ANti-Tank Barriers
Steel tank traps, meant to impede the progress of tanks and, in some cases, to immobilize them
Brigadier General Simson, the British Chief Engineer, insisted to General Percival and General Bennett, the top Australian officer in Malaya, that anti-tank barriers should be erected along major roads and areas which Japanese troops would likely attack with armour. Both did not accept this, and Bennett reportedly commented that "Malaya Command sent Brigadier Simson to discuss with me the creation of anti-tank obstacles for use on the road... Personally I have little time for these obstacles... preferring to stop and destroy tanks with anti-tank weapons."
As a result, Japanese tanks moved swiftly from one location to another, attacking with great speed and surprise, preventing the defenders from gaining any solid defensive position in the campaign, routing them on a number occasions.
This card postulates an alternative history scenario, where Commonwealth forces do prepare anti-tank barriers, trapping Japanese tank forces in difficult terrain and dealing them significant damage.
References:
Sinister Twilight, Noel Barber, 1968
The War Against Japan Vol.1, Maj-General S Woodburn Kirby, 1957
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Norman Dixon, 1976
History of the Second World War, B.H. Liddell Hart, 1971
The Fall of Singapore, Justin Corfield and Robin Corfield, 2012
As a result, Japanese tanks moved swiftly from one location to another, attacking with great speed and surprise, preventing the defenders from gaining any solid defensive position in the campaign, routing them on a number occasions.
This card postulates an alternative history scenario, where Commonwealth forces do prepare anti-tank barriers, trapping Japanese tank forces in difficult terrain and dealing them significant damage.
References:
Sinister Twilight, Noel Barber, 1968
The War Against Japan Vol.1, Maj-General S Woodburn Kirby, 1957
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Norman Dixon, 1976
History of the Second World War, B.H. Liddell Hart, 1971
The Fall of Singapore, Justin Corfield and Robin Corfield, 2012
Card: Commonwealth
Supply cost: 4
Game effect: When played, increases by three (+3) the strength of any one Commonwealth unit that is attacked by a Japanese Tank Troop (strength 9). The attack must have been initiated by the Japanese player, using a Tank Troop, against any Commonwealth unit except an Anti-tank Team, Minefield, or Headquarters. For example, if a Commonwealth Conscript Platoon (strength 6) is attacked by a Japanese Tank Troop, the Commonwealth player can immediately play this card, and the Conscript Platoon now becomes strength 9. Thus, in this example, both the Tank Troop and the Conscript Platoon are eliminated from the game as they are of the same strength.
Supply cost: 4
Game effect: When played, increases by three (+3) the strength of any one Commonwealth unit that is attacked by a Japanese Tank Troop (strength 9). The attack must have been initiated by the Japanese player, using a Tank Troop, against any Commonwealth unit except an Anti-tank Team, Minefield, or Headquarters. For example, if a Commonwealth Conscript Platoon (strength 6) is attacked by a Japanese Tank Troop, the Commonwealth player can immediately play this card, and the Conscript Platoon now becomes strength 9. Thus, in this example, both the Tank Troop and the Conscript Platoon are eliminated from the game as they are of the same strength.