Playthrough - Manchukuo

    • Playthrough - Manchukuo

      I thought I'd try writing a HWW playthrough, as I write myself private ones anyway during most games. Recently I decided I wanted to challenge myself a bit more, having joined games as Nationalist China, Japan and UK, so here we have it: the weakest playable country in Asia. I had three reasons for picking it:
      1. It allowed me to return to my favourite doctrine;
      2. No matter how full a HWW is, one can be 99% certain that nobody's bagged it yet, so I didn't need to camp out the games page for hours; and
      3. I did everyone a favour by taking one of the least popular countries and allowing that game to be replaced by a new HWW with the powerful countries untaken slightly faster than it would have been otherwise.
      A disclaimer: I only play occasionally, so I'll probably do a terrible job of running the country and this will end in ignominious defeat.

      DAY ONE


      Fig. 1 And here we have it: one of the wimpiest armies to grace playable east Asia.
      Surrounded as they are by two of the three most seriously powerful countries by far in this theatre (and, in my opinion, the scariest in the entire game), and having a weak army, the new government's first priority was to establish friendly relations on as many borders as possible. Japan being the most desirous ally, a particularly grovelling request was sent.
      The Soviet Union instantly accepted, but as her ladyship had not thought to send a trade offer as part of the request, she was obliged to accept an unequal alliance (Right of Way vs Shared Map) rather than risk the wrath of a much more powerful state. Japan was much more reasonable, with the states agreeing to share maps with each other.

      International peace and security being secured, Emperor Aragosta's thoughts turned to war. Manchukuo launched its first research project: light tanks and artillery, both level 2. Across the country production of artillery and militia began. Rule no. 1 in the east Asian theatre is always 'invade Manchukuo first', so I'm going to get in there pre-emptively; I've ruled out Japan and the Soviets, which leaves just one easily accessible country: Mongolia.*
      An artillery division is staying right there in Hsinking (leaving one's capital undefended is asking for an ally with shared map to backstab you - I should know because I've done it) and Nanching (a port city) is remaining under militia guard, but everything else is going up to the Mongolian border. Having Japan as an ally - meaning there is no pressing urge to leave garrison forces in every city - is a huge relief, but the emperor barely trusts the Soviet Union and it's high on her list of future backstab victims.

      I notice that neither of them are particularly strong players. Japan's player in particular fails its country's particular litmus test (i.e. if they don't invade Manchukuo on Day One, they're doing something wrong). Good - makes them all the easier to backstab. The Soviets are locked into a coalition with Britain and France, neither of whom bother me in the slightest as they're a fair way away from me.

      As usual for me Manchukuo is already running short on goods - a combination of my habit of having every city on near-constant production (which I feel fully justified in doing here, what with Manchukuo's army being wimpy) and the fact that I focus heavily on ordnance in Comintern and Pan-Asian (ordnance foundries and artillery both chew through goods quite alarmingly). Furtunately the state has powerful - and, more to the point, rich - allies to provide aid, although begging for goods so close to first sealing the alliance is pushing it. Somehow the country is making money, so there's going to be a bit of a buffer before the emperor's chronic financial short-sightedness catches up to her.
      Her financial advisors would like to know why she is not developing their industries? That won't take up goods. Most of the cities are already occupied by unit production projects that involve upgrading ordnance foundries, but the rural provinces have no such restrictions... and Yingkow, one of the only two major cities without expensive projects taking place at present, is the country's top goods producer. The other, Harbin, produces food; Manchukuo's agricultural wealth leads to the emperor dismissing industry development there as a waste of money. Metal is her next priority.

      The die being cast for Manchukuo's first real war, the emperor loses interest until the first front reports start arriving.



      *With the benefit of hindsight, I know what I should have done: declared war on Nationalist China and sent all my forces through Japan. With a neutral country in the way they'd be in no position to retaliate, or at least not without triggering a war with the most OP country in Asia. I did the reverse version of this, and won in a walk, the first time I played HWW, so I really should have thought of this earlier.

      Feedback would be appreciated! However I should add that I'm posting on a three-day delay, so it may be too late to take very specific advice into account.
      Her Ladyship Aragosta
      A.K.A. "The Backstab Person"

      Pan-Asian is a better doctrine than Axis when played correctly and you cannot change my mind.

      You just lost The Game.

      Join the Madness here:
      CoW Forum Players! Unite!
    • Be very careful with the Russians! As an avid Soviet Connoisseur, I’ve pulled the share map to row move with Mongolia before. And if they have the same mindset as your Majesty, I can tell you that if you don’t prove your worth to the communist cause (you don’t become a powerhouse ruling Asia and useful as an ally) you will be betrayed and invaded! Bring glory to the Union or it will bring glory to you…

      CarKing the 6th of the Abrahamic Caliphate
    • Carking the 6th wrote:

      Be very careful with the Russians! As an avid Soviet Connoisseur, I’ve pulled the share map to row move with Mongolia before.
      Oh, I'm all but certain they're going to backstab me eventually. I just am not in a position to defend myself from them at present, so my best bet is to act very unsuspiciously for the first few days and then backstab him. (Or somehow weasel my way into their coalition, but that's no fun.)
      Her Ladyship Aragosta
      A.K.A. "The Backstab Person"

      Pan-Asian is a better doctrine than Axis when played correctly and you cannot change my mind.

      You just lost The Game.

      Join the Madness here:
      CoW Forum Players! Unite!
    • Hopefully they remain weak for a little while. You’ve see the Union game… an active Soviet Union can trounce all of ansia alone if given time to develop. I’ve been attacked by the Asians and caught off guard as well before. I still end up winning more of the time… You’ll have to assemble some allies or hope they remain weak. At least you have Japan though.

      CarKing the 6th of the Abrahamic Caliphate
    • Regrettably there's not much I can say to this without spoiling the outcome. Let's just say that by Day 5 (today) the whole question of who backstabs whom between me and them gets pretty much resolved; interpret that how you wish.
      Her Ladyship Aragosta
      A.K.A. "The Backstab Person"

      Pan-Asian is a better doctrine than Axis when played correctly and you cannot change my mind.

      You just lost The Game.

      Join the Madness here:
      CoW Forum Players! Unite!
    • DAY TWO

      Japan's generous gift of metal arrived; the state can afford to improve existing industry (specifically in the goods and metal department). Once done with production other resource-bearing cities will be upgraded as well. Vital front-liner Hulunbuir needs bunkers, and the whole nation needs infrastructure. As usual there's a lot to to do on a very tight budget... Unit production, as always, comes first at this vital point in the game, with industry close behind.

      Preparation for war with Mongolia continues. Let's just see what stuff he starts with, shall we? Good job I have that screenshot of Mongolia handy from my last game (although I can't remember how much of that stuff was units I'd already built). Why waste money on espionage when there are free shortcuts you can take?
      Verdict: about ten unarmoureds of various varieties (the stupidest duo of words I've written to date) scattered throughout, plus whatever may have been built since yesterday. A review of the wiki confirms my vague awareness that PanAsian artillery gets a 15% attack bonus, so artillery it is. Keep on churning it out, secure in the knowledge that what my default strategy amounts to anyway is the perfect thing to do in this course of action.

      On the research front, we've turned our attention to armoured cars, which get a superb terrain bonus on plains. The empress also got fed up with waiting for the industries to get going and bought some overpriced goods on the stock market and upgraded our infantry level; with more than 40k in our treasury, we can afford the occasional splash in the name of defense.
      Forces mobilising. Operation Surprise Attack on Mongolia has commenced.

      All is eerily quiet in the Asian theatre; one suspects that all these people sitting on what are (in my opinion) the best countries in the game are wasting them. My attack on Mongolia will be the first real action. Hopefully it will be a worthy event and not just scrapping over a (mostly stationery) border.
      Her Ladyship Aragosta
      A.K.A. "The Backstab Person"

      Pan-Asian is a better doctrine than Axis when played correctly and you cannot change my mind.

      You just lost The Game.

      Join the Madness here:
      CoW Forum Players! Unite!
    • Yeah I ended up slightly regretting that later with the long production times. Long-term I think I made the right decision though, as by mid-to-late game I'll be financially in a better position. (Or down to three provinces and losing resources fast. Who knows?)
      Her Ladyship Aragosta
      A.K.A. "The Backstab Person"

      Pan-Asian is a better doctrine than Axis when played correctly and you cannot change my mind.

      You just lost The Game.

      Join the Madness here:
      CoW Forum Players! Unite!
    • Soviet player: level 104, 340 joined games, 0 victories of either type, 0.78 k/d, 1.15 c/l. Japanese player: level 45, joined 45 games, 0 victories of either type, 0.46 k/d, 0.9 c/l.
      Her Ladyship Aragosta
      A.K.A. "The Backstab Person"

      Pan-Asian is a better doctrine than Axis when played correctly and you cannot change my mind.

      You just lost The Game.

      Join the Madness here:
      CoW Forum Players! Unite!
    • Takin the Mission: Impossible for staying awake, eh?
      When the fake daddies are curtailed, we have failed. When their roller coaster tolerance is obliterated, their education funds are taken by Kazakhstani phishers, and their candy bars distributed between the Botswana youth gangs, we have succeeded.
      - BIG DADDY.
    • It really annoys me seeing the major powers go inactive. Fighting AIs isn't as much fun, and why would anyone target Japan or Soviet Union and then waste it?
      On the plus side, it allows bizarre alternate histories where underpowered countries that in real life were under the thumb of other powers take over multiple continents.
      Her Ladyship Aragosta
      A.K.A. "The Backstab Person"

      Pan-Asian is a better doctrine than Axis when played correctly and you cannot change my mind.

      You just lost The Game.

      Join the Madness here:
      CoW Forum Players! Unite!
    • One of my first wins in an ACAI was as Turkey. Since Europe went inactive me and my allies in Sweden and somewhere else I forgot took over Europe (I got the most though!) then we gathered like 300 units at Iceland to invade with US. Eventually we decided to ally and the game ended in victory. Still I somehow won even though I used heavy tanks, that’s the level of insanity that game was. Inactivity was pretty helpful though that one time…

      CarKing the 6th of the Abrahamic Caliphate
    • Lady Aragosta wrote:

      Gets a bit frustrating when every victory is because of inactivity, though.
      Do not worry! As long as you play as the glorious union you always have a chance of fighting all of Asia.

      I’m not kidding! As the USSR I’ve fought a coalition that rules +80% Asia like 6 times now and I’ve always won somehow… thanks to the power of the USSR! Glory to the union!


      The battles always end the same as this video that invades my recommendation every month or so…

      CarKing the 6th of the Abrahamic Caliphate