Against the Odds 12: Chennault's First Fight

Edición en inglés.

Winner 2005 Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Magazine Wargame

Chennault's First Fight covers the first weeks of war in Burma, from mid-December 1941 to the Fall of Rangoon in early March 1942. The focus of the game is on the aerial battles, but the ground campaign is also covered, albeit on a simpler level.

Air units represent groups of 6 to 8 aircraft, while ground units are mostly brigades and regiments. The area map stretches from the Indian Frontier to French Indochina and from the Himalayas to south of Rangoon. An interactive turn sequence keeps both players hopping. There are two levels of air combat resolution, basic and advanced. The basic level has up to 3 rounds of air combat that are resolved on a "battle board" that also uses area movement. The advanced combat resolution system uses a hex map with more turns, very similar to the classic AH game Richtofen's War.

Air units are differentiated by type. Besides the P-40s flown by the Flying Tigers the Allies take wing with Brewster Buffalos, Hawker Hurricanes, P-36s, SB-2s, and Bristol Blenheims. The Japanese fly Oscar and Nate fighters. The heavy lifting is done by Sally, Ann, and Lily bombers while Dinah recon planes (among the fastest and highest flying prop planes built) lead the way. The Japanese must stike hard and fast and avoid getting sucked into what for them was a side-show. Running up a butcher's bill, or calling in forces badly needed elsewhere in the Emperor's warplan can lead to a lose of face and worse. The Allied player has precious little to waste in this fight, and must make the most of his opponent's weaknesses and mistakes while minimizing his own.

Rules cover enhanced reinforcements for both sides, the Vichy, Aces, Amphibious Assaults, the possible intervention of the Japanese Kido Butai (Carrier Air Units) and weather. Plenty of carnage and mayhem!

Maps - One full color 22"x34" hex mapsheet
Counters - 176 full color 5/8" die-cut pieces
Rules length - 14 pages
Charts and tables - 2 pages

Complexity - Medium
Playing time - Up to 7 hours
How challenging is it solitaire? - Average