In December 1941 the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour announced the entry of a vicious and sinister player into the wider World War. On the following day Japanese troops invaded British possessions in Malaya and China, threatening the strategic centres of Singapore and Hong Kong. The atrocities committed by the Japanese throughout the 1930s in China provided a horrific preview of the inhumanity which would be unleashed against the people of these colonies along with those on many lesser known islands throughout the Pacific.
Ranged against the invading Japanese were a rag-tag collection of Imperial troops and local volunteers. Their fight was without hope, with no chance of land-based reinforcements to assist them. Yet they fought on to the bitterest of ends; captivity at the hands of a most bestial power for the lucky ones, if they could indeed be referred to in such terms; a careless, brutal murder, often in hospital beds, for the weak or wounded.
The following Japanese list is a broad one, covering much of the period from 1941 to the end of 1942. If using this list for the attack on Hong Kong then no armour may be selected as supports. The British lists include Commonwealth and Empire forces and is specifically for the period of December in 1941 through to the fall of Singapore in early 1942.
The Japanese list may be found here: Japanese List 1941-2
Those for the defenders of Hong Kong and Malaya here: British Far East 1941
TooFatLardies Oddcast, Episode Two
The terrible trio took the advantage of a long drive to Crisis in Antwerp to discuss their hopes for the show and, the big issue of the show, their experiences walking battlefields and how that relates to their wargaming. We apologise for the sound quality on this episode, but the discussion was recorded as we
8 thoughts on “Far East 1941 Lists for Chain of Command”
Thanks these are fantastic; it means I can correct my later Japanese lists with some proper rules and official stats. Quick question about the AT Rifle, was it just the one rifle between the 5 crew – seems a bit excessive
Very useful army lists. Thank you a lot!
Andy,
In reality it was a 12-man team per AT rifle! It was decided to cut this down for playability.
Cheers
Nick
Hi. What miniatures would one use for the British in the pacific? Could for example Perry miniatures 8th army be used?
Other suggestions?
What color would the uniforms be in?
I dont know much about the British army in the pacific.
Sven
Sven, 8th Army would be perfect as the kit was the same. This was before the introduction of Jungle Greens and even before the order to cover exposed arms and legs to protect against insects and other potential sources of infection.
I’m looking to build a Singapore force and was wondering why you didn’t include the Marmon-Herrington armoured car in the list. There were certainly M-H armoured cars in Singapore in December 1941 (confirmed by contemporary photographs), although sources vary as to how many were brought into action. The Lanchester is certainly a better machine in CoC terms, but that’s not to say that it is necessarily the best choice in every case, the M-H had a Boys, after all – just the ticket for destroying heavy armour at a 1000 yards…..
Has the M-H been passed over to keep the list of options down, or is it down to an opinion on their availability?
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Hopefully at some stage the USMC may get a listing