Banzai charge defense

scottf2

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Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone can offer some tips for defending against a potential/impending Banzai charge. In a recent playing of Totsugeki!, my opponent unleashed a devastating charge - involving all but two of his squads, as well as two leaders, and added injury to insult by creating a DC hero in the midst of his charge and completely wiping out my MMG nest as well as breaking or eliminating quite a few other units either during the Banzai charge (some of whom CRd themselves in FPF with a boxcar on the IFT roll) or in the ensuing CC... Meanwhile, he didn't lose a single unit (I think he had only one failed MC, despite NUMEROUS 6-12 FP shots, including two from my 75 gun and lots of 6FP residual).

After this massive attack, I was left with only a handful of units, all but a couple of which were broken. In pondering what I could have done differently to avoid such a fate, the only thing I came up with was to avoid stacking, which is fairly obvious (the one big stack I did have was mostly due to a need to gather some previously broken units together for a rally attempt).

It seems challenging to balance the need to have some forward defense with the desire to spread out and avoid providing too many concentrated Banzai targets. Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice from those more experienced with dealing with this challenge!

Thanks,
Scott
15214
 
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bendizoid

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Advance out a half squad picket or two or three. They’re kinda forced to charge the halfsquads and the guys behind them blast away. Put you guns closer together so they can help each other, make a death hex. Use constriction points to plan your defence with more concentrated firepower, example: bamboo, it’s better than barbwire.
If you want to retreat and your guys can get away use FPF and maybe some intensive fire at pointblank/moving targets. Even a broken 1/2 squad stops a banzai charge cold in one hex,
 
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Sparafucil3

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It seems challenging to balance the need to have some forward defense with the desire to spread out and avoid providing too many concentrated Banzai targets. Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice from those more experienced with dealing with this challenge!
The key to defending against a banzai is to know how they operate. If you can give ground, try not to let them have an LOS to anyone. No LOS, no charge. If you leave an LOS, try to make sure they are either going through dense terrain (to slow them down), or simple hindrances so you can get -1/-2 on the shot. Put out lots of RFP. If you have the ability to defend in depth as Bob alludes to above, do that. Don't forget you can always self break and rout away if you would rather not face the H-t-H CC. This works best if you can defend in depth so you can rout by bypassing through the lines to reform the line later. It takes some practice, but you can do it. I think Totsugeki slightly favors the IJA, but the Chinese can certainly win it. The figtht at the guns is going to be crazy.

Don't forget broken units can form a wall such that the IJA can't flow past them. Even broken units can serve a purpose. The MF's the IJA are spending, the tighter their time lines to achieve victory. -- jim
 

scottf2

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Thanks guys! Makes sense! Also, just to be sure we got this right (first time executing Banzai for both of us!)- only one unit involved in the Banzai when the charge is declared needs to have LOS to one enemy unit, and then the other units involved just need to be adjacent in a chain to that one unit that has LOS, and you only need one leader no matter how many units are in the charge... Is that all correct? Thanks!
 

Sparafucil3

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Thanks guys! Makes sense! Also, just to be sure we got this right (first time executing Banzai for both of us!)- only one unit involved in the Banzai when the charge is declared needs to have LOS to one enemy unit, and then the other units involved just need to be adjacent in a chain to that one unit that has LOS, and you only need one leader no matter how many units are in the charge... Is that all correct? Thanks!
Yes. Do you have the ASL Journal bundle? There are a couple of articles in Journal 8 (I think) Journal 9 which covered banzai's. The key to getting them correct is to understand the path and when something has drifted away from the hex grain. Generally speaking, banzai's tend to start wide and finish narrow. -- jim
 

bendizoid

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Thanks guys! Makes sense! Also, just to be sure we got this right (first time executing Banzai for both of us!)- only one unit involved in the Banzai when the charge is declared needs to have LOS to one enemy unit, and then the other units involved just need to be adjacent in a chain to that one unit that has LOS, and you only need one leader no matter how many units are in the charge... Is that all correct? Thanks!
Yes, even a ? can be targeted to start a banzia. It’s not ‘known’ enemy unit so be careful.
 

Cpl Uhl

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Psychological warfare. Talk up how afraid you are of the Banzai. Take out the Banzai counters pregame and put them on your opponent's side of the table. Worry openly about it. Say "What, no Banzai?" at the end of every movement phase. Try to encourage premature launch where the opponent can't avoid stacking (chokepoints). Then rely on the old stand-by, Roll Low.
 

von Marwitz

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I was about to type advice, but Bob and Jim pretty much said all the good stuff that can be done to blunt a Banzai Charge.

von Marwitz
 

scottf2

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Thanks everyone! Will check out those Journal articles and give this one another try... will employ all of these tactics, especially the psych ops... and hopefully roll low.
 

Actionjick

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I was about to type advice, but Bob and Jim pretty much said all the good stuff that can be done to blunt a Banzai Charge.

von Marwitz
Both are pretty reliable sources for advice and information!
As you are also!?
 

von Marwitz

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In rare cases, you might be able to screw up the Banzai's movement if you are able to fire WP on its spearhead.
As the units move in impulses, this might up the required MP expenditure if other Banzai units need to pass through the WP and the Banzai units could fall just short of their target.

Usually, the PTO terrain is too congested for this, but sometimes the US has one of those M2 60mm MTRs with WP or a tank which could fire that ammo type.

Note, that only WP and not SMOKE may be fired in the enemy MPh. Also see the following interesting thread that covers this.

von Marwitz
 

Tuomo

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One thing about Banzais is that they're not the IJA's best tool. The real trick to the IJA is how they Step Reduce instead of Break (EXC: halfsquads break). What you want to do is flow around and through the defense, cutting off their retreat/skulk paths, then breaking them in your upcoming First/Defensive Fire Phase and then killing them for Failure To Rout. You wouldn't normally do this with "breakable" MMC, but the IJA can take their lumps and still be standing, ready to rack up those cheap-and-easy (but oh so sweet) FtR KIAs. Ain't no dice rolling with those things, you just mutter "FTR" and your opponent gets Sad. It's awesome.

Totsugeki is a classic scenario, but it's not wonderfully suited for this. The terrain is congested enough and there's enough darn Chinese squads floating around, so that the Chinese can readily build up solid walls of defenders, even using broken units for this. But in most PTO scenarios, doing that Infiltration Thing really pays off.
 

von Marwitz

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One thing about Banzais is that they're not the IJA's best tool. The real trick to the IJA is how they Step Reduce instead of Break (EXC: halfsquads break). What you want to do is flow around and through the defense, cutting off their retreat/skulk paths, then breaking them in your upcoming First/Defensive Fire Phase and then killing them for Failure To Rout. You wouldn't normally do this with "breakable" MMC, but the IJA can take their lumps and still be standing, ready to rack up those cheap-and-easy (but oh so sweet) FtR KIAs. Ain't no dice rolling with those things, you just mutter "FTR" and your opponent gets Sad. It's awesome.

Totsugeki is a classic scenario, but it's not wonderfully suited for this. The terrain is congested enough and there's enough darn Chinese squads floating around, so that the Chinese can readily build up solid walls of defenders, even using broken units for this. But in most PTO scenarios, doing that Infiltration Thing really pays off.
However, you might want to use Banzais with the prime intention not to attack the opponent but to cover ground quickly with the added MF and the option to Advance (as opposed to HW units). This is very valuable in the congested PTO terrain. As an added bonus, a Banzai charge will eliminate any CX status you might have had when starting it, which means you can run extra fast the turn before, during, and after the Banzai charge. So if you can arrange a Banzai in a way that will keep most of the participating units out of harm's way, it might be the IJA's best tool to move fast.

The best way to 'defend' against this tactic is to keep out of LOS, so that a Banzai Charge cannot be initiated.

von Marwitz
 

Sparafucil3

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Thanks everyone! Will check out those Journal articles and give this one another try... will employ all of these tactics, especially the psych ops... and hopefully roll low.
Mind games make work against some. An experienced player will see them for what they are. Never let them see you sweat. It's much more intimidating :) If you have any questions about the Science article, feel free to ask. Pay attention to this rule:
ASLRB said:
A25.2322 A HW Unit may enter neither a Location that it left in a prior Impulse that MPh nor a Location ADJACENT to such a Location. If the HW Unit is unable to move to a new Location, it must spend its remaining Impulses in its current Location.
I got this wrong in the Science article. See if you can spot the error. :oops: :( -- jim
 

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Mind games make work against some. An experienced player will see them for what they are. Never let them see you sweat. It's much more intimidating :) If you have any questions about the Science article, feel free to ask. Pay attention to this rule:

I got this wrong in the Science article. See if you can spot the error. :oops::( -- jim
Too easy I believe. In describing the alternate hex grain movement if squad A had moved into a Hexgrain Range situation (Figure 3) he would be unable to move at all as all hexes available to move into are ADJACENT to his current hex. Both forward hexes are potential applicable move hexes when performing an (alternate) grain Banzai charge and therefore he had never entered a Hexgrain Range situuation at all.
 

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Another pointer to look out for with Banzai's and any Impulse Movement is that fire lanes get placed on the initial target like normal, but then IMMEDIATELY hit any Banzai units with the fire lane that are caught in it. So if you anticipate a Banzai coming your way, try to line up some fire lanes along the path it will take. The heavier the mg's the better.
 

Sparafucil3

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Too easy I believe. In describing the alternate hex grain movement if squad A had moved into a Hexgrain Range situation (Figure 3) he would be unable to move at all as all hexes available to move into are ADJACENT to his current hex. Both forward hexes are potential applicable move hexes when performing an (alternate) grain Banzai charge and therefore he had never entered a Hexgrain Range situuation at all.
There is only one line which determines the HW direction and all movement towards and away from the hex-grain for all unit is measured relative to that. I call this the "baseline" in the article. When squad A begins his movement, he is range 0 to the baseline (figure 1). In figure 2, he is range 1 and gets marked with a hex-grain counter. I am pretty sure this is right. You have the right squad, just the wrong impulse. The error occurs on the 4th impulse, as quad A enters into American squad Z's Location. This runs afoul of A25.2332 (may enter neither a Location that it left in a prior Impulse that MPh nor a Location ADJACENT to such a Location). On impulse 3, Squad A was ADJACENT to American unit's Location and did not enter it, there for on Impulse 4, it's only option was to move to R3 rather that sideways into Q4.

It's my mistake, I like to make sure people know the error is there so they don't get it wrong. When you write these things, you give them to many people to proof. I proof people's articles when ever asked. Still things like this happen. It's a complicated game, sadly things get missed. :( -- jim
 

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Psychological warfare. Talk up how afraid you are of the Banzai. Take out the Banzai counters pregame and put them on your opponent's side of the table. Worry openly about it. Say "What, no Banzai?" at the end of every movement phase. Try to encourage premature launch where the opponent can't avoid stacking (chokepoints). Then rely on the old stand-by, Roll Low.
It's lucky I just play you on VASL :)
 

GeorgeBates

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Be like Chas and roll snakes, then put a Yahtzee spell on me so that 2 squads and a leader die on a 1KIA.
 
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