MALAYA 1942 CAMPAIGN - TURN 6

The sixth battle in the exciting Malaya 1942 campaign using Chain of Command. Fought between Leith and John using the campaign written by Len Tracey.
After a slow start, the Japanese had finally forced the Australians from map 2, in their goal of reaching Singapore quickly.

Japanese Type 95 Ha-Gō light tank

JAPANESE 4th PLATOON
The Japanese platoon of Rikugun Yamada pushed forward to wrest control of the main road junction near Yong Peng from the Australians.

• The 4th platoon was led by Rikugun (Lieutenant) Yamada, who is feeling secure after his victory against the Australians. His commanding officer’s opinion is +1, but the men’s opinion was -2 due to the high casualties experienced in the campaign so far.
• He was ably assisted by Gunsō (Sergeant) Baba, a keen 23-year-old who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper from Tokyo.
• Rifle squad 1 was led by 29-year-old Gocho (Corporal) Sakakibara, a stone worker from Tadami.
• Rifle squad 2 was led by Gocho (Corporal) Miyazawa, a 25-year-old farmer from near Myoko.
• Rifle squad 3 was led by the reliable Gocho (Corporal) Jinnai of Takamatsu.
• Grenade discharger squad was led by the 30-year-old Gocho (Corporal) Kadokawa.
• From the core Japanese platoon, 4 missed this battle while they were recovering. 8 new faces had been drafted in from other platoons to cover the recent campaign losses. Yamada-san decided to have all 4 missing from the grenade discharger squad.

AUSTRALIAN 1st PLATOON
Young Lieutenant Kenneth Reid’s platoon had delayed the Japanese vanguard but were being pushed back towards Singapore.

• The CO’s opinion of Lt. Reid was +4. He was feeling Superior. Perhaps he was starting to be overconfident? The men's opinion was good at +2 because of the delays they were inflicting.
• Sergeant Gary Turner again provided experience for the troops.
• Corporal Brian Evans usually led 1st section but was recovering from concussion. He was replaced by William “Billy” Brewer, who had stood in for him at an earlier battle and was now respected by the men.
• Corporal Colin Moore continued to lead the 2nd section
• Corporal William Colling continued to lead the 3rd section.
• Some replacements had finally arrived from Singapore. Enough to bring the platoon back to full strength, although they were 3 men short for this battle. Two were at the first aid station. The other was the gap left by the temporary promotion of “Billy” Brewer. Reid decided to drop a man from each section for this battle. 

MAP
This was the first battle on map 3, using scenario 3 from the Chain of Command rulebook. The map was the Y-intersection of the main and secondary roads near the village of Yong Peng. (In reality it may have been a large town in 1940. If so, just assume the main part of the town is just to the east of the tabletop).
3 random rolls on the campaign terrain table created the following map after random rolls for placement. A village and open area nearby made the eastern part of the table good a good defensive area. The secondary jungle in the north would cramp the attacker’s deployment; although could provide some flank protection if needed.
A compulsory building was to be added. We decided it made sense to have one near the junction to welcome weary travelers and so Latipah's Tea House came into being.

Map for battle 6 - The Battle of Yong Peng

SUPPORT
Leith rolled a 7 for support, which meant the Australians got the same (3 for platoon difference, +1 from CO’s opinion and +3 from half Leith’s roll – rounded down). Support choices were kept secret.
Possibly more Japanese tanks? I agonised over this. 8 support points would have been ideal for the Australians as that would allow a 2-pdr anti-tank gun and either an additional infantry section or a Vickers MMG to cover many possibilities. The really good supports for the Australians all cost 4 points, so 7 support points made it guesswork.
An interesting thought was to take a roadblock for each road and put them up near the Japanese table edge, so they could deploy any tanks, but not move them further down the road. Or maybe I should guard my flank with one roadblock on the secondary road only. I finally decided to call up a 2-pdr anti-tank gun and bring back the Lanchester armoured car.
If there was a medium tank the Boys anti-tank rifle was probably not enough. If I could get rid of any tanks, then the Lanchester would add some nice firepower a little way into the jungle from the road. At only 3 support points the Lanchester is a great way to get an HMG and an MMG but would be restricted to the roads and villages in this scenario. If I could not get rid of any tanks, it would be too dangerous to bring on the Lanchester, but then I probably would have to withdraw anyway.
The Japanese decided on a Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank and a Type 95 Ha-Gō light tank. This would give them opportunities to race down the road and provide some heavy fire support.


FORCE MORALE
Each side had a +1 adjustment to the die roll. The Japanese adjustment was due to the campaign and the Australians due to Lt. Reid’s outlook. Low rolls saw the Force Morale become the opposite of the last battle, with 9 for the Japanese and 8 for the Australians.


PATROL PHASE
The Japanese commander spread his patrol groups rather wide and had trouble pushing forward as fast as he wanted. The Australians moved up as quickly as they could to try and make the secondary jungle a problem for the Japanese deployment. They were reasonably successful in this as you can see in the resulting photo, although it was always likely that the battle would be fought in the western half of the board (the left of the photo).
The white circles show the position of the Japanese jump-off points and the blue circles the Australian.

Japanese and Australian jump-off points after the patrol phase

BATTLE
No roadblocks to deploy this time. With the higher Force Morale, the Japanese began the battle for the junction. As per the “At the Sharp End” campaign supplement from the TooFatLardies the Australians chose to begin this scenario with a Chain of Command die and an emplacement.

Turn 1 Phase 1

• A useful starting command roll of 2, 3, 3, 5, 6 for the Japanese. Making their intentions plain, they brought on a Chi-Ha medium tank on the main road and a Ha-Gō light tank on the secondary road end.
• The Australians replied with 2, 3, 5, 5, 6 starting towards a new Chain of Command die. They brought on the 2-pdr and the Boys rifle teams against the light tank, hoping to concentrate and get rid of it quickly before going after the better armoured Chi-Ha. The Boys anti-tank rifle team had to deploy in the road behind an emplacement so they could also get to fire at the light tank. 
• 1 nett hit from each added 2 shock to the tank, the main gun sight damaged for the battle and the driver not able to get the tank in gear for the next phase. A good start.

Japanese Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank

Turn 1 Phase 2

• A 4, 5, 5, 6, 6 meant all the Japanese could do was accumulate some Chain of Command points and have another go. One or two 3s would have been handy to remove shock from the light tank and fire back at the 2-pdr.

Turn 1 Phase 3

• 1, 1, 2, 2, 6 allowed the Japanese to start the tank attack. The main gun put a shock on the 2-pdr crew but the hull machine gun failed to cause a problem.
• The medium tank raced 14” down the road towards the junction.
• A 2, 4, 5, 5, 6 continued the accumulation of Chain of Command points for the Australians and allowed the 2-pdr to put 2 nett hits on the light tank. The main gun was knocked out, dropping the Japanese Force Morale by 1.
• Sergeant Turner removed a shock from the 2-pdr. Directing the fire of the anti-tank rifle allowed them to put another nett hit on the light tank, damaging the engine. It was taking a pounding but still hanging in there. At 3 total shock it was close to the crew deciding to bail out.

The Australian Boys anti-tank rifle team supported the 2-pdr against the tanks

Turn 1 Phase 4

• With 1, 2, 2, 3, 6 the Japanese medium tank raced another 13” down the road. The first infantry appeared on the table with rifle squad 1 and 2 arriving. 
• The Australians used 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 to fire at the light tank. They Boys rifle missed but the 2-pdr finished it off with 1 nett hit – causing the crew to bail out. Losing support upset the Japanese and they lost 2 from their Force Morale. It was now down to 6. 
• Ineffective fire from the Japanese overall this phase. But with them starting to mass, was this the calm before the storm?

Turn 1 Phase 5

• Lots of 1s opened up many command combinations for the Japanese with 1, 1, 1, 3, 4.
• The Japanese 1st rifle squad tried to move quickly but only managed 3”.
• The medium tank crept forward 4” and shot at the Australian 1st section, although did no damage.
• Replying with a 1, 1, 4, 5, 6 Sergeant Turner moved the Boys rifle team and the key 2-pdr team west - to try and take up position to fire on the medium tank.
• The Australian 1st section only managed a 1” tactical move. They were not able to see any opponents yet.

Having destroyed the light tank, the 2-pdr now switches to the Chi-Ha

Turn 1 Phase 6

• A command of 1, 3, 3, 5, 6 saw the Japanese 2nd rifle squad carefully move forward 3” although they also were just short of seeing any enemy.
• The medium tank killed one of the anti-tank gunners with HE although the hull machine gun failed.
• One of the grenade discharger teams fired to no effect.
• The Australians rolled a straight with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The 2-pdr just missed the tank. It would have hit it if I had remembered to use 2 command points from the Sergeant to add +1 to the 2D6 roll.
• The Boys rifle team dashed across the road to find a position where they could fire without being blocked by the crew of the anti-tank gun.
• “Billy” Brewer’s 1st section landed 7 hits on the Japanese 2nd squad – resulting in 1 kill.
• The 2nd section arrived to assist, but not being able to see any targets decided to go on overwatch.

The Australians can only just see the Japanese through the jungle, but it allows them to fire

Turn 1 Phase 7

• The duel continued with the tank. The Japanese used 1, 1, 3, 5, 6 to fire both guns to good effect. They killed one of the Boys team and added a shock. One more and they would break. They also killed a gunner from the 2-pdr team and added a shock as well.
• The grenade discharger squad were not able to contribute any casualties.
• After Sergeant Turner removed a shock, the 2-pdr clanged a round off the Chi-Ha’s turret. This rattled the crew - adding a shock and forcing the tank to reverse 3”. The Australian command of 1, 2, 2, 4, 5 also allowed the Boys to move 4” away from the edge of the road. They were now too fragile to stay in sight of the tank.
• The 2nd section moved 6” forward, bringing the Japanese 2nd rifle squad into sight but their fire was ineffective.
• The 1st section must have moved more carefully, since their reduced fire resulted in 1 kill and 1 shock on the 2nd squad.

The Japanese 2nd rifle squad takes some punishment before shooting back

Turn 1 Phase 8

• The battle was starting to settle into a bit of a pattern, although before the Japanese could use their 3, 3, 3, 3, 4 the Australians used a Chain of Command die to interrupt for another shot at the tank, since they saw this as their biggest threat. The 2-pdr added 1 more shock and pushed the tank back another 4”.
• The Japanese responded by removing a shock and returning fire with the main gun. The Australian gunners managed to avoid casualties from the hits.
• The Japanese 1st squad made good progress through the jungle with a 9” move.
• Their 3rd squad arrived. The 2nd squad removed a shock whilst their fire placed a shock on each rifle teams within the Australian 1st and 2nd sections.
• With all his troops now involved in the battle, Rikugun Yamada arrived to personally direct the knee mortars. Their fire also placed a shock on each of the same rifle teams.
• The reply from the Australians was a double phase coming from a command roll of 1, 3, 4, 6, 6.
• The 2-pdr failed to land a hit.
• The Australian 1st section moved tactically towards the Japanese 2nd squad. With a rapid surge forward of 6” they killed a man and wounded the newly arrived Rikugun Yamada. He lost a command point and this dropped the Japanese Force Morale to 5.
• The rifle team of the 2nd section added a shock to the Japanese.

Latipah's Tea House at the junction with Yong Peng in the background

Turn 1 Phase 9

• Continuing with 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 the anti-tank gun hit this time. The 0 nett hits provided no benefit to the Australians.
• Combined fire from the 1st and 2nd sections inflicted 2 kills and 3 more shock on Miyazawa’s squad. The 9 men left now had 4 shock in total. The large size of the squad meant that the Japanese could absorb a lot of punishment.
• The Japanese completed a Chain of Command die with a 1, 1, 3, 5, 6. A shock was removed but this failed to help the inaccurate fire from Miyazawa’s squad, even with them not counting the first 2 shock (a special campaign rule for the Japanese).
• The knee mortars finally hit something, adding a shock to each of the teams forming the Australian 2nd section.

Turn 1 Phase 10

• More fire and movement from the Australian left flank with 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 for command. The 2nd section tactically moved forward 2” although failing to inflict any damage. I rarely seem to inflict casualties from the half fire when moving tactically. At least the more limited movement kept the two sections together so that they could share casualties. Also, there is a real risk of rolling a high move on 2D6 that might put you into close combat range before you are ready. 
• In Chain of Command movement distance is by dice rolls. You can designate a place to move to where there is obvious terrain, such “move up to the edge of the wood but do not go into the open”, “stop at the edge of the road”, “move to that barn”, “move up the road until you are level with the church”. Then even if you roll higher you can stop your movement there. What you cannot do is say “move to that blade of grass in the open field”, “move 6” along the road” or “stop 4.2” from the enemy” as it is not realistic for troops to be that precise. This adds to the fun as you may have to cope with troops ending up a little out of position where there are no clear landmarks.
• Whilst the 2nd section was moving, the 1st section laid down some effective fire – adding a shock as well as knocking out the injured Rikugun Yamada. His bravery had been inspiring his men but putting him in harm’s way. Japanese Force Morale was now down to 4 which meant Leith would only roll 4 command dice.
• The Chi-Ha had nothing to worry about as the AP round from the 2-pdr went wide, slamming into a tree. The 3rd Australian section of Corporal William Colling arrived to protect the anti-tank gun from the approaching Japanese of Gocho Sakakibara. 
• Leith used a Chain of Command die to end the turn so that the brave Yamada-san regained consciousness.

Alternate fire and movement brings the Australians closer to the Japanese rifles 

Turn 2 Phase 1

• Despite only having 4 command dice, the Japanese roll of 3, 3, 4, 6 seemed quite useful. The Japanese plan was now to try and inflict casualties on the Australians to make the next battle easier.  Unfortunately, the heavy fire from the 2nd squad and the grenade discharger squad inflicted no casualties on the western side of the battlefield.
• As the tank was about to fire on the 2-pdr, the latter used a Chain of Command die to interrupt with a quick shot for 2 nett hits. No shock added, but the main gun was knocked out of action. Resigned to whatever fate had in store for them, this did not to dampen the morale of the Japanese. Resorting to the hull machine gun failed to harm the Australian gun crew while the main turret was rotated to face its machine gun forward.
• Fire in the east killed a newly arrived rifleman from Colling’s 3rd section.
• A 1, 3, 3, 4, 5 brought the Australian’s just 1 off another Chain of Command die as the Boys rifle team continued to make their way back to safety. In some games you rarely see a Chain of Command dice but in this one both sides had the benefit of several.
• Despite missing the tank, the Australian small arms fire was more effective - adding 4 shock to the approaching squad of Gocho Sakakibara. The continual punishment of Gocho Miyazawa’s squad from the two Australian sections whittled it down to 8 men with 6 shock.

Turn 2 Phase 2

• With a 3, 3, 5, 5 Gocho Sakakibara ordered his 1st rifle squad to charge the Australians screening the anti-tank gun after removing a shock. Unfortunately, as they moved with purpose they fell short of engaging the Australians. Rolling 5 on 2D6 had brought the Japanese 4” short of engaging the Australians in close combat.
• A shock on the 2-pdr from the hull machine gun of the Chi-Ha, but no effect from the turret.
• Sergeant Turner removed a shock from the anti-tank gun. Knowing they had the next phase with a 2, 3, 4, 6, 6 he instructed the crew not to rush. Taking deliberate aim they responded to his short but inspirational speed – “just make sure you hit the bastard” - by smashing the tank with 4 nett hits. As the crew bailed out of the useless hulk the Japanese Force morale dropped to 3.
• Australian small arms fire killed 1 and added 1 shock to the charging 1st rifle squad, which would probably not be enough to stop them.
• The Japanese 2nd squad copped more fire. They were now down to 7 men with 9 shock (counting as 7 for the Japanese). Almost pinned. Remember in this campaign the Japanese take shock normally but discount 2 shock when determining its effect.

The Japanese crew managed to bail out of the knocked-out Chi-Ha medium tank

Turn 2 Phase 3

• A 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 for the Australian consecutive phase allowed plenty of command combinations.
• With the tank threat eliminated, the Lanchester rattled up the road, veering left up the main road. They were hoping to pour fire into Gocho Sakakibara’s advancing squad but unfortunately did not make it far enough.
• To the west the continued fire of the Australian 2nd section brought the dwindling Japanese squad down to 6 men with 12 shock (counting as 10), nearly breaking them. Seeing this, Acting Corporal “Billy” Brewer charged his men forward.

The Australian 1st section charges home against the pinned Japanese 2nd squad

• The advantage definitely favoured the Australians, although the Japanese put up stiff resistance. As the already wounded Rikugun Yamada unsheathed his katana to help, the Japanese ended with more dice than Leith or I expected.
• For the Japanese: 5 dice from 5 men, +2 dice from the junior leader, +2 dice from the injured senior leader, +2 dice from the Australians using 2D6 to move into range, -5 dice for the 12 shock (counting as 10), +2 dice for being aggressive (1 per 3 men), +4 dice for the LMG gave 12 dice so far. Adding 1 dice per 2 for defending heavy cover, then halving because of being pinned, resulted in a total of 9 dice.
• For the Australians: 8 dice from 8 men, +2 dice from the junior leader, +2 dice from the Thompson SMG, +2 dice for the Bren resulted in a total of 14 dice. Normally LMGs do not give the attacker extra dice, but we decided that the magazine-fed Bren would be similar to the Japanese LMG in that it can be treated as an SMG in attack. See the Japan Island Defence platoon list for details. There are plenty of accounts of the Bren being used in this manner, particularly by the Australians in the Pacific.
• The ensuing melee resulted in 3 shock to the Japanese squad, all 5 men killed, and Gocho Miyazawa losing a command point. This wounding was a bad thing for the Japanese, bringing their Force Morale down to 2. However, they seemed unconcerned by the destruction of the squad! Leith rolled a 1 which is adjusted to 0 in this campaign for the Japanese. Despite being heavily involved in the fighting, Rikugun Yamada avoided further wounds.
• Only the two Japanese leaders remained. They withdrew 12” while working out what to do next.
• “Billy” Brewer was knocked out while leading his men although this did not impact their morale. The Australians lost 2 rank and file killed. Moving forward to take the position now brought them in close range of the Japanese grenade discharger squad.

The Australians have wiped out the Japanese 2nd squad, with only the leaders surviving. The leaders have retreated behind  the grenade discharger squad which the Australians now have firmly in their sights 

Turn 2 Phase 3

• Despite only 3 command dice, the Japanese rolled enough with 2, 2, 4. With the focus turning east of the main road the knee mortars laid some preliminary bombardment; killing a Bren loader and adding the first shock to Corporal William Colling’s rifle team.
• The squad knew what Gocho Sakakibara wanted. They advanced 5” into close combat range through the jungle. No chance of getting lost as they were within sight of the main road.
• Oops, we forgot to reduce the Japanese movement by 2” because of the 4 shock (treated as 2). This would have left the Japanese squad just 1” short of engaging in close combat. We let it stand as the Australians had used +4 dice instead of +2 for the Bren in the other combat – swings and roundabouts.
• With just one point short of a full Chain of Command die, the Lanchester was unable to interrupt the Japanese squad’s advance.

The Australians are winning west of the road as the Japanese advance to the east 

• A vigorous battle occurred between the aggressive Japanese and the stubborn Australians.
• For the Australians: 6 dice from 6 men, +2 dice from Corporal Colling, +2 dice from the Japanese using 2D6 to move into range, +2 dice from the Thompson SMG, +4 dice for the Bren gave 16 dice so far. Adding 1 dice per 2 for defending heavy cover resulted in a total of 24 dice.
• For the Japanese: 12 dice from 12 men, +2 dice from Gocho Sakakibara, -1 dice for the 4 shock (counting as 2 shock for the Japanese in this campaign), +4 dice for being aggressive (1 per 3 men) +2 dice for the Japanese LMG counting as an SMG in attack (see the Japan Island Defence platoon list for details) result in a total of 19 dice.
• Not even the jungle could shield all the men as they tried to dodge the dice with their names on them. The Japanese received 3 shock as 5 men and Gocho Sakakibara were killed. The loss of his leadership affected the Japanese force greatly. Their Force Morale bottomed out, causing the remnants of the platoon to withdraw from the field.
• In the melee they had put out of action 4 Australians from the 3rd section. Corporal Colling had been wounded, which dropped the Australian Force Morale to 7. Both teams only had 1 man left standing. With the help of the Bren gunner and the Thompson gunner, Corporal Colling searched among the fallen for any men in need of medical attention. 

The Lanchester armoured car rattles past Latipah's Tea House, but is not allowed to stop

WRAP UP
The Australians were relieved that the battle ended when it did. Because the Japanese count as aggressive they do not retreat from melee with a nett hit difference of only 1. If the Force Morale had not dropped to 0 there would have been a second round of combat and a chance to wipe out the section and/or kill the leader. Although likely that the Japanese squad would have ended pinned, any additional casualties for the Australians would have hurt them in the campaign.

• For the Australians: 2 dice from 2 men, +1 die from Corporal Colling, +2 dice from the Thompson SMG, +2 dice for the Bren would give them 7 dice.
• For the Japanese: 7 dice from 7 men, -2 dice for the 7 shock (counting as 5), +2 dice for being aggressive (1 per 3 men) +2 dice for the Japanese LMG would give them 9 dice.

The Australians would have been better off using 2D6 instead of 1D6 to move the Lanchester. Wheeled vehicles double their movement on the road, so this should have moved them close enough to fire the turret HMG for 10 dice at Sakakibara’s squad, with them counting only as being in light cover. Additional kills and shock would have reduced their dice but more importantly reduced their move enough to not make it into contact (if we had remembered!).
The low starting Force Morale meant that both sides were brittle. Early setbacks to the Japanese Force Morale from damage to the tanks and wounds to various leaders did not help the Japanese cause. Their Force Morale dropped steadily throughout the game, even though they were not losing that many men killed.
On the western side of the battlefield, the Australians were able to dominate with 2 sections against 1 squad.
The 3rd Japanese rifle squad was too far back to be a threat. The Japanese never seemed to have the spare command to push it forward, particularly early on. I think this was mainly due to the 2 tanks chewing up most of the 3s.
Given how weak the armour is on the Ha-Gō light tank it turned out to be a liability; both from using up command dice and also from contributing to the loss of Force Morale. Mind you, this was only because the Australians chose the 2-pdr anti-tank gun for support. Had they not, it would have been a very different battle. It was certainly threatening having a tank coming down each road.
It would also have been much scarier for the Australians if the Japanese had obtained 1 more support point as this would have allowed them 2 medium tanks.
The choice of concentrating on taking out the weaker tank before turning on the medium tank worked well, despite taking longer than I had hoped.
Once again we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The more we play, the more we like Chain of Command as well as the campaign system.

The Japanese commence their withdrawal from the battlefield - but they will be back

CAMPAIGN IMPACT
A major victory to the Australians. They can now counter-attack on this map if they wish – the first time in the campaign. That should be fun.
20 Japanese casualties in the battle of Yong Peng for the Japanese, including Gocho Sakakibara. The 2nd rifle squad was wiped out. Only their wounded Gocho was left, down to 1 command point.
Rikugun Yamada heads off to hospital and a severe interview with his commanding officer. His platoon probably will be used to provide replacements for other more successful ones.
The Australians had 10 casualties including 2 from the anti-tank support team. With a Force Morale difference of 7, they scoured the battlefield and patched up all but 3. We decided to approximately proportion these as it would be rather dodgy to take most losses from the supports. So, 1 “killed” from the 2-pdr team and 2 from the main platoon. The latter become 1 dead and 1 missing the next turn.
Since Corporal Brian Evans returns with 2 men, “Billy” Brewer will return to the ranks having gained further experience at leading a section. The lucky Australian platoon will only be 2 short: Private Martin Bowen dead and Private Joseph Pentram headed for the aid station. It could have been much worse.
The CO’s opinion of Lt. Kenneth Reid rose to +5. The men’s opinion leapt to +4. His own outlook went to heroic. Had the Australian press found a new hero amongst the debacle of the Malayan campaign? The next few battles would decide.

MALAYA 1942 CAMPAIGN - TURN 5

The fifth battle in Len Tracey’s Malaya 1942 campaign. Again fought between Leith and John using Chain of Command. With major victories in the last 2 games, the Australians were hoping they had finally got the measure of the Japanese. But with the Japanese force bringing in a new platoon and a chance to roll higher than 1 for supports, nothing was being taken for granted.

JAPANESE PLATOON 4

With 3 losses and a minor victory to the Japanese so far in the campaign, this was to be the 4th platoon brought in by the Japanese against the tough Australian defenders.

• The 4th platoon was led by Rikugun (Lieutenant) Yamada and backed up by Gunsō (Sergeant) Baba.
• Rifle squad 1 was led by 29-year-old Gocho (Corporal) Sakakibara, a stone worker from Tadami.
• Rifle squad 2 was led by Gocho (Corporal) Miyazawa, a 25-year-old farmer from near Myoko.
• Rifle squad 3 was led by the reliable Gocho (Corporal) Jinnai of Takamatsu.
• Grenade discharger squad was led by the 30-year-old Gocho (Corporal) Kadokawa.

AUSTRALIAN PLATOON 1

The Australians continued with the platoon of Lieutenant Kenneth Reid and Sergeant Gary Turner. With the return of one man from hospital, the platoon was only 3 men short. I decided to have one man less per section.

The CO’s opinion of Lt. Reid had climbed to +4 in the campaign, which gave the Australian platoon +1 support in this battle. The men's opinion was at +3. Reid's outlook was superior. These gave him a total of +2 on the Force Morale role.

• Corporal Brian Evans continued to lead the 1st section
• Corporal Colin Moore continued to lead the 2nd section
• Corporal William Colling continued to lead the 3rd section.

MAP

Like battles 3 and 4, this one was to be fought using scenario 2 from the Chain of Command rulebook. Because of the difficulties that the village and bamboo forest had posed in those battles, Leith decided to attack further west, while retaining use of the main road in case he could get a tank.

Because a third of the board was already defined (the 2 feet which included the main road) we decided to only roll for 2 instead of 3 additional terrain type in the primary jungle to the west of the road. Funnily enough, Leith rolled a village of 3 buildings and a bamboo forest. Placement was randomised into the western 4 feet of the board, resulting in the following map. A foot track was added to connect the village to the main road.

SUPPORT

Leith rolled a 6 for support, which finally gave him plenty of support options. It was likely that he would choose a tank. There were plenty of other options for him, especially as some of the supports cost less than usual for the Japanese in this campaign. This is a good representation of the Japanese preparedness for their Pacific campaigns. I would have to wait and see. Again we kept the support choices secret at the start.

The Australians gained 7 support points (3 from the difference between the two platoons, 1 from the CO’s opinion and 3 from half of the Japanese support). 8 support points would have been brilliant as I could have taken an additional section and a 2-pdr anti-tank gun. Tough choice with the 7. Anti-tank or extra infantry?

I decided to bring in an additional infantry section to stop the end run of the Japanese - since all the latter have to do is to get off the Australian edge of the board. I also brought a roadblock to stop the tank and an adjutant to help organise the forces behind the scenes.


FORCE MORALE

The continual battles with casualties were starting to wear down the spirits of the men. Despite both sides having positive adjustments, the Force Morale was 9 for the Australians and 8 for the Japanese. The low Japanese morale was good for the Australians. In the campaign the Japanese get a -1 on each “Bad Things Happen” roll, so it is more difficult for the Australians to drop the Japanese morale.


PATROL PHASE

The Japanese commander decided to concentrate around the road, so he could get support from his tank. It also meant he could avoid the village and bamboo forest. A sensible, though obvious, approach which produced a very quick patrol phase.

In the photo the white circles show the position of the Japanese jump-off points and the blue circles the Australian.

BATTLE

The Australian roadblock was deployed, to the surprise of the Japanese. With vehicles unable to make their way through the dense jungle, this stopped any tanks from driving down the road while the roadblock remained. An Engineer or Pioneer demolition team would be required to demolish it. However, with the rapid advance of the Japanese, their Engineer teams were not present on the battlefield.

Turn 1 Phase 1

• Command rolls began with a 1, 1, 2, 3, 6 for the Japanese. A good start to deployment with Leith able to bring in the Sakakibara’s 1st rifle squad, a medium machine gun and a Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank. The ritual of “tanks going forth” had been a success. At least I knew what the Japanese support was, since all of it was now on the table.
• Despite only rolling 1, 1, 4, 4, 6 the Australians brought in their 1st section accompanied by Sergeant Gary Turner. They deployed east of the road to oppose the Japanese rifles and far enough from the road to gain protection from the tank.
• The opening salvo was effective from the Australians with 2 kills and 1 shock on the 1st rifle squad.

Turn 1 Phase 2

• A small straight to the Japanese for command of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The tank moved 10” flat out. Their 2nd rifle squad arrived at the edge of the track connecting the village to the main road. Their intent was to spread the Australian defence.
• Gunsō Baba rushed into the fray to stiffen the 1st rifle squad’s resolve, but his arrival must have distracted them as it did little for the accuracy of their fire. Private Allenby manning the Bren was initially shocked by this return fire.
• Countering with 2, 3, 3, 6, 6, allowed the Australians to bring in their 2nd and 3rd sections to protect the villagers and the flanking thrust of the Japanese. Fresh fire was effective, inflicting 2 kills and 1 shock on their opponents.
• But Gunsō Baba’s experienced showed as the 1st rifle squad made better use of cover; taking no effective hits. At least Corporal Brian Evans restored the Bren gunner Allenby’s poise when he drew a laugh with “How dare the bastards shoot back!”

Turn 1 Phase 3

• Back to back phases for the Australians due to the double 6 last phase. 2, 4, 4, 5, 6 was useful for command. Having an adjutant allowed young Lieutenant Kenneth Reid to arrive with the 4th section to aid Corporal Evans east of the road. Their total fire inflicted 1 kill on the 1st rifle squad.
• West of the road, the Australian 2nd section fired as the 3rd section moved forward tactically. The Japanese 2nd rifle squad now had 5 shock.
• Limited options in reply with 2, 2, 2, 5, 6 but it did allow Gunsō Baba to move within shouting range of the medium machine gun team. Facing two opponents the Japanese 2nd squad killed a rifleman and shocked the Bren team from the recently moving 3rd section.

Turn 1 Phase 4

• More devastating fire as the Australians made sure the village would not be entered by the Japanese 2nd squad. 3 more kills and now up to 7 shock.
• With the rest of the 1, 3, 4, 5, 5 Brian Evans moved his section carefully forward to get the Thompson sub-machine gun within range (12”). Whilst covering them the 4th section added 2 kills to the enemy 1st squad.
• Worryingly for the Australians, the Japanese were beginning to organise their forces. Command of 1, 1, 2, 3, 4 allowed the medium machine gun to move 8” forward and the tank to rattle 16” down the road.
• The 3rd rifle squad deployed next to the tank. The grenade discharger squad arrived and began seeking out targets.
• Ineffective fire from the Japanese overall this phase. But with them effectively massing, was this the calm before the storm?

Turn 1 Phase 5

• Turn 1 ended after this phase with the Australian command roll of 1, 5, 6 ,6, 6. No effect from the turn ending. The only activation was a Bren team firing at the 2nd Japanese rifle squad. Highlighting the accuracy of the Bren, their 3 hits added 2 kills and 1 shock, pinning the Japanese. Interesting how sometimes you get a better result from just a few hits.

Turn 2 Phase 1

• Well! An interesting roll. A 5, 5, 6, 6, 6 to the Australians ended the turn again. Always useful completing a Chain of Command die, but I think I would have preferred the opportunity to pour more fire into the enemy squads.
• On the bright side, worried about the tank, I used my newly completed Chain of Command die to ambush with the Boys anti-tank rifle. Ambushing allows you to bring on the team, fire and then disappear again. Very useful with such a fragile team.
• Successfully sighted the tank, but unfortunately no hits. Never mind, worth a try.

Turn 3 Phase 1

• The Australian phase again. Amazingly a 1, 1, 3, 6, 6 meant yet another phase to the Australians after this one.
• The 3rd section moved tactically towards the pinned squad and wounded Gocho Miyazawa, dropping his command points to 1. The squad did not like that, which resulted in a drop of 1 for the Japanese Force Morale.
• The Boys came on for good this time, manning the barricade and getting protection from the jungle. More successful after the previous sighting shot, they caused 1 nett hit, adding a shock and damaging the gun sight.

Turn 3 Phase 2

• More fire onto the beleaguered Japanese 2nd squad with 1 kill and more shock, bringing them down to 6 men (including the leader) with 11 shock. Only 1 shock or 1 kill needed to make them break.
• Lieutenant Reid’s command roll of 3, 3, 4, 5, 6 allowed him to move closer to his men. He ordered his 4th section to move tactically forward. Their fire added 1 shock to the medium machine gun and 2 shock to the 3rd rifle squad.
• He also ordered the Boys to fire again. A glancing blow clanged ineffectually off the tank’s armour.
• Leith was pleased that the Japanese finally got to do quite a lot with a command roll of 2, 2, 3, 4, 6. Rikugun Yamada, the platoon leader, arrived to direct the massing troops.
• Fire from the MMG killed a Bren loader in the 4th section and added a shock to the 1st section rifle team. Unable to deploy properly the 3rd rifle squad did little (they only managed a tactical move of 1” whilst their fire had no effect as the rest of the squad was strung out behind the LMG and one rifleman).
• Gunsō Baba activated the 1st rifle squad and the mortar discharge squad to no avail.
• The tank opened up with the turret machine gun – only managing to damage some jungle plants. If they started rolling well, it was possible for the machine guns to inflict heavy casualties. This would be a real worry for the Australians since they had to carry this platoon throughout the campaign.

Turn 3 Phase 3

• Command of 1, 3, 3, 4, 5 allowed the Boys to fire again. On target. 2 hits versus 2 saves unfortunately gave no effect on the vehicle “Equal Hits and Saves” table.
• It was the turn of the Australian 3rd section to move forward and fire at the pinned Japanese. 5 hits resulted in the 1 shock needed to break their enemy. The Japanese raced back 15” away from the carnage.
• The Japanese commander must have been concerned about his right flank disappearing – the Force Morale dropped to 5. Only one more drop would see the reduction of Japanese command dice.
• Other Australian fire successfully inflicted 1 kill and 1 shock to the MMG, 2 kills to the 3rd rifle squad and 1 kill for the 1st rifle squad.
• The 2nd section now moved towards the road to aid the Australian right flank. Unfortunately, the difficulty of looking across the sun-drenched main road into the jungle beyond meant that they were just short of being able to fire onto the flank of the Japanese MMG.

Initially we mistakenly allowed them to fire at the MMG. It caused the death of the Junior Leader and the loss of a Force Morale point. This put Leith down to 4 command dice, which he rolled. He debated about pulling out, but was still in a good position, so he pressed on. But as he started activating his troops, something about the intervening main road had me check the visibility rules.

Now it is actually quite difficult to see out of the shadows of a wood, across an open area and into the shadows of another wood. And the brighter the open area, the more difficult it is.

In the main rules you can see out of woods into the open when within 4” of the edge and light orchards within 6” of the edge. This is also how far you can see into these terrain types if looking from outside. Inside to inside is 12” for woods and 18” for light orchards.

Len Tracey has defined various types of terrain for the Pacific. For primary jungle, he has visibility inside to inside to be variable. Each time you need to check for visibility it will be 12” + 1D6” (giving (13” to 18”). So the jungle visibility varies between wood and open orchard.

To match this, we decided that to see out of or into primary jungle the unit must be within 4” to 6” of the edge. Use 3” + 1D3” each time you need to check.

This applies to a road through the jungle. We defined a road as wide enough to create a break in the canopy. So to check visibility across the road you would need to roll both for the observing unit (is it within 4” to 6” of the edge) and the target unit (is it within 4” to 6” of the jungle on the far side of the road.

It does not apply to a track. We defined a track as not wide enough to break the canopy. Thus it still gets filtered light like the surrounding jungle and so the normal inside to inside jungle visibility applies across a jungle track.

So even though the Japanese MMG was less than 12” away, the Australians were just over 6” from the edge of the road. So we undid the fire on the MMG. Leith got his Junior Leader and Force Morale point back. I got him to roll his 5th command die to the four he had already rolled, and on he went.

• The Japanese were now starting to find their enemy, inflicting 4 shock across the Australian right half, including one on the Boys team. With a crew of only two, I would have to remove this as soon as possible.
• And their command of 2, 3, 5, 6, 6 meant no letting up of pressure on the men from down under. Of course you’ll guess that the late fifth command die rolled a 6.

Turn 3 Phase 4

• The Japanese command roll of 1 ,3, 5, 5, 5 now swung a finely balanced game just in favour of the Japanese. Leith used the new Chain of Command die to move the threatened Jump-off Point across the main road – out of reach.
• Their 3rd squad was able to improve their position, using a 4” tactical move to bring more men to bear on the Australian right flank.
• Fire from the Japanese gun line placed killed the Boys loader plus a rifleman from the 4th section. The Bren team of the latter took 1 shock. Worse was the knocking out of Corporal Brian Evans, although it went unnoticed due to the fierce firefight that had erupted in this part of the jungle.
• The Australian right flank was beginning to look very fragile. The last couple of phases had added shock to each team. A few kills had put several of the teams close to being pinned.
• With a 1, 2, 3, 3, 5 the Australians removed some shock. Their fire put 2 shock on the Japanese 1st rifle squad and a kill on the 3rd rifle squad.
• Now warming up, the Boys penetrated the turret of the tank. A good blow which inflicted 2 nett hits – adding 2 shock and killing the unfortunate gunner. It would take 2 phases to move another crewman to this important position. With 3 total shock, the crew was close to bailing out. Leith was relieved that he had removed a shock from the tank in a recent phase.
• But with the importance of removing the shock from the right flank, the Australian left flank was unable to move into firing range to come to the aid of their mates.

Turn 3 Phase 5

• With a rat-a-tat-tat and a 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 the impressive Japanese firing line finally inflicted the casualties they had been anticipating for a while. 3 kills on the rifle team of the Australian 1st section plus 2 kills and a shock on the 4th section.
• Lieutenant Reid could feel the battle slipping away. A clear victory had been so close a short time ago. Should he retreat? But if he could just put another shock onto the tank the crew would bail out and “Bad Things” might happen to the Japanese. If he could also move his 3rd section just an inch, he had a good chance of knocking out the medium machine gun.
• With the rare prospect of replacements looming if they lost this battle, it was worth one more throw of the dice for the Aussies.
• A 2, 3, 3, 3, 5 was very disappointing. Chain of Command points went to 4. Tantalisingly close, but not close enough. A Chain of Command die would be used to end the turn. That would rout the broken rifle squad and force a “Bad Things Happen” roll for their Junior Leader routing. It would also make Corporal Brian Evans conscious again, probably speeding up the removal of shock.
• Not rolling a 1 or not rolling a 4 was very bad. I could not remove much shock. But worse was that I could not fire the Boys. So no chance to shock the tank.
• The limited fire only inflicted 1 shock on the 3rd squad.
• The Australian 3rd section moved 2d6 toward the road. The 2nd section moved tactically towards the chattering sound of the medium machine gun. They fired on the dangerous gun, but could not repeat their previous effort. No effect this round, but at least now they could clearly observe the machine gun.

Turn 3 Phase 6

• The Japanese command roll of 1, 1, 3, 4, 6 allowed them to bolster the courage of the tank crew. Although dropping 1 shock reduced the risk to the tank, the hull machine gun failed to hit anything.
• But the rest of the Japanese improved on this with some withering fire on the Australians.
• The Boys gunner was killed, wiping out the team and completely removing the threat to the tank. Corporal Brian Evans was knocked out again. All this dropped the Australian Force morale by 3, so it was now down to 6.
• A kill and a shock on the 4th section had them dangerously close to being pinned. A kill on the rifle team of the 1st section further discomforted that section.
• Clearly time for the Australians to withdraw.

WRAP UP

A wonderfully close game. Leith and I both enjoyed it immensely. So tense, with it swinging backwards and forwards between the Australians and the Japanese. Leith had certainly pulled a victory from the jaws of defeat.

A fresh platoon and a roll of 6 for supports certainly helped Leith, but it was far from a foregone conclusion.

Perhaps if I had saved the Chain of Command die just a phase or two and used it to end the turn it would have routed the broken squad and led to an Australian victory. But if I had damaged or destroyed the tank with the Boys ambush, using the Chain of Command die for that would have been a good call.

Or if the Australian 2nd section had been 1” closer, the death of the MMG Junior Leader would have stood and the Japanese would have been rolling fewer command dice. No double phase for them, so maybe I would have avoided the round of death.

Although if Leith’s troops had shot more accurately earlier on, the result may still have been a Japanese victory, but perhaps earlier and more comprehensive.

Would it have been any better if I had chosen the support of a 2-pdr anti-tank gun instead of the 4th infantry section? Maybe I would have knocked out the tank. But then I may not have gained the upper hand in the battle to protect the village using only 1 section against 1 squad. And I was so close to taking out a jump-off point.

Just shows how close a game is, when there are so many little things that could have tipped the balance one way or the other. Chatting about the what-ifs afterwards is great fun!

CAMPAIGN IMPACT

With 50% more casualties than the Australians, it ended as a minor victory to the Japanese. But a victory is a victory and they finally get to move forward to map 3.

Rikugun Yamada will lead his platoon again against the Australians. He has improved from happy to secure, especially with the knowledge that his commanding officer’s opinion has moved to +1. The men’s opinion has dropped to -2 though, due to the high casualties. The butcher’s bill was 16 casualties on the core platoon, plus 1 machine gunner and the tank gunner out of the supports.

From the core Japanese platoon, 8 are out of the campaign for good, 4 will miss the next battle and 4 return straight away. No additional men were recovered from the battlefield. Rolling a 6 means Leith will get 8 replacements. So he will be down 4 men, but at least no leaders out this time.

The calculation for replacements in “At the Sharp End” gave a maximum result of 10, although cannot take the platoon over-strength. In the earlier games we allowed men recovering (out for just 1 battle) to be replaced. But that seemed messy as you may end up over-strength next time if a lot of men returned from their recovery and few casualties had been lost in the last battle. Checking with the helpful folk on the TooFatLardies Chain of Command forum resulted in us now including the recovering men in the platoon strength. Thus 10 becomes 8, replacing those out of the campaign for good.

The CO’s opinion of Lt. Kenneth Reid stayed at +4, whilst his own outlook stayed at superior. The men's opinion slid back to +2. They don’t like losing.

The Australians lost 7 from their core platoon, including the Boys anti-tank Team, plus 5 from the supporting 4th section. From the core Australian platoon for this battle, 3 are out of the campaign for good, 2 will miss the next battle and 2 return straight away.

Corporal Brian Evans was going to miss the next battle, needing to recover from his concussion, as he was knocked out twice. William “Billy” Brewer from the 1st section was promoted to Acting Corporal as his replacement.

The platoon now had 6 out of the campaign. Due to winning some of the previous battles, the Australians get replacements before the first game on map 3. This is the first of only two occasions when they can. With the CO’s opinion of +4 and rolling a 3, the Australians were able to replace up to 8, but this cannot take the platoon overstrength, so all 6 were able to be replaced. Men recovering for a battle are still counted in the platoon strength. So the Australians will fight the next battle missing just the 3 recovering (2 Privates plus Corporal Brian Evans).

MALAYA 1942 CAMPAIGN - TURN 4

The fourth battle in the Malaya 1942 campaign fought between Leith and John (that’s me) using Chain of Command. With a major victory to the Australians last game the Japanese would have to try again to break through the Australian line on map 2.

JAPANESE PLATOON 3

In the last battle the Japanese 2nd platoon led by the sociable Rikugun (Lieutenant) Fujita and experienced Gunsō (Sergeant) Haregawa failed to break through the Australian lines. This was due to heavy casualties, particularly amongst the rifle squad NCOs. So, the Japanese commanding officer called in the 3rd platoon in the rolling blitzkrieg towards Singapore.

• The 3rd platoon was led by Rikugun (Lieutenant) Yonai and backed up by Gunsō (Sergeant) Akeda.
• Rifle squad 1 was led by Gocho (Corporal) Miyasawa, a 25-year-old builder from Kyoto.
• Rifle squad 2 was led by Gocho (Corporal) Utsubo, a strong and solidly build 26-year-old from the docks of Yokohama.
• Rifle squad 3 was led by the 24-year-old Gocho (Corporal) Matsuoka. A clever man with a slight build.
• Grenade discharger squad was led by the experienced 31-year-old Gocho (Corporal) Kuramoto.

AUSTRALIAN PLATOON 1

The young but brave Lieutenant Kenneth Reid was leading his men into battle again with the support of ex-stockman Sergeant Gary Turner. The CO’s opinion of Lt. Reid was +3, which gave the Australian platoon +1 support in this battle. The men's opinion was at +1. Reid's outlook was brave which gave him +2 on the Force Morale role.

• Corporal Brian Evans led the 1st section
• Corporal Colin Moore led 2nd section
• Corporal William Colling led the 3rd section.

With no replacements yet, the platoon was 4 men short, with 1 currently recuperating.


MAP

Like battle 3, this one was to be fought using scenario 2 from the Chain of Command rulebook. Leith had the choice of moving a little east or west of the last map to try outflanking the position. But hoping for a tank as support, he decided to attack in the same location as last time.

However, Leith only brought 2 buildings so the village ended up smaller than last time. We assumed that it had been destroyed in the previous fighting. We were also missing his nice roads.

However, I brought all of the scatter terrain this time, not just half of it. So, the jungle appeared thicker than the first two games and much thicker than the last game when I forgot to bring any of it.

This time I tried using my Geo-Hex desert mat as a base rather than the green mat. I thought this would show up clearings better.

Malaya 1942 Campaign - Map - Turn 4 Battle 4

SUPPORT

Leith rolled low, so the Japanese platoon ended up with only 1 support point. This did not allow him anything he thought useful.

The Australians gained 4 support points due to the difference between the two platoons and the extra from the good CO’s opinion. This time instead of the Lanchester (tempting though it was) I decided to bring in an additional infantry section to stop the breakthrough of the Japanese.


FORCE MORALE

With positive adjustments for both sides, the Force Morale was high. Both would begin the game with 11.


PATROL PHASE

After the problems around the village in the last battle, the Japanese tried a different approach. The Australians rushed to shut down the enemy patrols and even managed to get a jump-off point in a potential flanking position. Both players were being more cautious in placement of the jump-off points. Pushing them forward is tempting, but it can result in them being shutdown and overrun too easily. A fine balance.

In the photo the white circles show the position of the Japanese jump-off points and the blue circles the Australian.

BATTLE

Turn 1 Phase 1

• The new Japanese platoon started with a 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 for command, bringing on Gocho (Corporal) Kuramoto’s grenade discharger squad and Gunsō (Sergeant) Akeda.
• The Australians started with 1, 1, 3, 4, 6 for command, bringing in Sergeant Gary Turner and the 1st Section near the central jump-off point. They were so busy organising themselves in the jungle, they forgot to set overwatch.

Turn 1 Phase 2

• The Japanese rolled command dice of 2, 3, 4, 5, 5. The Japanese 1st rifle squad arrived, immediately firing on the Australians. They inflicted 2 shock on the rifle team, but none on the Bren.
• The 2nd rifle squad arrived as well.
• Gunsō Akeda ordered the grenade discharger squad to fire indirectly. This produced a further 2 shock on the Australians.
• Not wanting to be outnumbered, the men from down under answered by bringing in the 2nd section and the 4th section. The latter was the temporarily attached support. These men arrived in a position to threaten the flank of the Japanese line.
• Fire from the 3 Australian sections onto the Japanese 1st rifle squad caused 2 kills, 1 shock and the death of Gocho Miyasawa. The early demise of a leader reminded Leith of the unfortunate events of the previous battle.

Turn 1 Phase 3

• A brief downpour began, making the men more uncomfortable and targeting even harder in the steaming jungle.
• Japanese rolled 4, 4, 5, 5, 5. Lots of Chain of Command points. Leith brought on platoon leader Rikugun Fujita. Not ideal to bring him in this early, as it would make it harder to bring in the last squad. However, not doing so would leave the 1st rifle squad at risk since they had lost their commander, particularly as they were currently faced by 3 Australian sections.
• Directing their fire, Fujita-san saw them put 1 kill on the 1st section Bren team.
• Their 2nd rifle squad made great progress through the jungle, moving 12” forward.
• Gunsō Akeda organised the knee mortars to fire on the Australian flanking force, inflicting 1 shock on the Bren team.

• Clearly not wanting to lose the early advantage, the Australian command roll of 1, 2, 3, 6, 6 would allow them to have 2 phases in a row.
• The 3 and 1 were combined to activate a senior leader. Aside from a reduction of 1 shock, there was no other benefit. Despite 15 hits laid down by the Australian 1st and 2nd sections, the Japanese took no shock or kills. After a devastating number of kills early in the last game, Leith remarked that thankfully the Japanese troops had now learnt which side of the trees to be on.
• With the advantage of the double phase (and to try and get some hits) I decided to bring on the Australian 3rd section just east of the secondary road and south of the village. Not only could they target the fast-moving Japanese 2nd rifle squad with fire, but they could act to stop them racing between the bamboo forest and the village. This was in case they tried to get off the board via the secondary road. All Leith had to do to win the scenario was to exit a Japanese squad off the Australian base edge.
• This meant all 4 Australian sections were now on the board. The newly arrived 3rd section at least improved matters by handing out 2 shock to the Japanese 2nd squad.

Turn 1 Phase 4

• A 2, 2, 3, 3, 4 for the 2nd Australian phase allowed activation of all the units on the board. Lots of fire headed the Japanese way and things were looking quite promising with a total of 24 hits from the four sections. Leith again rolled low, resulting in only 1 kill on the 1st rifle squad and 1 shock on the 2nd rifle squad. However, his low rolling converted 2 more kills into hits on Gocho Utsubo. The squad leader was knocked out twice, his solid constitution saving him from a more serious wound. Again, neither roll caused a drop of Force Morale.
• In Chain of Command, when kills are caused you have to roll to see if a leader is hit - if they are nearby. For example, if 2 hits are caused, then a 1 or 2 on a D6 will mean that a leader is hit. If more than one leader is nearby then you randomly determine which is hit. Hitting a leader reduces the number of kills on the enlisted men by 1. A D6 roll on the Leader Wounded table is needed to see if the leader is dead, knocked out until the end of the turn (not phase) or if they are seriously wounded. If they are knocked out they do not lose any command points and become active again when the turn ends. If seriously wounded they lose a command point but are still active unless their command points have been reduced to 0 – in which case they are dead.
• So much shooting from two phases, with so little result apart from the wounded squad leader. But most of the shock had been removed from the Australians.
• As the heavy rain continued, the Japanese 3rd rifle squad was having trouble finding the jump-off point even though their side attained a Chain of Command dice with 1, 2, 4, 4, 5.
• Firing from the 1st and 2nd squads only caused 1 shock on the Australians in the centre, but the grenade discharger squad put 3 shock onto the 4th section who were still just west of the main road.

Turn 1 Phase 5

• With the downpour easing, the Australians improved their fire, despite only rolling 1, 1, 1, 1, 5. Combining the four 1’s allowed the senior leader to encourage fire from the Australian 1st and 2nd sections. 3 shock on the 2nd rifle squad, 1 shock on the 1st rifle squad and a kill on each was better than the last few phases.
• Leith wisely used his Chain of Command die to end the turn so that Gocho Utsubo would regain consciousness.

Turn 2 Phase 1

• Even a good command roll of 2, 3, 4, 4, 5 did not help the Japanese much. The 3rd rifle squad was still trying to find the jump-off point and the grenade discharger squad failed to affect the Australian 4th section this phase.
• Only a slightly better was to be had in the centre, where a shock was placed on each Bren team and a rifleman killed in the Australian 2nd section.
• The Australian return fire using 1, 3, 4, 5, 5 was more effective. 2 kills and 1 shock on each of the 1st and 2nd rifle squads in the centre.
• Worse was the wounding of platoon leader Rikugun Yonai who sustained a serious wound (dropping him from 3 to 2 command points).

Turn 2 Phase 2

• With a 1, 1, 3, 4, 4 the Japanese killed a Bren gun loader and a rifleman in the central sector.
• Again the 3rd rifle squad failed to arrive. Leith was really missing their help.
• Feeling they were gaining the upper hand, the Australians again rolled a double 6. Just a shock to each of the central sector rifle squads. But poor Gocho Utsubo was again knocked out. So much for his temporary recovery by ending the turn. Once again, his men had faith in his strong constitution. Or perhaps some were not aware that he had temporarily woken up. Either way, his relapse into the arms of Morpheus did not affect their morale.
• The bravery of the Japanese leaders in this campaign could not be questioned, but their propensity for being wounded was seriously hampering the rapid push on Singapore.

Turn 2 Phase 3

• The Australian phase again. And with 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 they could remove most of the shock, something they had been very successful with throughout the battle.
• A rifleman killed in the Japanese 2nd squad was only an indication of what was to come.
• Heavy fire from the Australians inflicted 2 kills and 3 shock on the dwindling 1st squad. With a total of 6 shock and only 5 men left, they were pinned. Not a good position to be in as they were at risk of being surrounded or wiped out by the Australians.
• The command roll was again quite reasonable for the Japanese. But the reserve squad still failed to arrive and the fire from the ever-decreasing number of deployed men amounted to nothing.

Turn 2 Phase 4

• The supporting 4th section began advancing carefully across the road towards the dwindling flank of the Japanese firing line. Although their reduced fire had no effect, they were moving into position for an assault next phase on the pinned squad.
• A command of 3, 3, 4, 4, 5 allowed the Australians to do everything they wanted, including removing the last of the shock.
• The Japanese 2nd rifle squad received 1 shock and 1 kill.
• Incoming fire on Gocho Miyasawa’s pinned squad was too much for them. 1 kill and 2 shock was enough to break them. They retreated 12” north into the jungle in an effort to escape the withering Australian fire.
• This time the men of the platoon were concerned; dropping their force morale by 2 to 7.
• With several wounded and dead leaders, a broken squad, another badly damaged, the grenade discharger squad not achieving significant impact and a squad lost somewhere in the jungle there was no chance of success for the Japanese. They again withdrew from this unlucky field in the hope of successfully performing the ritual of “tanks going forth” for the next battle.

WRAP UP

Like the previous battle, the failure of the Japanese to obtain supports was important as it allowed the Australians to have more shooting power overall. Without the risk of a tank racing down the road and breaking through the lines, the Australians called on a 4th section of men, rather than an anti-tank gun.

The other major factor was the untimely demise of Gocho Miyasawa in only the second phase. This forced Leith to bring in his most senior leader early. He was worried this might make it more difficult to bring on his reserve, although neither of us expected it to be impossible. But we had not counted on the non-arrival of the navigationally challenged 3rd rifle squad.

Leith was good at avoiding casualties to the men early in the game, but not to his leaders. The last two battles have shown just how important leaders are. The early loss of some command points has a cumulative effect throughout the game.

After the battle we discussed what might have happened had the Japanese launched a banzai charge towards the end. Not with the hope of winning this battle, but with the aim of inflicting as many casualties on the Australian platoon. The Australian player has to carry this platoon through the campaign, so needs to watch casualties.

Leith felt that this was non-historical and too gamey. At this early stage of the war the Japanese were using good small unit tactics. Yes, they would press the attack hard. But after a few attempts, they would try and outflank a position that was too hard to break through head-on.

And it may not help anyway. In the campaign the winner retains the field. They reduce “kills” by any positive difference in force morale. A last-ditch attack may inflict some casualties but it risks a collapse of force morale. Which may well just lead to getting all those casualties back anyway.

Perhaps if the Japanese can gather early and assault in force this may give them the desired result. Although if they win the battle they have to carry their platoon forward. An interesting dilemma, although they can receive replacements every time they win.

CAMPAIGN IMPACT

A third victory to the Australians. More delays to the Japanese thrust toward Singapore.

With a positive force morale difference of 4, this meant that the 4 Australians “killed” in this battle were bandaged, given a good hot cup of billy tea and returned to action. So, no casualties and 1 returning from hospital for the Australians; leaving the platoon only 3 men short. They could even return the borrowed 4th section intact to their original owners.

The CO’s opinion of Lt. Kenneth Reid increased to +4, which retains +1 support point next game.

The men's opinion finally increased, going up two to become +3. Obviously hard to impress this lot of Australians, but now this would give a +1 modifier to the Force Morale roll.

However, although Lieutenant Reid’s outlook improved from brave to superior it drops his outlook adjustment from +2 to a +1. If the platoon leader’s outlook becomes too high on the Outlook Table in the “At the Sharp End” campaign supplement, the leader becomes more aloof and arrogant in the eyes of the men. A fine balance.

So overall from these two adjustments, the Australians will retain a +2 Force Morale modifier.

With several dead and wounded leaders, plus lots of casualties, the Japanese will again bring in a fresh platoon for the next battle. In the meantime, the ritual of “tanks going forth” is being performed with great care.