Box Contents

The Banzi! Imperial Japanese Starter Army is a mix of metal and plastic models containing:

• x8 IJA sprues (48 Infantry) – Plastic
• x1 IJA Officer – Metal
• IJA MMG Team – Metal
• IJA Medium Mortar Team – Metal
• Chi-Ha Medium Tank – Plastic

The Jungle Rain List

Breakdown

(x) denotes a vehicle-mounted weapons.

Notes and Analysis

The objective of this list is two part – 1) use as many of the components from the Starter Army as possible and 2) make a List that works at a competitive level. Please in mind, this List was written using only the content of the Starter Army.

So you are looking at starting a Bolt Action Japanese Army? Well let’s get started. First off, the Warlord Games Imperial Japanese Starter Army has everything you need to play a fun balanced list while taking advantage of unique units and strengths of the Japanese army in Bolt Action. In the starter box you will find 48 plastic infantry, which is a good thing because Japan has some of, if not the best basic infantry in the game due to their Army Special Rules. More on those later. The box also comes with a metal Officer, metal Medium Mortar team (a staple in most lists), metal MMG team (unfortunately this unit is often left in the box and will be for this list), and a great medium tank, the Type 97 Chi-Ha.

Now the purpose of this list is to get you playing straight out of the without needing to purchase additional units. The goal of this list is to have something you can have fun playing in the basement or at an event. Time to break this down.

The Imperial Japanese Army Special Rules make each infantry model Fanatic, typically a 3pt upgrade per model. In this list that’s effectively an additional 110 free points. Now what Fanatic does is prevent your units from potentially fleeing after losing half their men from a single volley of fire or from losing a round in close combat. These Fanatic units will need to be killed down to the last man. This is no small feat against a standard unit of 10 Veteran infantry and you have two blocks of 10 Vets with Fanatic making them highly effective roadblocks. Run them to where you need them to be and dig in. Other nations may get bogged down when trying to run, but not Japan. They also have the Banzai Charge Army Special Rule, which allows infantry to run or assault in the direction of the closest enemy unit with no need to take an Order Test. So no matter the number of Pins on your unit you never have to worry about standing in place and having the unit go Down, unable able to move that turn.

Although two units of 10 Veteran Fanatic infantry are great, they can’t dish out as much damage as they can take. This is where all the indirect fire support comes in. You have three additional units with two Light Mortars each. Place your Vet infantry out front and have the rest lob shells over their heads. In addition to your infantry indirect fire you also have your Medium Mortar and the Chi-Ha, Both can also fire HE indirectly allowing you to target units behind Hard Cover more efficiently by ranging in and forcing them to move out in the open. You are going to want to play this as a tempo force. Japan is often viewed as the close combat assault army that wants to be in the enemy’s face. I strongly disagree with this and believe that you want to take advantage of the opening turns, get your big 10-man Veteran units where they need to be right away. Have them hold their position and have the indirect do the rest. This way you are forcing the enemy to get close to you. Something that you do not want to do against the Japanese since they are no slouch in hand to hand.

But what about the Suicide Anti-Tank units you say? These are better used as deterrents to enemy armor than to seek out the enemy armor. You will want to again get these units into a good position which shouldn’t be too hard if the mission allows you to take advantage of their Forward Deployment rules. I also often find running two of them together is an effective tactic. If an enemy tank comes in and kills one of them another should be right there to take advantage and go for the kill. The third Suicide Anti-Tank unit I like to place away from the other two. I don’t like having all three bunched up as it is easier for your opponent to then just avoid them entirely. These units do have a steep learning curve. Be reserved and wait for the right moment to strike. This is an overall good strategy for the whole army.

I personally run this list and often have a blast with it. The only other nations I see take light mortars are the French and Belgians and they only get one per unit so this ensures you are bringing something unique to the table top.

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What’s Next?

If you want to expand your IJA from the Starter Set I would recommend a few additional items:

• Additional Weapon Team Support – Grab yourself a Sniper. I love these in Bolt Action. They can be swingy but they are very on theme for Japan and often Theater Selector lists will allow you to bring two. Another staple is a Flamethrower Team. These are very respected in the game (as they should be).
• Add a Truck – It is a great delivery method and helps you speed to where you need to be while also giving you another cheap Order Die.
• Expand your IJA Tank Collection – Now Japanese armor is unique and down right cool but my honest opinion is that the Chi-Ha is all you need. Of course if you want to play scenarios from a Campaign book or build a force that mimics a battle or unit formation, go for it. Overall, the rule of cool wins the day.

– Shane