Greg's Japanese (Part 1: The List)

by Greg

To be honest, part of the decision to play Japanese was really forced on me. Dan and Mike jumped in and claimed the Muh-rines as soon as we got the word that we'd gotten the scoop. In all honesty though, I would likely have chosen the Japanese anyway for a couple of reasons.

1. They're something different. My Flames of War collection consists of Germans, Americans, Soviets and British, mostly of the LW variety but I can also field MW. I've been looking for something to add a bit of variation to my army collection, possibly Hungarians or Greeks, but with the chance to grab hold of some new Japanese stuff and get that on the table, the decision was easy really.

2. They're tactically challenging. I'm a tank player at heart so the idea of fielding a horde of honour-mad, sword-wielding Japanese Hohei platoons is both daunting and exciting. Pitting them against the well-armed Marines and their monster-tanks will offer a really diverse tactical experience as well.

So, with that in mind, what would a 1500 point Hohei Chutai list look like for me?

Pacific War - 1500 Points
Hohei Chutai (Rifle Company)
Fearless Veteran

Hohei Chutai HQ (125 points)
with Regimental Standard

Hohei Platoon (360 points)
with 3x Rifle Squads and Banners

Hohei Platoon (255 points) 
with 2x Rifle Squads and Banners

Hohei Weapons Platoon (135 points)
with 2x Heavy Machine-guns and 2x Anti-tank Rifles

Hohei Battalion Gun Platoon (70 points)
with 2x Type 92 70mm guns

Recon Tankette Platoon (140 points)
with 3x Te-Ke

Tank Platoon (295 points)
with 5x Type 89 Chi-Ro

Limited Air Support (115 points)
Mitsubishi Zero

TOTAL: 1495 points

There are a couple of no-brainer choices for me here:

1. The Hohei Weapons platoon. With 2 HMGs and 2 ATRs, I can combat attach one each to my Hohei Platoons giving them additional teams and some extra firepower. This is great when you add the Banners to your Hohei platoons as well.

2. The Zero….HELLO! Its a Zero!

There is room to move here as well. All platoons here are rated FV so are at the high end of the points scale. I could drop them down to Confident Trained and fit a heap more stuff in!

The choice of the Chi-Ro as my tank platoon here is mainly to allow for heavy support, The Te-Ke platoon, I think, could be a little winner here. They remind me a little of Damo's Italian tankettes and I envisage these getting in quickly and make mincemeat of some Marines with a heap of MG fire.

There's also the NGFS options, with both warship and carrier options. I've never been a big fan of the old warship boom-boom, so haven't investigated it in too much detail but I do like the idea of the Yamato raining down hellfire on the heads of the Yanks.

So there you have it, Greg's Japanese starting point. I guess I'll have to paint the blighters as well.