[Ashwatzi]

One thing I'm thinking would be to pick up a couple valkyries, paint a Divine Wind (kamikaze) symbol on there, and make a special rule (to use with friends) about crashing into enemy units to hurt them. What else could I do?

 

[kevin vanrooyen]

Discipline in the Japanise army was very high, so Commissars would be a good choice for them. Also Gyukusai attackers (I probobly spelled that wrong) attacked with knives trying to get a 'glorious death', even when ammunition and guns were available.

Also the Japanise fought mainly on the eastern front, where there was a less perminant front line than the trenches in the west. Many battles on the eastern front included calvalry divisions, and Japan had calvalry in their forces too.

So Rough Riders, Commissars and Gyukusai fighters (Penal Legion would be the best fit).

The Emperor Protects

 

[AppleCookie]

Well he said WWII not WWI, not really trench warfare anywhere. The Japanese had sub par tanks so you could take things like Hydras or Exterminators. Maybe give your infantry sergeants meltabombs. Not really affective but it would work well with using them to suicide charge armor with bombs like they used to.

 

[ernie55]

I'm pretty sure there was quite a lot of flame weaponry in the pacific theatre, although I'm not certain whether it was on both sides. A lot of the action Japan was involved in was jungle fighting or sea combat around islands.

Valks/vends dont really fit the era at all in my opinion, they're pretty much helicopters 'spaced-up.' But applecookie is right, their armour wasn't all that great so the lighter tanks are the order of the day.

I'm not overly certain as to what other units would be transferable really, its quite a hard theme really...

 

[nigelboyette]

dude thats cool i made a WWII 500 point list for a hobby tourny once, it was supposed to be a detachment of pattons troops under the temporary command of bradly his second in command in africa fighting the nazi's under rommel. i used veterans for troops ,a command squad, and a leman russ battle tank, the vets had foward sentries because of that one scene in patton in which he ambushed rommel's armoured division and pretty much wiped it out!! it was a pretty cool list, i think you would be better off using guard platoons instaed of vets. though. hydras, mortar teams , leman russ, and mabye if you can convert a baslisk to a medusa then make it look weatherbeaten and camoflaged that would look cool! i am thinking of creating a vietnam style army for the next hobby tourney this summer but anyway for your special weapons japan was known for using snipers and heavy machine guns as well as cannons that resemble autocannons in effect. put vets in the valkaries with demolitions that will give you good anti tank power.


anyway hope my advice helps and good luck!!!!!

 

[sir stompalot]

Well lets look at where the Japanese fought.

First you have china, these would be fairly standard infantry forces backed up by light tanks (sentinels perhaps?) and cavalry.

Malaya/Singapore Light infantry forces supported by overwhelming air superiority, handful of light tanks but mainly infantry.

Island Garrisons- Dug in infantry backed up by artillery so lots of ifnatry platoons with heavy weapon squads and a couple of basilisks.

What not to include. Heavy tanks, transports of any kind, storm troopers.

I demand pictures when you are done!

 

[ShakaZulu]

it was supposed to be a detachment of pattons troops under the temporary command of bradly his second in command in africa fighting the nazi's under rommel. i used veterans for troops ,a command squad, and a leman russ battle tank, the vets had foward sentries because of that one scene in patton in which he ambushed rommel's armoured division and pretty much wiped it out!!

Actually in the movie those troops were commanded by one of Rommel's lesser generals not by himself.

 

[Heimagoblin]

I actually know a bit about this.

Japanese cavalry is almost entirley a myth- thats all the way through history- let alone ww2.

If I was building a fully fluffed up Jap force I would start with

Company command squad

Lord Commissar(who would join veterans)

a few squads of 10 vets with camo gear, grenade launchers+heavy flamer.

2 units of 50 conscripts with commissars and flamers

minimal units of guardsmen with just flamers or grenade launchers and possibly grenades.

heavy weapons teams with autocannons and/or heavy bolters.

Sadly behond that you start to get very limited. You could bend history abit to include
Basalisks, manticores, rough riders, possibly even a vendetta. You could even push a chimera for your ccs.

Great idea btw

 

[SimSnow]

Snipers too. The Japanese were famous for tying themselves up in trees so they couldn't run when they got shot at.

 

[Steadfast]

I believe Penal Legion Squads to be a good fluffy choice. There is no need to model them after convicts and criminals. You can have them as your fearless, Bushido trained Bansai-chargers fanatically loyal Infantrymen.

At least, something like that is what I actually do...:secret:

Priests and Commissars could be a fine idea and remember, many Japanese soldiers thought of the Sniper Rifle similar to a 'long-range Katana strike', they utilised Kendo and Iaido techniques and philosophy...the patience, the discipline, the one-shot...one kill! Sharp and calculating...the Japanese way.

Primarily famed for the imperial Navy, you could have a Valkyrie or a Vendetta and paint them with your Homeworld's symbols or Rising Suns and as far as i know, Japanese Armour Divisions were somewhat limited in both quality and quantity, though I think they did have some innovations like Diesel Engines...(am I wrong here? I apologise) Thus you should restrict and limit your Leman Russ options.

I have been thinking of the HARAKONI Warhawks as somewhat Anime...maybe the sound of the name, the Carapace-Armoured Infantry, deep striking and daredevil...and even had this instict that GW would have 'Samurai-sed' these Carapace Armours and fix some Katana shaped CCW and release them as the Anime Guardsmen :male-fighter2:

 

[rafis117]

You could take some flamers aswell. Historical accounts of the jungle-warfare on the pacific islands mention the Japanese forces using flamethrowers as well as automatic weapons (on that note if you could find a bunch of cheap autoguns that would be a good conversion). Catachans as well (see aforementioned jungle fighting).

In the Bataan campaign and in the siege of Corregidor, the Japanese forces used heavy artillery, so I would use those.

I would even suggest using melta vets, as the suicide-attack attrition method was tried-and-true weapon in Yamamoto's arsenal. In fact, any gunship that is likely to recoup its losses with an alpha strike and subsequent destruction is a very viable option.


Edit: Looked into it and can corroborate that the Japanese had some excellent and feared snipers.

 

[Ashwatzi]

So what I'm going to do is have a lot of conscripts, with a commissar leading them as a forward attack force. Steadfast! I've been to Patra, my grandmother grew up there and was there when the Axis invaded Greece!

 

[Steadfast]

So what I'm going to do is have a lot of conscripts, with a commissar leading them as a forward attack force. Steadfast! I've been to Patra, my grandmother grew up there and was there when the Axis invaded Greece!

Wow, this needs some private messaging!

 

[Iron hand ig]

Awsome i might try it myself with catachan

 

[Korona]

The strength of the Japanese forces was its marines working closely with the navy. In China and Singapore they had stunning successes with naval landings, overwhelming the Chinese costal cities and capturing Singapore from the British very easily. They used heavy naval gunfire and carrier based air support as often as they could, which became a massive problem for them as the war took its toll on their fleet and the US Navy layed the smack down.

Presumably you want to reflect the force in its heyday and not in a crippled late war state. I would basically avoid any of the cliches about banzai charges and Kamikazes and focus on this infantry / artillery / air support list.
Their troops practised infiltration where they would try to sneak as close to the enemy as possible before attacking so I would represent the infantry with a mix of regular squads and veterans with "infiltration assault". You will want to back up the infantry with a MoO for sure to represent the naval fire and probably a fair bit of on-map artillery too. They used cavalry, so some rough riders for taking down big nasties could be nice and characterful. Then you will want gunships to represent their air power! Their marines used paratroopers and so some airborne infantry could be very appropriate.

Their officers did think they were modern Samurai so power swords would be very suitable to represent their Katanas. It does give you the option to have a glorious banzai! charge if your army is loosing, but a wholly close combat based force would be a-historical and pretty much useless. Fluffy and fun but useless...
Personally I would also add mechs (sentinels) but that would be totally a-historical, unless you claim that they represent their puny light tanks or something

 

[Ashwatzi]

Alright... So I am going to use ONE plain Leman Russ. It's going to represent a single, unique souped-up custom tank that my Commissar Tojo Hideki uses. Tojo leads a 50 man conscript squad, and I will have one squad of vets following him as his bodyguard. Then a couple normal infantry squads with either mortars or autocannons. Beyond that, a couple valkyries to go and drop vet squads (using the grav chute thing) and then use that to ram other vehicles at high speeds. I have, as of this moment (painted), a command squad, a shocktrooper squad, a leman russ, a commissar, and 1 1/2 heavy weapon squads, and 4 snipers. I just ordered another battleforce, so I will be able to paint more. I'll put up pictures when able!

 

[jammer397]

You will need a lot of bayonets and the lasguns. To model a Japanese style bayonet you will need to make the blade longer. See the Japanese bayonet was about 20 inches were the American Bayonet was about 10 inches. Demo charges would be good too. Japanese sharpshooters was a big part of the military too. Maybe even more then the Russians. Uniforms would be OD green or Kaki. Shotgun could be replaced with sub machine gun. Sense the Japanese army really didn't have shotguns. Use low tech tanks. You could get away with a Ragnarok. A Ragnarok is a lower tech Leman Russ. You would only maybe one or 2.

 

[rafis117]

It's considerably more polite to refer to the Japanese by the full name of their country instead of "Jap", jammer397.

 

[GMAleron]

After what they did to us with the bataan death march and how they treated our POWS....yeah ill call them Japs. Not the people of Japan mind you, just reffering to the WWII generation. It may sound childish but my grandpa suffered hell at the hands of those Japs.

 

[Korona]

Personally I don't think it's any more offensive than calling British "Brits". Given we mangle their country name so badly already I can't imagine it's a major issue.