I just came across this video on youtube about the Chinese Nationalist army and their German friends.
Great for a bit of inspiration.
Showing posts with label Alternative History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative History. Show all posts
Setting up for my first China vs Australia WW2 game
A couple of photos showing the Australians on patrol in the Jungle:
This scene will be the jump off point for the game - the Australians have to reach a number of patrol points before making it back to the other side of the river.
I will be playing with the DH: Point Blank rules, and using Platoon Forward for the management of the enemy. Although Platoon Forward is geared to, well..,, a Platoon, I am adapting the supplement to smaller sized units.
I am also thinking of remaking my jungle scenery to make it look a lot more 'sexier'.
This scene will be the jump off point for the game - the Australians have to reach a number of patrol points before making it back to the other side of the river.
I will be playing with the DH: Point Blank rules, and using Platoon Forward for the management of the enemy. Although Platoon Forward is geared to, well..,, a Platoon, I am adapting the supplement to smaller sized units.
I am also thinking of remaking my jungle scenery to make it look a lot more 'sexier'.
Revisiting WW2 Alternative History - China as the aggressor
I played one game of Bolt Action in the setting and didn't do anything more with it. Given I only have a section per side, and I am using the "DH: Point Blank" rules that only require a section per side, it might be time to kick this one back in to action.
Like with all my alternative history settings, I like to base it as close to actual history as I possibly can.
To this end, I am using the following actual history for my back ground:
In the 1880's until the end of WW1, China and Germany had very close ties, and China was getting help from Germany to modernise the country. This went a little pear shaped during WW1, and it wasn't until 1926 that things were getting back on track between the two countries, with German military trainers arriving the train the Nationalist Party of China.
This really kicked up a notch when the Nazis came to power in 1933 and started training and supplying China with training and equipment in a much bigger scale.
The Finance minister of China and Kuomintang official H.H.Kung and two other Chinese Kuomintang officials visited Germany in 1937 and were received by Adolf Hitler.
Kung visited Hermann Göring on June 11 and Göring told him he thought Japan was a "Far East Italy" (referring to the fact that during World War I Italy had broken its alliance and declared war against Germany), and Germany would never trust Japan. Kung asked Göring "Which country will Germany choose as her friend, China or Japan?", and Göring said China could be a mighty power in the future and Germany would take China as friend.
With these points in mind I can start to weave a bit of alternative history in to the back ground.
Historically, the Nationalists fought wars against the Communists and Warlords in China.
In the alternative history, the warlords and communists were defeated and the nation united (except for maybe a small communist area close to Russia... just to allow for some future fun and games from that area).
If this unification was done sooner rather than later, China would have the ability to modernise and build a very large army before the events leading up to WW2.
Now, with such a large army and wanting avenge military humiliation at the hands of Europe and Japan from the 1800s onwards, China starts to flex its muscles and invade other nations for their natural resources to provide for their ever expanding modernisation.
The Sino-Tibetan war of 1930-1932 would make an ideal jump off point for this aggression.
The big question is what to do with Japan in this alternative history.
Do I treat them like Britain - Japan could have its own Dunkirk as it is kicked out of Korea?
This would put them on the back foot as they prepare to defend Japan from Chinese aggression. The main focus for Japan could be keeping their borders safe and conducting their own "Battle of Britain" as it were preventing China from launching it's own "Operation Sealion" against Japan.
With no Japan as the main antagonist, there would be no Pearl Harbour, so no major involvement from the US, although China would invade the Philippines, but would that be enough to galvanise the American nation in to declaring war?
Following the occupation of Korea, the other Asian nations bordering China would go next Southeast Asia and South Asia soon after that.
This would give control over most of the areas Japan held during WW2.
Britain, and thus Australia, are drawn in to the conflict when Singapore is captured.
With most of Asia under China's control, Australia and the Pacific would be next in line for conquest.
Military Developement - the big factor
As Nationalist China was equiped by Germany, including weapons, tanks and planes, it wouldn't be too hard to see early war German equipment in a game set in this alternative history.
The question is, does China keep getting German support in the form of blueprints and new technology during the war?
This is probably the most practicle way to game this conflict, so as to make for some games with a lot more gear to play with.
Wargaming the War
Unfortunately, there isn't a large range of WW2 era Chinese figures to use for this alternative history.
Brigade Games makes some 28mm Chinese Nationalists, some of which I have, and I can add WW2 German equipment in the form of tanks and trucks to the game easily enough.
Eureka miniatures does some 15mm Chinese, but again, it isn't a large range. Eureka do make some lovely Australians, Gurkhas and early war US figures that would be great to game with though.
The only other company that I know of that makes WW2 Chinese is Reiver Casting, who at least make some suport weapons in the form on mortars and HMGs. They also make artillery crew, so I could add German artillery or AT guns to the game.
At the moment I have a section of Australians and Chinese to start playing with, and I could easily switch to using Eureka Miniatures 15mm range.
At squad level plus some support weapons etc, 15mm wont break the bank, and I can play in smaller areas.
1879 Alternative Australian History gaming
One thing I love just as much as a campaign game is Alternative/What-if history game. Being able to create your own conflict based on some historical facts as a basis is a lot of fun.
A number of years ago I made a list of Colonial alternative history, purchased a couple of figures, and promptly did nothing about it... as usual.
Well, a fellow Aussie is living the dream and actually playing an Alternative History game where the Russians invade South Australia. Those interested in reading the background and the AARs can click here to do so: click me
Now, some of my readers might laugh at the idea of Russia invading Australia, but during the Crimean war it was actually believed that this might occur. Despite a small force of Colonial units had been raise in 1842, it wasn't until the Crimean War that these forces were increased in size and number.
The increase of these forces lead to the creation of militia units, some which provide the lineage of today's Army Reserve Units.
Some such units created in 1854 were the Melbourne Volunteer Rifle Regiment and the Geelong Volunteer Rifle Corps. Other branches of service, such as cavalry, artillery, engineers, signals and torpedo units were raised after this, with the funding for many of these units being derived from private sources.
When British troops were no longer sent to Australia to protect the Colonies as of 1870, the need for our own troops was even greater.
Those actually interested can read more on these web sites: Click me & Click me too
So, with all of the above in mind, the astute reading can probably see where this is all going.. into a planning process!
Captain Darling, of "Captain Darling's Miniatures Emporium" (see the first link above) very kindly sent me a copy of the rules he is using for his games. The rules are not a lengthy tome, but they provide plenty of scope for some entertaining games.
So, what will my setting be? The Russian invasion of Victoria, set in the same 'Alternative' World as Captain Darling's work.
My next post on the topic will most likely be about the figures I want to use and the units they will represent... I find choosing figures and deciding what the uniforms will look like a good way to fire up interest in a project, and it can be easier to weave the alternative history with units I have designed rather than coming up with the history and then matching the units to events.
A number of years ago I made a list of Colonial alternative history, purchased a couple of figures, and promptly did nothing about it... as usual.
Well, a fellow Aussie is living the dream and actually playing an Alternative History game where the Russians invade South Australia. Those interested in reading the background and the AARs can click here to do so: click me
Now, some of my readers might laugh at the idea of Russia invading Australia, but during the Crimean war it was actually believed that this might occur. Despite a small force of Colonial units had been raise in 1842, it wasn't until the Crimean War that these forces were increased in size and number.
The increase of these forces lead to the creation of militia units, some which provide the lineage of today's Army Reserve Units.
Some such units created in 1854 were the Melbourne Volunteer Rifle Regiment and the Geelong Volunteer Rifle Corps. Other branches of service, such as cavalry, artillery, engineers, signals and torpedo units were raised after this, with the funding for many of these units being derived from private sources.
When British troops were no longer sent to Australia to protect the Colonies as of 1870, the need for our own troops was even greater.
Those actually interested can read more on these web sites: Click me & Click me too
So, with all of the above in mind, the astute reading can probably see where this is all going.. into a planning process!
Captain Darling, of "Captain Darling's Miniatures Emporium" (see the first link above) very kindly sent me a copy of the rules he is using for his games. The rules are not a lengthy tome, but they provide plenty of scope for some entertaining games.
So, what will my setting be? The Russian invasion of Victoria, set in the same 'Alternative' World as Captain Darling's work.
My next post on the topic will most likely be about the figures I want to use and the units they will represent... I find choosing figures and deciding what the uniforms will look like a good way to fire up interest in a project, and it can be easier to weave the alternative history with units I have designed rather than coming up with the history and then matching the units to events.
Bolt Action - atlernative history skirmish game 2
A couple of Thursdays ago, my Mate and I played another Bolt Acton Skirmish game set in my alternative history setting.
Having limited figures for the setting didn't stop us including a couple of mortars and an observer (two observers in fact, one of which was an air liaison officer.) in the game. We just allowed for them to be deployed hidden or out of line of sight for the game.
To balance the extra Australian forces, the Chinese were given prepared earth work defenses, and some barbed wire.
Added to this, the Australians had to cross a river using a fallen tree. I mistakenly gave my Mate the option of placing the tree anywhere along the river, something that turned out to be a game changer.
I made the river and the earthworks especially for this game, but made them generic enough that I will be able to use them for other games.
The earthworks are still a work in progress, as I didn't have enough of the same colour paint to paint over the sand.
To speed up the game, we allowed for soldiers to be activated in groups of two or three until such times as combat actually started.
This was at this stage of the game the 'game changer' kicked in. The Australians were out of range of 70% of the Chinese in their earth works. As a result, and due to bad dice rolls, I was only able to pin two Australians with my initial fire, and they shrugged that off with a successful rally test.
After rallying the scouts crossing over the bridge, the mortars fired some smoke to give cover to the troops crossing the river. This blinded the 30% of Chinese that were in range.
Figuring this game would be lost quickly, I moved some Chinese out of the earth works so they could get into the fight.
In an attempt to out flank my position, one of the Australians was taken out of the battle with one of the few shots that actually inflicted damage.
Time for playing was running out, and my Mate remembered he had a Beaufighter on call.
As we had added the use of indirect fire to our game, it was simple enough to use air support as well.
As with the mortars, the Australian's had some jolly lucky dice rolls, and the fighter bomber came in when and where it was needed.
Even with the earthworks, the Chinese suffered heavy casualties and all that was left was for the Australians to clear the trench and check to their wounded.
Again we were very happy with how easy the Bolt Action rules are.
One thing that is important is to keep the normal BA rules for air support as they are, and not adjust them to skirmish games. Otherwise planes are too powerful.
We did have some questions about the indirect fire rules which I intend to ask about over at the Warlord Games forum.
As mentioned, the lack of figure for this setting makes for very limited games - I can get plenty of extra Australians, but I can't get any heavy weapon or support figures for the Chinese.
As a result I will dust off my 20mm Australians and Japanese for a historical Pacific campaign, as well as work on my alternative history Europe '45 setting.
Having limited figures for the setting didn't stop us including a couple of mortars and an observer (two observers in fact, one of which was an air liaison officer.) in the game. We just allowed for them to be deployed hidden or out of line of sight for the game.
To balance the extra Australian forces, the Chinese were given prepared earth work defenses, and some barbed wire.
Added to this, the Australians had to cross a river using a fallen tree. I mistakenly gave my Mate the option of placing the tree anywhere along the river, something that turned out to be a game changer.
I made the river and the earthworks especially for this game, but made them generic enough that I will be able to use them for other games.
The earthworks are still a work in progress, as I didn't have enough of the same colour paint to paint over the sand.
 | |
| The Chinese set up |
To speed up the game, we allowed for soldiers to be activated in groups of two or three until such times as combat actually started.
 |
| The river the Australians needed to cross |
 |
| Looking towards the Chinese positions |
 |
| The Australians start their approach. I am particularly pleased with the reflections of the scenery in the river. |
 |
| The Australians get within range of the fallen tree. The mortars are setting up behind the hill to the left |
 |
| Crossing the river |
This was at this stage of the game the 'game changer' kicked in. The Australians were out of range of 70% of the Chinese in their earth works. As a result, and due to bad dice rolls, I was only able to pin two Australians with my initial fire, and they shrugged that off with a successful rally test.
After rallying the scouts crossing over the bridge, the mortars fired some smoke to give cover to the troops crossing the river. This blinded the 30% of Chinese that were in range.
Figuring this game would be lost quickly, I moved some Chinese out of the earth works so they could get into the fight.
In an attempt to out flank my position, one of the Australians was taken out of the battle with one of the few shots that actually inflicted damage.
Time for playing was running out, and my Mate remembered he had a Beaufighter on call.
As we had added the use of indirect fire to our game, it was simple enough to use air support as well.
As with the mortars, the Australian's had some jolly lucky dice rolls, and the fighter bomber came in when and where it was needed.
 |
| My Mate finally remembered he had air support |
Even with the earthworks, the Chinese suffered heavy casualties and all that was left was for the Australians to clear the trench and check to their wounded.
 |
| The Beaufighter heading back to base. |
Again we were very happy with how easy the Bolt Action rules are.
One thing that is important is to keep the normal BA rules for air support as they are, and not adjust them to skirmish games. Otherwise planes are too powerful.
We did have some questions about the indirect fire rules which I intend to ask about over at the Warlord Games forum.
As mentioned, the lack of figure for this setting makes for very limited games - I can get plenty of extra Australians, but I can't get any heavy weapon or support figures for the Chinese.
As a result I will dust off my 20mm Australians and Japanese for a historical Pacific campaign, as well as work on my alternative history Europe '45 setting.
WW2 Alternative History
One of the things I like about wargaming is the ability to play out "what if" alternative history settings.
There is a a bit of scope to do this for WW2.
I have a setting for this where the Allies and Russia go to war, but a few years ago I came up with a different setting: China vs the Allies.
I am still ironing out the finer details for this Alternative History setting, but it is something that allows me to use the excellent Brigade Games 28mm Australians and Chinese troops.
I have painted up a section of Aussies, and a Section plus of Chinese for a skirmish game:
With any luck I will be able to play the first game using this setting in the next week or so when my mate comes back from holidays in Queensland.
There is a a bit of scope to do this for WW2.
I have a setting for this where the Allies and Russia go to war, but a few years ago I came up with a different setting: China vs the Allies.
I am still ironing out the finer details for this Alternative History setting, but it is something that allows me to use the excellent Brigade Games 28mm Australians and Chinese troops.
I have painted up a section of Aussies, and a Section plus of Chinese for a skirmish game:
With any luck I will be able to play the first game using this setting in the next week or so when my mate comes back from holidays in Queensland.
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