Editing Flames of War/Tactics/Japan (section)

===Hohei Chutai===

====HQ====
*'''Hohei Chutai HQ''': Your standard infantry HQ, they are sword teams so they are better in assault and the 2iC can buy a regimental banner, a expensive upgrade that is mostly worth it as it allows any platoon he is close to '''automatically''' pass any morale check in addition to always surviving becoming a casualty without needing to pass a check as long as there is another Hohei team nearby.

====Combat platoons====
*'''Hohei Platoon''': Your rice and fish, these guys should be in every list you make as they are easily your best unit and all formations have access to them. They are a big platoon, having 9 rifle teams, 3 or 4 light mortars/grenade launcher teams, and 1 platoon HQ sword team with the option of switching 3 rifle teams for Nikuhakus teams, something that should always be done unless your opponent has zero armored units, as such they are rarely pinned down and are hard to kill, combined with the Japanese special rules and upgrades they can buy these guys will more often than not accomplish their objective be it taking ground, destroying a tank platoon, or holding their ground until the last man.

*'''Nikuhaku Team''': Not a unit per se but it deserves its own spotlight, these guys are the bomb throwers that can put the Taliban and even the SS suicide Panzerfaust teams to shame, rolling 4 dice against tank teams in assault these guys can kill any tank and often themselves with it since they are improvised tank assault. They are often your only means to kill some of the heavier tanks that exist in the late war period that are immune to most other Japanese anti tank.

====Weapon Platoons/Regimental Support Platoons====
*'''Hohei Machine Gun platoon''': Your bog standard machine gun weapon platoon, can be a good way to add the extra firepower your regular Hohei platoons lack, which is good as you can more reliably pin down platoons you are assaulting or drive back infantry platoons that are assaulting you. A reliable option that will always find some use but they aren't a must-have either as you can spend the points on other means of supporting your Hohei platoons, or even just buy more Hohei platoons to tarpit the enemy with.

*'''Hohei Weapon Platoon''': Only available at late and pacific war. Similar to the machine gun platoon but it can have a AT rifle section instead of another MG section, the AT rifle is more similar to the M2 .50cal than other AT rifles as it has a higher ROF, so it can be used to complement a platoon's firepower and allowing it to tackle soft targets like armored cars and APCs without forcing the Nikuhakus to get involved. Combined with the fact that the AT rifle section is much cheaper than the MG one and it is another good option, even thought it is still isn't a auto take for similar reasons.

*'''Hohei Battalion Gun Platoon''': Very similar in early, late and pacific war, this unit is a auto take as it is incredibly cheap for artillery even with the veteran quality that can be used to pin down infantry platoons with bombardments. Can fire smoke if isn't early war and due to the V4 update upgrading its firepower to a 4+ it can even sometimes kill unlucky dug in infantry teams.

*'''Hohei Rapid-fire Gun Platoon''': Comes in 37mm light gun and 47mm medium gun both with a good ROF as their name implies. This unit's performance and role change according to the period they are used, in the early and Pacific war it can serve the purpose of actually being a AT gun platoon as it can penetrate and destroy early war tanks and M3 Stuarts reliably, so you can use it in the standard manner with standard prices. In late war it's too weak to penetrate most tanks from the front so its use depends on the opponent's list. If he has a lot of medium tanks and you are attacking it can be used as a suicide unit that ambushes a armored convoy up close and hopes to kill a few medium tanks before getting overrun and killed. Alternatively, if he has lighter vehicles like armored cars, light tanks, and APCs, you can use it to hunt those freeing up your Hohei platoons to deal with heavier threats. Choosing between the 37mm and 47mm variants mostly depends on how much mobility you want, the 37mm can come in type 94 and type 1 configurations with the type 1 being generally a little more expensive but having a better AT value and it is generally a worthy upgrade, as both are light guns allowing them to benefit from the '''envelopment''' special rule and being able to cross terrain with more ease. So if you want the gun to perform hunting duties the 37mm is the version you want. The 47mm on the other hand is both more expensive and a medium gun so it should never try to cross terrain, but since it has a better AT value compared to the 37mm it should be your suicide ambush gun of choice.

*'''Hohei Regimental Gun Platoon''': Similar to its battalion counterpart, albeit more expensive with the only real difference being that it trades the man packed mobility and the smoke bombardment for better range and a better AT value firing directly and indirectly, allowing you to maybe actually do something against a Top armor 1 tank when firing a bombardment. Overall this unit should only be included if you need a second light artillery unit after the battalion gun as the battalion version is cheaper, can fire smoke, and moves as a man packed gun allowing you to "tactically advance" away from danger faster.

====Divisional support platoons====
*'''Engineer Platoon''': Think of a Hohei platoon with the option to take a extra squad that trades the light mortar teams for your average pioneer equipment and upgrades like the supply trucks and the better tank assault rating. What really makes them special is the option of switching 2 rifle teams per squad for a Nikuhaku team, so bringing a full platoon with all the possible rifle teams switched for Nikuhakus will make this the scariest AT assault platoon in the game capable of wiping out any tank unit short of a full 10 tank T34 platoon, just be sure to support them with smoke.

*'''Scout Platoon''': Very expensive recon platoon that only features rifle teams with the option for a single light mortar, overall they aren't going to accomplish much alone as they are just rifle teams and are too few in number to do much damage in assault, they can get banners but the upgrade is very overcosted here so it is better to skip it. If you want to use this unit maybe because you have a few spare rifle bases from switching them out for Nikuhakus I would recommend keeping them cheap and using them mainly to protect your units from ambushes and deploy closer to the enemy using the spearhead rule.

*'''Recon Tankette Platoon''': Much more useful than their infantry counterpart as they can perform similar duties while offering more support in the form of vehicle MGs that can help pin down units. Due to being armored they can safely charge units that would generally be too dangerous in defensive fire to charge with Hohei platoons like unpinned MG platoons and SMG platoons as they still have the Japanese tank special rules, just be aware that they have the survivability of a recce armored car.

*'''Transport Platoon''': Cheap transport unit, this platoon isn't very useful in V4 as they are only significantly faster than footslogging infantry on roads and transporting your expensive infantry in open roads in an unarmored truck is just inviting disaster, so unless you are doing a custom game in a extra big table with lots of roads you should skip this unit and just keep your infantry footslogging.

*'''Air Support (Early war)''': The Nakajima type 97 was a fighter aircraft not equipped for close air support, on the tabletop this means that it allows you to roll for fighter interception but not do airstrikes, generally all it can do is sometimes protect your units from getting bombed or strafed by enemy aircraft, so maybe consider if you have some spare points.

*'''Air Support (Late and Pacific war)''': The famous Mitsubishi Zero makes it appearance in the Flames of War tabletop as cost effective air support that survived the transition to V4 rules quite well, being limited air support with the option to buy close air support. You get two planes armed with MGs that can deal some damage to light armored and soft-skinned vehicles like self-propelled artillery alongside bombs that can kill infantry and with some luck bail out or kill tanks that aren't top armor 2. Overall the Zero is cost effective and should be considered for any list.

[[Category: Wargames]]
[[Category:Flames Of War]]