Sorry dear humble internet if you are tired of hearing us ramble about possible designs for the Japanese but here i go anyways
First of all, allow me to dispel the belief that "Japan has only light tanks ". While this may be true in actual combat but Japan did have medium tanks that could theoretically go toe to toe with the T-34 and the Sherman. Why theoretically?, the tanks did not see actual combat because they were sitting around in Japan, ready to defend the emperur from the western imperialists but good ole uncle Sam dropped the bomb and the war came to the end, the production of medium tanks then halted simply because the war ended
Now here is my design for the Japanese forces
axisJapanese Buildings axis
Infantry Operational Command :Brings in base infantry units like engineers and line infantry.
The "Specialised Transferal" upgrade (200MP/20FUEL) allows HQ to call in specialised squads
Imperial Armoury (250MP/20FUEL) allows you to call in support weapons and houses all upgrades for your various tanks and infantry units after researching "Escalation"(250MP/70FUEL) an absolute essential if a Japanese player is to survive late game
Imperial Light Vehicle Command (250MP/60FUEL) orders in all your half trucks,scout cars and light tanks. Advanced Light Tanks can be unlocked at the Imperial Armoury which upgrades tanks to have slightly better armour and significantly better gun at the expense of speed and the cost of future light tanks be ordered in to be more costly and the speed of such tanks slight being reduced
Imperial Armour Command (250MP/80FUEL)
Orders in medium tanks,tank destroyers and self propelled artillery
axisJapanese Infantry axis
Imperial Riflemen (230MP)|5 Man Squad|Infantry Operational Command
Brave Japanese men armed with bolt-action Type 99 rifle Arisaka rifles.They deal more damage then conscripts and volks but will lose long range to British infantry if in cover and close range against US Riflemen. Compared to other units, Japanese Riflemen are quite fragile when compared to its allied counterparts so cover is essential to make up for its low HP but makes this up with an high damage output per shot.
infantry based commanders may choose to research one of the three mutual(you can only pick one) upgrades for infantry(Rifle Focus (200MP/40FUEL)) which gives your riflemen Type 4 rifle(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_4_rifle) which fires semi-automatic rounds which deals damage almost on par with riflemen but with all the unique abilities of Japanese infantry(more on that soon).Reason why the rifle is still inferior to that M1 Garand is simply because the weapon had many problems and was an experimental rifle which made it less reliable then its real counterpart.In order to represent this, the damage per round is slightly weakened.Due to balance reasons, the cost of ordering any future riflemen increase to (270MP) to show the units change in firepower.
Abilities & Upgrades
Type 97 Gernade-Type 97 grenade (25 munitions): - Throws a grenade at selected area, if upgraded with the knee mortar upgrade(60 munitions) then range is extended to almost mortar range
Type 99 light machine gun (60 Munitions): Gives Riflemen a LMG that can effectively fight infantry units comparable to the Bren
BANZAI(VET1):For 20 seconds, the unit launches into a frenzy, the unit moves at maximum speed and close range power of the unit is temporarily increased
Type 3 AT Grenade (25 Munitions) AT grenade snare for Japanese. Comprable to grenade
Lightning Smoke(VET2]): Passive ability that allows Japanese infantry to camouflage in cover and gives bonus damage if unit fires when camouflages
Divine Wind(VET3):Japanese infantry now heals out of combat, revives a small hp increase and infantries damage and speed increases as squad members die, this effect is nullified as soon as unit is reinforced. Similar to penal battalions ability
Imperial Assault Engineers (280MP)|4 Man Squad|Infantry Operational Command
Japan's answer to close range are its formidable assault engineers, armed with vests and Type 100 SMGs. While it may lose to the Soviet Shock trooper, it can cause heavy damage to other infantry if the engineers manage to close the distance.However the engineers are slightly slower then other squads but makes this up with high close range damage and a much faster repair time then other infantry.
Engineers can also make machine gun nests (200MP/60 Muntions),Type 93 Mines(30 munitions) and the unique tunnel structure(similar to the GLA tunnel system from Command and Conquer) which allows quick travel between tunnel entrances costing about (250MP)
Imperial Tank Hunters (280MP)|4 Man Squad (REQUIRES "Specialised Transferal")|Infantry Operational Command
Japanese troops armed with Type 97 automatic cannons,while it may tickle heavy tanks and cause a few dents in medium tanks, it is an dangerous squad for light tanks and vehicles as the anti-tank rifles rip through their armour with relative ease however due to the massive weight of the rifles,Imperial Tank Hunters are slower then other imperial infantry and has longer aim time then other rifles but once firing, the tank hunters will ultimately destroy its target.
If you decide you want a much stronger anti-tank squad then researching Rocket Focus (200MP/40FUEL) will swap 2 of the cannons with Type 4 70 mm AT Rocket Launchers and the other 2 cannons with Type 100 SMGs, make the squad more faster and allow it to detect tanks in the fog of war that are close by as a passive ability
Imperial Sniper Squad (340MP)|2 Man Squad (REQUIRES "Specialised Transferal")|Infantry Operational Command
Japanese sniper armed with Type 97 sniper rifle and a spotter armed with a Type 2 Handgun.If sniper dies then spotter takes over as sniper but reduces sight radius and disables the "Artillery Flare" ability
Abilities
Field Endurance(VET1):Allows the sniper to heal out of combat and can move a tiny bit faster
Artillery Flare(VET2)(60 munitions):Calls in artillery which stuns enemy vehicles,suppresses and kills enemy infantry
Elite Veteran(VET3): Sniper is faster,harder to hit,fires rounds faster and artillery ability cool down is reduced
axisJapanese Support Weapons axis
Type 1 Heavy Machine Gun (240MP)|5 Man Squad|Imperial Armoury
A machine gun that is in between MG42 and the Maxim, it has a reasonable firing arc compared to the Browning HMG and takes a little bit of time to suppress but deals high damage to infantry
Abilities
Incendiary rounds(VET1)(20 munitions): Same ability as other HMGs
Controlled Bursts(VET2)(40 munitions):the HMG a deadly damage dealer for 20 seconds at the expense of suppression and fire rate
Fast Hands(VET3): Gives the HMG crew faster reload times and faster firing rate
Type 90 75 mm Field Gun (300MP)|5 Man Squad|Imperial Armoury
Pretty much a clone of the ZIS-3 Gun,has worse aim then it but has higher firing rate then a ZIS-3
Abilities
HE Barrage(40 munitions):Fires an barrage of HE shells, damaging infantry units heavily
Illumination shell(VET2)(25 munitions):Fires an illumination shell, giving sight to the area fired at
Type 97 90 mm Infantry Mortar (240MP)|5 Man Squad|Imperial Armoury
Typical mortar similar to how the US mortar performs but with higher damage and lower firing rate.
Abilities
HE Barrage:Fires an barrage of HE mortar shells, damaging infantry units heavily
Smoke Barrage:Fires smoke shells,blocks sight
Incendiary Barrage(VET2)(40 munitions):barrage with incendiary shells
axisJapanese Light Vehicles and Armour axis
Type 1 Ho Ha APC (280MP/20FUEL)|Imperial Light Vehicle Command
Half Truck that can transport and reinforce infantry and damage infantry with its 3 Type 97 MGs but must turn in order to fire MG due to constrained arc
Type 95 Ha-Go (300MP/45FUEL)|Imperial Light Vehicle Command
A good anti-infantry tank that can move fast and scout areas but will struggle to face units like the Stuart,T-70 and AEC
Abilities
Recon Mode/Assault Mode:Recon mode allows the tank to move at maximum speed,detects hidden units and has a longer sight at the expense of having weapons disabled. Assault mode simply brings weapons back. Cooldown 30s/15s(VET2)
Sokudo!!(VET3): Crew pushes tank to its limits, going at maximum speed for either flanking or escaping death, there is 15% chance that engine failure may happen unless tank is above 75% HP
Type 98 Ke-Ni (340MP/65FUEL)|Imperial Light Vehicle Command
The Type 98 can effectively engage allied light armour and infantry through slower then its weaker brother the Type-95
Abilities
Recon Mode/Assault Mode:Recon mode allows the tank to move at maximum speed,detects hidden units and has a longer sight at the expense of having weapons disabled. Assault mode simply brings weapons back. Cooldown 30s/15s(VET2)
Sokudo!!(VET3): Crew pushes tank to its limits, going at maximum speed for either flanking or escaping death, there is 15% chance that engine failure may happen unless tank is above 75% HP
axisMain Tanks axis
Type 97 Chi-Ha (320MP/65FUEL)|Imperial Armour Command
The Type-97 is a measly medium tank armed with poor gun that will struggle to penetrate medium tanks at the front and the weakest medium armour in the entire game however makes it up for its low cost and high speed.
The tank can be replaced with a better tank at the Imperial Armoury by researching Medium Armour (200MP/40FUEL) which will replace all Type-97 tanks on the filed with the ]Type 1 Chi-He(340MP/80FUEL) which has improved gun and more armour which can fight on-par with T-34/76 but with greater speed
Type 3 Chi-Nu (360MP/125FUEL)|Imperial Armour Command
Equipped with a 75mm gun, the Chi-Nu can take on any allied medium tanks with its great speed. Comparable to the British Cromwell
Type 3 Ho-Ni I (350MP/100FUEL)|Imperial Armour Command
A tank similar to the SU-76, the tank can effectively damage tanks from a range but is quite fragile to anti-tank fire
Can be upgraded to Type 3 Ho-Ni III(380MP/140FUEL) through research in the Imperial Armoury by choosing the Tank Destroyer Focus (200MP/40FUEL) which will give the tank greater armour and a greater gun to fend off any tanks.
Type 4 Ho-Ro (320MP/80FUEL)|Imperial Armour Command
A unit comparable to the Sexton and Priest, only able to fire its cannon in barrages
JPImperial Armoury Research JP
You can pick only one of the upgrades from the infantry research and armour research
INFANTRY RESEARCH
Rifle Focus (200MP/40FUEL): Focus on arming our riflemen to fight allied infantry efficiently
Rocket Focus (220MP/45FUEL): Focus on arming our infantry with Rockets to fight against the onslaught of Allied Tanks
Support Weapons Focus (240MP/50FUEL): Focus on improving support weapons. Machine guns with faster firing rate,slightly longer firing cone and coxial guns on tanks benefit too. Mortars fire faster and take less time to set up while filed guns cool down on firing barrages decrease and gun becomes more accurate.
Armour RESEARCH
Light Armour Focus (240MP/35FUEL):Improves all light vehicles with greater speed,greater sight and repair times for light armour decreases
Medium Armour Focus(300MP/60FUEL): Upgrades Type-97 Chi-Ha to the Type-1 Chi-He, improves sight and repair times for meduim tanks
Tank Destroyer Focus(280MP/40FUEL):Upgrades the Type 3 Ho-Ni I to the Type 3 Ho-Ni III, improves sight and repair times for medium tanks
First of all, allow me to dispel the belief that "Japan has only light tanks ". While this may be true in actual combat but Japan did have medium tanks that could theoretically go toe to toe with the T-34 and the Sherman. Why theoretically?, the tanks did not see actual combat because they were sitting around in Japan, ready to defend the emperur from the western imperialists but good ole uncle Sam dropped the bomb and the war came to the end, the production of medium tanks then halted simply because the war ended
Now here is my design for the Japanese forces
axisJapanese Buildings axisInfantry Operational Command :Brings in base infantry units like engineers and line infantry.
The "Specialised Transferal" upgrade (200MP/20FUEL) allows HQ to call in specialised squads
Imperial Armoury (250MP/20FUEL) allows you to call in support weapons and houses all upgrades for your various tanks and infantry units after researching "Escalation"(250MP/70FUEL) an absolute essential if a Japanese player is to survive late game
Imperial Light Vehicle Command (250MP/60FUEL) orders in all your half trucks,scout cars and light tanks. Advanced Light Tanks can be unlocked at the Imperial Armoury which upgrades tanks to have slightly better armour and significantly better gun at the expense of speed and the cost of future light tanks be ordered in to be more costly and the speed of such tanks slight being reduced
Imperial Armour Command (250MP/80FUEL)
Orders in medium tanks,tank destroyers and self propelled artillery
axisJapanese Infantry axisImperial Riflemen (230MP)|5 Man Squad|Infantry Operational Command
Brave Japanese men armed with bolt-action Type 99 rifle Arisaka rifles.They deal more damage then conscripts and volks but will lose long range to British infantry if in cover and close range against US Riflemen. Compared to other units, Japanese Riflemen are quite fragile when compared to its allied counterparts so cover is essential to make up for its low HP but makes this up with an high damage output per shot.
infantry based commanders may choose to research one of the three mutual(you can only pick one) upgrades for infantry(Rifle Focus (200MP/40FUEL)) which gives your riflemen Type 4 rifle(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_4_rifle) which fires semi-automatic rounds which deals damage almost on par with riflemen but with all the unique abilities of Japanese infantry(more on that soon).Reason why the rifle is still inferior to that M1 Garand is simply because the weapon had many problems and was an experimental rifle which made it less reliable then its real counterpart.In order to represent this, the damage per round is slightly weakened.Due to balance reasons, the cost of ordering any future riflemen increase to (270MP) to show the units change in firepower.
Abilities & Upgrades
Type 97 Gernade-Type 97 grenade (25 munitions): - Throws a grenade at selected area, if upgraded with the knee mortar upgrade(60 munitions) then range is extended to almost mortar range
Type 99 light machine gun (60 Munitions): Gives Riflemen a LMG that can effectively fight infantry units comparable to the Bren
BANZAI(VET1):For 20 seconds, the unit launches into a frenzy, the unit moves at maximum speed and close range power of the unit is temporarily increased
Type 3 AT Grenade (25 Munitions) AT grenade snare for Japanese. Comprable to grenade
Lightning Smoke(VET2]): Passive ability that allows Japanese infantry to camouflage in cover and gives bonus damage if unit fires when camouflages
Divine Wind(VET3):Japanese infantry now heals out of combat, revives a small hp increase and infantries damage and speed increases as squad members die, this effect is nullified as soon as unit is reinforced. Similar to penal battalions ability
Imperial Assault Engineers (280MP)|4 Man Squad|Infantry Operational Command
Japan's answer to close range are its formidable assault engineers, armed with vests and Type 100 SMGs. While it may lose to the Soviet Shock trooper, it can cause heavy damage to other infantry if the engineers manage to close the distance.However the engineers are slightly slower then other squads but makes this up with high close range damage and a much faster repair time then other infantry.
Engineers can also make machine gun nests (200MP/60 Muntions),Type 93 Mines(30 munitions) and the unique tunnel structure(similar to the GLA tunnel system from Command and Conquer) which allows quick travel between tunnel entrances costing about (250MP)
Imperial Tank Hunters (280MP)|4 Man Squad (REQUIRES "Specialised Transferal")|Infantry Operational Command
Japanese troops armed with Type 97 automatic cannons,while it may tickle heavy tanks and cause a few dents in medium tanks, it is an dangerous squad for light tanks and vehicles as the anti-tank rifles rip through their armour with relative ease however due to the massive weight of the rifles,Imperial Tank Hunters are slower then other imperial infantry and has longer aim time then other rifles but once firing, the tank hunters will ultimately destroy its target.
If you decide you want a much stronger anti-tank squad then researching Rocket Focus (200MP/40FUEL) will swap 2 of the cannons with Type 4 70 mm AT Rocket Launchers and the other 2 cannons with Type 100 SMGs, make the squad more faster and allow it to detect tanks in the fog of war that are close by as a passive ability
Imperial Sniper Squad (340MP)|2 Man Squad (REQUIRES "Specialised Transferal")|Infantry Operational Command
Japanese sniper armed with Type 97 sniper rifle and a spotter armed with a Type 2 Handgun.If sniper dies then spotter takes over as sniper but reduces sight radius and disables the "Artillery Flare" ability
Abilities
Field Endurance(VET1):Allows the sniper to heal out of combat and can move a tiny bit faster
Artillery Flare(VET2)(60 munitions):Calls in artillery which stuns enemy vehicles,suppresses and kills enemy infantry
Elite Veteran(VET3): Sniper is faster,harder to hit,fires rounds faster and artillery ability cool down is reduced
axisJapanese Support Weapons axisType 1 Heavy Machine Gun (240MP)|5 Man Squad|Imperial Armoury
A machine gun that is in between MG42 and the Maxim, it has a reasonable firing arc compared to the Browning HMG and takes a little bit of time to suppress but deals high damage to infantry
Abilities
Incendiary rounds(VET1)(20 munitions): Same ability as other HMGs
Controlled Bursts(VET2)(40 munitions):the HMG a deadly damage dealer for 20 seconds at the expense of suppression and fire rate
Fast Hands(VET3): Gives the HMG crew faster reload times and faster firing rate
Type 90 75 mm Field Gun (300MP)|5 Man Squad|Imperial Armoury
Pretty much a clone of the ZIS-3 Gun,has worse aim then it but has higher firing rate then a ZIS-3
Abilities
HE Barrage(40 munitions):Fires an barrage of HE shells, damaging infantry units heavily
Illumination shell(VET2)(25 munitions):Fires an illumination shell, giving sight to the area fired at
Type 97 90 mm Infantry Mortar (240MP)|5 Man Squad|Imperial Armoury
Typical mortar similar to how the US mortar performs but with higher damage and lower firing rate.
Abilities
HE Barrage:Fires an barrage of HE mortar shells, damaging infantry units heavily
Smoke Barrage:Fires smoke shells,blocks sight
Incendiary Barrage(VET2)(40 munitions):barrage with incendiary shells
axisJapanese Light Vehicles and Armour axisType 1 Ho Ha APC (280MP/20FUEL)|Imperial Light Vehicle Command
Half Truck that can transport and reinforce infantry and damage infantry with its 3 Type 97 MGs but must turn in order to fire MG due to constrained arc
Type 95 Ha-Go (300MP/45FUEL)|Imperial Light Vehicle Command
A good anti-infantry tank that can move fast and scout areas but will struggle to face units like the Stuart,T-70 and AEC
Abilities
Recon Mode/Assault Mode:Recon mode allows the tank to move at maximum speed,detects hidden units and has a longer sight at the expense of having weapons disabled. Assault mode simply brings weapons back. Cooldown 30s/15s(VET2)
Sokudo!!(VET3): Crew pushes tank to its limits, going at maximum speed for either flanking or escaping death, there is 15% chance that engine failure may happen unless tank is above 75% HP
Type 98 Ke-Ni (340MP/65FUEL)|Imperial Light Vehicle Command
The Type 98 can effectively engage allied light armour and infantry through slower then its weaker brother the Type-95
Abilities
Recon Mode/Assault Mode:Recon mode allows the tank to move at maximum speed,detects hidden units and has a longer sight at the expense of having weapons disabled. Assault mode simply brings weapons back. Cooldown 30s/15s(VET2)
Sokudo!!(VET3): Crew pushes tank to its limits, going at maximum speed for either flanking or escaping death, there is 15% chance that engine failure may happen unless tank is above 75% HP
axisMain Tanks axisType 97 Chi-Ha (320MP/65FUEL)|Imperial Armour Command
The Type-97 is a measly medium tank armed with poor gun that will struggle to penetrate medium tanks at the front and the weakest medium armour in the entire game however makes it up for its low cost and high speed.
The tank can be replaced with a better tank at the Imperial Armoury by researching Medium Armour (200MP/40FUEL) which will replace all Type-97 tanks on the filed with the ]Type 1 Chi-He(340MP/80FUEL) which has improved gun and more armour which can fight on-par with T-34/76 but with greater speed
Type 3 Chi-Nu (360MP/125FUEL)|Imperial Armour Command
Equipped with a 75mm gun, the Chi-Nu can take on any allied medium tanks with its great speed. Comparable to the British Cromwell
Type 3 Ho-Ni I (350MP/100FUEL)|Imperial Armour Command
A tank similar to the SU-76, the tank can effectively damage tanks from a range but is quite fragile to anti-tank fire
Can be upgraded to Type 3 Ho-Ni III(380MP/140FUEL) through research in the Imperial Armoury by choosing the Tank Destroyer Focus (200MP/40FUEL) which will give the tank greater armour and a greater gun to fend off any tanks.
Type 4 Ho-Ro (320MP/80FUEL)|Imperial Armour Command
A unit comparable to the Sexton and Priest, only able to fire its cannon in barrages
JPImperial Armoury Research JPYou can pick only one of the upgrades from the infantry research and armour research
INFANTRY RESEARCH
Rifle Focus (200MP/40FUEL): Focus on arming our riflemen to fight allied infantry efficiently
Rocket Focus (220MP/45FUEL): Focus on arming our infantry with Rockets to fight against the onslaught of Allied Tanks
Support Weapons Focus (240MP/50FUEL): Focus on improving support weapons. Machine guns with faster firing rate,slightly longer firing cone and coxial guns on tanks benefit too. Mortars fire faster and take less time to set up while filed guns cool down on firing barrages decrease and gun becomes more accurate.
Armour RESEARCH
Light Armour Focus (240MP/35FUEL):Improves all light vehicles with greater speed,greater sight and repair times for light armour decreases
Medium Armour Focus(300MP/60FUEL): Upgrades Type-97 Chi-Ha to the Type-1 Chi-He, improves sight and repair times for meduim tanks
Tank Destroyer Focus(280MP/40FUEL):Upgrades the Type 3 Ho-Ni I to the Type 3 Ho-Ni III, improves sight and repair times for medium tanks
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