Singapore (1984) - Taking the Crown's Jewel of the Pacific

I purchased my first Strategy & Tactics magazine game in several years, S&T #96, and I was pleasantly surprised with the gameplay. Balance and some of the map design left something to be desired, but overall, if I'm not considering balance between the opposing sides, then this was a great play through.

Prepare yourself for some rare Japanese combined-arm tactics.

I needed a bit of a palette cleanser from my larger games, and that was one of the big motives that made me put this up on the table next. I can only take so many monster wargames before I crave something with less than 4,000 counters; hell, even less than 400 was what I was looking for. I've also had a few marathon-length posts go up in recent weeks, so I'll keep this one short(er) and sweet(er).

Starting set up for Singapore (S&T #96).

The game starts in December, 1941, on the Malaya Peninsula. A motley defensive array of commonwealth battalions (Malaya, Indian, Australian, British, etc.) set up roadblocks to defend Singapore at the tip of the peninsula from a tenacious assault by three Japanese infantry divisions: the 5th, the 18th, and the Imperial Guards Division.

The 5th Division arrived first from off map. Supported by the 18th and a couple regiments of armor, the Japanese infantry begin a lighting strike down the west coast of the Malay peninsula. Until Penang Island was secured (with naval shipping hopefully in tact), the Japanese wouldn't be in a position to utilize amphibious assaults against the other ports on the west coast of the peninsula. 

Penang shipping destroyed.

With the 18th operating in the mountains on the flank, the advance regiments of the Imperial Guards finally arrived, with a regiment of armor, to charge down the eastern edge of the peninsula. Early die rolls favored the Commonwealth defenders, though. Heavy concentrations of armor, infantry, and close air support only got so far in the first few turns. The Imperial Guards twice failed to force a river crossing against the east coast Indian defenders. To the west, the 5th Infantry managed to push back the Malay militia units, but not quick enough to secure the naval shipping on Penang. With the shipping destroyed, the Japanese regulars weren't in a position to leverage the full weight of their numbers on that side of the peninsula.

Hemmed in between the coast road and mountains, the Japanese pursued a rapid succession of sidles and pinning attacks to take advantage of the lack of Malay and Australian numbers on the west. The first major objective on the road to Singapore: Kuala Lumpur. Moving south of Penang, elements of the 18th cut off four brigades of the Malay defenders in the mountains, winning the first major coup for the Japanese. Their losses to attrition quickly followed, putting extra pressure on the advanced Australian brigades.

On the east coast, the first attempt by the Imperial Guards to launch an amphibious assault on a port behind the Indian defenses was intercepted by the Commonwealth's Force Z. The transports were sent back, luckily without loss. Instead, only stepped up air attacks and an exploitation of the terrain permitted an advance by the Imperial Guards. A second attempt was even further mishandled. The assaulting regiment was badly bloodied by Force Z and their supporting armor were also dealt a damaging blow before the assault reached the beaches. As a consolation, though, Japanese interceptors managed to cut off Force Z from its escape and send the task force below for 50 VPs.

On the west side of the peninsula, successive sidles by the 5th on the coast and pinning assaults by the 18th from the front pushed the Commonwealth defenders well below the parallel with the Indian brigades beating back the Imperial Guards. After the fall of Kuala Lumpur, where the 5th was bloodied, the remaining Malay and Aussie brigades fell back on the remaining river lines north of Singapore. The greatest single win for the Japanese on the road to Singapore was the single-handed annihilation of the three, reinforcing British brigades of infantry. With the collapse of Kuala Lumpur thrown into the hot mess, though, defending the east side of the peninsula became untenable for the Indians. This initiated a race to unite the two disparate commonwealth forces before the 18th Japanese infantry cut off the last line of defense. 

For the most part, the Indians managed to reunite with the main Commonwealth line north of Singapore. Only a couple brigades were cut off from the mine line of defense. 

With the Imperial Guards reunited with the 5th and 18th, the last of the commonwealth units made helter skelter for the safety of Singapore Island while fighting rearguard actions.

Arriving on the shores of the Johore Strait, the Japanese launched a coordinated infantry assault with 8 regiments. A full concentration of the last of the offensive fighting force in the 5th, 18th, and Imperial Guards Divisions. The Guards went in first, striking the naval base while crossing the north side of the strait. On the other side, the 18th went in to target the Punjabi and Australian units holding an interdicting line of fire on the causeway. The 5th (the star offensive unit in this campaign) thrust straight down the Causeway, striking the Indian defenders holding its access point to Singapore island. 

Japanese armor stayed behind to support follow-up attacks, support that the Japanese never needed. The Imperial Guards landed a surprisingly swift blow on the Naval Base with the help of Japanese air cover, sending its defenders back into Singapore city. Hot in pursuit, the advance elements of the Guards secured the reservoirs on Singapore Island. The 5th dealt a similarly handy blow to the Indians at the opposite end of the causeway without incident. It was the 18th who suffered greatest, though. All regiments suffered losses in their crossing against the Aussies and Punjabi defenders. They managed to take the opposite bank, but at disproportionate cost. The damage to the Commonwealth, though, was terminal.

The end for Singapore.

On a die roll of six, with the hard-crust defense of Singapore island broken and the reservoirs under control of the Imperial Guards, the British commanding general surrendered immediate control of the Island to the Japanese, thus ending the game.

With 269 Victory Points prior to the assault on Singapore Island, the Japanese had secured a solid, substantial victory against the commonwealth. With the losses taken by the 18th Division, however, that total was bumped down to 227, resulting in only a marginal victory. While the Japanese still secured the peninsula and the island, and not a single commonwealth brigade made it out of the battle, their failure to capture Penang shipping, their failure to execute a single amphibious assault during the campaign, and the losses their infantry and guards sustained during their attack were indicative of a less-than-stellar performance to utilize the true strengths of Japanese offensive capabilities. (This is really an indictment of my own strategies when playing as the Japanese). Loggerhead frontal assaults or battles of attrition really don't suit the Japanese too well. And this showed in the final score. In the end, it was a Japanese victory, but knowing how that battle plays out 9 times out of 10, it wasn't much of a stellar performance. Great game, but my tactics need more tweaking.

Anyway, that's that for this week. Next up ... I'm not sure. We'll have to see.