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Hmmmm...good comment...

Well, I want to give not only tanks to Japanese. But also better light arms.
By the way when in 45 Soviet tanks attacked in Manchuria there wasn’t any problems.
And the landscape of China is too different. And we need tanks not only for/in China [;)]...
Not in any sources that I read, mention any super difficult condition.
But I may be wrong....

By the way when in 45 Soviet tanks attacked in Manchuria there wasn’t any problems.

The landscape in Manchuria is a lot different than in the majority of the area in which fighting took place, and the fighting in Manchuria lasted how many days?

Hey Bill! Just sent a turn to ya.

Tanks are something beyond my pay grade here. I'll defer to powers greater than I...

LOVE the warship planning and providing the choice for players to make to what gets built.

FatR--If we develop 4 AA/Air Search CL then what gun should they mount? Have to admit Terminus makes a solid point when it might just be easier to build 8-12 large DD for the cost of 4 CLs.

Goddamn forums erased my long and elaborate answer.

In short, John, take a look at my destroyer proposal upthread. All DD starting from Hatsuharus will have full AA capabilities. Special DDAA will make no sense, and with 120/55 DP gun postulated with this mod, 4x2 armament is unreal with a heavier gun anyway, Akizukis used the same engine as Yugumos.

I recently thought, though, that in this alternative the use of Chitose-class CS as Japanese CS are actually used in the game, i.e., attaching them as scout platforms to the fleet can be justified (I can elaborate why it wasn't IRL, if you wish, when I calm down a bit).

So there is no need for expanded aircraft complements on cruisers. We can build maximally cheap CLAAs doubling as leaders, with about 6000k displacement, or we can just build more DDs.

Just build DDs! Let us keep it simple then by doing that.

You are correct about the importance of the 4 Chiyoda-Class at that point. Would be a difficult choice for the Japanese commander to keep them as CS or make them CVL. Like that.

Okay. Torpedo divisions will be quite short on leaders (a normal DD can't house a DesDev HQ), though, with only 5 ships available. 6 old CLs under reconstruction hopefully will improve the situation, once they are ready. And I still think that some CLAAs would be really useful (as more stable platforms for AA fire), but it seems I'm alone in this opinion. I'll hopefully post the modified proposal for destroyers and other light forces tomorrow.

Of course a normal DD can house a DesDiv HQ. Everybody did that during the war.

I posted this statement in the sister (good guy) thread.  If Japan had occupied half of Indo-China, wouldn't that be an act of war?  Also what about PPs being added since units are being moved, added and borders have changed. 
 
My idea is have the Japanese Airborne units ready to go close by prepped for locations there, with some fast moving LCUs on land and loaded at sea ready to drop on Dec 7th.
 
doc
 
 
 
 

It would be an act of war if Indochina was French. It was Vichy French and no western powers had any treaty's with them. Even if it was still French, again there were no treaty's between the party's that I am aware of.

This is very much like some of the later mods of RHS in WITP days - based on what Joe Wilkerson years before described
when he wrote (privately) "maybe someday someone will do a 'Japan enhanced scenario'" after basic historical ones were
perfected. There were conflicting demands on the forums - so we made variants to try to please every taste. These
were each based on different assumptions, and each based on calculating what resources were available - and on both sides.
Basically - we assumed a different - and interactive -run up to war. And we used a lot of 1930s ideas and designs - rather
than just 20-20 hindsight fictional designs.

My suggestion is that you look at things that are not so glamorous, but were really planned, and of strategic significance.
For example, Japan had designed a perfectly adequate escort class, and a fine fleet winesweeper able to double as an escort -
and planned to mass produce both - and to coordinate convoys and air units with a Grand Escort Command. While such a command
really was formed - it was late in the war - and never allocated realistic assets. What if pre war planning had won out over the advocates
of super battleships? [Someone - Breyer I think - that a Yamato has as much steel as 350 escorts]? Things like that might really matter -
and are not based on 20-20 hindsight - but rather a better analysis of options actually on the table.

Do you have specifics on the classes you mention?

ORIGINAL: el cid again What if pre war planning had won out over the advocates
of super battleships? [Someone - Breyer I think - that a Yamato has as much steel as 350 escorts]? Things like that might really matter -
and are not based on 20-20 hindsight - but rather a better analysis of options actually on the table.

"Replacing Yamatos with lots of escorts" is based on nothing but 20-20 hindsight. It assumes that Japanese not only know when the war will begin but also how successfully it will begin, never mind what weapon systems will be most critical. Any radical increase in escorts of whatever at the expense of first-line warships before DEI is secured is deeply unrealistic and implausible (for this mod I plan to faciliate escort building in the lasy year before the war, by making them a part of Standard Type merchant construction program, and taking funds from there). So is construction of war emergency ships with maximally simplified design and short intended service life before the war actually begins.

I know the focus has been on the warships, but will there be changes in the number of merchants?? I 'think' that Da Babes addresses the number of merchants available. If my memory serves me right [:D], the Japanese had to end some of their offensives because of the need to get many ships back into hauling resources. They don't have the lift capability to be able to lift a whole army throughout the war. 

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I know the focus has been on the warships, but will there be changes in the number of merchants?? I 'think' that Da Babes addresses the number of merchants available. If my memory serves me right [:D], the Japanese had to end some of their offensives because of the need to get many ships back into hauling resources. They don't have the lift capability to be able to lift a whole army throughout the war. 

Yep, with reduced cargo carrying capability in the base DaBabes version, this actually might be meaningful (no point increasing the number of merchants in a stock game, the existing numbers are more than sufficient for Japan). I want the programm of Standard Type merchants construction to start in autumn of 1940, as the threat of war becomes obvious.

So a rough destroyer proposal, modified for new 120/45 Type 90 and 120/55 Type 98 guns.

Modification of old DDs - execute modifications described previously, but 120/45 Type 90 replaces 127/40 Type 89. Otori-class TBs are not built. As not building any new light cruisers frees alot of extra resources, also reconstruct 12 Mutsuki-class DDs shortly before the war, replacing old gun armament with 2x2 120/45 Type 90 (one fore, one aft), 2x2 25/60, 2x1 13.2/76, 18 DCs. Accept speed reduction due to extra weight.

Building of modern DDs until Hatsuharu - as RL (23 Special Type DDs).

6 Hatsuharus - modified as DDAA, with 3x2 120/45 Type 90 in unshielded mounts, 3x3 25/60, 2x1 13.2/76, 2x3 610mm TTs with no reloads, 36 DCs.

10 Shiratsuyus - 3x2 120/45 Type 90 in properly enclosed turrets, 2x2 25/60, 2x4 610mm TTs with reloads, 16 DCs. Size and design as RL.

10 Asashios - main armament is the same as on the previous class, the main differences are turret positioning and powerplant. Hull is smaller compared to RL, allowing to save materials and achieve greater speed (36-37 knots) with the same power.

20 Kageros - slighly bigger than Asashios, main armament is the same, but the number of depth charges on board is increased to 18. The main differences, as IRL, are lighter engine and greater cruise speed. Savings achieved by building smaller ships start to tell here, allowing to build 2 more DDs (and probably even have extra materials and money left for other projects).

37 Yugumos - design of these ships will be adjusted according to preliminary reports on the war in Europe, if not from the start, then during construction. They will be bigger and slower than Kageros (albeit smaller than RL Yugumos) due to extra armament. Moreover, more robust industry, diverting resources from cruiser construction, in addition to their smaller hull and not building extremely expensive Shimakaze, will allow to construct significantly more of them. 3x2 120/45 Type 90, 2x3 25/60, 2x1 13.2/76, 2x4 610mm TTs with reloads, 36 DCs (1 thrower and 2 racks). The number above includes 20 RL Yugumos, 12 in place of 5 light cruisers (not sure if this is not too few, even after funneling some resources into reconstructions) and 2 in place of Shimakaze. 3 more are added due to savings on hull size/streamlining of production. 7 of these are available before the war, then about 10 per year for next three war years.

Total number of 1-st class (i.e., can fire 610mm torpedoes) DDs available at the opening of hostilities: 88 (80 IRL). Total number of DDs with modern DP armament among them: 65 (basically 0 IRL, around 30 ships, if not less, had guns with limited anti-aircraft capabilities).

16 Akizukis - the size of RL Akizukis or slighly smaller, due to carrying heavier guns. Lack of expanded magazines for the fourth turret will allow to install a bigger and more powerful engine. Alternatively, just use the same 52 000 hps engine and accept the modest drop in speed. Initial armament of 3x2 120/55 Type 98, 3x3 25/60, 4x1 13.2/76, 2x4 610mm TTs with reloads, 72 DCs (2 throwers and 2 racks). Available from summer of 1942, and construction is limited by availability of the new guns.

35 (81) Matsus/Tachibanas - a slightly less bare-bones design, reflecting slightly better economical situation of Japan due to various things going better for her before and during war. The design is accepted earlier, due to Escort Command long crying for new ships, designed to be improved versions of reconstructed escort destroyers, and having designs on hand. But construction is slower, as the existing Yugumo design is more suited for realities of the war than the RL one. First ships are available in autumn of 1943. 35 are built until late spring 1945. 46 more are late-1945 and 1946 ships (going RA route and building only Matsus late in the war, if the player chooses to build anything at all), to a total of 81. About 1450 tons of standard dispacement, 2x2 120/45 Type 89, 4x3 + 6x1 25/60, 1x5 610mm TT without reloads, 60 DCs.

Note on armament: a single 25/60 mount is introduced earlier in this alternative, due to earlier demand for a free-swinging flak weapon, capable of quick aiming, but it is still not available until late 1942. 13.2 MGs (also in limited supply...) are installed instead of it on newly constructed/reconstructed DDs, as well as DDAAs.

I think, I'll talk about APDs later, together with landing ships in general.

We're not assuming the Japs having K-guns, do we?

Terminus, I'm afraid you're confusing me. If you're asking that in relation to mounting requirements for the standard Japanese Y-gun, I've just rechecked, and they did place two of them on some DDs.

Yes, but that would be four throwers in total (2 x 2 "tubes"). The K-gun is only one tube.

FatR: Like the DD development line and think it sounds pretty good. The Good guys will not, once again, start with that much more strength then IRL.