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RE: Where are the Philippines?
The Panzer Grenadier: Philippines 1941-42 and Philippines 1944-45
Designer Notes:
Back in 2007-2008 I hatched and idea for a Philippines Panzer Grenadier game to cover 1941-1945 but after attempting it and being a bit inexperienced back then I thought it was way too big and shelved it for a few more years. After doing a few smaller designs and getting the needed experience under my belt I return to the Philippines and realized it was going to be a two game project to make it work, as counter types and number of maps required this. So I designed the two games: the Philippines 1941-42 and the Philippines 1944-45. So in reality the Philippines would have been my first design if I had stuck with it. I know I had to return, pardon the pun to the Philippines, as is just too cool of a Panzer Grenadier game series not to have. The Philippines has away been a neglected wargame in the platoon level and tactical level in my opinion and it has way too many interesting situations not to be on the gamer table in the Panzer Grenadier format.
The first game call: Philippines 1941-42 presently and has 75 scenarios of all types including Japanese amphibious landings and the use of Philippine Scout Cavalry serving under the U.S. Army and has 5 maps. The Philippines 1941-1942 pits the Japanese Army and Naval troops against the Philippine Army, Philippine Scouts, American Army, American Marines, American Naval and Airmen as mixed units battle it out in the early years of World War II on the Philippines with a few of the scenarios listed: Lingayen Gulf, The Battle for Damortis & Rosario, The Battle for the Agno River, Lamon Bay Landings, Bicycle Ride of Death, The Death of Colonel Kamijima, The Tank Battle for Baliuag, The Abucay Line, The Townsend Line, Quinauan Point, Longoskawyan Point Removal, Beginning of the Pocket Battles, Good Friday, Jungle Dance, Ambush on Trail 8, Horseless Cavalrymen, Cebu, Mindanao along Route 1 and Corregidor to just name a few of the 75 scenarios. The Final total was 146,000 American/Philippine casualties: killed, wounded and captured while the Japanese had 22,500 casualties: killed, wounded or missing. Let us not forget about the famous Bataan Death March! In 1944 the Americans would return but that is another game, the one below!
The second game called: Philippines 1944-45 presently and has 105 scenarios with 6 maps with scenarios covering all the major actions in Leyte, Luzon, The Visayan Islands and Mindanao. There are amphibious landings, urbane battles in Manila, jungle and mountain Infantry battles and the Japanese bring a whole armor division to the Luzon action so there is plenty of tank action as well including for the first time to appear in the Panzer Grenadier series the Japanese Type 4 Ho-Ro 150mm assault gun. The Japanese paratroopers return and have two actual airborne drops and the Americans have their airborne action as. The Japanese Army and Naval troops battle American Army and Philippine Guerrillas in few of 105 the scenarios listed: Guerrilla Action, Get the Hell off The Beach, Beachhead Dulag, The Burauen Spider Hole, Typhoon, Kilay Ridge, The Bloody Bamboo Thickets, Ormoc, The Burauen Raid – Wa Operation: Battle of the Airfields II, The Valencia Reinforcements, Japanese Night Landings, The Bugle Call, A Taste of What’s to Come, The Potpot Tank Raid, Battle for San Manuel I, From the Ruins of Fort Stotsenburg, The Trapped Column, The Battle for Munoz I, Umingan, Lupao, Nichols Field, From the Air and Sea, Attacking the Shimbu Group, Suicide Tanks, Cagayan Valley, Go Chan Hill, Collision on the Sayre Highway to name a few of the 105 scenarios.
With the Japanese surrender on August 15th the war was over in the Philippines, costing the Americans 10,380 killed and 36,550 wound on Luzon and the Southern Philippines. If you add into this the Leyte operations of 3,500 killed and 12,000 wounded the Total American costs in the Philippines were 13,880 killed, 48,550 wounded not counting non-combat deaths. The Japanese lost 380,000 troops taken out of the war in Luzon from various reasons: killed and captured and another 70,000 in Leyte for a total of 450,000 troops lost.
From a designer standpoint these games had to be designed as they offer so much in a variety of actions and unit types. For years I felt these campaigns were missing from the gamers playing table at a tactical level, now we have it. I believe these two games will be a real Panzer Grenadier hit among the gamers. Enjoy!
Jay Townsend
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