| Strategy
in 'Tiger of Malaya'
Scenario #3
(Campaign Game), Part 3
By Doug McNair
May 2007
The campaign for Singapore enters its second
week in today’s episode of my Tiger
of Malaya replay. As Turn 3 drew to a close,
the Japanese had forced a general retreat
from the first Allied line of defense along
the Muar River. Front-line Allied units fell
back to the Gerchang River while reserves
came up to reinforce them, but the newly-forming
Allied lines are perilously ragged and thin.
The Allies will need to speed up their operations
to get units into key defensive positions
before the Japanese can ford the Gerchang
and cause another Allied retreat.
Turn 4: 20 – 21 January,
1942
INITIAL SEGMENT: The Japanese player
rolls a 3 – 2 = 1, meaning there will
yet again be six impulses this turn. The three
Allied units which the Japanese bypassed and
now have trapped against the coast north of
Batu Pahat are out of supply, but none of
them are artillery so all artillery flip to
their available sides. Once again the Japanese
player puts in the cup the optimal five-chit
mix of FULL, FULL, CHOICE, MOVE and ATTACK,
and the Allied player puts in the cup JUNGLE-CAPABLE
FULL, FULL, CHOICE and MOVE. The Japanese
player then rolls a die, and the result of
2 – 2 = 0 means he will get no air support
this turn (an unexpected blessing for the
Allies, who will have it that much easier
when trying to hold the Gerchang River line
and speed reserves to the front).
The first chit drawn is . . .
ALLIED CHOICE: The Allies choose
a MOVE impulse, and start by trying to blow
the bridge over the Gerchang at Yong Peng.
The British infantry unit there needs to roll
a 4, but rolls a 2 and fails. So, the Allies
go with Plan B and have their engineer unit
at Ayer Hitam try to blow the bridge over
the Simpang Kanam river farther south. It
rolls a 6 and succeeds.
Allied reserves enter the front-line hexes
at and near Batu Pahat at the mouth of the
Gerchang River, and two Allied steamers take
a Gurkha unit upriver and disembark it in
the swamps directly in front of the two Japanese
infantry battalions that were about to cross
the river north of Yong Peng. More units pull
back across the Gerchang and reinforce the
disembarked Gurkhas, and infantry moves up
from Yong Peng to reinforce the roadblock
on the swamp road southeast of Batu Pelandok.
The Indian infantry battalions that were holding
the river line at the blown bridges make an
orderly withdrawal down the railroad tracks
to Labis, and the Allies send an HQ east to
start supplying Australian infantry heading
in from the swamps on the east coast. The
three units trapped on the coast north of
Batu Pahat start trying to extricate themselves,
and the impulse ends. 
The next impulse is . . .
JAPANESE FULL: For the first time,
the Japanese get no reinforcements this turn.
They rush toward the Allied positions, hoping
to force a breach in the newly-forming Gerchang
river line before more Allied units can arrive
there. Unfortunately, they can’t find
anywhere within range to make an effective
attack, since the river plus defensible terrain
like swamps brings most potential attacks
down to unacceptably low odds. So, they send
their front-line infantry east down the river
toward crossing points that aren’t as
well guarded. They then move to wipe out two
of the three trapped units on the coast north
of the river, and to harass the Indian battalions
fleeing south from the blown bridges. Finally,
the Japanese units on the east coast abandon
any thoughts of trying to fight their way
south through the swamps to the road east
of Singapore, and strike out westward into
the jungle and toward the exposed east flank
of the Gerchang river line.
The 5-1 attack on the trapped Indian HQ and
the British infantry company just rolls a
1, scoring one hit and letting the Allied
units retreat up the coast since the Japanese
didn’t bother to leave any ZOC in their
rear. Farther east, an infantry battalion
from 5th Regiment attacks a British infantry
battalion that arrived by truck from the north
and is guarding the bridge northeast of Yong
Peng. The Allies throw in defensive artillery
support, and the 3-2 attack rolls a 4 for
no damage to either side. Finally, the Japanese
infantry that crossed at the blown bridges
hits the fleeing Indian infantry at 4-1 odds,
and rolls a 4 for two hits to none. One full-strength
Indian infantry battalion flips and retreats
south one hex, and the Japanese advance behind
them. The impulse ends with Japanese engineers
trying to repair the two blown bridges on
the Muar to let their tanks through. One attempt
succeeds, so the infantry pursuing the southbound
Indians will soon have tank support, and the
Allies will have to start thinking about blowing
the remaining bridges over the Gerchang very
soon. 
The next impulse is . . .
ALLIED MOVE: The Allies try and fail
to blow the railroad bridge over the Gerchang
northeast of Paloh, and the road bridge northeast
of Yong Peng. More units move to reinforce
the Gerchang river line, filling in the gap
between the unblown road and railroad bridges,
and the Indians fleeing from the blown bridges
on the Muar make it to the railroad bridge
on the Gerchang by the eastern jungles. It’s
going to be tough to keep the Japanese from
crossing the river at some point this turn,
but the current Allied deployments will at
least keep the number of Japanese who cross
to a minimum.
The next impulse is . . .
JAPANESE FULL: The Japanese player
rolls very well and is able to recover all
of his unavailable artillery. Unfortunately,
even this isn’t enough to give the forces
attacking down the coast road more than 2-1
odds if they attacked across the river at
Batu Pahat (the lack of Japanese air support
this turn is really hurting them now). A 2-1
attack will be of no use — the Allies
will just expend some cannon fodder and hold
their ground — and an attack southeast
down the swamp road toward Yong Peng would
be all but suicidal with units currently available.
So, the Japanese infantry moves one hex to
the riverbank southeast of Batu Pahat in hopes
of crossing behind the town next impulse,
before the Allies can bring in more reinforcements.
Farther east along the Gerchang, the 5th Infantry
Regiment moves to attack the units holding
the bridge northeast of Yong Peng, with two
battalions and an engineer company attacking
across the bridge and a third battalion crossing
the river behind the bridge to hit it from
behind. Five hex rows east of that, tanks
and artillery start streaming south across
the Muar on the repaired bridge, while a high
stack of Japanese infantry moves down the
railroad track to attack the Indians who made
it to the north bank of the Gerchang.
Before the attacks begin, the two artillery
units within range of Batu Pahat bombard the
Allied units there at a strength of 12. Unfortunately,
they roll a 7 and do no damage. Then the flanking
maneuver on the bridge northeast of Yong Peng
goes in at 2-1 odds, and the roll of 6 does
two hits while the Japanese take one. There’s
no point in retreating since the Allied units
are surrounded by enemy ZOC, so an Australian
HQ and a reduced Indian infantry battalion
die, leaving a full-strength British infantry
battalion holding the bridge. The Japanese
lose an engineer company to preserve their
firepower. Then five Japanese infantry battalions
of varying strength plus a weakened bicycle
battalion attack the Indians on the north
bank of the Gerchang at 3-1 odds, but their
roll of 4 scores just one hit while taking
one themselves. The Indians retreat south
of the river unscathed, and the Japanese lose
the bicycle company and advance to the north
bank of the river. 
The next impulse is . . .
JAPANESE ATTACK: The Japanese get
a lucky break and can press the attack on
the bridge northeast of Yong Peng before the
Allies can counterattack or bring in reserves.
The bridge attack is now at 4-1 odds, and
the roll of 6 scores two hits to none. The
lone remaining British battalion at the bridge
has only two steps and dies, and 5th Infantry
Regiment crosses the bridge, wiping out the
Allied truck unit that brought the Brits there
from the Muar. The Japanese decline to attack
the Indians to the east because attacking
across the river would yield an odds of just
3-2, and that would kill more Japanese than
Indians. Still, the center of the Allied Gerchang
River line is now breached, so it’s
been a good day’s work.
The last impulse of the turn is . . .
ALLIED FULL: Once again, the Brits
fail to blow the railroad bridge. Only one
Allied artillery unit recovers (a weak one),
so counterattacking the Japanese who took
the road bridge northeast of Yong Peng isn’t
an option. The Allies pull their artillery
back into support positions for next turn,
and redeploy units along the river line as
best they’re able, making sure to position
their HQs at least three hexes away from the
enemy so that they can bring in replacements
next turn as close to the front as possible.
The turn then ends.
Turn 5: 22 – 23 January,
1942
INITIAL SEGMENT: Once again the Japanese
player rolls a 4 – 2 = 2 for weather,
so there will be six segments again this turn.
He then rolls a 1 – 2 = –1 for
airpower, meaning there will once again be
no Japanese air support this turn. That’ll
make it tough to advance against the 23 Indian
replacements arriving this turn. The Japanese
artillery unit slogging through the jungles
from the east coast is Out of Supply, as are
the Allied units trapped north of the Gerchang.
Both players select their usual chit mix for
a six-impulse turn.
The first impulse of the turn is . . .
JAPANESE CHOICE: It’s a tough
call whether the Japanese should take a MOVE
or an ATTACK impulse. A MOVE would let them
exploit the breach they made in the center
of the Allied line and get more troops across
the road bridge northeast of Yong Peng, but
an ATTACK would let them hit the Allied line
again at decent odds before the Indian replacements
can move up to reinforce the line. The Japanese
end up going for the ATTACK option, because
that holds a chance for more breaches in the
line (which will stretch the Indian replacements
thinner) plus advances after combat.
First, five infantry battalions, two tank
companies and a recon battalion attack across
the river toward Batu Pahat on the coast,
with two artillery battalions firing support.
The Allies had to spread their units out to
prevent the Japanese from crossing and hitting
Batu Pahat from the south, so with their depleted
forces in the town the Japanese attack goes
off at 5-1 odds. But the Japanese roll a 2
and just score one hit, which the Allies absorb
by losing a one-point Indian recon unit. The
line holds at the coast!
The other attack happens at the opposite
end of the line, with five Japanese infantry
battalions of varying strength attacking across
the river to hit two reduced Indian infantry
battalions at 4-1 odds. This attack goes much
better, rolling a 5 to inflict three hits
to one. The Indians could lose one battalion
and retreat two hexes with the other, and
the Japanese couldn’t advance two hexes
because British ZOC from the railroad bridge
would stop them after they crossed the river.
But that would leave one reduced Indian battalion
all alone in the open, and if the Japanese
draw a FULL chit next they can advance, obliterate
it, and advance up to four hexes beyond it.
So the Indians lose both battalions because
they’ll be able to rebuild both this
turn with replacement points.
The next impulse is . . .
JAPANESE ATTACK: Somewhat regretting
their choice of an ATTACK last impulse, the
Japanese continue attacking Batu Phanat (this
time without artillery support) and hit the
British and Indian battalions guarding the
railroad bridge north of Paloh. The attack
on Batu Phanat is at 4-1 odds this time, and
the dieroll of 3 once again scores one hit
to none. A Gurkha infantry unit takes a step
loss, keeping the vital AT unit intact so
the Japanese tanks don’t add odds bonuses
on future attacks.
The Japanese infantry that crossed at the
east end of the line then attack the British
and Indians holding the railroad bridge at
5-1 odds. Once again they roll a 3, and score
two hits to none. The Indian battalion dies,
and if the Brits stay put and take the step
loss they’ll have just two stacking
points left in the hex, which isn’t
enough to blow the railroad bridge or exert
ZOC to slow the Japanese advance. It’s
very unlikely they’ll get the chance
to bring in more units and then go for another
bridge destruction roll before the Japanese
overwhelm them, so the Brits retreat south
to protect their HQ and keep the extra step.
The Japanese advance to occupy the south end
of the railroad bridge. 
The next impulse is . . .
ALLIED FULL: A British infantry battalion
near Batu Pahat breaks down into its component
companies so it can spread out among the river
defenders there. Then the long-awaited 23
Indian replacements arrive, along with three
Indian infantry battalions and an HQ at the
Singapore Docks (hex 0650). One onboard infantry
battalion flips to its full-strength side,
and then seven eliminated infantry battalions
reappear on their reduced-strength sides in
hexes with Allied HQs. Two of them reappear
as lower-strength replacement units due to
the fact that most of the replacement troops
are green.
Allied units then move to shore up the lines,
with the units in the center and the right
falling back to the road that leads eastward
from Yong Peng to the railroad junction town
of Paloh. The Allies use rail movement to
bring one Indian Princely States and one Singapore
Straits Volunteer infantry battalion each
up from Singapore to Paloh (the arrival of
the Indian reinforcements on Singapore allows
more units to leave the island and still maintain
the garrison). Aussies move in from the east,
and one of the British infantry battalions
blocking the swamp road southeast of Batu
Pelandok pulls back across the River Gerchang
to Yong Peng in case the Japanese 5th Infantry
Regiment decides to attack in that direction.
The next impulse is . . .
ALLIED JUNGLE-CAPABLE FULL: More
Aussies move in from the east to extend the
line east of Paloh.
The next impulse is . . .
JAPANESE FULL: Finally the Japanese
get to move, plus bring in a new batch of
reinforcements on the north board edge. Conveniently,
most of them enter due north of the repaired
bridge over the Gerchang, and most of them
are artillery and mortar units, so the drive
down the center of the board will get lots
of artillery support soon.
Both of the artillery units that supported
the attack on Batu Panat earlier in the turn
also recover, but the huge influx of Indian
and Malayan replacements and reserves means
any step losses the Japanese inflict in a
cross-river assault will be replaced immediately.
Moving south to cross the Gerchang downstream
of Batu Panat is dubious since the Allies
can just extend their lines, but crossing
to the southeast near Yong Peng may work if
the 5th Infantry Regiment can move southwest,
hit Yong Peng and kick the Brits and Malayans
out of there so they can’t blow the
bridge and keep the Japanese tanks and artillery
out.
That’s a good enough possibility that
the Japanese change plans and commit to kicking
the remaining British infantry and AT units
out of the swamps near Batu Pelandok. Doing
that will let them take their forces across
the bridge to Yong Peng and join the thrust
down the center of the board. So, the Japanese
break off trying to cross at Batu Panat and
send three infantry battalions east to hit
the British guarding the swamp road, while
tanks, infantry and engineers circumvent the
swamp hex and make straight for the bridge
to Yong Peng (the engineers will immediately
start repairing it if the British blow it
up).
The Japanese leave forces behind to guard
the bridges from Batu Panat against British
counterattacks, and then send the 5th Infantry
Regiment southwest to attack the British and
Malayans at Yong Peng and put ZOC into the
rear of the swamp road guards to cut their
retreat toward the bridge. Then two battalions
of the 21st Infantry cross the road bridge
northwest of Yong Peng, with tanks and artillery
from the north coming up behind. Then the
large stack of Japanese infantry that took
the railroad bridge leaves a battalion behind
to guard it, and marches south along the railroad
to attack the Allied forces holding Paloh.
The attack on the swamp road guards northwest
of Yong Peng gets artillery support and goes
in at 6-1 odds, but the defensible swamp terrain
makes a 6-1 attack no better than a 3-1 attack
on units in clear terrain. The attack rolls
a 4, and both sides take one hit. The British
hold the road.
Then, two hexes to the east, 5th Infantry
Regiment attacks Yong Peng at 4-1 odds in
the clear, but the attack only rolls 2 and
scores one hit to none. The Malayans take
the hit and hold the town.
Finally, four infantry battalions hit Paloh
at 3-1 odds, but roll just a 1, inflicting
one hit but taking two. A Straits Settlement
Volunteer unit dies bravely, and two full-strength
Japanese infantry battalions take step losses.
The Allied lines all hold!
The last impulse of the turn is . . .
ALLIED MOVE: The Brits at Yong Peng
make one more attempt to blow the bridge .
. . and fail. The Allies spend all but one
of their remaining Indian replacement points
to flip the units they brought in earlier
to their full-strength sides, and they pass
all their quality rolls and don’t get
degraded to weak replacement units. Then they
bring in reinforcements at Yong Peng and Paloh,
including an engineer unit who might just
be able to finally blow the Yong Peng bridge
if it activates first next turn. Then they
stage units upriver toward Yong Peng and east
on the road to Kluang, forming a secondary
line of defense south of Paloh. More units
head in from the east coast, racing the Japanese
units moving through the jungles toward the
Allied east flank. More reserve units move
north from Singapore, and the turn ends.
So, at the end of turn 5, the appearance
of Allied reserves and replacements on the
front lines plus the complete lack of Japanese
air support has stopped the Japanese advance
down the coast road completely. The road and
railroad bridges on the eastern section of
the Gerchang River have fallen, but Allied
lines at Yong Peng and Paloh are holding and
reserves are pouring in. More are on the way
from Singapore, so the Japanese will need
to get their tanks and artillery into the
act soon or their infantry will start taking
unacceptable losses.
Will the Japanese air force return and get
the advance rolling again? Tune
in next time and find out!
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