topeverest
Posts: 3376
Joined: 10/17/2007 From: Houston, TX - USA Status: offline
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I have not been very successful with China - at least not up to what I wanted to do. That said, the first lesson before talking combat is to preserve supply. There just isnt enough supply to go around. I'd turn off all factory repairs, do not build bases or forts except as immeditely needed, and I would refrain from all but the most important air missions, usually recon for major defensive operations and CAP for industry defense (assuming your HR's allows it.) The next lesson I would offer is to understand the quality of the troops under your command. Most have 30's quality and low morales. They will not stand up to the enemy early on, even vastly outnumbering them due to the quality difference. You iwll lose ground in many places early on, should the enemy decide to push. You will want to spend your prescious supply that isnt stockpiled in reserve to train and resupply your ground forces. You will need to rotate forces in and out of combat, so you will be constantly training troops. You will have to gauge how many units can receive replacements based on your supply reserves. from an offensive perspective, I only attack when there is a clearly defined opportunity, or as a tactical move in a major campaign around a city. I would not undertake a major campaign before there are sufficient supply reserves to do so. China is a backwater area in the war. The allies cant win the war there, but they certainly can put themselves behind the 8 ball if it is screwed up. The goals should be to stabilize the defensive perimiter and hold on to, generally speaking I think you can hold 3 of the 4, but at least two of the four zones. With these things in mind, I think of the China zones as Kumming, Chunking, Sian, and Hong Kong / coastal. Due to the lack of supply generation in coastal China, that area is easily lost. It is important to fight for it, but try not to lose the units in a doomed defense. You will want the hard-earned quality later. Train as many units as possible all the time both to keep morale up and to increase experience. Use Chunking / other major bases with supply hubs as land unit repair shops. Closely monitor total supply used in Tracker to modulate. Send as much air supply as possible from India. Also, the supply rules allow for cutoff units to maintain supply, so a few units behind enemy lines are preferable to cause consternation. I maintain 4 army reserve groupings on highways ready to move to problem areas, use generous recon when supply permits, and defend rivers and forests. In my PBEM, it took 4 months of Japanese victories to begin to stabilize the war, and they took most of coastal china. I guess that is an allied victory of sorts. Thinking from the Japanese perspective, most players want the bases that either give them the most VP's or best production. Keep that in mind when defending. In any event, you dont want the enemy getting close to chungking, for that is a valuable VP asset to them. In my view that base cluster is the most important to hold if choices must be made. Hope these comments will help
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Andy M
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