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Japanese Forces advice. - 6/23/2004 4:06:36 PM

Yamashita

Posts: 53
Joined: 6/21/2004
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Playing the Japanese in a Long WW2 camp. 1200pts. First time for me so the EQ & org are new to me. Can anyone offer some advice?
& a couple of Questions.

1. SNLF Infantry- are these the Japanese Marines? I have some of these but just picked the first Infantry Co. listed IIRC.

2. Tanks & lack there of. The "Medium" tanks have survived so far but I've only encountered Russian light tanks like the BT-7 & tankettes. It looks like captured Stuarts are the best available after 1942, is that right?

3. If my core force is infantry heavy does that mean I will encounter fewer enemy tanks ? If so should I trade in my tanks for something else?

4. Any recommended guns or units I should put in my core force?
(now have 1 Inf co. 2-70mm IGs 2X105mm morters Eng pltn. 1 engineer tank & 2X Med tanks (3 per plattoon) )

5. Will i get to fight the Chinese?

Thanks & sorry if this has been covered before!

Post #: 1

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/23/2004 4:46:07 PM

Poopyhead

Posts: 612
Joined: 3/17/2004
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I have only played a couple of battles as the Japanese, but I was surprised at how well the SPWAW system simulated jungle/island warfare.

1. Yes, SNLF means Special Naval Landing Force.

2. Tanks are available, but the Japanese have much better weapons at their disposal, i.e., very good infantry and mortars.

3. I had no tanks and ran into a lot of U.S. tanks, but in the jungle infantry rules!

4. I had about the same force, but I had more mortars and no tanks (don't forget recon units!). They do have an AA gun with decent penetration, I think it was 70 or 75 mm. (It's the type 88, 75 mm AA with a penetration of 103.)

5. As I said, I didn't fight the whole campaign, but I believe that you can pick either Pacific Islands or mainland battles.

Buy the toughest infantry that you can afford. Without terrain that allows mobile forces to rock, you have to remember to keep your infantry moving. Leg recon units can give you only a small, but valuable, view of the jungle battlefield. I used the 150 mm mortars to smash enemy positions. Aircraft can be decisive and can provide a snapshot of what is beyond your view. A small reserve can clean up after a hard day's slaughter. Be aggressive, your army has never been beaten. Ever.

< Message edited by Poopyhead -- 6/24/2004 2:31:37 PM >

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Post #: 2

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/23/2004 5:21:20 PM

Yamashita

Posts: 53
Joined: 6/21/2004
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Thanks for the advice Poopyhead. er i mean that respectfully of course.

Forgot I did buy a couple of recon units- 2 or 4 man can't remember. & got some from support force points, but I'll have to put more time & thought into recon i guess.

Hmm, already have these tanks & their skills are armor based...maybe I can find a decent SP gun or AA unit. Tho its early in the campaign so they might have time to become good at arty. I bought some 20mmaa originally but turned them into 150mm mortars & that was a good move!

Planned on fighting on the mainland to see what China terrain was like, but will probably skip around a bit.

(in reply to Poopyhead)

Post #: 3

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/23/2004 5:29:30 PM

BlueLavender

Posts: 102
Joined: 8/30/2002
From: Singapore
Status: offline

Hi Yamashita-san,

i will try to answer few of your questions, but i am also amateur :)

1. SNLF, there are two types of SNLF in SPWAW, as in real life. SNLF is technically, as Poopyhead said : japanese marines. But in practice, there are two very different SNLF quality. One is the *real* SNLF , meaning they were trained in amphibious assault *and* also airborne landing (such as 1st Yokosuka & 3rd Yokosuka SNLF regiment). They were called in japanese : Tokubetsu Rikusentai. The other "SNLF" are the one that Japanese recruited near the end of the war and consists of non-combatants port personnel / guard, and also consist of Korean conscript. These are not the same quality as the tokubetsu rikusentai. They were sometimes simply called rikusentai only.

2. It is best ;), for my own, usually i pick infantry-heavy force, and deploy ambush , as the Japanese did.

4. 150mm Mortar, that really kicks... :)

that's all i can answer... hope that helps

rgds

BL

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RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/23/2004 6:28:38 PM

Yamashita

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Joined: 6/21/2004
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Well Thanks Blue Lavender nice to learn what these units are called1

Tokubetsu rikusentai-I know Tokubetsu & sentai but what does riku mean ?

Guess I really will have to change my tanks for something more useful.

too bad their infantry skill ratings are so low. hmmmm

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Post #: 5

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/24/2004 3:38:57 AM

BlueLavender

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From: Singapore
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riku, if i'm not mistaken should mean shore / land... so in short tokubetsu rikusentai = special landing force / special landing unit. the things that make them not really recognized as marine by some historian are :
1. No higher organization above regimental / brigade level.
2. The quality of late war SNLF organization were so bad that it didn't deserve the name rikusentai at all :) even some japanese soldiers called them as merely construction unit soldiers (not to mention that most of these construction soldiers were conscript from manchukuo, korean, mongol, or even chinese, so morale is highly questionable).

quote:

ORIGINAL: Yamashita

Well Thanks Blue Lavender nice to learn what these units are called1

Tokubetsu rikusentai-I know Tokubetsu & sentai but what does riku mean ?

Guess I really will have to change my tanks for something more useful.

too bad their infantry skill ratings are so low. hmmmm

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Post #: 6

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/24/2004 4:54:28 AM

Kokoda

Posts: 137
Joined: 2/20/2001
From: Melbourne,Australia
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Rather than considering changing your tanks for infantry, you might have a look at those flamethrower Engineer tanks that are on the OOB. These are so nasty that when I play PBEM I like to set a limit on the number that are used (and my regular opponent insists on this). They are so effective (two hex range - one shot - seven casualties - unit eliminated...and they get two flameshots and MG as well) that he contends that they should be banned under the Geneva convention.

I'm sure that rarity suggest these should not be readily available, but they are awesome. They are also very effective against tanks - if they survive an exchange of shots - they don't have great armour.

Try them out!

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CHRIS

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Post #: 7

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/24/2004 3:38:29 PM

TheChin

Posts: 88
Joined: 4/20/2001
From: Cleveland,OH,USA
Status: offline

Oooh, I almost forgot about those flame tanks. Or maybe I blocked it out when I was on the recieving end one time. When I played the campaign as the Japanese I made a conscious effort to limit myself to a section of those, for one to be realistic and for two, I didn't want it to be too easy. If and/or when you get some, hide them from enemy armor, like previously mentioned, they are thin skinned.

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Post #: 8

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/24/2004 6:52:38 PM

Yamashita

Posts: 53
Joined: 6/21/2004
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Thanks Guys, lots of good info & help here!

Oh, yeah I do have one of those engineer tanks in my core force. It has 2 FTs & they really are devestating!

Now I have a new question. how best to defend / position my troops to minimize the effects of those heavy Russian artillery barages ? i assume spacing units out helps, should I have a 2nd line to be able to shoot at any enemy units that sneeak up next to my frontline infantry when they are suppressed ? Any other ideas ?
(next mission is a defend )

(in reply to TheChin)

Post #: 9

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/24/2004 10:35:36 PM

Poopyhead

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Joined: 3/17/2004
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I don't remember how the Japanese did it in WW II, but the U.S. used a triad formation. This consisted of two squads forward and one to the rear as a reserve. This was repeated up the chain, i.e. two platoons forward, one platoon back, yadda yadda yadda. The heavy weapons (MG's mortars, etc.) can be forward or in the rear. You should advance dispersed (each platoon by a slightly different route) and concentrate at the point of attack. Keep moving, if you let the Russian artillery beat your force like a drum, then it will. Your infantry are great at close assault, so stay right in the Russians' faces. That way they must call a barrage on their own position. Use well placed recon units to spot those units "sneaking up" and attack them with your mortars. Use smoke to keep the Russian from finding targets for the artillery.

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Post #: 10

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/25/2004 12:00:44 AM

Yamashita

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Joined: 6/21/2004
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Poopyhead-san,

Good points, promptly copy & pasted to my tips/things to remember memo!

The value of smoke to block enemy spotters view while on defense had'nt occurred to me.

I finished my advance scen. without too many mistakes. Definitely could have used my recon better tho. I got a little careless with them.
Also was surprised how many 50mm mortar units my troops failed to spot even from very close range! Of course it was a night time scenario 3AM & 7 hex visibility. Very interesting. Finished with 4500 pts to 55 or so. Of course this is in 1939 & USSR troops appear to be very green.

Will have to try the US 2 forward one back . Approx what distance between the forward & rear squads do you think ?

Actually with my Jap Inf having good fire control & LMG it seemed that engaging the green Russians at a distance was pretty effective. So i generally avoided closing on them. Was probably too cautious but that's ok with a new force i guess. They got plenty of firing practice.

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Post #: 11

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/25/2004 1:49:51 AM

Veroporo

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Joined: 10/20/2002
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If you're intrested more in platoon & company tactics here's a good general page on that.

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Post #: 12

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/25/2004 3:05:05 AM

Kokoda

Posts: 137
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From: Melbourne,Australia
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Veroporo,

I'd be interested in that reference, but I can't find the site on your message.

Also, if you can find it - Goblin posted some advice on squad level tactics in close fighting (Goblins apparently like it close and dirty - preferably dark).

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CHRIS

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Post #: 13

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/25/2004 11:45:44 AM

Veroporo

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Click on the platoon, company or here :) It's real life tactics but pretty easily adopted to SPWaW.

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Ei kannattais.

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Post #: 14

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/25/2004 3:55:42 PM

Yamashita

Posts: 53
Joined: 6/21/2004
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Thank You!!

< Message edited by Yamashita -- 6/25/2004 1:56:19 PM >

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Post #: 15

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/25/2004 6:27:14 PM

Poopyhead

Posts: 612
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I think that within the confines of the game, keeping the two squads forward within 3 hexes of the one back (the platoon leader squad) would be best. The MG's go forward in defense and provide cover fire from the rear in an advance.

Check out the thread on how to use recon units. It can really improve what you do. But with all your successes, you'll soon snatch the pebble from our hand and tell us how to do it.

After a good mortar barrage, I closed with the U.S. in the jungle since I had really big squads (18-20 men) and extra morale (+10) with the SNLF company. That, and I got to yell "Banzai!" (a lot).

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Post #: 16

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/25/2004 8:56:15 PM

Yamashita

Posts: 53
Joined: 6/21/2004
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Thanks Poopyhead -Sama !

Will def look at that recon thread, i'm not using these guys very well. Luckily they dont mind dying for the Emperor !

I was feling pretty good about myself after that score until i looked at the Russki's unit stats. Things Rally:35 Inf:28 Arty: 15 .......
Those poor boys were lucky to get rifles it looks like. Oh well it's still fun & they'll get better. Gonna be a bit different against the USMC.

Those 20 man SNLF platoons are killers too.
whoops gotta go.

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Post #: 17

RE: Japanese Forces advice. - 6/29/2004 10:37:42 AM

MOTHER

Posts: 172
Joined: 10/26/2002
From: Melbourne ,Australia
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Militia are good for in close forward jungle defence against other infantry, especially scouts and the like.the opposition has to get rid of them [20 men +]otherwise if they slip through sometimes its hell to pay, ha ha .
Another good thing about the japs [and US Marines] is that they never surrender.

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