[kongxinga]

Again, many thanks for the replies.

I have figured out the weird tankers problem.
The thing is, I am buying what is called "Armour Group" which is composed of 2 MotorBikes, 4 tanks, and 4 armoured cars a company. The leader (ie the X0 unit), is a guy stationed on a motor bike. From what I guess, motorbikes are modelled like infantry here, as they die one casualty at a time, unlike SP: WAW where even bicycle infantry tended to blow up like tanks. Thus, the officer on a motorbike would naturally have high infantry command ratings, although the tank command ratings in the teens really hurt. So much for lending his experience to the tanks. I might plonk him a bit closer to the attached support infantry squads though, as he has really nice infantry command skills.

This seems something that could be very confusing to a newbie. Perhaps that small note that very briefly touches on "mixed formations" in the manual be expanded?

As for Soviet Allied Support Troops, I think I meant advisers ( that is , a few units of Russian commando/scout/forward observer infantry units commanded by Soviet officers). I am not sure if they actually participated in actual combat, but it is hard to deny their extensive presence. I vaguely recall a captured IJN ship ordered to randomly fire at the coast to expend its Japanese ammo as it was going to be refitted. It ended up killing by plain accident more Soviet advisers than communist troops.

I must admit I really must be incompetent. What are these Off Board Artillery formations called in the purchase screen? I assume it would be labelled something like Off Board Howitzers or something. I have bought many Off map arty in SP: MBT, but my support artillery purchase screen here seems to offer only on board artillery. I am clueless with Mobhack, so I can't really do anything there.

I am still learning the game, so I guess Mobhack editing is out for me. I guess I will play a few games to learn the game while waiting for the next patch before starting on the epic campaign (1930-1948 Fun!). Thanks for the support advice, trucks it is for my pioneers (unlike you German/ Russian/ American/ Marines/ British etc players, NatChi does not get the luxury of APCs until really late in the war). I will try plotting arty much further from my troops than now and see how that goes.

As I guess I am a clueless newbie, two more questions have sprung up. I notice it is a common strategy for people to buy their HQ a command vehicle after the first mission. I am thinking of getting my HQ a truck (no APCs, so let us hope it does not get stuck in mud). My question is, am I supposed to get the HQ a specific type of vehicle ( that is, something labelled "command Vehicle", or any vehicle can do? If my HQ is riding in a truck, can it still do its duties (rallying, plotting arty, lending experience)?

On a tactics note, since I am sure not many people play NatChi, how does other countries deal with the jungle fighting that occurs with Japan (like say playing as the USMC). The situation I am talking about is that your infantry are in the forest, and you are pretty sure the Japanese are in the same forest. You don't really want to do area fire to flush them out, as the Japanese severely outclass use in medium range firepower with those grenade launchers and support squads, so revealing your and their positions by firing is not really a good idea. I guess this situation does not really apply to the USMC as they also have insane medium range fire power and godly close combat skills, like the Japanese, but what would be a possible solution, from everyone's experience fighting Japanese troops?

Thanks for all the help.