"First Bolt Action List-Japanese" Topic

OK, so as I mentioned at TMP link Bolt Action is a pretty big deal in this area. Now that things are moving forward in my life, I have a little more opportunity to get some gaming stuff.

Here is my projected Japanese list:

1 First Lieutenant: Veteran, 2 Veteran attendants 116 pts

1 Veteran Infantry Squad: +2 men, LMG, anti-tank grenades 155 pts

1 Veteran Infantry Squad: +2 men, LMG, anti-tank grenades 155 pts

1 Veteran Infantry Squad: +2 men, LMG, anti-tank grenades 155 pts

1 Medium Mortar Team 50 pts

2 Type 94 Tankettes: Veterans 168 pts

799 points total (they usually play 800-point games)

Is this a playable list? Any crtitques and suggestions are welcome.

Given how you built your list there, I am going to assume you have about 30 infantry models, a medium mortar, and a couple of tankettes (they're so cute).

First, drop a man from the Officer. This saves you 13 points and makes the unit a small team which is actually more survivable than a 3 man squad. The 1st Lt is a good choice.

Veteran squads of 7 men are fine, and I have no issues with taking LMGs. However, unless you simply don't have any more models, I think the AT grenades points could be better spent (say on Lunge mines maybe). Also, at 800 points 3 squads is probably fine, but you'll want to eventually pick up more troop especially with the Japanese (like the Soviets).

If you have the extra models, I would suggest a sniper team. They are good for dealing with FOs, AFOs, MG Teams and even putting extra pins on enemy squads.

I like including a mortar in most of my lists as they are nice to have to keep your opponent from staying static. I would definitely add a spotter though. Spotters keep the team space and/or give you a better area coverage. Another good thing with your mortar is you could consider it your anti tank weapon. 800 point games are very likely to see anything more than a medium tank/medium AT gun. Even then the opposing player could probably ignore it most of the time.

As for the tankettes, they count as armored cars in Bolt Action which the usual reinforced platoon only allows one. There might be a Theater Selector that allows two, I don't know. Even if there is, I think the point cost of them does match their usefulness. I always compare the cost of any unit to a squad of riflemen. Is a tankette really going to be as useful as an 8 man squad of Regular riflemen? Probably not. That said, they are adorable, and I couldn't fault a player for taking one just for that reason. But building two platoons (in the Bolt Action sense of the word) definitely not worth it.

Summary:
* Drop Officer to 2 man unit
* If you have more infantry models consider using AT Grenades for something else (sniper or Lung Mine)
* Add a spotter to you mortar
* Can't have two armored cars in a single platoon. Either drop one (recommended) or create a second platoon (Officer + 2 Squads)

Gaming notes:
Other than the 2 tankettes not being Bolt Action legal is a standard reinforced platoon, the list is workable. It has some rough spots, but far from hopeless.

Even at 800 points, I would expect the average Order Dice pool to be 8-11. You have 7 Order Dice. This means you can't count on having the initiative, and it will be easier for your opponent to pin your force down than you pin them down. Your force being Veteran will help with that (as well as Banzai!), but it can still be a factor.

Banzai! is less useful, but still very useful, at smaller point totals since there is simply more space and less units so your opponent can avoid the unit a little more.

Bolt Action is very much an infantry game. Often times taking tanks (and armored cars) is a hindrance given the points they cost. Even having full armor superiority from the start of the game doesn't often mean much for many scenarios. I think it is important to consider your infantry squads the most important units on the table with everything trying to support them.

Thank you for the excellent observations, especially regarding the number of armored cars allowed (I am not 100% familiar with the rules yet, and am still working from the free Japanese download.)

OK, based on your suggestions here is Japanese Army, Take 2 – 800 points:

1 First Lieutenant: Veteran, 1 Veteran attendant 103 pts

1 Sniper Team: Veteran 65 pts

4 Veteran Infantry Squad: LMGs, anti-tank grenades 492 pts

1 Medium Mortar Team: Spotter 60 pts

1 Type 94 Tankette: Regular crew 70 pts

790 points total, 8 activation dice

Does this look more useable?

Interestingly, it reduces my order by about $20 USD and makes the army even more affordable!

Depends on how big those infantry squads are. If they are minimum squad size (NCO +4 men I believe), they need more men. I usually recommend 8 man squads, but I think Veterans can get away with 7.

In Bolt Action you are always going to want strong infantry squads in general and specifically for the Japanese. Their National Traits work best with huge infantry squads (12+ men plus). You don't have to go this route, I don't, but it does lessen the National Traits some. Regardless, you will want to make your next purchase even more infantry models. As a Japanese player you will probably want 50-60 infantry models (compared to the 40 I normally suggest for most other nations). This includes Officers, snipers, medics, FO/AFO/Spotters, AT Suicide Teams, Kempetai Political Officer, etc.

Even at 7 men, those squads are still too small for AT Grenades. The way Bolt Action AT Grenades work is basically each soldier gets roll a die when assaulting with at best of 50/50 chance of hitting. Then the player rolls a d6 and adds it to that result.

So with average successes a 6-7 man squad is going to generate a 3+1d6 penetration value. A medium tank (M4, Panzer IV, T-34) has a armor value of 9. I don't like those odds. And that is with a squad who still has all of their men. Chances are you are going to lose a couple men before you get anywhere close to assaulting a tank.

You would be better off ignoring your opponent's armor or trying to use you tankette to draw them away then take AT grenades. The best anti tank weapon the Japanese have is the AT Suicide Team. It's cheap, good penetration value (+8 Penetration), an extra Order Die and only takes a single infantry miniature to model.

Thank you. My squads are NCO + 6 rifleman. At 800 points, I can go with the four squads for the activation dice, or make three squads with more men per squad (two 9-man squads and a 10-man squad.) It also frees up some points to upgrade the tankette to Veteran (the tankette is a must-have, I love the little things.) Losing the AT grenades yields another 56 points, which would allow each squad another member. But of course then I am back dwn to 7 activation dice,

For the sake of buying a box of infantry and dumping the mortar and he sniper you could add two more squads and another lieutenant for 1000 points which would, I think, be a better army. There again, we don't do competition/tournament games, so that may be a silly suggestion. OTH bigger squads (12/13 figures) take more punishment and would be better history but you would have fewer dice and maybe you'd need the greater flexibility.