Japanese Units and Formations

These unit lists should help new 1943 players orient themselves as to how the rules relate to historical organizations. They are meant only as guidelines, and players should feel free to modify them if they wish.There were an enormous variety of formations which existed throughout the war, and so again, this can serve as a primer upon which players re-create their own historical units.

Historically, Japanese Army units performed agressively despite the marginal quality of their equipment and armor support. In the Pacific, some officers on the scene complained that reinforcing units coming in from China did not come up to speed against Allied firepower fast enough due to their having had it "easy" in the fighting against the Chinese Army. Given that Japanese forces lost around three million casualties in China after 1937, "easy" might not be the most accurate description. It is possible such officers were referring to units pulled from quieter areas.

The Japanese Navy maintained their own ground forces collectively called the Special Naval Landing Force. They are often referred to in the West as "Imperial Marines," however they were actually naval infantry and not much more than that. Their overall level of training (with a few high profile exceptions) was usually below that of normal Japanese Army units and they did not always perform particularly well due to that relative lack of field training. The units at Tarawa were never required to do anything but fight in-place as all Japanese troops would, but other SNLF units in the field did not always maneuver as well or as agressively as comparable army units when conditions required it.

Japanese infantry formation command type is: Normal

Army Infantry Battalion

Units:3 | Bases:9 | Morale:Fanatic | Training:Average | Infantry AT Assault/Fire:0 / -3 | Machine Guns:4 medium | Mortars:9 Light | Towed Weapons:1 - 37mm or 47mm AT Gun, 1 - 75mm infantry howitzer

Special Naval Landing Force Infantry Battalion (approximate)

Units:5 | Bases:6 | Morale:Fanatic | Training:Marginal to Average | Infantry AT Assault/Fire:0 / -1 | Machine Guns:4 medium | Towed Weapons:2 - 37mm AT gun, 2 - 75mm infantry howitzer

Infantry Regiment

Battalions: 3 Infantry | Mortars:4 medium or 2 heavy | Towed Weapons:2 - 75mm infantry howitzers