Weather roll 4, Tokyo mandate fails

Japanese Player Turn

An attempt to kill some guerrillas fails in the rain. Fortress Chenchiang is taken, and Kiangtu is taken without opposition during exploitation. A division(+) force crosses the Yangtze using the RT as a ferry, along with the new army HQ, and achieves a DH on an artillery backed force at 5015, across the Yangtze from Nanking.

This should be last use of NGS in this theater. An insane air attack aborts the VVF bomber on the ground, but puts a Japanese air unit in the eliminated box, just in time for the victory point check, as the Chinese player rolls snake-eyes.

The SEF reacts. This causes no combat, as there is nothing on the south bank of the Yangtze for the units to attack, but allows some units around Nanking to march west.

Chinese Player Turn

The Chinese player retreats the forces immediately north of Nanking, adds strength to the Pengpu blocking force, and brings up some more units in front of Chuchow. Guerrilla attacks abort a Japanese IJN fighter plane.

The HQ north of the Yangtze reacts, allowing the destruction of the stack that survived the DH, and the overrunning of a 1-4.

A strong commitment of Japanese light infantry breaks the withdrawing line in the foothills of sector G1:2129 ( 6:1 — DE, lost a NF XX and 3 or 4 factional XXs ). Two factional divisions hold fast at G1:2128, which inconveniences Japanese logistics. The Chinese basin screening force is shattered in the vicinity of Taming. The approaches to the Honan heartland are still wide open, with the Japanese still not transgressing that area. A minor Japanese offensive is launched in Shantung province, down both the Tsinpu and Tsingtao rail lines. Plans. With the loss of one of the three National Forces divisions withdrawing to the Niang Tzu, the defense of the Taiheng Shan is now arguable. Intend to establish the line in the mountains now. Will continue CCP sabotage. Will plead with various northern factions for more recruits. Deployments. An entire army of northern factional units was replaced (with the help of replacements from Hunan.) Kwansi, Hunan and Szechuan units arrive from the south, and take up positions in the Kaifeng-Chengchow area. National Forces, Shansi and other northern factionals hold in the mountains, supplied via Yangku. Tungpu forces withdraw to the pass at G2:1602. Only one guerilla base manages to orchestrate success with damage to a rail line and to a bridge.

Victory check

Chinese:

  • Capital operative in KMT home territory: +3
  • Capital operative in China: +2
  • Foreign aid received each month: +1
  • Random die roll of 2: +0
  • One Japanese air unit in eliminated box: +0.5

Japanese:

  • One regional government operative: +1
  • 6 CCP guerrilla bases: +1
  • Two terror bombing hits achieved: +1
  • KMT government moved since last check: +1
  • Random die roll of 5: +2
  • Geographic objectives: +511 to 6.5 means that the Chinese stability level drops to two.

    There was time remaining to play a turn, or possibly even two, but with the victory check reached the energy was lacking

    .

    Rules mistakes

    The following rules mistakes were made by one side or the other. The most important was that no one on either side realized that only one unit could be replaced per city per turn. Ooops. This was not all that important in the south, but it made a big difference in the north.

    At one point, we found that we split up one Japanese division into six RE’s of breakdown components. Also, it was remarkably easy for Japanese broken down units to flip from supported to unsupported or vice-versa. At one point, a large number of Chinese units were being supplied through a dot city using river transport; unfortunately, only three REs can be supplied that way. When the weather turned to rain, we did not reduce the supply lengths to 4 overland / 4 road, as we should have; we suspect the same mistake was made in the north with frost weather.