Year One: Burma ’44

I’d have to search back through some old messages but I think I was first put on to the Pacific Theatre when the historicals gang were discussing Chain of Command and the potential of using the rules to wargame the Japanese conquest of Malaya in 1942 (another hype train that gathered pace very quickly). Naturally, no one wanted to touch the Imperial Japanese Army or Navy with a bargepole. However, for a campaign to work you need two participants. Might as well have been me painting the bad guys and I liked the idea of a slightly out there challenge for my first Second World War project.

I was vaguely aware of Bolt Action as ‘WW2 40k’ so swerved it and picked up the CoC rulebook; I am well aware this is an ignorant position to take but there you go. I left the door to BA slightly ajar by basing my men on two pence pieces; these are 25.2mm diameter so pretty much the same as the plastic bases supplied by Warlord. Also magnetic if you get ones from after 2007 or something.

The Lardies’ rules appealed immediately with their great attention to detail (without being fussy), the pragmatism of movement and ranges (without fuzziness) and subtle bits of humour; e.g Sherman tanks having a ‘Ronson‘ special rule.

Here they are with some of the scenery I have made and er… nicked from the club

Even though we were Hype Training for Malaya/Singapore and the early Pacific war I was by November ’21 reading Bill Slim’s doorstop memoir of the Burma retreat and counter-attack by the Indian Army, Defeat Into Victory, and was pretty much hooked. I decided I wanted to end up with an 11th (East Africa) Division force (due to some family connections) and the Japanese that they pressed back over the Chindwin. I never had a particular regiment in mind for the Japanese; only an idea that they should be a mix of appearances given their terrible supply problems in the Kabaw Valley and that there should be some good variety to the kit, uniform and arms they carried. I mixed my own generic jungle uniform paint colour; it was 4 parts Vallejo ‘Deep Yellow’ to 1 part ‘Russian Uniform Green’ followed by a GW Sepia wash thinned down. Some are in cotton shirts or khaki drill for a bit of variety. Judging by colour photos I’ve seen there was a truly massive range and dyes varied by geography/availability/campaign length etc. I hear it’s a controversial topic.

One of the massive IJA infantry sections in the foreground

Shinhoto (Upgraded) Chi-Ha Type 97 medium tank with the late-war 47mm gun next to a gaggle of senior leaders marked out by gold base edges

In the end for the infantry I used miniatures from Warlord, Brigade Games, The Assault Group, Eureka, 1st Corps and a couple of 3d print artists; these were Studio Grozny and one I can’t remember. Sorry! I went 1/48 for the tanks on the shelf as they ‘looked’ better scale. It’s all in the eye of the beholder, however.

Spot the bent bayonet. The junior leaders all have a red base rim to mark them out

Type 92 70mm ‘batallion’ gun with four manufacturers’ miniatures all working together

Type 89 Grenade Discharger squads. Masters of the long-range attack if they can see a lock of British hair at 60″ on the table

One man carries a ‘lucky’ battle flag with messages from home

You can see a real battle flag of this type with a story attached here

Vallejo European Mud did the job for a monsoon retreat base if you ask me. I toyed with many approaches but in the end just bunged on all the tufts, flock and pigments I had in The Drawer until it looked naturalistic enough.

Here’s a bonus of the 1/56 Warlord armour that I did specifically for the the Malaya campaign we played. I went a bit off-piste with the livery and markings but they capture the general feel. Their performance was in all cases atrocious!

Trio of Ha-Go Type 95 light tanks

A Chi-Ha Type 97 medium tank with the low-velocity 57mm gun more common in the early war

Next time we are heading back several thousand years to the dusty Iberian plain… there might be the odd Celt, too!