ORIGINAL: Yohan
How can you possibly say that? Just look at the number of hexes that have been added, to cover them with ZOCs would take a bunch of extra units. Add to that that the cities don't supply the Japanese and your ability to "run after" raiders without keeping extra HQs in the rear area won't work. Lots of extra costs for Japan to just maintain the status quo which will impact its ability to fight the USA and GB.
The big problem with using the European scale for China is that WIFFE is designed
for Asian scale map and the number of corps/armies are suited for this scale. When you
use the European scale a corps/army unit must defend a bigger area. This can be helped
by splitting the corps/armies into divisions to cover extra area. Those divisions can prevent
holes in the front line etc.
But what about the rear areas. Divisions only have ZOC in the hex they are placed
into. But divisions not in enemy ZOC count against the garrison value for Japan for
preventing new partisans.
The biggest problem I see is that partisans can appear on the map more easily
because there are so many extra hexes the Japanese player needs to have in
rear ZOC to prevent them from appearing. And as long as division sized units
only have ZOC in the hex they occupy then it's almost impossible to have enough
garrison units to prevent the partisans from appearing close to important rail lines,
cities, resources etc.
But what if we for example alter the rule that division sized units not in enemy ZOC
DO have ZOC for partisan placement purposes (but ONLY for this purpose). This
means a division sized unit can prevent partisans from appearing in the hex and
all hexes around it. So if the Japanese player break down some corps sized units
he can get enough division sized units to protect his vital areas from partisans.
I know this can have bad side effects for example for partisan appearance in other
parts of the map (like Europe, particularly Russia) so maybe we can give divisions
ZOC for partisan placement ONLY in China or maybe everywhere EXCEPT Europe.
I don't think it's a wargame's purpose to 100% recreate what happened in the REAL
war every time, meaning that the Japanese/Chinese war should almost always end
in stalemate. I think it should be possible for example for Japan to divert his resources
for land battle so he has a fair chance of destroying China, but it will be at a big cost
of letting USA become dominant in the Pacific and at the expense of conquests in
Indo-China, Borneo, New Guinea, Philippines etc.
WIFFE gives such possibilities in every part of the war. That is one of the excitements
of playing WIFFE. Can my plan succeed where the REAL generals failed (like capturing
Moscow and Leningrad)?
So the European scale in China opens up for more mobile warfare, but that is not
necessarily very dangerous. Because the opponent have chances to counter this
with his defense. It will require some other strategies than he was used to with WIFFE,
but I'm certain that good WIF players will find strategies that would work for both
China and Japan to keep a good balance between them.
What the playtesting of the new map should find out is if it's much harder for one side
to keep the balance than before, meaning that old WIFFE players could be in for a
nasty surprise if they use their old strategies. Then it could be a good idea to adjust
the rules a little bit. But these rule changes have to be MINOR and they must NOT
cause changes in the rules in other war theatres (like Europe). This is because
the rules are AS IS balanced in Europe and we have not changed the map scale
here.
I think using the European map scale for the entire world is great and it gives
us new challenges, particularly in China. But I also believe most WIF players will
find sound strategies so it will be fun to both attack and also defend. Remember
that the European map scale in China has been playtested a lot with CWIF. Now
the map will be altered a little (adding new cities etc.) so further playtesting is
required.
I think it's a good idea to wait pushing the alarm button about the changes have
ruined the play balance in China until AFTER the playtesting has taken place. There
is still time to make minor changes and still be able to use the European map scale
in China and have a balanced war.
If playtesting shows that the European scaled map in China will require a different
strategy for both Japan and China then it's possible to write about this in the
MWIF rule book (maybe under the player strategies chapter). Many wargames
have some basic strategies for each player listed in the rule book.
I think we should be VERY careful about adding new HQ's and corps sized units
just because we changed the map scale. It can influence the game at lot more than
intended. I. e. the Japanese player willl decide to NOT fight a lot in China and use the
extra HQ's and corps against Great Britain and later Australia. Then you have a
more powerful Japanese player than ever.
Let the players have the WIFFE number of HQ's and corps. If changes are needed
then it should be to maybe the possibility for infinite break up of corps sized units
into divisions placed aside into a separate force pool and can NOT be rebuilt as
corps. They can only appear again on the map if divisions recombine into a corps.