It Ain't Half Hot Mum!

A month or so ago, Mark of Mud, Blood and Steel Blog fame, did an interesting post on wargaming rabbit holes and how easy it is to fall into one. Well that has sort of happened to me too! I can resist anything except temptation and all that😉.

I'm not sure what started it, but I think it was a Youtube video from Mark's Game Room about Eugene B Sledge (see below). Funny how one thing can lead to another, but it coincided with needing something new to read, or rather a different period from a few recent books. Now over the years I have read about the Pacific War in WWII, but can honestly say that I only had a passing, nay cursory, knowledge of this conflict. So I decided to put that right and spent a happy week or so before our holiday getting up to speed so to speak.

This was very enjoyable and enlightening too and certainly piqued my interest in trying to once again wargame this conflict in some shape or form. Afterall I bought some US Marines and Japanese after watching the Little Wars TV chaps game the invasion of Peleliu last year. A list of the books read of late can be found below, with some comments about most of them.

I'd read this from the library many years ago and remembered it as a very good and informative overview of the conflict. In fact it was much better than I remembered and can honestly say this is a great primer for anyone wanting to know about the Pacific War. He is scathing about MacArthur and show that theatres like Burma were really sideshows, when the island hopping campaigns would be the ones that decided the outcome of the fight with Japan.

The Forgotten Army gets excellent coverage here and certainly got me interested in gaming Burma, something I'd never really contemplated before. Aside from the wide variety of terrain encountered, there is plenty of scope for mini-campaigns here for both sides.

Any book recommended by John Keegan must be worth a read and so this proved to be. This led to other books being bought as I enjoyed it so much, despite it being harrowing at times but very informative too.

Technically not part of the Pacific, but an interesting campaign with pre-War kit fighting it out over challenging terrain and conditions. 

I'd read Guadalcanal Diary decades ago, so had a broad understanding of this campaign. Visually not one of Osprey's best books, but a good primer. From a wargames point of view another action that works well as a mini-campaign for both sides.

Well not sure what to say about this, but it must have been Hell on Earth to fight for this small atoll. Very informative but not an action I would want to wargame at all, certainly not at the level I normally play.

An excellent book and one of the few Pacific Island invasions I feel would be worth playing as a mini-campaign. Worth watching the Little Wars TV chaps take on gaming this.

One of those Osprey books that combines several titles, namely US Marines, Japanese Infantryman and the Battle of Iwo Jima. It suffers slightly because of this, but gives a good broad overview with a few potential actions that might be worth gaming.

I've not read this, but the level of detail looks excellent, and I've enjoyed his books and TV programmes before, so have high hopes.

A superb reference book as is anything from the pen of Zaloga. A useful guide when considering tank use by the Japanese and of course their lovely camo schemes.

Bought as a good guide for many Nations I had little info on and has proved useful when considering forces for Burma and the Pacific.

Wargaming Burma and The Pacific Campaigns

Having finished most of these books and having had time to reflect upon what I've read and learnt, a few thoughts on how I might approach things from a wargaming point of view:

• Certainly many of the Island campaigns hold little interest to me, as essentially one could argue they are 'Splat-a-Rat' games, with the Japanese player largely stuck in defensive positions, with little to do. Likewise for the US player, it is a case of assaulting one position after another, often largely frontal attacks. I know this is somewhat simplified, but I hope you get my drift here?
• I think these actions work better at say the Platoon or Company level, rather than the Battalion and above that I normally play with BKCII. 
• If wanting to game them, then the Threat Generation System might be a good choice, certainly for the solo player, alongside the Blinds used in CoC etc. How you determine the winner might be tricky, given the almost unlimited resources avaiable to the US player compared to the Japanese.
• Of the Island campaigns, the ones that have attracted me the most are Guadalcanal and Peleliu, as the Japanese are more active on the offensive (aside from their shocking tactics!) and so for my money, this will make for a more interesting campaign for me.
• Burma certainly has much going for it on many levels with regards to the games I want to play using BKCII, with riverine actions, beach landings, jungle, open terrain etc, so different challenges each time. I need to refresh my knowledge of this campaign for sure, but am looking forward to trying to flesh something out in due course.

What Next?

Aside from more research in due course, I have ordered some 8th Army figures from Pendraken that will work perfectly for Burma and have the added bonus of being useful for Sicily and Italy too. I have some AFVs to go with the British that I bought last year, with the Japanese and US Marines all accounted for somewhere in the leadpile.

I have been adding some air support for both sides in the form of 1:144th diecast aircraft, as finding what you want in this scale can be tricky. Luckily a Zero Zen and Wildcat are all ready to go in the games room, but I might be tempted for something for the British in Burma at some point, but my current NWE Hurricane will have to suffice for the moment.

So this falling into a rabbit hole has been fun and informative, but a tad expensive on the bank account front. Well I'm happy but just don't SWMBO😉!

Thanks for reading and as always, any comments greatly appreciated.

TTFN.