Bulking up Chinese units

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> The War Room >> Bulking up Chinese units

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Bulking up Chinese units - 9/2/2014 7:46:37 PM

Panjack

Posts: 401
Joined: 7/12/2009
From: Southern California
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What's the best way to bulk up Chinese units? Is the best way to: select a relatively small number of units to receive replacements, have them at rest, have them at big base with supply, have them near good HQ and have them with good rear area commanders? If a few select units are bulked up at a time, how many do people have getting replacements (and maybe upgrades) at a time?

If you know where you want them to eventually defend, is it best to set that a future objective or is it best to get them up to some level of experience first?

How do you best tend to Chinese units at the front? Let them dwindle away through combat(and then empty shells reappear later?) and then replace them with newly bulked up units or do you do something else?

Thanks.

Post #: 1

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/2/2014 10:27:09 PM

Quixote

Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
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The best way to bulk up Chinese units is to park them in Chunking, with plenty of supply, and set them to rest. It doesn't hurt to divide the unit(s) into smaller components first, either. However, you may not always have the luxury of doing this. If you just started a PBEM against an experienced vet (hypothetically speaking, of course), and he plays aggressively for China, then you may not have either the time or the supply to adopt a "best" scenario. It will be up to you to decide what you think you can afford in terms of supply to build the Chinese back up, and what you think you can afford in terms of time/defense to pull units off the line to aid in their growth. Like most other aspects of the game, there is no perfect answer here. Your best actions will be dictated by the flow of your particular game.

Edit - Regarding you other questions, it's much the same answer - it will depend too much on your particular game.

< Message edited by Quixote -- 9/2/2014 11:28:34 PM >

(in reply to Panjack)

Post #: 2

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/2/2014 11:27:10 PM

Lowpe

Posts: 22133
Joined: 2/25/2013
Status: offline

Only defend in x3 terrain....wherever possible. If it isn't x3, then x2 behind a river, if not that then really think hard about not defending there.

Read Obvert's vs GreyJoys AAR...

Pray.

Get those units that can be bought out hoofing it to India/Burma on day 1.

(in reply to Quixote)

Post #: 3

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/3/2014 1:28:20 AM

Treetop64

Posts: 926
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: 519 Redwood City - BASE (Hex 218, 70)
Status: offline

What's worked best for me is to first fall back and organize your Chinese units to properly defensible positions at the start of the campaign, usually along the Tuyun-Kukong-Changsha rail system and surrounding regions, as well as along available rail and road systems further north. This has two advantages: It shortens the supply links from Chungking as well as maintaining good LOCs between units/HQs, and it significantly thickens the Chinese defensive line against any further incursions. Personally, I've organized the Chinese armies according to their assigned War Area HQs/Corps HQs/LCUs, and always kept Corps HQ and it's assigned LCUs together. Once your units have fallen back, have been organized, and are in good defensive positions, expect to maintain a strictly static defensive posture for - at a minimum - the next year. During this period, keep movements, and especially offensive operations, at an absolute minimum, or avoid them altogether as you simply will have either very little or not enough supplies needed to sustain any ambitious operations.

Meanwhile, for as long as possible, and as soon as you have adequate British air cover (and later, 51st FG Yankee squadrons of the 10th AF, if you're still holding Rangoon), cram in as many supply convoys into Rangoon as you can afford, and make sure the task forces used are able to dock and utilize the maximum dock space at Rangoon. Build efficient supply convoys (enough endurance, same ship type or same cruise speed, etc...) When they arrive, move in the 23rd FG to suitable airfields in China to aid in the defense, as the Japanese Air Force will really start pounding Chinese units and bases in 1942.

As long as you maintain an uninterrupted rail and/or road link into China from Rangoon, a bulk of the supplies shipped into Rangoon will go to China for distribution. Of course, this only works as long as you hold Rangoon and have a rail/road link to China. Obviously, you'll want to make holding Rangoon and, if at all possible, Pegu a strategic priority at the start of the campaign.

Another important point is that you'll want to start repairing production facilities in the industrial Chinese cites you hold, particularly in Changsha. Turn off all repairs in China, then repair only one production center in one city at a time so that it is repaired as quickly as possible with the limited supply resources you'll have.

Depending on how your situation develops, think about how you want to start prepping your Chinese troops for offensive operations in early-mid 1943, and plan accordingly. Carry out any major and potentially costly operations only if you have adequate supply stockpiles in China.

This can work fairly well against the AI, even if you're "playing fair" against the computer. However, successfully doing this against a human opponent who knows what he's doing can be much more difficult to pull off...

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RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/3/2014 2:03:55 AM

leehunt27@bloomberg.net

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Joined: 9/6/2004
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oh thanks Treetop 64, I didn't think about shutting down and selectively restarting the Chinese industry repairs.

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Post #: 5

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/3/2014 4:03:24 AM

crsutton

Posts: 9590
Joined: 12/6/2002
From: Maryland
Status: offline

The issue is devices more than squads. The Chinese just never really get much in the way of replacement devices such as artillery. So the massive losses in the first few months means a lot of device loss. There is little sense rebuilding an army corps unit if it has no devices left. Look for units that still have some artillery and machine guns and build those units up. There is nothing more useless than a big unit with four hundred squads and no support.

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Post #: 6

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/3/2014 4:42:55 AM

wdolson

Posts: 10398
Joined: 6/28/2006
From: Near Portland, OR
Status: offline

Except the 400 AV the unit has.

Bill

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Post #: 7

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/3/2014 5:52:08 AM

Alfred

Posts: 6685
Joined: 9/28/2006
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Panjack

What's the best way to bulk up Chinese units? Is the best way to: select a relatively small number of units to receive replacements, have them at rest, have them at big base with supply, have them near good HQ and have them with good rear area commanders? If a few select units are bulked up at a time, how many do people have getting replacements (and maybe upgrades) at a time?

If you know where you want them to eventually defend, is it best to set that a future objective or is it best to get them up to some level of experience first?

How do you best tend to Chinese units at the front? Let them dwindle away through combat(and then empty shells reappear later?) and then replace them with newly bulked up units or do you do something else?

Thanks.

There is no point in attempting to give a good answer unless logistics in China (and AE in general) is understood first.

Read this thread:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3428992&mpage=1&key=china%2Csupply�

and in particular my threads #13, #18 and #25.

Once you have read my posts then you can address whether it is even a good question to ask about bulking up the Chinese and only then should you consider how to do it best.

Alfred

(in reply to Panjack)

Post #: 8

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/4/2014 8:34:08 AM

Yaab

Posts: 4552
Joined: 11/8/2011
From: Poland
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One trick to bulk up the Chinese LCUs, is global stockpiling of Support squads. Thus, no Support squads will be released to the Chinese LCUs. So instead of taking 50% support and 50% engineers/rifle squads in replacements, you now take 100% engineers/rifle squads in replacements.

(in reply to Alfred)

Post #: 9

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/4/2014 10:04:11 AM

Alfred

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Joined: 9/28/2006
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Yaab

One trick to bulk up the Chinese LCUs, is global stockpiling of Support squads. Thus, no Support squads will be released to the Chinese LCUs. So instead of taking 50% support and 50% engineers/rifle squads in replacements, you now take 100% engineers/rifle squads in replacements.

This is a very bad idea.

Alfred

(in reply to Yaab)

Post #: 10

RE: Bulking up Chinese units - 9/4/2014 12:05:13 PM

Bullwinkle58

Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Alfred

quote:

ORIGINAL: Yaab

One trick to bulk up the Chinese LCUs, is global stockpiling of Support squads. Thus, no Support squads will be released to the Chinese LCUs. So instead of taking 50% support and 50% engineers/rifle squads in replacements, you now take 100% engineers/rifle squads in replacements.

This is a very bad idea.

Alfred

I agree, for several reasons. But the biggest two are that Support squads are not dear, and that every core LCU of every nation needs them and draws from one pool. Biting nose to spite face time if you do this.

< Message edited by Bullwinkle58 -- 9/4/2014 1:05:38 PM >

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Post #: 11