Bolt Action: Imperial Japanese Army - Type 97 Chi-Ha

I've gotten a bit more into the army box and now only a few items remain. One of them is this Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank that you get. As the Japanese didn't really get into the whole tank thing that much (not much use on the oceans or smallish islands), all of them are rather bad. This little thing mounts a 57mm infantry support gun, that in Bolt Action terms gives it a light howitzer, it also has a MMG mounted in the hull looking forward and another one mounted on the back of the turret, a bit strange from the point of view that most of us have from the western development. But I guess it was quite handy in the more jungle fighting and infantry support role that it was used for during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
It was considerer to be quite a good tank in 1937 when it was first deployed, but in the later part of WWII it was under armoured and under gunned to face the more advanced tanks of both the Americans and the Soviets.

Painting of this little bad boy was quite straight forward, I based my pattern on some pictures I could find around the interwebs, and also made use of a painting guide that Battlefront put out.
I also for the first time tried to use some weathering powder I got a while back. I'm not totally pleased with how it turned out, but with a bit more practise and perhaps a shade or two more I can make it look good on future models.

Bolt Action: Imperial Japanese Army - Command I

So it's time to show some of my command models I've done for my Japanese army. From the box I got a lieutenant and I made two assistants from the plastic minis. Every officer with some self respect must have a flag bearer and someone to blow their horn.
So that what I made.

I quite pleased with how they turned out and I hope they will bring many victories for the emperor

Here is first some pictures before I got hold of a flag to give my flag bearer.

And finally a shot of them all with flag and some additional riflemen that got their devotional flags at the same time.

Bolt Action: Test game

Last week we ran a little test game, we used my troops and ignored all army specific rules and used only Regular men.

The Japanese army consisted of
2nd lieutenant with 2 men, rifles
10 man squad, LMG and NCO with SMG
10 man squad, LMG
Medium machine gun

The USMC army was
2nd lieutenant with 1 man, SMGs
2 x 10 man squad, 2 SMGs, 2 BARs
Sniper team

We rolled up the mission and got Envelopment with the Americans attacking, so on the Japanese side the MMG and one squad was deployed and got hit with the preliminary bombardment that put some pins on them and actually killed one of the gunner for the MMG.

Japanese deployment of first squad

After the bombardment some pins was handed out and the first casualty removed

 First turn and the Americans advances with one squad and the sniper

Other than that, the IJA forces all rallied to remove pins and just stayed put to receive the attack.

The next turn saw some more advancement of the US forces into the tree line

And IJA reinforcements arrive from reserve

And so does the US, the front squad did however receive some fire from the MMG and some rifles that now had reach, gunning down a few marines and the sniper observer as well.

The marines dash forward to get to grips with their foe, getting to a stream that divided the battlefield in two. Getting some fire put on the front squad of IJA as well as a few sporadic shots on the MMG.
One shot on the MMG however was from the sniper, and a well placed bullet took out the entire team, getting some revenge for his fallen observer.

US forces follow up behind the unit already at the ford. Now that the MMG is no longer a threat

The IJA squad in the forest take some fire and a few of its members falls

But then disaster strikes the marines, and the entire font squad is gunned down, leaving the lieutenant and his runner quite exposed.

Overview of the 4th turn (I think)

The sniper once again shows what he is made of, and takes out the IJA lieutenant, leaving his runners all by themselves, not quite sure what to do any more.

Next squad moves up, gunning down quite a few Japanese as they go, and the officer takes cover behind a rock after his runner is gunned down with multiple bullets ripping though his body.

Then the marines launch a assault, trying to take out the so far untouched IJA squad in one hit.

It did however not quite go their way, and the tables is instead turned and the Japanese retreat back into the jungle after having destroyed the unit.

And here the American player gave up, as most Japanese troops are still on the table and there is only a sniper in the back field and a very scared officer cowering behind a rock.

All involved was pleased with the rules so far, there was no problem at all to keep track of the basic rules, there ain't that many to start with. As it stands now we are at least four people with armies in different state of readiness, some with the miniatures still in unopened blisters and boxes and some with paint on them.
We hope to get another game in soon, and this time use the national rules as well.

Bolt Action: Imperial Japanese Army - Support I

I've gotten myself a medium machine gun painted. This is actually the first metal miniatures I paint from the Bolt Action line, and I have to say that they are quite good. They are as most metal Warlord minis I've handled, a bit chunky, but they look good, and the details are good and well defined, so they take wash very well.

I did these with shirts instead of the jackets that I've done on all my plastics, and I'm rather pleased with the result, and it stands out a bit from the rest of the khaki attack force.

One thing I did do to the minis was to replace the heads you got with the gun, I don't know if they was a miscast, but the didn't look good at all, so I got some of the extra heads form the plastics, and the fitted great so no harm done.

I did use a 60mm base that I had laying around, and based the two extra crewmen on individual bases to be removed as casualties if it comes down to that. I think I'm going to use this way of basing for all my team weapons.

That that from me for today, next up is the command group for my japanese, they are done but I need to get some pictures taken, and probably get some flag action going as well.

Bolt Action: Imperial Japanese Army - Infantry II

Now I've not only completed, but also photographed my second squad of IJA troops, on this one I opted for not using the SMG on the NCO, and instead give him a suitable banzai expression and a bitching sword.

Other than that it's a simple squad with a LMG and the rest with rifles. The only thing I haven't added and that I think I'm going to, is some devotional banners. You get a nice little sheet with a few banners in the box (the same one as you apparently get in the ordinary infantry box) but the paper it's printed on is a little heavy and glossy for my taste so I'm planing on photocopying it onto some ordinary paper before I tag them on.
So this will have to wait until I get hold on a photocopier =)

That's that for this time around, I now have some command on the way, as well as some support. More on that in a later post.

Bolt Action: Imperial Japanese Army - Infantry I

Well then, my first squad for my Japanese army has been completed, the assembly of it was quite nice, the one thing that I didn't quite like was that you have a limited option when it comes to posing. Most arms comes attached to the guns, and you can't really mix them up as much as the modeller in me would like. But the upside is that they come together quickly, and there is only small areas of flash. Almost to small to even care about, I think I've missed more than a few spots when I put them together =)


Anyhow I got my first squad assembled and painted. almost before I realised what was happening.

And here they are;

I decided to at first at least follow the "recommended" army structure in the 1000p force, so I've made the first unit 10 man strong, and not the more historical correct 14 men. But I'm thinking of adding a few more to get the unit numbers up a bit when I have my fist few squads done.

Painting wise I went for a little middle way so I have kind of followed how they looked, but simplified a few things, and also gone with the colours I already have . I'm not going to get another kind of olive green just for a bag =)

Other than that I'm a bit interested in getting to the tank in the box, but more on that when I get some paint on it.

Bolt Action: Imperial Japanese Army

Here is just a quick little update, I got a bit into this pacific thing and wanted to have some opponents for my USMC troops, so when I had a weak moment I ordered a 1000p army box and a army book for the Imperial Japanese Army. I could blame my store for having a really good price on them, but mostly it is because I liked the IJA and had to think long and hard when I got my USMC what army I should get first.

Anyhow, I have started to build and paint a bit from the box, at the same time as I paint some more on the last few remaining marines