of troops that could not be attacked with lots of units and airforce was also limited, so a real slugfest, yet i hoped they would starve as they had less than 40 mpp visible, but actually well over 100...

[BillRunacre]

The Chinese oilfields represent trade via Nanning, which ceases if Japan takes Nanning. China will only regain this income if Nanning is liberated.

The Japanese ones represent Japan's oil imports from the USA before the US imposes the oil embargo in 1941. Henceforth they will provide Japan with no income.

[Captjohn757]

Another of life's little nagging mysteries resolved. Thanks for the clarification, Bill. Stay safe and well.

[eightroomofelixir]

Thanks for the clarification! That explains a lot, as there aren't actual trade routes between US-Hanoi-Nanning or US-Tokyo, unlike the later WWI game.