Gameplay tips for Japanese soldiers

This is a brief collection of tips and strategies ment to help players unfamilar to the unique playstyle of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA)

Mindset

The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) has a different playstyle to that of RO2. This is shown by their special abilities such as banzai and booby traps.

1. Don't be afraid to die.
The IJA troops are harder to supress for a reason. They didn't fear death (in theory). The point of RS and RO2 on territory maps is to take over the objective. Sometimes it is good to take it slow. But when your enemy has so much firepower, sometimes its good to close the distance and stab a couple of blokes.

2. Keep mobile
There is nothing more a flamethrower loves than half a dozen campers hiding in a small room. They will kill you if you stay in the same spot. So don't hang out in obvious zones.

Dirty tricks

As an IJA soldier you are heavily outgunned. Most IJA are equipped with the mediocre t38 and t99 bolt action rifles. Compare this to the high calibre M1 Garand with 8 rounds hot and ready at a moments notice. Before you whine, there are a number of dirty tricks that work.

1. Booby traps (Grenade in hand + look at dirt + right click)
Far more than a funny word, they are very neccesary to the IJA when on defence and can even be used on the offense with a heap of luck and a drop of evil. Most maps have obvious paths that an enemy is bound to take. Remember two things

A: Your teamates will not set them of by walking over them. They can still set them of with bullets (I think, ive never actually tried it) and though marines will only set them off, the blastwave has no such predudice. The explosion will kill you.

B: flame throwers can set them off. Keep that in mind when placing, but don't worry.

C: IN THE NAME OF THE GOD EMPEROR USE THEM! For every trap I've planted, half of them kill somebody, and a third of that time its a double kill. Once I even think I got a 4x kill. So use them

2. Banzai (Sprint + melee button)

"But I don't wanna get shot" probably runs through your mind everytime that guy on the mic is "Let's Banzai C guys come on!"

Banzai makes you three times harder to kill. Really. You can take 3 or 4 rifle rounds depending on where they hit you. That and your melee strikes are almost a guaranteed one hit kill. However Banzai is by no means a group effort only. It can be effective for the solo player. Consider the following tricks.

A. The trap door spider

In a building that marines are likely to travel through (but preferrably not flame all over it) stand behind a wall in such a way that you can just barely see a "high traffic" doorway. Enter unwary G.I. Hopefully he has not seen you. Assuming you have a rifle you are unlikely to win a firefight with him. Instead, Banzai into his room and stab him. After he dies go back to hiding spot and retreat. I once killed three marines one after another this way, even one with a BAR another with a Thompson.

B. Cover to cover

Tired of getting shot when changing spots? Just Banzai. Since your 4 times harder to kill, the only time you shouldn't banzai when moving is if your going ninja style. This will allow you to advance quickly.

*Bonus Tip* - thanks to a commentor below, I will throw this freebie in!

When Banzai charging, don't run in a nice single file line!

Consider the following

* = IJA soldier
!>MG = machinegun

Scenario A: the line

************* ! > MG

You have turned easy mode on for the enemy, and they will gun you down EVERY TIME

Scenario B: the wave

*
*
* !>MG
*
*

This time, odds are (assuming no support) at least one of you will make it and slay the gunner

General tactics

In another guide I read that the Bolt-Action rifles the T-38 and T-99 are best for medium to long range. PREPOSTEROUS! Well, they are good for long range but think about the medium range

Medium Range (All other things being equal) 20-50 meters
T-38 vs Garand = lose
T-38 vs BAR = lose
T-38 vs M1919 = lose
T-38 vs M1 Carbine = Probably lose
T-38 vs Thompson = toss up

The Marines specialize in medium range fire power. The Garand, BAR, and M1919 are at their personal best in the medium range firefight. The T-38 is only an equal when ranges are farther away. "So I should just stay back and camp right?" Not neccesarily. An IJA rifleman should do one of two things.

1. Stay back and provide support fire. This is fine but usually means your not in the cap zones.

2. Get in the faces (or better yet backs) of the enemy.

In territory mode, capzones are everything so get into them and be willing to stab first and shoot later. On the defence use booby traps to guard your flanks while you watch another entrance. (Don't forget the trap door spider method) BE AGGRESIVE.

If you play smart and are a good shot (I'm not, which is why I use these methods a lot) You should get plenty of kills WHILE helping your team win the match.

P.S. Banzai attacks work best from the flanks of the enemy. On Guadelcanal, get to the sides of A, B, and C before attacking. You can sweep them out of their defences pretty quickly.

[Korthor]

theres the SNLF marines too!

[Sink Dog]

I like your line versus wave scenarios. All too often I see banzai charges occur in a line.

[Mancom37]

Don t forget the grenade kamikaze,getting a scatchel and running to a objective can clean it very well!

Just get a grenade or scatchel our pull the pin and click the middle mouse button,then you have timer 5 for grenades and 10 for scatchels

[The Meddling Monke]

Thanks for the great guide!

[Coldethel]

Nice! Gonna try them all!

[PFC Chamberlain]

P.S. also, like you were saying the rifles are just fine for close up, because even I, crappy shot that I am, can hit you. Its *medium* range were the IJA need to be careful, because that is where the odds of missing are high enough to make semi-auto useful.

[PFC Chamberlain]

Hey 13. You do make a good point about the sights, but bear in mind that there is personal preferance involved in that. And bear in mind, if you miss you don't have an extra round waiting for you.

Personally, I am a weak player as far as natural skill is concerned, so I need to take advantage of the non-gun stuff is concerned. And with a bolt-action if you miss and they are looking at you odds are the yanks are going to pump you full of lead. But if you hit them consistently rate of fire is a moot point.

Thanks for the comments!!!

[- T H I R 13 E N -]

and to add my two cents, in close combat such as defending trenches or buildings use your pistol. Also a grenade banzai is really effective to clearing rooms.
If you use these two methods together (grenade banzai but throw them before they explode and then use your pistol to clear the survivors) you can get 5+ kills per rush easily.

[- T H I R 13 E N -]

Good guide, but I dont agree with your idea about the Garand and Carbine, 9/10 times I can easily kill Yanks from close and med distance with the jap bolt actions simply because the sights on the Garand and Carbine are horrible. The extra time it takes to aim properly does not make up for the semi-automatic fire. Thats why even when im American I still choose to use the springfield. Also I am new to RO so you can't argue Im a veteran of the games. (although I am really good at shooting games [not to toot my own horn too much]).

[Bitter Willie]

I am good at this game. I have 3 tips which will make you three times the team player you are now.

1. It's not a real war - get stuck in and take objectives. Look at your reinforcements count in the top left-hand corner, you should be able to judge when it's getting low - as long as it's healthy join banzais, banzai yourself, run through enemy fire and get yourself on that capture point. You'll triple your score when you start killing enemies on the cap zone.

2. BANZAI. Listen to your commanders. The word 'Banzai' should have you frothing at the mouth with blood lust, like it does me. Get to where they need you to be and be a part of it.

3. Zig-zag when you Banzai. I see so many people Banzaing in a straight line towards BARs and Thompsons. Zig zag to be MUCH harder to hit and tankier even if they do. You gain damage resistance based on the banzai multiplier. When you banzai them, you also suppress them. Their hands will be trembling more than a dislexic at a spelling bee.