Bill Brown and I have been playing the mod for a while now. We are at the 9th of April '42.
We are playing Scen 071, Russ active, no withdrawal of units, PDU on. The only house rule we had is I was not to invade Mersing on my first turn.
As we all know, Japan needs to start an all out attack to gain the resources and point to win the game. I don't think the Axis player is able to archive this in scen 071. I am a average player having played several stock games and some of the other mods. Some I won some I lost.
Air war:
At this date I have lost 7900 planes to 2900 on the allied side. My IJN pilot pool is depleted to the point where I have only 700 pilots in training on the first cycle (month) All other pilots are in fighting units. I added the max to the IJN training squads and have 200 pilots in the training command. My + 80 pilots in my land based AF squads are depleted. On a normal sweep I lose 3 to 1 planes to the allies, mainly USSR. I have tried high level, low level best altitude for the plane I employed to no avail. My fighters get slaughtered.
There are probably several reasons:
1.No armour on the Japanese planes.
2.Skill of allied pilots is set to high
3.Weapons in the Ki43c are useless against all but the most obsolete allied fighters in 1942. The Ki43c is a good plane in stock but here it seems the guns just don't make the kill. The A6M2 fears slightly better but is lacking the high level mvr values. Only with 70+ pilots can I get a balances 1 to 1 loss ratio.
4.Bill has not started a strategic bombing campaign towards Manchuko and northern Japan. If he would do that I have no plane that would be able to stop him except the A6M2. It would be costly for him due to the short legs of the Russian escort fighters but the damage he could inflict would knock me out in a years time.
Suggestions:
1. Bring the Ki44 online earlier. It is equipped with 20 mm canons like the A6M2 and will have a better chance to make the kill against the armourd allied planes
2. As Japan is at war with the USSR, the assumption could be that it was on the bequest of her German ally. One can further assume that this was planned for some time and the Germans lend a hand in developing better protected planes, convincing the IJA/IJN that protection of the pilots is imperative. This can result in having armour added to the existing Ki43/Ki44 and A6M's or in a newly developed plane(s) like the ME109 or FW190.
3.Increase the pilot pool and replacement rate for IJN pilots. The downside here is that it cost HI points every month to have them in the training pool. Therefore HI production would need to be increased.
Land war:
The IJA inf squads are too lightly armed to stand up against the improved allied troops in the DEI/PHI/Malaya.
At this point I have captured Singapore in March (later then historical), Phi was captured early (February)
I have not taken Java, Batavia and Surabaya are still in allied hands. I have not landed on Sumatra.
I took Burma, the usual Chinese cities, the south pacific islands and even moved into the New Hebrides and took some other small islands that were not defended. They didn't take many troops to take so I discount them here.
Suggestions:
1. Improve device stats for Japan. Better AT capability and soft target to compensate for the higher exp and morale of the allies.
2. As under air war, assume German - Japanese cooperation to form Panzer Div along the German line instead of penny packing them in independent Regiments. With the USSR in the war, it becomes more a land war like war in the east.
3. More Artillery would help to counter the Soviet superiority in that area.
Navy:
ASW: The Russian subs are active and roaming the Home waters of Japan. The current ASW capability with the Type 95 and 95-2 DC does not reach the deep diving subs. The PB converted from small AK's do not upgrade the the better type 2 DC in the game which makes them next to useless in open water ASW patrols. Either have them equipped with the type 2 DC or change the parameters of the Type 95 DC to reach greater depth.
Industry:
My industry had a massive expansion to increase AC and Navy production as well as vehicle and armament points. That has drained my Supply point pool to a point where no offensive operations are possible. The IJ forces had such an increase in units but the industry cannot fill them and replace war losses.
I am still ok on the Oil and fuel side and i wont run out of it until later 43 with the current sources I have available.
With the battles more intense, a large amount of resources, oil and refineries were destroyed and need rebuilding costing precious supply points. The destruction is a consequence of the improved defense capability of the allies.
Suggestions:
Increase output of supply to 2 on LI or to 3 on HI. If you like increase the input of resources but leave the fuel input as is. Another options is to increase the HI in Japan.
To cope with the losses, japans air industry needs to be ramped up. That could be done by having more air and engine points under constructions and increase the supply that is available at the start. I think that is better than having full production running.
With the increase in re-enforcement the manpower points are running out whenever a large group of units come online rendering the troops useless until fully equipped which can take a while. Consider increasing the MP to reflect the higher demand.
All in all we like the Mod and keep playing. I look at it as a test for you guys and provide feedback whenever I can.
For Japan to have a fighting chance, it still need to occupy the usual area speedily and then decide to move into India, Australia or just slug it out and get enough points. With the current set up the speed required is not archivable. I will be taking the places eventually but at a very high cost that give the allied player enough points to make it impossible to win for the Japanese player.
With the USSR active Japan would have planned differently and would have cooperated with their Axis partners to improve their war making capabilities.
Bill, pls post any comments from your side as I don't have an insight of your situation.
Back tot he war then
J