Bataan! (2010)

Bataan!

"We're the battling bastards of Bataan,
No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam,
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces,
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces
…And nobody gives a damn."

- Frank Hewlett, United Press, 1942

Bataan! is a two-player operational level game of this WW II Pacific theater campaign, January through April 1942. It presents a fascinating contest of two mismatched armies on a subject our hobby has not gamed often. The US/Filipino defense, embattled, isolated and led initially by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, for three months held off a numerically inferior but well-equipped and very aggressive Japanese force led by General Masaharu Homma. While the US and Filipino forces can be said to have won most of the first contests: the Abucay Line, the Battle of the Points and the Battle of the Pockets, it would be the final contest that decided the issue. Only because of continued complete isolation would the US lose that final battle in April 1942. And yet it was that heroic defense of sublime courage that helped motivate the US to endure the reverses of the war and persevere to a complete victory. It was "Why We Fight."

Home Page: Compass Games Bataan! Page

COMPONENTS

• 1 map, using 19mm hexes, at a scale of 1.2 km to the hex
• 408 5/8 inch counters
• Rule book with historical notes
• 4 Set up cards for five scenarios
• 8 charts and table cards

THE GAME

On the game board Japanese units move swiftly to out flank and pry the US/Filipino units out of their fortifications and yet the Americans can come out and fight successfully in any scenario, particularly when the crack Philippine Scouts are in the lead. From time to time a player may lead with his armor and this was the one battle of the war where the lowly US Stuart tank was the superior tank! The three early scenarios, which include a learning scenario, play to a conclusion in one sitting and can go either way. They feature a surprising amount of movement for a mostly jungle warfare game and rely on sound military tactics. Only the fourth scenario, the last battle, is a true set-piece action. The Japanese planned it that way and yet even the outcome of that battle was not pre-ordained. All scenarios are tied together by a campaign scenario where both players contend with supply and disease to field the best force possible for the final offensive.

Bataan! employs a variation of the popular game system found in Vance von Borries' earlier game, Roads to Leningrad. Generally, each division is one formation and each formation activates individually for movement and combat. Players alternate the activations until all formations have had their turn. Most Japanese formations get two activations, thereby recreating their élan and motivation for taking an offensive role. Units are shown mostly at battalion scale, or half battalion for most of the Japanese, and include an efficiency rating for comparison in combat and other game functions.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Each turn both players draw Special Events, such as Tokyo Rose, Guerrilla Raid, extra supplies, submarines, snipers, collaborators, Medal of Honor winners, the Japanese observation balloon, or the US "mile-long convoy" that every American on Bataan dreamed of to be his salvation. Period flavor abounds here with special rules for tanks, air units, naval units that include a US PT boat unit, blockade runners, Corregidor effects, amphibious invasion, and more. Combined with the special essays included with the game you should come away with a full understanding of the desperate battle fought on Bataan.

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