Preliminary Report: Guerilla Units in China

[el cid again]

The RHS guerilla concept was adapted from a CHS invention:

the units were renamed from "corps" to "regiments" - although in fact they are baby battalions of about two company strength. The RHS units
are nominally fixed by the attachment of a single static device. However,
this device is NOT part of the starting TO&E, so units CAN move at once to where players want them. Further, when engaged by the enemy (which is common) the units seem to shed the static device, and retreat. The idea is to make guerilla units quite different from line units - more or less tied to an area - and difficult to move rapidly and concentrate for an attack. They are meant to contest an area - particularly a line of communications (LOC) - and while one might be present when line units concentrate - it will tend to be one that was already there - and presumably knows the area well - which is more or less correct simulation. Chinese guerilla units are generally line units in a sense, but local in the sense that they speak the dialect of that area, and also in the sense they are made of similar ethnic groups. In China a line unit is almost always raised in a single place, speaks a single language, and is connected personally, business wise and ethnically to that area. Since Chinese units are not generally paid - and virtually never fully paid - by taxes - they tend to engage in economic activities - to make the things they need (food, uniforms, weapons) and to generate cash for spending money (say by selling wine, or river crossing services, etc). Changing locations is never easy for a Chinese unit - line or guerilla - since it affects its ability to do what it does economically - essential to its well being. [Moving means, de facto, loss of supply, and over time, loss of unit strength.] We are really only modeling these effects on guerillas, and mainly by limiting their movement.

NOT ONE regiment has died to AI controlled attacks. When one retreats, it continues to contest the evacuated hex - because of a lingering ZOC - so putting the units in LOC hexes means they contest them - even if they retreat. RHS guerilla units are a strange exception to "no on map supplies" - the other exception is local fish or other food supplies when it exceeds 365 tons per year. These units draw supplies whereever they are from the civil population. [ROC units are not as popular or successful at this as the PLA units are - meaning the PLA units will tend to grow to full TO&E while ROC units will tend to stay about 2/3 of TO&E - if not engaged in combat.] Putting guerilla units on LOC hexes - particularly in mountains - seems to force IJA units to an inefficient battle - and prevent their passage to valuable objectives beyond. This may not work as well againt intelligent human players - but it is working exactly as intended against dumb AI. No human reports in yet.

One final note: there are more RHS guerilla units, and they are pretty much spread out at important locations near the enemy - so they tend to be engaged first - and to make concentration against more valuable locations and units problematical. In AI controlled games it is normal for ROC to take towns from IJA - kicking out full divisions - but IJA has yet to take a Chinese town (other than Hong Kong - after a longer than history assault).