Thanks for the input, kid, that helps me understand what’s going on here.
Don’t forget, the rulebook wasn’t written for marines. You made a new unit with new capabilities, and you need an explicit rule for allied marines vs. kamikazes the same way the regular rulebook needed a rule for allied amphibious assaults against scrambling (Krieghund had to answer the question - he couldn’t just cite the rulebook because if I recall correctly the rulebook didn’t anticipate the possibility).
My recollection of Krieghund’s answer, then, is the same as Simon’s - you have to actually scramble a plane to stop an amphibious assault by an ally. Just having a functioning airbase and a plane doesn’t automatically prevent amphibious assaults from allies. Just having a kamikaze in the bank shouldn’t prevent all allied amphibious assaults from marines, I don’t believe.
And no, of course I don’t mean Japan would spend a kamikaze for each marine. It would be the same as stopping all bombardment with a single kamikaze or a single destroyer or a single scrambled plane. Japan would spend one kamikaze to stop all allied marines from unloading from a single kamikaze zone, or better yet, you make the rule that kamikazes can’t stop allied landings at all.
OK, the rule doesn’t talk about a combat move by a ship in a kamikaze zone, it says a Japanese ship is being attacked or there is an amphibious assault in the zone (the latter being the case here). However, if you re-read the kamikaze rules, a “kamikaze can target any specific enemy surface warship belonging to the attacking power”
This was not an issue with unloading from an allies’ transport because kamikazes can’t hit transports. Now it is an issue, but the rulebook was never written with marines in mind of course.
But a strong argument can be made (without the Mod squad telling everyone what their rule is) that kamikazes cannot be used to stop allied marines because kamikazes can’t attack ships of allies because it’s not their turn.
Maybe the same argument can be made about scrambling, but if Simon and I are right that the defending player does have to scramble a plane to stop it, then your rule that Japan is automatically immune to all allied marine attacks in all kamikaze zones at all times for free as long as she holds 1 token, should be changed.
Krieghund answered this some time ago probably in the FAQ thread - the easiest thing to do would be to ask him again. You might want to go ahead and tell him about your marine unit and how they work. Tell me if you want me to do it because I would.