Flames of War Early War

This was a 15mm Flames of War ( FoW) game set in Malay in late 1941,  Japanese versus Allies (Commonwealth).  It was hosted by me on Sunday 13 November 13, 2016 and I also played on the British side.



This game had 4 players and some spectators, including The Ronin North of the River  Each player had 1,000 FoW points worth of troops and the game lasted 4 turns.   The Japanese proved to be very effective, especially attacking at night in the jungle,  see the special FoW rules for them here:
http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=3955

Overview of the battle field - Japanese deploy forward near the British artillery at night.

The British were handicapped in that the only tanks they could use were Vickers Mk.VIb light tanks.  Also the FoW mission that was used mean the British as the defenders had to keep half their forces off the field until part way through the game.  This left the British player withy a difficult choice in terms of how much infantry versus artillery to deploy at the start.  The infantry would be better at holding ground but the artillery was likely to cause more damage to the enemy and if it were brought on later as a reinforcement it would be more vulnerable, have less impact and might not have a  opportunity to dig in.  The British elected to deploy 2/3 of their artillery immediately and count on it holding out until the infantry arrived.

The night attack meant the Japanese started close to the British 25pdr forward  artillery positions.

Japanese troops swarm a British infantry position that has some armour sport on their flank (Mk.VIb light  tanks)

Japanese infantry advance through the jungle

Japanese troops preparing to charge the British 25pdrs

The British 25pdr position was defended on the flank by a platoon of 40mm Bofors AA  guns that were hidden and only appeared when the Ambush rules was applied.  

British 40mmm AA guns open up

Overview of the British position, 2 batteries of 25pdr and Bofors

Japanese tanks attack British rear 25pdr Battery

Japanese advance on the British forward 25pdr position

Japanese infantry advance on outnumbered dug in British infantry

British infantry and AA guns attempt to halt the Japanese attack

Japanese charge in for a close assault on the AA guns

British infantry being close assaulted by Japanese infantry

The rear British 25pdr battery manages to destroy one Japanese tank

British infantry in the jungle pushed back from the objective by a Japanese assault.

Overview of the Japanese advance

British artillery reinforcements arrive, more 25pdr, but find themselves in close quarters with Japanese armour

Having destroyed the British infantry platoon near the hut objective the Japanese advance

British armour and infantry reinforcements are strafed by a Zero.

Japanese capture and  hold the objective.

Remaining British 25pdr of the rear battery on the hill

Japanese tanks advancing

Japanese armour fires on the flank of the British artillery reinforcements

British Mk.VIb light tanks attempt to retake the lost objective

Fog of war!  Destroyed British tank.

Zero takes a a British carrier and pins the British infantry



Having failed to retake the objective the British lost the battle and withdrew.   The Japanese numbers, assault abilities (Banzai rule) plus the night attack were too much for the British.  In hindsight they would probably have been better off deploying more infantry in their initial set up.  But as the British commander feared, bringing on artillery as reinforcements was a dangerous prospect. 

It was a Japanese victory!