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Can someone please tell me in how Japanese production works. It doesn't have to be long winded. How are squads, AFC's and what not made? Can you pick which ones that can be made? I've never played the dark side, I'm trying to get a simple understanding of it.

DOCUP wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 1:18 am Can someone please tell me in how Japanese production works. It doesn't have to be long winded. How are squads, AFC's and what not made? Can you pick which ones that can be made? I've never played the dark side, I'm trying to get a simple understanding of it.

Have enough manpower, supplies, armament points, and if needed for the vehicles, vehicle points.

DOCUP wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 1:18 am Can someone please tell me in how Japanese production works. It doesn't have to be long winded. How are squads, AFC's and what not made? Can you pick which ones that can be made? I've never played the dark side, I'm trying to get a simple understanding of it.

When it comes to infantry squads and vehicles you don't control what type or number Japanese armament and vehicle factories make. In the production phase depending on their size they might crank out so many Type 89 tanks, trucks, mortars, or engineer squads assuming that they are getting enough supplies, industry, vehicle and manpower points from the pools and that there is a need for the item. However, you can expand their manufacturing capacity or convert them (at a cost in supplies and damage that has to be repaired). It's the Japanese engine and aircraft factories that produce one specific item although they can be expanded and converted too.

The only adjustment you might make is to convert some armaments factories to Armour. Beyond that, it is the same as allies for squads, armaments, armour etc.
99% of the effort for Japanese production is for R&D aircraft, engines and building aircraft and engines. Tons of management to set it up and lots of opportunities to screw it up. First time through you might want to start the game with realistic R&D off, so if you mess up, you can still fix your mistake. Lots of long threads on Japanese aircraft production.

DOCUP wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 1:18 am Can someone please tell me in how Japanese production works. It doesn't have to be long winded. How are squads, AFC's and what not made? Can you pick which ones that can be made? I've never played the dark side, I'm trying to get a simple understanding of it.

What a glorious question! Bit like asking how long's a piece of string. As long as you want is the simple answer getting there, not so much.

No two people play the same and therefore there are many ideas as to what should or should not be done with many a guide having been written. Your game so it's up to you but here are the very basics. It's like an old English saying. 'More money coming in than going out happiness, more going out than coming in misery'.

Coming in you have three raw materials manpower, resources, oil from which three manufactured materials are produced, heavy industry (HI), supply and fuel. Shortages of any of these can halt or reduce the output of your other industries. E.g. Engine production. Keeping production of these six material above that used by other industries is you aim. The hardest to attain by far is oil!

You can see all this via the Japanese industry management screen (J key)(manual section 13.2.2). The top half shows the status of all industry locations with a load of filters, the default being on. These filters are useful if you want to focus on just one part, say fuel production. Turning off all but oil and refinery will do this. The bottom half shows the overall state of your industry.

Text in yellow can be click to turn it on/off, change production level or simple for further info. Before clicking on any of these links I suggest you save the game as most changes cannot be reversed.

You can tell at a glance if something wrong as the numbers and/or text will be red. You will not get a full expanation as to why but its normally a shortage of one of the six fundermental material but the number associated witht he industry will be red.

There's an industry chart in tracker showing the relationships between all the six materials and the other industries. It is extrememy useful. If attached a screen shot.

There are other ways of accessing the production system such as selecting a base then chosing an industry from the bottom of the screen (Section 13).

The most time consumming aspect of Japanese production is aircraft manufacture. The Air Guide has a short section on aircraft production, it doesn't tell you what just how it works. https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 3&t=396274

Please don't let any of this put you off playing as Japan and the best of luck. Remember save first and often and search for other guides.

Chris21wen wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 10:09 am Please don't let any of this put you off playing as Japan and the best of luck.

Especially if playing against the Allied AI. Squeezing the max out of the Japanese economy is far more important against a competent human player. In that case, socking away a hefty hoard of fuel and heavy industry points and getting those carriers and late war planes accelerated and out earlier can spell the difference in hanging on in the game longer. Against the Allied AI you mostly just have to concern yourself with setting up convoys to keep the home island factories stuffed with ample fuel and resources so they continue to produce. Which like the Allied on-map factories they do automatically if getting the raw goods. Maybe some tweaking on expansions here and there but don't go overboard. It's a good way to learn how Japanese production works.

https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 5&t=337389

Look at the aircraft table that helps with this excellent AAR. It's both old and not-so-old.
Don't mess around too much; just get resources and oil to OSAKA.

Thanks everyone.