No Retreat from Nyaungchidauk – Burma 1942

In an unusual move for me, I ended up playing an early Burma scenario thanks to having the figures to justify it. Instead of early Commonwealth figures, though, I had come into the possession of (read: bought and painted) some Chinese for Burma (full showcase incoming) and that meant I could have a go at something from the annus horribilis instead of my usual 1944/5 games. So I set about drawing up a scenario based (loosely) on the opening skirmishes before the Battle of Toungoo in March 1942, when the veteran 200th Division held up the Japanese 55th Division for nearly two weeks in what the Japanese official histories later considered some of the hardest fighting of the campaign.

The Scenario

As the Far East supplement for Chain of Command doesn't include the Chinese, I had to do up platoon structures, support lists, and national characteristics myself. In the event neither of the new characteristics I had drawn up saw any action in this scenario, but for disclosure these were:

• First to Fight
• If a Leader uses two Orders to activate a Unit to move into Close Combat, it will be Aggressive.
• If a Chinese unit wins a Close Combat as the Attacker, every second Shock inflicted negates one incoming Shock.
• Chinese troops defeated by 4 or more will fight on rather than surrender if no Leaders remain.
• Know Your Enemy
• When a Japanese force attempts to use a Ruse against a Regular Chinese platoon, the controlling player must pay the CoC Points cost, and then roll 1D6; only on a 4+ will the Ruse be carried out. A Ruse failed in this manner does not use up a purchased Ruse attempt, but the Unit cannot attempt a Ruse again that Phase.
• Concentrated Fire
• Any Regular Chinese LMG team armed with a ZB 26 or Bren gun can use Concentrated Fire as though a Commonwealth unit. (This one got used a fair bit.)

This scenario would be a defence by a standard Chinese platoon (an officer and three 14-man rifle sections, two with an LMG each and one with a pair of grenade dischargers) supported by a single Sd.Kfz 222 armoured car, against a Japanese platoon (officer, sergeant, three 13-man LMG+rifle sections, and a 13-man grenade discharger section, sans the usual automatic red die owing to 55th Div's poor performance historically) with 1D3+3 support points to spend. My dad and I tossed for sides, and I ended up with the Japanese and, rolling low, had the budget for an anti-tank rifle (3pt) and a jitter party (1pt). Owing to the disparity in size between core platoons, the Chinese would have had a +4 or +5pt rating advantage anyway, so instead of giving the Chinese a large bonus in support points I simply gave the Japanese fewer.

The scenario I had come up with was a bit of a mix between the Probe and Attack and Defend scenarios. 

Owing to the fact we had a 5ft deep mat the Japanese baseline was a foot in from the actual edge of the mat. Their two objectives were the opposite ends of the road and rail bridges over the creek, about 18" from their baseline. With the way the cover was set up, the Japanese might get lucky and get two forward JOPs, but in the event I was not and ended up with one forward position on the southern bank and two behind on the table edges.

In order to win, the Japanese would have to control both Objectives at game end, or capture one Objective and exit a unit off the Chinese end of the table, with the caveat that either player could start the Final Countdown as soon as one Objective was taken. Thus, the Japanese would have to be able to either attack both positions in short succession or establish a clear route to the Chinese rear.

The Game

My opening move was to try and make my presence clear by getting an infantry section onto the north bank, where it would benefit from the hard cover of the jungle thicket. The Chinese responded by bringing out their own troops. At the same time, I had my jitter party ready to dash forwards on the left, with the aim of taking that objective early and threatening the right with fresh troops.

Unfortunately, my corporal was wounded early under withering fire from the Chinese armoured car. On the other hand, I was able to bring out my AT rifle in ambush and send my scouts up, and plugged the command gap with my platoon sergeant.

The AT rifle having done little other than annoy the armoured car, it proceeded to then take one casualty and four shock from return fire.

On the other hand, the Chinese had come out with a new section on their right, which dealt a little bit of damage before becoming the unlucky victim of several grenade hits which almost, but didn't quite, wipe out the LMG team in the hut.

Still, the armoured car managed to annihilate the remainder of the AT rifle team and put an end to any real hope of eliminating the Chinese armour. If I was going to win it would most likely be through taking the other Objective and not breaking before time ran out. I did have enough CoC Points banked up to be able to start the clock if I seized the rail bridgehead, so that was now my new plan..

Unfortunately, my mad dash on the right met yet more withering autocannon fire. I had taken no shock, but all of my attempts to climb up the riverbank were thwarted by bad rolls.

Then the third and final Chinese section came out, and put an end to any realistic hope of forging ahead on the right flank.

In the centre I had managed to mostly neutralise the Chinese infantry on my left thanks to my grenade dischargers, but I was dangerously low on morale (my sergeant also having taken a wound) and the deployment of my final rifle section was little more than a last-ditch Hail Amaterasu.

And indeed, concentrated fire from multiple axes wiped out my first rifle section and collapsed Japanese morale to 0.

Conclusions

A good showing for the first engagement by the Chinese. For my part I probably ought to have opted to send my first rifle section further to the right and thus gained more protection near the railway embankment as well as being less vulnerable to fire from the LMG in the hut, which wouldn't have had the angle to get them. That said probably my most successful action of the entire game was the pair of grenades I got through the window, so it wasn't a complete loss.

I'm a little unsure if the AT rifle was a bad investment relative to something heavier like a 37mm gun at the same cost. 3AP against 2 armour on the armoured car should have offered decent odds had I got more than one shot off, but the lack of a gun shield or a Junior Leader able to rally off shock combined to make the weapon team a lot squishier than its 5-man size would initially suggest.

The scenario itself actually seemed like a design that could work as a more general setup, but it might warrant another test or two. Something to consider for the future, I think.