The Japanese in the scenario were considerably weaker, but still full of fight. They have seven squads of Nitto-Hei, or veteran infantry, including a mortar squad armed with the Type 89 grenade launcher. The main force rounded out with four Type 92 Machine gun teams, one very lonely Type 97 81 mm Mortar team, and one trained Sogekihei, or sniper. All except the sniper were Nitto-Hei.
They also had eight volunteers to serve as Sensha Sampei Butai, or the anti-tank squad. These were determined men who sought to stop and either disable or destroy tanks using mines and a rope-pulley method. If that failed, they would throw tarpaulins over the tank's visors and try to grenade it into submission. Failing that, they have the final option of using their personal explosives on their body to stop the vehicle. As a historical note, there was never a lack of volunteers for the Sensha Sampei Butai.
A Tai-i or Captain, a Sho-i or Lieutenant, and two Gunso, or Sergeants led Oka's command in the game. A Captain has the same ability to combine squads under their command as the Lieutenant. Lastly, as the Japanese has a platoon commander, they had the option of detaching any three riflemen from any one squad or platoon to act as platoon snipers. They were not as well trained as a real sniper, but they are allowed to set up anywhere hidden and target any figure in sight. However, once they shoot, they are immediately placed on the table.
The Japanese commander in the game chose this option. The last two men comprised the Japanese HQ staff. They carried the bugle and the battle standard. Japan gave battle standards to all sizes of units down to the company level. They were sources of great pride and the troops would always celebrate the day their command was bestowed their 'Gunki' or flag. The bugle was a communication tool used to direct troops. For the game, all Japanese who can see their flag have their morale increased by +2. The bugle, if with a leader, extends the command range of that leader, making it easier for him to direct his command. Lastly, the Japanese were camouflage experts, so all US spotting ranges are halved. With green troops, this is almost murderous.
The refight took place at Dragon King off of Hwy 94 in St. Charles, MO and the scenario as stated, came directly from the back of the Combat Command rulebook. In this game, we had three veteran US Army players in Randy, Dan and James trying to push hard against a trio of wily Japanese players in Mike, Kevin, and Tom. Victory revolved around capturing and holding both of the center hills that made up the Gifu range. The Japanese were allowed to set up completely hidden (as per the rules, any squads or sections in terrain are marked on a map or have their locations pointed out to a referee.
In a two-player game, they would be placed on the tabletop and marked with hidden counters. Regardless, all figures set up in the open are automatically spotted). They also were allowed to set up six entrenchments and six reinforced bunkers (also included in the back of the rules) anywhere with their troops. The Japanese command also used the optional platoon sniper rule, which allows the Japanese player the ability to detach up to three soldiers from any platoon or squad and deploy them as snipers. All three platoon snipers set up on the forward slopes of the hills closet to the American line. The Japanese then deployed two more squads on the reverse slope of the two hills directly opposite of the American center. Two teams of Sensha Sampei Butai camped out in the jungle near each of the fords in hopes of catching the US tanks in an unguarded moment. The rest of the troops occupied the Gifu hills except for one machine gun team camped out on the far right of the battlefield.
Terrain
A quick note about terrain: terrain is one of three types or a combination of any two in Combat Command. The types are: normal, rough or impassible. An example of a combination terrain would be woods. The woods could be spaced far enough apart to allow infantry to walk normally, but close enough to deny vehicle movement. It may seem simplistic, but it is essentially the truth. Either terrain affects your operations or it does not. There is no in-between. In this case, the tree covered-hills were all normal for infantry, rough for vehicles, which means that they can become immobilized if they try to move through them on a D6 roll of `6', the stream and jungle patches were rough for everybody, but extra rough on tanks as they will become immobilized on a roll of 4 or better. Moving into or through rough terrain for infantry means that they can move up to their training number in inches, but not any further. The fords over the stream were also considered normal. There is one cliff area on the upper left of the battlefield that was impassible to all. The jungle was especially thick today as the light woods yielded only 3" (on 2D6 roll) of sighting distance. The rough jungle was dimmer still with only 2" (1D6 roll) of visible range. There is a pond marked on the map, but in actuality, it was faulty American intelligence, treat it as more jungle instead (the US player was told it was a pond).
The American command, totally in the dark as they are looking at a completely blank battlefield, set up in platoon echelon (two squads up front, one in reserve) directly opposite the Gifu objective. Their three tanks started in line next to the ford on the right. The US player had the option to place one of his leaders as a commander of the M3 platoon, but chose not to do so. That means that the US tanks cannot move at all during the 2nd Movement phase. The machine gun teams were distributed among the platoons. We were ready to begin!
A turn in Combat Command is divided into four phases for each player. They are the Morale / Support, 1st Movement, Fire, and 2nd Movement. Spotting in Combat Command can occur at any time during your turn. It is deceptively easy. First, each troop or leader has a spotting range in inches. This is how far they can attempt to spot hidden enemies. Spotting is also by terrain location. You may only try to spot a location once per turn, so as the rules admonish, you should have your best unit do the looking as if you fail, you cannot try that location again until the next turn. Once you know the range, you roll one D6 and compare it to the spotting units training. If it is equal to or under, the area is successfully spotted and any thing hidden must be placed out on the table. In a two-player game, all the troops are on the table, so it makes it a lot easier to 'guess' where the enemy is hiding, so all troops and leaders also have a hiding number If you roll equal to or under your hide number, you will remain hidden in the two-player game even it spotted. While a unit is hidden, it is automatically on overwatch, but once it is discovered, it loses its chance to fire Medium and heavy Machine guns are always in overwatch if they do not move. Otherwise, you may only place a unit on overwatch during the Morale / Support phase.
Combat Command: Assault on the Gifu! December 1942 - January 22, 1943
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© Copyright 2002 Hal Thinglum
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