At the August 18 PW meeting, I wandered into a side room and discovered Hank Martin at one side of a table, Fred Haub at the other, and Terry Sirk in the middle, explaining his 1930-ish Japanese/Chinese rules. Terry's thouqhts on gaming procedures are always fascinating... he comes up with some interesting ideas... and I wasn't disappointed. Terry had placed on the table about 30 figures per side, 20mm plastic jobbies which at first I took for the old Airfix, but found out they were a mix of ESCI and Airfix and same other, less known manufacturer's products. Hank Martin commanded the Chinese, and (see map) he occupied the Hangfu Noodle Factory (critical to the Chinese war effort) and the adjacent railroad station. Fred Haub's Japanese were set out about 30 inches to the east of the Chinese position, and Fred's goal was to take the Hangfu Noodle Factory. Centered between them was the sleepy town of Tofu, where the noodle workers lived. In light of the impending attack, production at the factory had been shut down, and the noodle workers were underground. Fred's Japanese had sited several artillery pieces and machine guns on the Hill of Fu, which commanded the entire plain, while the bulk of the Japanese attack force was concentrated directly to the east of Tofu. Even though the Chinese had no artillery, the "commanding" position on the Hill of Fu turned out to be not so commanding, for the weapon ranges - rifles at 30 inches and MGs at 50 inches -- permitted the Chinese defenders along the rail line to rake the eastern slopes of the hill, with consequential substantial losses to the Japanese crewmen. At about a 50 inch range, the Chinese MGs at the railroad station fired at the Hill of Fu. She probability of hit was 40% at this range, and of the three guns firing, two hits were produced. Terry used an alternate movement sequence, with a high die deciding which side moved and fired first. The Fire Effect table was unique; it followed these guidelines: If a unit didn't move and was stationary for the turn, then, when it was fired upon by rifles at a range of 15 inches, the probability of hit (PCH) was 60% per firing element, where the element was a three-figure stand representing a canpany. Here, the target, in not moving, was deemed to have sought every bit of cover, and taken the utmost care NOT to expose itself. If a unit moved 5 inches or less, it was defined to be moving evasively, and not seeking as much cover as did the stationary unit. Consequently, the PCH went up, and the percentage increased to 100%, i. e. , a sure hit upon the target. If a unit moved anywhere from 5 to 15 inches, it was defined to be zipping along in the open, not seeking any cover, concentrating solely upon getting to its objective. Here, therefore, the PCH increased even more, and its value went up to 200%, i.e., 2 sure hits per firing company! Note that the above outline, in which a rapidly moving element is the best target available, takes the opposite approach to most firing result tables... it is usually assumed that a rapidly moving unit presents the worst possible target, dodging and weaving and taking advantage of every piece of cover available. Regardless of the logic involved, Fred Haub found himself at a disadvantage, for his attacking Japanese troops had to cover about 40 inches to get to the noodles in the Hangfu Factory, and the question became: should they move along at a snail's pace as a poor target, at less than 5 inches per turn, taking casualties all along the way, or should they dash forward at a 15-inch-per-turn rate, covering the ground rapidly, but incurring even more casualties? At 5 inches per turn, it would require about 8 turns to make contact, and each company firing defensively would, at a 100% rate each turn, knock out one figure, a total of 8 casualties. In contrast, at the 15 inch speed, 2 figures per firing stand would keel over per turn. But in either case, the casualty rate might be so high as to render the attack almost ineffective. The choice, therefore, was to select the best of two very bad alternatives. Fred is normally a very conservative player, and he was tempted to move up rather slowly, opting for the lower casualty rate. "Go for it!", was the advice of certain onlookers (a veritable crowd of observers composed of nought but me), "You're gonna get plastered anyway, and it might as well be sooner than later. Besides, it looks like, for the first move at least, you've got the town of Tofu to act as cover between you and the Chinese." And so the attacking Japanese set off at breakneck speed. ZING! BOOM! WHAM! POW! And down fell most of the first attacking company. They were still about 5 inches short of Tofu, and Umpire Sirk had ruled that the Chinese defenders firing from the vicinity of the railroad tracks could see the advancing troops and fire through the houses of Tofu. General Haub did not take kindly to this decision. Smoke? After the semi-annihilation of the first company, Terry Sirk's question was: "Fred, why didn't you fire smoke?" It turned out that "smoke rules" hadn't been on the small handout sheet that Terry had given to Fred and Hank, but Terry immediately rectified the situation, and smoke soon issued forth. Fred pointed to the desired point of impact of his smoke projectiles, and a die was thrown to see how far off the shot had landed. The smoke itself began on the turn after the projectile landed, and covered the western half of Tofu. After one turn, the smoke disappeared, and this triggered a discussion on how long the smoke should actually last. No conclusions were reached, at least none worth reporting. Terry's scale was 1 inch to 20 yards. A 3-figure stand was defined as a squad, and 3 stands (9 figures) were a company. Four companies made up a battalion. The scenario, therefore, pitted battalion against battalion. The artillery procedure is worth mentioning. The firer first designated his point of aim, threw a 10-sided die, and half the die roll was the distance the shot was off the mark. Given the miss distance, the question now became... in what direction did the round go? Here, this was decided by the opposition, i. e., the commander of the target, who could decree the particular direction in which the shot fell. The target commander, of course, always tried to move the center of impact to a point at which the shell did as little damage as possible. Umpire Sirk then placed a template, about 2 inches by 2 inches at the designated point, and all figures under the template were potential casualties. The Japanese artillery focused solely on Hangfu Factory, pumping shell after shell, turn after turn, into the building. Each turn, Hank Martin, as Chinese commander, maneuvered the template to his advantage, but still one, sometimes two, Chinese casualties occurred... the PCH was reduced for the men inside the factory because of the cover factor. Many turns into the game, Fred's question to Umpire Sirk was: "Shouldn' the factory, by now, be a pile of rubble?" Evidently the Umpire deemed the piles of noodles within the building to furnish more than sufficient anti-bombardment protection, for cover is cover was the Umpire's thought, and the shelling went on. Finally, one or two turns after the Japanese occupied Tofu and traded fire with the opposition, they girded their loins and charged the factory, some 10 inches away. Defensive firing was not permitted, as the effect was deemed to be included in the melee results. The Chinese defenders being contacted tested morale. Chinese morale was abysmally low (not even the noodles helped here) , and to hold position, each stand had to toss a 3 or under (10-sided die) ; not many of them did. At this point, a dreadful confession was wrung from Umpire Sirk: "I never really thought there would be a melee in this game! We need melee rules? You guys figure it out yourselves!" Thence ensued the following remark from Hank Martin, Chinese commander and winner of the Award-For-most-Reasonable-Wargamer-of-The- Day; he addressed Fred Haub thusly: "You should have a chance to kill me before I strike you. Fred Haub thought this a most logical procedure; he certainly wasn't going to argue with an offer of a "free hack" on his opponent. I forget what particular anti-Chinese die throw was required, but, given the opportunity to slash away unimpeded, the Japanese quickly took possession of Hangfu Factory, and the one or two Chinese that survived ran for their lives. Eight Japanese figures, one man short of 3 companies, took up positions in the factory among the noodle piles. While the fight for the factory was going on, the Chinese were still blasting away at the remaining Japanese both in Tofu and on the Hill of Fu. During one volley, a critical die toss decided that one of the casualties in Tofu was Colonel Ito Yamaguchi, the Japanese battalion commander. All present agreed that Colonel Yamaguchi got his just deserts for hanging back and not charging with his troops when they assaulted the factory. There is no room for cowards in the Japanese army. Two turns later, the eight Japanese occupiers of Hangfu Factory were down to two... Chinese fire was fierce, even though the defenders were "stationary", giving them a basic chance, per-firing-stand of being hit of 60%, which, because they were under cover, was halved to 30%. At this point in time, Unpire Sirk, seeing the Japanese attack fading fast, took pity on Fred Haub, and decided to augment the remnants of the assault force. Up rumbled a little tankie with a 37mm gun and two machine guns. I was told this was a Chi-Ha, and, starting out on the Japanese baseline, it moved 20 inches per turn. Thus, almost on its first move, the tank reached the outskirts of Tofu. Its firing capability was penalized, however, because of the need for it to be buttoned up, the result of the Chinese fire that quickly concentrated on this latest threat. At about the time the tank appeared, the Chinese near Hang Fu Factory whipped up their courage and charged the two Japanese defenders, seeking to recover the noodles so critical to Chang Kai Shek's war effort. My notes indicate that 7 Chinese troops contacted the 2 Japanese in the factory. The melee procedures worked out by the participants gave the Japanese a first strike. To hit, a toss, for each figure, of a 1,2,3 or 4 on a 10-side die would knock off one Chinese figure. Then the Chinese survivors would strike back by tossing either a 1,2 or 3. Despite the Japanese "first strike" capability, it was no surprise that with odds of 7 to 2, the Chinese quickly recaptured the noodle piles. Hang Fu Factory was theirs! But now that the Chinese occupied the factory, the Japanese artillery again opened fire on the building... this time supported by the Chi Ha. All present agreed that, having been shelled throughout the battle by 75mm pieces, by mortars, and now by tank cannon, there might be enough noodles left within the factory to make one small bowl of wonton soup. Despite the addition of the Chi-Ha to the Japanese assault force, the end was near. Fred Haub had just about run out of resources; he didn't have enough men left to carry out another attack on the factory. In contrast to Hank Martin's Chinese, having successfully recaptured the factory, seemed to have gotten their second wind. Not content to merely hold the factory grounds, they stormed forward, seeking to drive the last of the Japanese invaders from their land. My notes, hurriedly written down 'midst the sound of shot and shell during the battle, do not indicate how, but the Japanese Chi-Ha had somehow taken a hit (perhaps a grenade bursting near the treads?) and could no longer move. It could still fire, however, and with a cannon and two machine guns, it constituted the greatest Japanese threat. This lone Japanese armored vehicle was now hung up, therefore, immobile, on the northern edge of Tofu. Not too many Japanese infantry supported the tank, it was getting late, and in one grand finale, Hank Martin ordered his Chinese stalwarts to "charge" the tank. No one at tableside quite knew what that meant, but we interpreted it as a swarming of the fanatical Chinese troops all over the tank, biting the treads with their teeth, opening up the hatches with Phillips head screwdrivers, throwing sand through the gunner's slit, stuffing old socks in the gun barrel, etc., etc. A great day for the followers of Chang Kai Shek! Impressed by the sudden Chinese advance, pitting man against tank, mere flesh against steel, the Umpire declared the battle to be over. The Japanese retreated, and silence came once again to Hang Fu Factory and to Tofu. Once again the noodle workers could ply their trade, nashing and kneading their noodles in peace and tranquillity. Back to PW Review September 1989 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1989 Wally Simon This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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