I think your question beings up a good point– which is that the standard game construction deters anyone from using the Japanese because of their weak units-- even their infantry and machine guns are substandard. How, one might ask, did “the Japs” even win a battle with this junk?
Well, the Guadalcanal scenarios lend some great balance, because they incorporate more terrain and defensive position detail.
But there are just some things that can’t be incorporated. Take Operation Barbarossa for example. When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, they routed the Soviets for six months in every sense of the word and captured hundreds of thousands of Russian troops with their Panzered encirclements, and as a result of what was criminal incompetence by Stalin (and delusion that the Germans wouldn’t attack), among many factors.Â
However, in this game- if one were to play a 1941 scenario with the units provided- the Germans would have no answer for the Russian tanks (which of course mirrors reality). The KV-1 stat card incorrecty lists that unit as 1942, so if one were to play with historical accuracy, the Germans would have at best the Panzer Mark III (no early Mark IV models are provided, even though they weren’t too effective against Soviet armor either: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_IV). The Soviets would have the T-34 and the KV-1.
The Soviets should win every 1941 skirmish under these scenarios, because you just can’t factor in to a nice fast-playing board game the circumstances that led to the disaster that was 1941 for the Soviets.
That being said, I love the game… play it as much as often… use hardly any house rules… and think your Japanese army is fine, depending on what your opponent is using. Use the Banzai Charge! If you make it through defensive fire, it basically guarantees you will kill the enemy unit.
-The General