China

[Tha_Field_Marshall]

I am wondering how the land war in China plays out. Can the Japanese player make any gains or does it just stalemate, as was the case historically. Also excuse my ignorance but what kind of an airforce does China have, what models of planes?

Are Communist forces included in the game?

[Fallschirmjager]

I have wondered about the three way war too.
Not having Communist forces would be a giant oversight IMO.
Granted, alot of the fighting between Communist and Nationalists took place in the north and west of the country which isnt the concern of WiTP. However some did take place in the area represented. And more importantly, neither side liked the Japanese much.

[Mr.Frag]

Each gain must be controlled with troops to quell the uprisings.

You can make gains, but sooner or later, you just don't have the troops to be able to provide the required suppression and then the base gets trashed and you end up loosing all the value of having the base.

It is a big help cutting the Burma link and I personally look towards snagging Lanchow and Sian in the north and Changsha in the middle and Wuchow in the south. I have yet to ever get them all, but those are the ones worth the effort.

Sian/Lanchow feed oil back into China so taking the out cuts back on supply for China. Heavy Industry needs the oil. If you can cut those, and block the Burma link, the rest should be hurting over time from constant lack of supplies which keeps the troops weakened. The only other source of oil is Chungking itself and you are not going there [;)]

[Nikademus]

Simple answer = Yes....Japan player can reproduce his ICHI-GO type offensives but they're no longer walks in the park with the new LCU rules and can be costly in terms of equipment as well as supply now. The Japanese player has to weigh in carefully the value of such offensives vs the returns....and as Fwag mentioned, each new city conquored requires a garrison.

For my current game i'm only attacking one city (almost for the hell of it) but other than that myself and Kid have all but reenacted the unofficial "truce" that existed for much of the war there. I'm having enough supply difficulties as it is and Kid doesn't need the extra hassle of managing another theater of ops. [:'(]

Course if Claire gets uppity that may change in a hurry!