Shanxi

Fairly large manpower. Enemy extremely nearby (Japan/Manchuria).

Army is comparatively large but only 2-brigade divisions.

Technology

Lagging behind in most areas.

Distribution of Leadership

4.28 leadership from start.

Diplomacy

Alliances

Starts as allied with Nationalist China.

Politics

Ministers

Bearable if not optimal. No new leaders appear over time. Learn to live with the ones you start with.

Laws

Initially very inefficient for preparation for war.

Intelligence

Get domestic spies to 10. Reduce Neutrality to get more efficient laws as soon as possible.

Economy

Weak. Initially virtually all production goes into Consumer Goods. Cannot even manufacture Supplies in sufficient numbers to feed initial forces.

However, this can be over come by getting rid of the militias, who are essentially useless in future war against Japan, not to mention it takes too much IC to upgrade all of them.

Trading

Surplus of Energy. Deficit in everything else.

Early trade with Siam for metal and rare materials is advised.

Industrial Production

Large base but poorly exploited. Deficit in Metal and Rares will further hinder preparations for war with Japan (which is virtually inevitable).

Military

Army

Seceral militia and infantry divisions at start. 2 weak cavalry divisions at start.

War

Japan is main enemy. Will likely declare war on you in mid-1937. Expect to die.

Gaming the System

As you start the game, begin trading with Siam for metal and rare materials, this will help with stocking up on these resources.

Get rid of all the militia, they are essentially useless in war and having them will create high Consumer goods, Upgrade, and Supply, quickly draining and making your armed forces useless.

Move what is the rest of your troops behind the FOW instead of the border, only moving them up to the border the moment before the war(July 1937). Putting them away from the border will usually make most of the Japanese troops move away from Shanxi border to Soviet border.

Use your spies to lower your neutrality to 60 by the start of the war, giving you more and more IC as the time goes.

Research infantry support, small arms, and artillery and focus on infantry tactics. This will make your infantry more effective during the war.

It is important to make sure your units receive their upgrades. If you have gotten rid of all your militia, you should be started on upgrading most of your infantry.

As your spies lower your Neutrality over time, you can change your domestic policy, which gives your more IC. Dedicate whatever IC you don't use to create infantry divisions. Spawn them near Dagu where they will receive infrastructure bonus for their organization. It usually best to move the troops you started with to the northern area where there isn't as much infrastructure.

Once the war starts, begin pouring in to Manchuria and hold defensible positions near rivers, which gives attackers debuff and wait for your allies to come. The goal is to drag out the war until Japan invades Nationalist China from the Yellow Sea. Once a stalemate is established, the AI can "go away" back toward the Soviet border or they might try to transport the troops in Manchuria for invasion of Nationalist China. Take this opportunity to invade in to Manchuria and Korea taking care to make sure your allies do not take over the important resource spawning provinces.

See also

• Shanxi ministers
• Shanxi military leaders
• Shanxi provinces