Play as · WW2 1939

Japan - January 1, 1939

A modern navy with carrier doctrine ahead of any rival. An expanding army bogged down in China. An industrial base entirely dependent on imports - oil, rubber, iron, scrap steel. Resource autarky is the strategic problem and the path to expansion is the only solution.

Every Japanese campaign starts with the resource math. End the China war fast. Secure Southeast Asian supply. Decide when, or whether, to provoke the United States.

Starting position

The Sino-Japanese war is in its second year. Nanjing fell 13 months ago; the broader war has not. Manchukuo is consolidated. Korea is integrated. The Imperial Japanese Navy is the most modern fleet in the Pacific. The IJA is split between the China commitment and reserves looking north toward the Soviet frontier and south toward European colonial possessions.

The USA is increasingly hostile economically. Trade restrictions are tightening. The clock on a full oil embargo runs in the background of every Japanese decision.

What you have

• +Carrier doctrine ahead of every rival. Six fleet carriers, naval aviation integrated into operational planning, pilot training that exceeds anything Allied navies will field for years.
• +Modern surface fleet. Battleships, heavy cruisers, destroyers. Long-lance torpedoes give surface engagement an edge.
• +Combat-experienced army. Years of operations in China have produced veterans, doctrine, and tested logistics. Quality of training and discipline is high.
• +Strategic position in East Asia. Bases, colonies, friendly states. Forward projection in the Pacific is the easiest in the world from your starting position.

What you want

• →Resource autarky. Southeast Asian oil (Dutch East Indies), rubber (Malaya), iron, rice. The "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" framing. Without these, your war machine has a 12–18 month clock.
• →End the China war on favorable terms. A negotiated settlement that consolidates gains and frees up army divisions for other theaters. The longer it drags, the worse your position elsewhere.
• →Pacific dominance - if it comes to that. Carrier-first doctrine. Strike US Pacific assets before American mobilization makes the gap unbridgeable. Or avoid the war entirely if diplomacy permits.
• →Soviet neutrality. A war on the Manchurian border while Pacific operations are active is unwinnable. Non-aggression pact with USSR is high priority.

What you fear

• !Oil embargo. Without imported oil, the navy stops, the air arm stops, the army stops moving. The single most strategically dangerous event possible. Plan around the embargo timing.
• !US industrial mobilization. Once the US enters at scale, the Pacific war becomes an attrition contest you cannot win. Strike timing is the entire question.
• !Soviet pressure from the north. The 1939 Manchurian border clashes proved the Red Army can hurt the IJA in conventional engagement. Manchukuo is not as secure as the official posture suggests.
• !Submarine warfare against your shipping. Your homeland is islands. Imports come by sea. US submarines historically devastated Japanese merchant marine - and the same dynamic applies in NationFall.

Signature challenges