Chinese restrictions

[TheTomDude]

Hi everyone,


I was just wondering if I missed something in the notional story. I'm a bit confused:

I read the scenario description of the first campaign and it says that Japan is not at war with China at the moment but is planing an invasion. Hmm ok....thats fine with me.

At the beginning of the Scenario I can see Port Arthur an Tsingtao are in japanese hands. As far as I can remember history, Port Arthur was taken from the russians at the beginning of the 20th century (1904?) and Tsingtao was taken from the Germans in WW1. Ok...still fine with me.

I can see the japanese Shanghai SNLF on its own in Shanghai, which is at this time controlled by european powers and the USA. Hmm, not sure if this should be an invasion force (1500 vs. about 30'000 men)?? Reminds me more of "The charge of the light brigade" than an invasion. Ok, maybe it was just the japanese delegation which came to Shanghai to officially declare war to all the allies. Well, I drove them back into the sea. [:D]

Ok now comes the part that confuses me.

- Why is Shanghai shown as chinese base and not as allied base?

- If China is not at war then why can I move chinese headquarters and why are some chinese infantry units moveable but most are not?

- Do I have to wait to have full control over the chinese until Japan invades Manchuria?

- Are all these questions already answered in the ebook manual or the quick tutorial on this site and am I just a blind git? [8|]


Thanks for your help
Tom

[Mike Carroll]

Most of the Chinese units were made immobile in the patch so they would not overrun Manchuria and Korea. Basically most of them are there to help slow down the Japanese if they decide to invade. But most of the VPs in the game are in the Philippines so that is the first point of attack.

In most PBEM games the players establish "honor" rules to specify who the opponents are and what they are fighting for. Alot of these games end up being a US vs Japan only type situation.

The small Japanese detachment in ShangHai is just part of the international garrison in that city and is usually eliminated or evacuated at the start of the war.

This game is pretty open so you can play your "what-ifs". There are also a couple of scenario's out there "The Cautionaries" which is a US-Japan War and some others being developed. These scenario's might provide a tighter game for you.

[Tankerace]

Exactly Mike.

- Why is Shanghai shown as chinese base and not as allied base?

Because it is still Chinese territory. It can (and is) still used by all the Allied powers, the same as Tientsin. However, in a shooting war such as WPO depicts, it is doubtful that Chinese citizens and the Japanese would permit/allow it to be used as a mainstream full naval base by the US, France, or Britain.

- If China is not at war then why can I move chinese headquarters and why are some chinese infantry units moveable but most are not?

If you want, you can say that the Chinese are at war. However, the addition of warlords to make the majority of Chinese units immobile represents the great fractionalism of 1920s China. China had no central government, merely a loose collection of provinces. So army units in Canton would never be used to repel an attack at Shanghai, especially if the two local commanders were enemies. Around 7 or 8 formations (Not counting HQs) are moveable to prevent a limited Japanese attack. Static units can become moveable once their warlords are killed, however replacements must be set to off to keep another warlord from seizing the unit (and again making it immobile). This presents a historic choice as to get equipment sometimes Chinese commanders had to make very... shady deals.

- Do I have to wait to have full control over the chinese until Japan invades Manchuria?

Again to represent the fact China was not a unified country, you will never get "full control" of its army and navy. However, as cities are attacked, units in those cities may attack and defend. The Chinese Military of the 1920s was incapable of mounting any large scale offensives, especially those that could have retaken Manchuria or driven in to Korea. Most Chinese warlords and army commanders were more concerned with personal gain. While you do have enough units to fight a realistic battle for China, historically and in the game China is incapable of becoming a serious contributor to the actual war. The army, government, and citizenry all would have made sure of that. In this way, other than keeping some Divisions in Korea (and possibly holding Tsingato), the Japanese can avert conflict with China and focus on attacking the Western Powers.

And as Mike said, the Shanghai SNLF was a Japanese "marine" unit historically deployed to Shanghai. However, as you have said, once war breaks out then these guys are in a rock and a hard place. However, again as Mike said, usually PBEM players have a house rule whereby Britain and France don't enter the war right off, so the SHanghai unit can be evaced.

I purposely left the game open ended this way, because I wanted to prevent the first part of the game from having a standard "attack here, do this, do this, ok" each time the game was played, so that in theory it plays out differently every time.

[TheTomDude]

Questions answered [:D]

Thx both of you.