Imperial Japanese Forces: Complete Faction Guide

The Imperial Japanese Forces, as they appear in this mod, are torn between their love of the attack, and the pragmatic use of materially-inferior forces (guerilla tactics). A large part of their strength is the ability to switch between these approaches as needed.

For instance, at the beginning of the game, they are given 3 options. Tier 1, with defensive and underhanded tools; Tier 2, with aggressive tools that encourage close combat, and the 7.7mm Ammunition Supplies upgrade, which increases the firepower of both front-line and support infantry. 2 of the 3 are required to advance in tech, but getting the 3rd later on is recommended.
Similarly, for handling enemy vehicles, you can either advance in tech, or get the AT Grenade Supplies research first.
The upgrade choices are priced so it is not prohibitive to get all options. Compared to USF, for whom getting all tech is optional (but a bad idea), for the IJF, getting all tech is optional (but a good idea). You are choosing "when" more so than "what".

Japan relies on unit upgrades and abilities in order to level the playing field against the heavier equipment of other armies. For instance, they lack a tank destroyer, but the heavy anti-tank role is filled by fanatical infantry who cost fuel, have powerful anti-tank weaponry, and can become immune to suppression.The Japanese fit comfortably in the "Subversive" RTS archetype.

Tech Tree-

Starting Resources-
Hohei Squad, 280 manpower, 15 fuel

Special Mechanics-
Japanese infantry units receive 50% accuracy when retreating instead of the usual 40%.
They also have a 35% chance of becoming casualties from small arms fire, rather than the usual 25%.

Notes-
-Your infantry has a good amount of firepower and abilities, but has less health than similarly-priced squads from other factions.
-Your mainline infantry construct your buildings. This means you are not forced to keep a combat-ineffective engineer around like the Soviet or Ostheer factions, but you will be forced to send a valuable combat unit back to base to tech up. No point in sending them back with full health; use Hohei very aggressively if you know you'll need them at base soon anyway.
-Your units receive more accuracy when retreating, and you will not have a forward retreat point. Remember that your officers can break suppression or cease retreats. Use these abilities along with forward healing at Field Infirmaries to avoid retreating.
-A number of Japanese units feature mutually-exclusive upgrades. They can be chosen to fit battlefield conditions.

Hohei Squad

280/23mp. 6 man. 7 pop. Builders. 1.175RA. DPS: 4.44/2.25/1.53 each at 8/25/35m. Their range/dps curve is similar to Penal troops, but Hohei have about 10% less dps. Their “near” range is 8m, which gives them an advantage at that range. They are effective at hit-and-run attacks, and can use Banzai Charges to debuff enemy blobs, but if not used carefully, will incur a large amount of manpower bleed.
Abilities:
Type 97 Hand Grenade. 25mu, slightly weaker and slower to detonate than other frags. Has a distinctive throwing sound. 30s cooldown. Requires vet 1.
Type 99 Hand Grenade. 25mu, “standard” frag grenade performance, but still has the throwing sound. 20s cooldown. Requires vet 3, replaces Type 97 grenade.
Type 99 Magnetic Mine. 15mu. 135 damage (50 deflection), 230 penetration, 20m range, 20s cooldown. Works on vehicles or buildings. Requires AT Grenade Research from HQ.
Banzai Charge. 30mu, 15 seconds. Run faster, receive 50% suppression, gain 15m enemy infantry debuff aura: -25% acc (-60% for snipers) and +25% cooldown. 60-second cooldown. Requires T2.
Ambush Camo. Camouflage in cover, gain 25% accuracy for 5 seconds. Requires T1.
Building Repair
Upgrade:
7.7mm Ammunition Supplies. 50mu. +20% DPS for rifles. Changes model from a Mosin to an Enfield. Uses one weapon slot. Requires 7.7 Research from HQ.
Veterancy: 550/1200/2400
Type 97 Grenade / 30% Acc, -8% Received Acc / Type 99 Grenade, -29.35% RA, -25% CD
Can Build:
Advanced: Base Buildings, Caches
Basic: MG Nest, Field Infirmary, Type 94 Mountain Gun Emplacement, Trench.
Doctrinal:
Ability: Lunge Mine
Upgrade: Senninbari. 40mu, 2cp. -3 reinforcement cost, -25% reinforcement time. -10% RA, +37.5% cooldown, one rifle replaced with Nambu handgun.
Can Build: Mk. 6 Radio, Hand Grenade Mines, HMG Bunker, Type 4 Weapon Racks Fire Support Team

230/29mp. 4 man. 42 Vision. 1.05 RA. DPS is better than Hohei rifles (10% better close/medium range, 25% long), but moving accuracy is worse (35% instead of 50). The squad must be used at long range, stationary, and upgraded in order to be effective. Before they are upgraded, they are not very cost-effective, and can be used to capture points and scout instead of fighting.
Abilities:
Type 3 AT grenade. 25mu, snare. 20m range. Requires AT Grenade Research.
Wire Cutters.
Ambush Camo. Requires T1.
Minesweeping.
Improved Mine/Camouflage Detection. Passive, requires T2.
Upgrades:
2x Type 96/99 LMGs. 60mu. Same as Infantry Section Bren, but with 20% less damage.
2x Type 89 Grenade Dischargers. 60mu. Similar to USF rifle grenades, but the damage is spread out more, and reload is slower (7s). These weapons are effective against units that are stationary/in cover. Japan’s alternative to the flamethrower.
7.7mm Ammunition Supplies. 30mu. Rifles gain +33% damage, -10% acc (+20% DPS). Type 96 LMGs replaced with 99s (+25% damage, -4% acc. +20% DPS). Allows Type 89s to be stowed. Requires 7.7 Research.
Veterancy: 480/1000/2060
-25% cooldown, -20% reload / 30% acc, -25% grenade cooldown, -40% grenade discharger scatter / 25% acc, -15% RA, +5 grenade discharger range and larger AoE
Can Build:
MG Nest, Field Infirmary, Log Spike Fence, Barbed Wire, Type 93 Mine.
Doctrinal:
Booby Trap. 40mu. Requires Engineering Strategy and 3cp.
Ceramic Grenades. 20mu. Requires Naval Support or Prototype Weapons Strategy and 5cp.
Can Build: Mk. 6 Radio Type 92 MG

Requires 7.7mm Ammunition Supplies. 240/20mp. 7 pop. High DPS and suppression at long range, but less effective at close range. 90° firing cone. Reloads frequently but quickly.
Ability: Ambush Camo. Requires T3.
Upgrades:
Telescopic Sight. 10mu, increases range by 15%. Requires vet 1.
AA Sight. 10mu, increases tracking speed, allows MG to target aircraft. Requires vet 1.
Veterancy: 460/920/1840
Telescopic or AA Sight / 20% suppression, 30% rotation, 10% acc / 30% acc, 10% RoF, -30% reload Type 1 47mm AT Gun

Requires 2 of T1, T2, or 7.7 Research, like the Field Workshop.Cost: 220/20mp. Very good vs light/medium vehicles, but should use the Coordinated Strike Zone from a Forward Battalion Commander to take on heavy armor.
Abilities:
Strike Mode. Toggle. Increase penetration and fire rate at the expense of accuracy and fire cone.
APHE Salvo
Upgrades:
Bolstered Crew. +1 crew member. Not available to Soviets.
APHE Salvo.
Veterancy: 800/1600/3200
Bolstered Crew or APHE Salvo / -30% reload, +30% rotation / +30% acc, +30% penetration Gyokusai Unit

Requires Battalion Support (T4). 210/4mp, 70/2fu. 7 man. 1 RA, 105 health, .625x received damage, .16x received suppression, 50% flame critical chance (default is 90%). The damage reduction increases their effective health enough to survive a shot from a standard 160-damage tank shell.
Cannot retreat, capture points, man team weapons, or pick up slot items.
Armed with team weapon rifles. Comes with free slot weapon: Magnetic Mines. Similar to the Hohei weapon, but is thrown every 4.3-4.6 seconds. At vet 2, it will slow enemy vehicles for 2.5 seconds.
Abilities:
Banzai Charge. Free, 15 seconds. Run faster, gain immunity to suppression, 15m enemy infantry debuff aura: -25% acc (-60% for snipers) and +25% cooldown. 37.5-second cooldown.
Explosive Ambush Camo. No requirements. The squad throws a stacked Magnetic Mine with (2x Penetration) in addition to increased accuracy.
Veterancy: 900/1800/3600
Faster reinforcement (9.5s to 9), -6.7% Banzai cooldown / -25% cooldown (increases AT mine throw rate), AT mines slow enemy vehicles / +1 squad size, -20% Banzai CD HQ Research
7.7mm Ammunition Supplies

100mp/15fu, 25 seconds. Unlocks 7.7 Ammo upgrade on Hohei Squads, Fire Support Teams, Strike Officers, Marksmen, and Kōhei Squads. This upgrade is a part of tech progression. Anti-Tank Grenade Supplies

100mp/15fu, 25 seconds. Unlocks Type 99 Magnetic Mines for Hohei, Type 3 Anti-Tank Grenades for Fire Support Teams, and AT Satchel Charges for Kōhei.

50mp/15fu. Also unlocks Ambush Camouflage. Kōhei gain Flamethrowers instead.

Marksman

320mp. Standard sniper health. 45m range instead of the standard 50. Fires at Soviet Sniper speed (slower than German Sniper). Reloads every 5 shots instead of 10, but does so quickly.
Abilities:
Hideaway. 5mp. Provides 15 sight range to snipers. Requires vet 1.
Upgrades:
Genso Ammo. 20mu. Removes the “Unit Sniped” message.
7.7 Ammo. 20mu. Increases rifle range to 50. Requires 7.7 Research.
Veterancy: 700/1400/2800
Hideaway / -20% CD, -20% reload, +25% sight / -15% CD, -15% reload, -20% RA
Doctrinal:
Ability: Suppressing Fire. Free. LMG deals suppression, -50% damage for 8-second duration. Requires Automatic Marksman upgrade.
Upgrade: Automatic Marksman. 40mp/60mu, 4cp. Changes weapon to a scoped LMG. Ignores cover, like a standard sniper rifle. Unlocks Suppressing Fire. Critical Repair Team

40mp/4fu. 2 man. 3 pop. Spawns quickly. Limited to 1 at a time. Cannot reinforce, retreat, capture points, man team weapons, or pick up slot items.
Abilities:
Repair.
Critical Repair. 25mu. Like the USF Vehicle crew ability, heals one vehicle critical, as well as 60hp.
Banzai Charge: same as Gyokusai.
Withdraw. The team runs back to base entrance, refunding themselves and allowing a new team to be called.

50mp/15fu. Also unlocks Banzai Charge for Hohei and Kōhei, and Camouflage/Mine Detection for Fire Support.

Strike Officer

250/27/29/23mp. 5 man. .8/.85/1.175 RA. Officer has a pistol and the sergeant has an SMG, both good for close range. All other members are Hohei. Has only 1 weapon slot. Limited to 1 at a time.
Abilities:
No Surrender! Clone of Commissar’s Not One Step Back.
Type 94 Smoke Candle. 10mu.
Stand and Fight! Free, 20m range, requires vet 1. Similar to USF Captain’s On Me!, but the squad does not sprint towards the officer.
Interrogate. Clone of Wehrmacht ability.
Upgrades:
7.7 Ammo: 40mu. Same rifle changes as Hohei, increases burst length on SMG by 50%. Does not take up a weapon slot. Requires 7.7 Research.
Veterancy: 640/1280/2560 Gains shared exp.
Stand and Fight!, -25% CD / -35% RA, +5 command ability range / +30% acc, -25% ability cooldown (except for Interrogate, which gets +25% duration)
Doctrinal:
Holdout Officer: adds a critical sniper, increases squad size by 1, sight to 42. Sergeant switches to a Fire Support rifle. Takes up a weapon slot, exclusive with 7.7mm. Requires 4cp. Type 97 81mm Mortar

Based on the USF 81mm Mortar, with the following differences:
Vet 1 unlocks the “Assault Barrage” ability, rather than improving smoke cooldown.
Vet 3 does not increase barrage accuracy. Instead, it improves setup and teardown times to .5 and 1.5s, from 1 and 2. It also gives a 5% RA bonus.
Ability: Assault Barrage. A special barrage with a larger explosion radius (“standard” 81mm shells, like Wehrmacht and Soviet mortars), faster rate of fire, and no friendly fire damage. However, range is reduced.

200mp/35fu. Includes 5 engineers for vehicle, building, and team weapon repair. 50 range. Requires 2 of T1, T2, or 7.7 Research.

Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tank

260mp/60fu. 400 health, 50 armor. Main gun is 37mm. Performs more like the M8 Greyhound than T-70. Not fast, but good acceleration.
Ability: High Explosive Salvo. 30mu, requires vet 1. Lasts 10s. Increases fire rate, and the main gun will briefly stun infantry and vehicles on hit.
Veterancy: 840/1680/3360
High Explosive Salvo / +20% max speed, -30% reload / -30% RA, -15% scatter, -5 HE Salvo cost
Doctrinal:
Type 4 Ke-Nu upgrade: replaces the main gun with one that is more powerful but slower-firing. Armor increased, acceleration decreased. T3 Research
Request Battalion Support

250mp/75fu, 50 seconds. Unlocks remaining Field Workshop units and Gyokusai Unit. Grants free Forward Battalion Commander or Landing Force Commander.

Forward Battalion Commander

210/35mp. 3 men. .732/.8 RA, .9 received damage for officer. This support unit is very important to the Japanese late game, and can be upgraded as the player sees fit. Has Obersoldaten-level rifles and a pistol. Limited to 1 at a time.
Base Ability:
Coordinated Strike Zone: 60-second cooldown, 5s secondary cooldown. Deal more damage to enemies in an area of 30m. Very important for fighting armor late-game. Enemy vehicles receive +30% received acc and -25% armor. In the zone, your infantry will Banzai Charge for free.
Veterancy: 560/1120/1680. Gains shared exp.
-12.5% RA / 20% acc / -12.5% RA. Each level also unlocks one upgrade, shown below. Like Panzer Elite veterancy in CoH1, but can be taken in any order.
Ancestral Weaponry: 1 Type 99 LMG and Suppressing Fire ability.
Warrior Spirit: Permanent Banzai Aura. Reinforce cost lowered to 32, time lowered by .8x.
Resolve: Halt Retreat ability. Passively reduces suppression by 50%.
Iron Will: Sector Priority toggle ability. Locks down sector, healing aura (2x faster than Field infirmary), 20% dam reduction, no movement.
Insight: Ambush Camo and Recon Sweep abilities.
Swiftness: Sprint when out of Combat. Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai Medium Tank

280mp/90fu. 480 health, 120 armor. The main gun reloads quickly and has good penetration, but damage per shot and anti-infantry performance are poor for a medium tank. With Defense Mode active, the tank is able to trade effectively against enemy Medium tanks.
Abilities:
Defense Mode: Toggle ability, requires vet 1. +100% armor, -75% max speed, -50% rotation, -10m sight range.
Smoke Screen
Veterancy: 1250/2500/5000
Defense Mode / +20% max speed, +20% accel, -20% reload / -10% RA, +25% Health Type 1 Ho-Ni I Self-Propelled Gun

280mp/70fu. 480 health, 70 armor. 9 pop.
Abilities:
Barrage
Direct Fire
Veterancy:
accel, -10mu Direct Fire / .75x reload, ability recharge / -20% RA, -20% scatter, +20% accuracy, +20% max speed

Machine Gun Nest
50mp. Cannot hold squads like other bunkers.
Upgrades:
Type 92 MG. 50mp, 60mu. Uses the same weapon as Type 92 MG teams.
Type 92 AA MG. Requires T3. 40mp, 40mu.
Doctrinal: Concealment Network. 5fu. Provides 50m camouflage aura to infantry. Tanks within the aura may use the Tank Camouflage ability, much like Soviet Tank Hunter Tactics.

Trench
Free, works much like British and Ostheer trenches.
Upgrade: Type 11 LMG. 20mp. Any (slot-item compatible!) squad in the trench will use this weapon, which has a rifle-like DPS curve.

Tank Traps

Type 93 Mine

Field Infirmary

50mp/10fu. 1 population. Has healing aura like USF ambulance, but 20% slower (.2 regen rate, from .25, which translates to about 3.2 hp/s) Can reinforce (even out of supply!) once T3 is built. Type 94 75mm Mountain Gun Emplacement

270mp/15fu. Similar to the Pack Howitzer, but cannot move and has much longer range. All barrages have a 50s cooldown. Penetration is 180. Requires Field Workshop
Abilities:
Barrage. Range 180m, fires 4 shells.
Smoke Barrage. Range 210, fires 3 smoke shells.
Airburst Barrage. 10mu, range 180. Fires 4 airburst shells, which, like British Anvil airburst rounds, have a wider AoE, and will blind vehicles.
Veterancy: 900/1800/3600
Airburst Barrage / -40% barrage cooldown / +50% weapon rotation, +25% health
Doctrinal: Supported Barrage. Cooldown 75s, range 210. Fires 4 shells, offmap artillery fires 4 shells during the barrage. At vet 2, the cooldown only lasts slightly longer than the barrage itself, removing the main reason not to use it up until that point.