[PatG]

Mods: Can we move these Japanese posts to another thread please? Thanks.

Chuck - I select my sources carefully and was offended by your Hollywood comment.

Light infantry: There are two different but not exclusive definitions of light infantry. The first is infantry that fights much like any other infantry but is optimized for rapid deployment thus uses less and lighter equipment overall - think rapid deployment forces. The second is an infantry force that (among other things): emphasizes the ability to move through difficult terrain, places more control at lower command levels, and emphasizes training, mindset and tactics over materiel. McMichael, mentioned earlier, goes into a lot more detail.

By this definition German mountain troops are light troops but horse drawn artillery isn't - the horses are simply a different form of truck for towing the arty.

Turning to the arty, By rough numbers (all sources vary) the Type 92 70mm gun clocks in at 212 kg, the German leIG 18 comes in at 400 kg and the American 75mm pack howitzer at 1060 kg. For comparison, the Type 11 37mm popgun weighs 93 kg (its French ancestor with shield at 103 kg). It is readily apparant that the Type 92 is a very different beast even from other infantry guns. While a mortar would be even lighter, the direct fire capability may offset the extra weight.

Supply - I agree that supplies or lack there of was the downfall of the Japanese. Even Yamamoto-sama knew that before Japan attacked the Allies. Sadly, there is no way in the campaign game of depicting this so we are forced to use fully supplied, full strength units. ;(

Finally, in some very rough tests for the long Japanese campaign I am playing, I have found that regular German or Allied infantry force can put up a fight against a Chinese horde attack but a points equivalent Japanese force cannot - at least not using conventional tactics. The Japanese oob feels "different" from any of the Western or Russian forces. Not scientific but there ya go.