当头一棒（A Head-on Blow）is an operational level wargame simulating the battle of Khalkhin Gol/Nomonhan in 1939 between the Soviet Red Army and Japanese Kwantung Army. The series of border conflict started in May 1939 as small scale skirmishes between the border troops of Mongolia and Japanese puppet Manchukuo. The action quickly escalates as both Soviet Union and Japan intervened with military force directly. During June, both sides reinforce the area with more troops. In July, the Kwantung Army strike first, launching 2 major offensives in succession, both failed to achieve their goals. As the frontline stables in a stalemate, Soviet Army conducted a surprise counter offensive on 20th of August, trapped and destroyed the Japanese 23rd division, fully ejecting Japanese forces from the disputed area. The game portrays the actions during July to September, where both side has major formations in the area and the fighting was fiercest. Still, both side spend much time to stockpile ammo and supply for operations as they are both far from logistical bases. In the game, each turn have 5 action round, and in each action round, player play a card from hand and decide if they want to conduct an offensive or logistical round. Offensive rounds allows unit to move faster and conduct attacks, and usually allow powerful bounces from the round s played card, yet requires the expenditure of supply points. Logistical rounds only allow the player to conduct movement, but replenish the supply points and also allows for replacement of reduced/lost units. During this conflict, the Japanese army shows a clear upper hand in infantry tactics and low-level leaderships, while the Soviet army have a telling advantage in armored units and artillery (both in quality and quantity). These are taken into account by the unit quality shifts, armored value shifts and artillery units (can conduct barrages alone or fire in offensive support). The Red Army units also suffer from a significant lack of training and coordination at the start of the conflict, which is showcased with the Soviet training rules: at the start of game the Soviet units are severely handicapped, only by participating in battle, the gained experience then will slowly remove these restrictions. Historically, the Japanese plan is over-ambitious and underestimated their opponents by a vast degree. Deploying the inexperienced 23rd Division instead of the elite 7th Division, pulling back its only tank units early on, and reluctance to commit additional forces in time all contributed to the ultimate defeat. The game allows the players to explore what-if scenarios by allow the Japanese player an option each turn to correct some of these strategical mistakes, but beware, the high command would expect more from the increased investment, meaning the victory condition will become more and more demanding. The game have 3 scenarios, each having a different starting date: The first Japanese offensive, the second Japanese offensive, and the Soviet counteroffensive. Components: 1 A2 size map 140 counters 2 Player aid cards 2 Set-up charts 40 Cards 1 6-sided die

We may earn a small commission when you buy through these links.