Game Title : Battle of Changkufeng Hill 1938
Publisher : Command Magazine Japan #82
Game Designer : Wataru Horiba
Game Thema : Battles of Changkufeng Hill
Game Scale
Period : 7/31 – 8/10 , 1938
Map : from Lake Dritzeni to River Tohman, 1hex = 500m
Units : Company or regiment
Game Components
1 map (half-size)
1 counter sheet (100 counters)
Game Sequences
Bombardment point receive
Reinforcement receive
Initiative determination
Action Phases
End phase
Background of History
The borderline between China and Soviet Union hadn’t been clearly determined for years. This borderline became unstable especially after Japan had advanced to the Chinese territory.
In July 1938, Soviet Union advanced their army to this little space. Korean 19th division attacked this space. But, Soviet Union decided to counterattack with larger force.
On 11th August, diplomatic solution was agreed upon in Moscow and ceasefire came to the field. At that time, Korean 19th division was defending the hill.
Characteristic game mechanics
Action Phases are very unusual. In initiative determination, both players roll a die. The high roller takes an initiative and go first. Each player can have a number of phases equals to half of his die roll (rounded up). In each phase, the player draws the chit and his units’ moral is higher or equal to this chit can operate one action. In this game, one action means just a movement, just an attack and so on.
Challenge for players
Honestly speaking, I cannot like this game.
First of all, it is very difficult to have middle or long term plan in this game. Because, you are not sure how many actions you can take with your units.
Because of its nature, units with low morale can work only very limited number of times during the whole game. They often do nothing during one turn.
Second, the game phase looks separated too short. One action means just the movement. So, if you’d like to attack, first you must move your units to the hexes adjacent to the enemy unit. But, if your opponent take the next action, it helped your opponent’s attack not yours. So, the mechanics is very tricky and usually very chaotic.
Final words
I think this game is very opposite of “Panzer Korps”.
Panzer Korps has simple rule and players must have long-term plan.
In this game, the system is tricky and players could not have long-term plan.
I prefer “Panzer Korps” to this game.
