Infantry:
Gyokusai - This unit seems unfinished since there are no texts in abilities or level upgrades, but they also can't capture bases or pick up weapons; I assume at least one of those is a bug.

Forward Battalion Commander - I'm assuming the emblem is supposed to be the Japanese Imperial Seal; if that is the case, it has too many petals.
For abilities:
I would use 勇気 instead of 元気; the first one basically means courage and the one that was used means spirited or well; it's often used to ask people if they are feeling well in daily conversation so it seems like an odd choice because it is so ordinary.
Then 覚悟 instead of 決意; it is preparedness or resolution instead of determination; I think it fits the English name and description better.
Then the last one is 迅速 instead of 速い; the one that is used is only an adjective and kinda seems weird alone like that except when describing something. 速さ would also work, as that is a noun, but it looks cooler when only using Chinese characters so I wouldn't recommend. 迅速 can be used like a noun, means fast, and is all Chinese characters so it's better.

Vehicles:
First off, there does not seem to be a way to repair vehicles/buildings.

Imperial Japanese tanks were not great (versus other tanks at least), so I feel like balance will be difficult. The Type 3 Chi-Nu could be added; it was produced in a fairly large amount (150 or so), but never saw combat because they were kept on mainland Japan in preparation for an invasion. It had the same hull as the Type 97 but a larger turret and gun, which is basically comparable to an M4 Sherman's 75 mm gun. They were ready for combat in fairly large numbers so I think it is not that big of a stretch (historically) to have them.

If you wanted one that was more of a stretch there is also the Type 4 Chi-To (went into production but only 2 completed because they had no resources); it had a better 75 mm gun, kinda in the middle of a Sherman's 75 mm and a Panther's 75 mm, and it was bigger with more armor than the Type 97 medium tank.

The Type 97 machine gun could be added as a upgrade to armored vehicles.

Type 97 Chi-Ha (the 57 mm one) could be an added as an infantry support vehicle.

Also, the prioritize vehicle button does not seem to do anything on both the Chi-Ha Kai and Ha-Go so they just shoot at anything. I guess it is not super bad cause they fire so fast, but still.

Thanks for the feedback!

The Gyokusai are not meant to capture, pick up weapons, or retreat, but I should probably mention that somewhere so it doesn't seem like a bug.

I'll definitely change those upgrade icons to the more fitting words.

Tanks, team weapons, and buildings should be repaired by the engineers around the Field Workshop building. They're able to run pretty far from the base but don't work in combat. Assault Engineers will be doctrinal.
The Gyokusai are meant to replace heavy tanks, since they take reduced damage, can't do normal infantry things, and are extremely hard to suppress. I like the idea of using larger tanks as doctrinal options; the Chi-Nu or Ho-Ri could show up there. A pintle machine gun would be cool, but it's a limitation on each of the models, so probably won't be possible. I like the 57mm Chi-Ha idea a lot.

For Prioritize Vehicle, I'll need to add all of the new weapons to the ability's registry. I forgot that step was necessary.

I really appreciate you taking the time to look at the mod and write that up.

I was writing a huge comment but Steam didn't like that it was more than 1000 words and I trying to remake it here again:

1. I think that the Grenade launchers are way too good,they just wipe squads like a knife goes through butter,please,nerf it.


2. I wish the veterancies were different for Support, and how their upgrades work.
You make a 230 squad of 4 men, with only 1 nade,which is worse than Hohei's and costs more,they should get their costs swapped, you make the Supports' AT nade 10,while Hoheis' 25 ammo,so they would at least be logical for their use. Also,about grenades: I wish that the Support would get a usual Hohei's grenade,right from the start,but would lose it after an upgrade for MGs or Launchers, for the sake of Suppression ability/An ability to shoot AT nades at tanks for 25 seconds for the initial cost of 70-75 ammo with a cooldown of 50 seconds. And if the squad is upgraded for the MGs or Launchers,it is NOT able to be upgraded for 7.7,and if you upgraded them for 7.7,at veterancy first they get an ability to have more firepower (like the same veterancy for the British sappers),and won't lose their nades. I also want then all,with any upgrade,to be able to have a 5th member at Veterancy 1 as well as "Hit the dirt!" ability, or the same ability the Penals from the USSR have ("To the last man!").

3. I would like to see a copy-paste of the British AEC/Bofors and Anvil/Hammer for the faction, so at T1 you,as a player, would chose for more Arty abilities, which will make the 102 cm arty implacement possible, or to have an upgrade for more stealth operations, with a Pathfinders' like beacon, which shows the enemies' units through the fog of war, a sniper, and a special elite squad of 5 men for 360 MP (35 per man), which is able to be upgraded for:
1) 5 SMGs with a Flame grenade, a satchel charge and Hoheis' AT nade.
2) 2-3 (as you chose) Sniper rifles which can wipe a model sometimes, with Usual and AT rifle grenades and a demo charge.
And the 2-3 (again, as you chose) out of the squad are NOT with 7.7 rifles, while the other 3-2 members are.
And the sniper may have an upgrade for a second guy in the squad,much like the Soviet sniper before the nerf, so he will be with a rifle too, not scoped tho.
The T2 would have a Heavy weapons/Commanders' support, which means that if you're going for the MG, you will also get the AT from T3 (T3 needs a better AT, there is historically a better one, as far as I am concerned), easy as that; while the Commanders' support gives you both T2's and T3's Commander squads, so the T3 will be able to have another "elite" squad-300 MP 6 men squad (25 MP for a reinforce) with possible upgrades for 7.7 or AT rifles, their veterancies would be just:
1) 3 more men to the squad, they are not affected by the 7.7 upgrade if purchased.
2) If AT rifles-1 more, if 7.7- a grenade.
3) "Hit the dirt!" and "To the last man!" (so lie down and the more they lose the better the damage is).

4.More tanks. I am not good at tanks history, so don't ask me about it, I just wish to see more of them. Also, about tanks, the one,which uses the Valentine skin (idk what its called) can hull down and move, how you think that is logically possible? Again: Hull DOWN.

5. Commanders.
I would give ideas for them, but right now none of them come to my mind.
Anyways, a pretty good start.

1. I agree. I've been keeping a close eye on the Grenade Discharger's performance. I'm also interested in seeing how the official mod team implements their launcher.
What kind of opponents are you facing? I've noticed that the AI are very bad at dodging, which makes the weapon seem much better than vs a human player. I've been adjusting the weapon to make it harder to dodge but less damaging, which hopefully makes it less effective against bad opponents while being viable against good ones.

2. The Fire Support's grenade is a snare, while the Hohei's isn't. The Hohei one is for damage rather than stopping vehicles, like a bazooka that you have to pay to shoot.
Those are interesting ideas, and I'll be sure to keep them in mind. The squad probably could use something more. A 5th man is something I had considered, and hit the dirt would be fitting. Right now, the veterancy is focused on making them better at their job, rather than covering for their weaknesses. I don't want a conscript/penal or rifleman/rear echelon situation where they're very similar, so everyone just uses the better of the two.

3. I'm hesitant to include mutually-exclusive upgrades to the faction, since it's difficult to get a faction working when not all the tools it needs are available. I like your ideas for units, and I think they would be great fits for commanders. I was already planning on an AT rifle team and SMG Stormtroopers-type unit for the first commander update. Radar beacons, larger AT guns, and a big squad with death bonuses would be really cool too.

4. Tanks will also be commander units. There are a few options that people have brought up; it really depends on how well different models can fit.
You're right, "Hull Down" for that tank should work differently or at least have a different name. "Defense Mode"? haha. It's difficult to make a stationary unit work well and be fun to use/fight against. The next update includes a delay between switching modes, which is more fair. So, I'll be working on this ability.

Thank you very much for your feedback. It means a lot to me that you put in the thought and effort to help me improve the mod.

Originally posted by RoastinGhost:

1. I agree. I've been keeping a close eye on the Grenade Discharger's performance. I'm also interested in seeing how the official mod team implements their launcher.
What kind of opponents are you facing? I've noticed that the AI are very bad at dodging, which makes the weapon seem much better than vs a human player. I've been adjusting the weapon to make it harder to dodge but less damaging, which hopefully makes it less effective against bad opponents while being viable against good ones.

2. The Fire Support's grenade is a snare, while the Hohei's isn't. The Hohei one is for damage rather than stopping vehicles, like a bazooka that you have to pay to shoot.
Those are interesting ideas, and I'll be sure to keep them in mind. The squad probably could use something more. A 5th man is something I had considered, and hit the dirt would be fitting. Right now, the veterancy is focused on making them better at their job, rather than covering for their weaknesses. I don't want a conscript/penal or rifleman/rear echelon situation where they're very similar, so everyone just uses the better of the two.

3. I'm hesitant to include mutually-exclusive upgrades to the faction, since it's difficult to get a faction working when not all the tools it needs are available. I like your ideas for units, and I think they would be great fits for commanders. I was already planning on an AT rifle team and SMG Stormtroopers-type unit for the first commander update. Radar beacons, larger AT guns, and a big squad with death bonuses would be really cool too.

4. Tanks will also be commander units. There are a few options that people have brought up; it really depends on how well different models can fit.
You're right, "Hull Down" for that tank should work differently or at least have a different name. "Defense Mode"? haha. It's difficult to make a stationary unit work well and be fun to use/fight against. The next update includes a delay between switching modes, which is more fair. So, I'll be working on this ability.

Thank you very much for your feedback. It means a lot to me that you put in the thought and effort to help me improve the mod.

1. American AI on Hard,and Expert, they dodge usual grenades good,but not the rifle ones, as far as I remember,they dodge Grenadiers' rifle grenades too,but this one-no, that's why it's so weird.

2.Hm...I didn't think about this about the AT nades, maybe give the Support the flare nades too then? Just a thought.
I am glad you liked my ideas, will be sure to see how it is going to be implemented in the future.

3.Well, if you hesitate, you can ask me for other ideas on how to implement these changes exactly, just the British one is the first I came up with because of the lack of Commander-like units, so not like the USA's one, nor the OKW's, because you can't even think of how to do it with ♥♥♥♥.

4.That's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sad m8.
Thank you.

5. I have... a few thoughts about the possible commanders? I wish to see not 2 or 3, but 5 or 6 of them, but right now only 3 come up in my mind, but people also considered a Kamikaze commander to you already, so only 4 or 5 to go!)

1) Naval Power.
This commander is mostly arty based, just the Japanese main goal was to have as many of good naval units as possible in the actual WW2, so this would be fitting to them.

1 Yamamoto's chosen ones. It's an elite 4 man squad of 300 MP and a cooldown of 60 seconds with 7.7 rifles and able to be upgraded for a 5th man and 2 SMGs or a fifth man with a MG, both would cost 75 Ammo, their vets would be: 1-Better survivability; 2-To throw grenades from every each soldier (simular to Germans' one, I am not sure how it's called); 3-Better Aim.

1 A recon sweep.

5 Two Airplanes would locate and lockdown an area, they come from an Aircraft carrier, they do both MG fire on Inf. and AT fire.

6 An ability like "Railway artyllery", but called as "Water God's wrath" or something like that,because Navy.

7 A Heavy Tank, does not fit into the Navy, but there must be at least one or two commanders with Heavy Tanks, especially with their design to move real good in Jungles and Jungle-like territories it could be possible to just be dropped by a ship.

2) Unforgettable Honour.

1 Moves the Banzai Charger (unit I told you to be at T3 instead of a commander unit) from T3 to T1 with just 4 changes: 5 men at the start with 2 additional at vet 1 with a cost of 280 MP (it will replace the Hohei to Banzai Charger) and it will have Satchel Charges and Grenades of Hohei, but no 7.7 upgrade or any upgrade at all. They would not have "Hit the dirt!",but a "Banzai!" instead.

2 A "For Motherland!" ability from the Soviets renamed into the "For the Emperor!", because they had this fanatism for the Emperor because of their religious beliefs, and this would fit nicely.

4 A Medium tank, easy as that, and again, I don't have any idea which one, ask someone else.

7 Reinforecement ability, which for 1000 MP brings you 1 Medium tank from this commander, 1 MG and 1 light AT gun, and, if possible, 1 Banzai Charger squad.

3) Civilians' Help (I am not sure if I placed the ' right,check please)

0 Faster production. But of weapontry, which means that units come out faster because they get weapons earlier, upgrades come faster and cost less, but they're worse and more inccarute.
This would be historically true for the 44-45 setting, because of their huge loss of money and people, thus production, that's why civilians were making weapontry at home, which is understandably bad.

0 Faster Vehicle production. Basically the same, but their armour is also worse.

1 "To the frontline!"- an ability for Hohei to have 3 SMGs upgrades, 1 MG upgrade, 2 Sniper rifle upgrades, as well as losing the 7.7 upgrade, all these weapon upgrades cost 45 ammo (Sniper rifles will cost 50 tho) and will be not that great,because home-made.

5 Again, "For the Emperor!"

7 A Heavy Tank.

That's what I came up with.

Also, about 2), when you take it, your first Hohei Squad will stay at the battlefield and will be absolutely the same as a usual one, the only difference will be that, after a loss of it, you would get a new Hohei Squad right after.

Also, what about changing other Factions? You may change the Soviets to be like, historically accurate to fight with the Japanese, because we did, USSR surely DID fight them, in 1941 and 45, but because the game is 44-45, the 45.
And the USA to be more fitting to this front.

No ideas about the OKW tho, maybe if you're going to make 6 Commanders you may make 3 to the Ost version of Japan and make OKW Japan too, but just with different Commanders and just a bit different gameplay.

And absolutely nothing on Brits, sadly.

Very fun mod! At this point, I'd say balancing, the IJA is strong against infantry commander, weak against tanks, and weak against emplacements. I'd say it's a little underpowered vs other forces.

So spitballing some ideas, feel free to take whatever you'd like (if any).

I'd recommend more commander indirect fire capabilities - the SNLF should have naval support, as they did in real life. The Railway gun would make a good example of that, just renamed. And I'm not sure why that one has the upgunned Chi-Ha, though perhaps that's a historical issue I'm not familiar with. Personally I'd move that to a different commander. The SNLF was their version of the marines, literally sailors pressed into boarding roles initially, due to the rivalry between the IJA and IJN, so it seems to me like the 'Naval Power' and 'SNLF' commanders should be one in the same.

I'd also make their air abilities cheaper and more common. Even when they didn't have air superiority, which they did for the majority of the IJAs war (remembering they started in the early 30s vs China), their air assets were a significant portion of their defense. They certainly should have bombing support for several of their commanders, and this would help against tanks and emplacements.

For example, Observation should have Air Recon available at the 2 CP slot. The Strafing at 12 seems high compared to every other faction - unless it's a more powerful attack, that should be dropped down to 8. It's fine to have multiple abilities at the same CP level, they don't have to be incremental.

I'd have a stronger emphasis on defensive strategy for one commander to reflect the late war island hopping campaign, where the Japanese heavily fortified many locations. They should have concrete bunkers, tank traps, heavy mines. Hell, you could justify British style emplacements. Their cave systems would be very difficult to implement, but could at least be shown as more powerful trenches.

And there's a couple of unique weapons that the Japanese deployed. Their 20 mm anti-aircraft guns were mobile and used against both infantry and tanks. And they utilized flamethrower tanks in the Philippines defense with multiple flame projectors - 5, IIRC. So giving them a flame unit would make sense.

They also utilized a variety of mortars - including a 250mm spigot mortar that was infamous. But giving them the 150mm like the Russians, or adapting the 250mm would be perfectly justifiable from a historical standpoint.

From a doctrinal standpoint, the IJA is most well known for it's banzai attacks, but their doctrine was enveloping and movement. They'd engage, create a static line, and then using movement try to turn the flank. They did this with repeated success in China, Malaysia and Burma.

They also were known for infiltrating machine guns past enemy lines with their infantry, unlike virtually every other army in the world. The limitation in real life was a lack of ammo, which is why no one else practiced the same concepts, but you could replace that with lower health to represent less combat endurance.

They suffered from the worst logistics issues of any major army in the war. A salvage themed commander would make sense. They also captured huge weapons depots in '41/42, and utilized many Dutch and British weapons later in the war. A combination of salvage and (British) lend lease would be very thematic - a commander that is forced to use whatever is available.

Finally, their army in many ways was the most experienced in the world at the start of the war, as they'd been fighting a full decade before the US entered the war. A bonus for experience would make sense.

Anyway, hope that helps! I wouldn't worry too much about using ideas that the other modder deployed. For one, his is dead, but also, the IJA was very distinctive and should reflect its strengths as well as its weaknesses.

Love what you've done with the mod, especially the infantry! Love the design and art, love the passion and effort put into this! Thanks very much!

demiurgenext-
Thank you very much for your feedback! I really appreciate it.

-I agree, especially against emplacements. The current plan is to add a "heavy round" to the mortar that is very slow, but deals a lot of damage, for use against emplacements.

-The 120mm Chi-Ha was a rare Navy conversion; it's a bit of a stretch to include, but I wanted to get as many unique units for the Navy commander as possible to feel like a whole different branch of the armed forces.
-I avoided direct references to ships due to the landlocked maps in-game, but naval bombardment would be a great fit!

-Thanks for the 2CP Observation suggestion! I didn't think anyone read patch notes, or it's a nice coincidence if not. Increasingly, I'm trying not to use abilities directly from other factions, but Air Recon is in multiple vanilla factions anyways, so it could work! Maybe there's another variant of it that would fit. Recon+something else like in Luftwaffe Ground Forces Doctrine.
-The 12CP Strafing Run is a direct copy of "IL-2 Sturmovik Attacks" from the Soviets, but I would argue the Japanese can make batter use of it along with the Coordinated Fire ability. I'm hoping to find a way to make it distinct too, though.

-I actually want to replace the Hohei's non-doctrinal sandbags with trenches, but trenches are still bugged in the mod tools, so we have to wait!
-I would comment on the Island Defensive Commander with emplacements and the Spigot Mortar, but no spoilers for upcoming content!
-We're hoping to portray the infiltrated machine gun in Observation Strategy (the name's not final) with a sniper upgrade! Perhaps it's a nightmare unit to balance, but it was too much fun not to add as is.
-Veterancy is a good idea too! I only included 3 vet levels to not overlap with OKW, but maybe a commander that adds a 4th level of vet would be cool, if possible?

-Interesting to know about the 20mm AA guns, flame tank, and captured equipment! I'll be reading up on those. Salvage also sounds like a very solid theme for a commander.

Thank you for writing that out. At risk of sounding cheesy, comments like yours mean the world to me and really complete the modding experience. I've been planning this for a very long time, and nothing makes the mod feel more tangible/realized than feedback does.
The art credit goes more to Viridai, and I was amazed at the quality of work he was able to produce.

Originally posted by demiurgenext:

Very fun mod! At this point, I'd say balancing, the IJA is strong against infantry commander, weak against tanks, and weak against emplacements. I'd say it's a little underpowered vs other forces.

So spitballing some ideas, feel free to take whatever you'd like (if any).

I'd recommend more commander indirect fire capabilities - the SNLF should have naval support, as they did in real life. The Railway gun would make a good example of that, just renamed. And I'm not sure why that one has the upgunned Chi-Ha, though perhaps that's a historical issue I'm not familiar with. Personally I'd move that to a different commander. The SNLF was their version of the marines, literally sailors pressed into boarding roles initially, due to the rivalry between the IJA and IJN, so it seems to me like the 'Naval Power' and 'SNLF' commanders should be one in the same.

I'd also make their air abilities cheaper and more common. Even when they didn't have air superiority, which they did for the majority of the IJAs war (remembering they started in the early 30s vs China), their air assets were a significant portion of their defense. They certainly should have bombing support for several of their commanders, and this would help against tanks and emplacements.

For example, Observation should have Air Recon available at the 2 CP slot. The Strafing at 12 seems high compared to every other faction - unless it's a more powerful attack, that should be dropped down to 8. It's fine to have multiple abilities at the same CP level, they don't have to be incremental.

I'd have a stronger emphasis on defensive strategy for one commander to reflect the late war island hopping campaign, where the Japanese heavily fortified many locations. They should have concrete bunkers, tank traps, heavy mines. Hell, you could justify British style emplacements. Their cave systems would be very difficult to implement, but could at least be shown as more powerful trenches.

And there's a couple of unique weapons that the Japanese deployed. Their 20 mm anti-aircraft guns were mobile and used against both infantry and tanks. And they utilized flamethrower tanks in the Philippines defense with multiple flame projectors - 5, IIRC. So giving them a flame unit would make sense.

They also utilized a variety of mortars - including a 250mm spigot mortar that was infamous. But giving them the 150mm like the Russians, or adapting the 250mm would be perfectly justifiable from a historical standpoint.

From a doctrinal standpoint, the IJA is most well known for it's banzai attacks, but their doctrine was enveloping and movement. They'd engage, create a static line, and then using movement try to turn the flank. They did this with repeated success in China, Malaysia and Burma.

They also were known for infiltrating machine guns past enemy lines with their infantry, unlike virtually every other army in the world. The limitation in real life was a lack of ammo, which is why no one else practiced the same concepts, but you could replace that with lower health to represent less combat endurance.

They suffered from the worst logistics issues of any major army in the war. A salvage themed commander would make sense. They also captured huge weapons depots in '41/42, and utilized many Dutch and British weapons later in the war. A combination of salvage and (British) lend lease would be very thematic - a commander that is forced to use whatever is available.

Finally, their army in many ways was the most experienced in the world at the start of the war, as they'd been fighting a full decade before the US entered the war. A bonus for experience would make sense.

Anyway, hope that helps! I wouldn't worry too much about using ideas that the other modder deployed. For one, his is dead, but also, the IJA was very distinctive and should reflect its strengths as well as its weaknesses.

Love what you've done with the mod, especially the infantry! Love the design and art, love the passion and effort put into this! Thanks very much!

Can pretty much repeat what Ghost said, but with less expression marks.

---About Banzai...we try to make the ♥♥♥♥ '44-'45, and the Emperor himself said that Banzai charges are no more, even tho it's '45, but still. And what makes it weird is that Germans in this game still have Blitz in '44-'45, so Banzai IS a thing and there will be a Banzai Commander (spolers!) But otherwise I think nothing else could be done to it.
---Will say nothing about Air and Navy as I know nothing about them besides being like best, or at least USA level.
---Defence doctrine with such abilities or somewhat different will surely exist, no worries, we have unique stuff in mind (actually just me).
---I really like Salvage and Lend Lease stuff! I will surely force Ghost to make this :)
We will have a doctrine with 5 vets, but I wasn't ever thinking about giving them bonus to veterancy besides that, maybe they will start with vet 1 and have 5? We will see.


And thanks! Most of the ideas are mine, but Ghost's making it live, so I take this as a compliment for both.|

Wanna play for play-testing?

So, I'm not the best strategy game player and I'm not the most experienced CoH2 player, but I feel like I am just simply missing some things:

I feel like the Imperial Japanese forces are surprisingly weak in close-quarters. Is there something I am missing? I know their Field Assault Officer has a Type 100, while their T3 Officer can specialise in CQB. That said, overall the Japanese just feel underwhelming up close. Maybe am-I missing something about bayonet charges or something similar?

I also feel like I am either missing something or they have no real way of dealing with heavy armour. Their only anti-tank gun is just way too weak to deal with tanks, even with the armour-piercing rounds, seeming to be best used against either light vehicles or infantry. Their Chi-Ha also lacking power aginst tanks. Are the grenades their best way to deal with such issues? I know that against T-34s and Shermans the Japanese are barely "good enough", while things like KV-1s seemingly can move around outside of the reach of infantry with impunity, but with the Japanese still within the reach of their cannon shells.

Is there any way for them to repair their tanks besides sending them back to their base? Am-I just missing something? Their tanks are very mobile but not the most armoured, so repairs are pretty frequent.

The japanese need anti-air gun (like flak or bofor) or mobile AA gun (like soviet halftrack or OBK flack halftrack) for kill planes.
The weapon team with grenade launcher (with blob) are too strong
The artillery is too easy to have and too cheap.
The tank-hunter unit need 2 AT gun or a spécial AT grenade
You can add the howitzer type 96 (with the US howitzer skin)
You can add a commander with a tank like Type 1 Ho-Ni or Type 3 Ho-Ni for kill allies tanks