Chosin Reservoir

[JayTownsend]

January Focus:
Chosin Reservoir
Game Stuff
We shall go to Korea, Korea in the dead of winter, Thanksgiving 1950. The U.S. 1st Marine Division was on its way to the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China, as North Korean resistance crumbled. And then the Chinese Ninth Army intervened, leading to a defeat of the Marines and an epic retreat through the rugged, frozen mountains around the Chosin Reservoir.
 
The Chinese troops, though poorly equipped for the weather, were veterans of the just-concluded Chinese Civil War. The Americans were Marines (with some Army troops and Royal Marines), but hampered by the leadership of Edward “Sic ’em Ned” Almond of X Corps, perhaps the least competent commander of a major American formation since the American Civil War.
 
The Chinese had a leadership problem of their own: Chairman Mao Zedong insisted on abandoning the strategy that had won the Civil War (isolating better-armed Nationalist forces and attacking after they had been weakened) to seek a battlefield victory. Song Shilun of Ninth Army accomplished the isolation part, but Mao insisted on immediate attacks before the weakened part could take effect. Given the threat of U.N. airpower, Mao may have had a point.
 
And so Mao got his win, but at an enormous cost. Because of that cost some dispute that victory, but Ned Almond (promoted afterwards to hide his bungling) was the only clear winner.
 
In game terms, the Chinese are tough, very tough, but have very little support for their infantry. The Americans wield tanks, artillery, air support, and scads of heavy weapons.
 
Chosin Reservoir marks the first appearance of the People’s Liberation Army in Panzer Grenadier. It’s not a huge expansion, but it is tightly-focused on the Chosin campaign, the sort of approach I vastly prefer for Panzer Grenadier. It’s a dramatic story that fits exactly what we want to do with Panzer Grenadier.
 
Production Stuff
Chosin shares its sheet with the Gold Club personal pieces, so we very much want to get this printed and in your hands. Bringing the PLA into Panzer Grenadier also opens the way for further expansions. I’d like to print the pieces in our upcoming surge, with release in the spring or summer.