RE: FYI China
Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 3:40 am
There is considerable truth in this assertion (China was not a unified command). In RHS, for scenarios starting
in 1941, I split off a LOT of (little populated) "Northern China" (Sinkiang and an adjacent province) - and made
them part of the Soviet Command. This is because the area is under a warlord allied with the Russians, and because
the Russians operated NKVD regiments in the area. This effectively reduces the "Chinese command area" - and also
complicates any Japanese intention of invading that part of China - they must deal with the Russians and all that
implies.
Another thing I did was to create several flavors of "Chinese" units - NRA (National Revolutionary Army),
PLA (Peoples Liberation Army), and Warlord troops. In tag team games, we give the PLA units (using the
prefix RED in early forms, PLA in later ones) to the Russian player for management - and the NRA units to
the British player. Warlord troops are played by the American player, as are some later units the US
trains in India which fight with Allied units in combined formations. Or if I play as a single player,
I pretend I am a different commander based on which unit I am moving - so they do not operate as a fully
cooperative command. Note both the NRA and the PLA operate guerilla formations which are semi-independent
of supply sources - they benefit from them but will survive and rebuild without them. These permit deep
operations in the enemy rear - and drive some Japanese players nuts (not used to defending their LOC).
The greatest things you can do to help Chinese units are to assign realistic numbers of replacement squads -
not zero or 10 or even 30 but numbers like 600 in some cases for infantry squads and 60 for special function
squads. And add serious sources of supply all over China. Guerillas may have supply sources INSIDE the LCU
itself (try it - it works - remember divide by 30). That simulates "living off the land." And not all units
in China should start badly disrupted, with huge numbers of disabled squads, and no planning. Some are 100%
prepared to defend the location they have been at for years.
in 1941, I split off a LOT of (little populated) "Northern China" (Sinkiang and an adjacent province) - and made
them part of the Soviet Command. This is because the area is under a warlord allied with the Russians, and because
the Russians operated NKVD regiments in the area. This effectively reduces the "Chinese command area" - and also
complicates any Japanese intention of invading that part of China - they must deal with the Russians and all that
implies.
Another thing I did was to create several flavors of "Chinese" units - NRA (National Revolutionary Army),
PLA (Peoples Liberation Army), and Warlord troops. In tag team games, we give the PLA units (using the
prefix RED in early forms, PLA in later ones) to the Russian player for management - and the NRA units to
the British player. Warlord troops are played by the American player, as are some later units the US
trains in India which fight with Allied units in combined formations. Or if I play as a single player,
I pretend I am a different commander based on which unit I am moving - so they do not operate as a fully
cooperative command. Note both the NRA and the PLA operate guerilla formations which are semi-independent
of supply sources - they benefit from them but will survive and rebuild without them. These permit deep
operations in the enemy rear - and drive some Japanese players nuts (not used to defending their LOC).
The greatest things you can do to help Chinese units are to assign realistic numbers of replacement squads -
not zero or 10 or even 30 but numbers like 600 in some cases for infantry squads and 60 for special function
squads. And add serious sources of supply all over China. Guerillas may have supply sources INSIDE the LCU
itself (try it - it works - remember divide by 30). That simulates "living off the land." And not all units
in China should start badly disrupted, with huge numbers of disabled squads, and no planning. Some are 100%
prepared to defend the location they have been at for years.
ORIGINAL: DanSez
Allowing a unified command of all the Chinese forces is a work of fiction too.
Beyond the scope or ability of this game to simulate.
For what it does, it works pretty well.
Have you tried playing with stacking limits?
I know at one point the DBB gang and others were working on a further restriction of the map (gnarly roads?) which would also slow down any Japanese Blitzkrieg. I am not sure if that was completed or not.