The Japanese Army of the Second World War is an amazing study in dichotomy, reflecting both the traditional values of the Samurai, as well as the "borrowed" traditions of the German and French Armies, acquired during the Meiji Restoration. It is an army of individual soldiers of whom John Masters, a British officer and writer who served in Burma commented "that in the British Army, the average Japanese soldier would have won the Victoria Cross for his performance in the field". And yet that same army at times proved incapable of being able to react to the shifting events of the battlefield, falling back all often too often on the famed "banzai charge" in a desperate attempt to sweep the battlefield on what was a desperate roll of the dice. These factors require the additional of a number of special rules to the COMMAND DECISION rules system to better reflect the advantages and liabilities of the Japanese Army. Among these suggested rules are the following: 1. Japanese command stands use the command rules from OVER THE TOP instead of COMMAND DECISION. This means that they may only issue orders to those stands within 6" of the command stand, and not to any stand under their command within the line of sight. Staff stands still use the command rules from COMMAND DECISION, and Japanese Command Stands adjacent to Staff Stands may still issue orders to any stand under command on the table. 2. Japanese Infantry Regiments have a self ordering Flag Stand attached to their regimental headquarters. This stand is considered as one level better in troop quality than the rest of the regiment, ie flag stands of veteran regiments are considered as elite, etc. In addition, a Japanese Flag Stand may function as a morale modifier. All stands of that regiment within 6" of the flag stand have a +2 morale modifier for all morale checks. If the flag stand is eliminated, this morale modifier is lost for the remainder of the game as Japanese Flag Stands may not be regrouped. 3. Japanese Stands may elect to carry out a "Banzai Charge". The player must state that his intention during the Order Phase, and indicate which command stand is issuing the order. In addition, the player must indicate the final objective of the charge, which is the point that the charge will end. The order used for a "Banzai Charge" is a Full Movement Order. All stands which are currently subordinate to the command stand issuing the order must obey it. Stands carrying out a "Banzai Charge" order must move together in a compact formation with all stands touching if at all possible. These stands must move directly towards the nearest enemy stands and attempt to engage them in close combat. While carrying out a "Banzai Charge" the moving stands are not allowed benefit of cover. Stands which are participating in a "Banzai Charge" have a +2 bonus to morale, as well as a +2 bonus per stand in Close Combat. (In addition to any other bonus from the Close Combat Table.) Stands participating in a banzai charge ignore all results of forced back though fire. These hits are considered as NO EFFECT, though the next hit will still result in a stand being eliminated. All hits inflicted on a stand carrying out a Banzai Charge by either Artillery or Small Arms Fire are doubled, each actual hit counts as two. One last thought that needs to be kept in mind the title of this supplement comes from the Imperial Rescript on Military Duties. "Bear in mind that duty is weightier than a mountain, while death is lighter than a feather". No other soldier of any other nationality of World War II was asked to give as much, and so freely gave all, as did the Japanese Soldier of WWII. Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter WWII Japanese Army Supplement To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com