Glory Recalled campaign
INTRODUCTION
The Battle of Hong Kong (8 December – 25 December 1941) was one of the early battles of the Pacific War during World War II and the first where Commonwealth land forces were opposed to the Japanese. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, air and land forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong, without declaring war against the British Empire. The Hong Kong garrison consisted of British, Indian and Canadian units, also the Auxiliary Defence Units and Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC).
Within a week the defenders abandoned the mainland and less than two weeks later, with their position on the island untenable, the colony surrendered.
One player represents the Empire of Japan’s land and air forces, the other controls the Commonwealth defenders. The latter have built some fortifications on the border, but they are spread out and without air cover. The Japanese are numberous, well equiped and strongly supported by their air force.
- The Japanese must advance and conquer the mainland territories, and then invade HK island itself,
- The Commonwealth must hold desperately against the onslaught of their enemy, hoping to inflict enough casualties and hold long enough so that their fight and the glory related will be remembered.
The scenario is mostly a race against time, for both sides.
The game Cards and Events allow full replay ability thanks to the numerous various situations that they create on the environmental, diplomatic, military, or political fields.
DURATION & FORCES
Duration:4h+
Favored Side: none
Most Difficult Side to Play: British
The Glory Recalled campaign lasts 18 turns, form 8th December till 26 December 1941, each representing a day.
The Commonwealth always plays first (although their activity on Turn 0 is limited to choosing some options).
The Commonwealh forces include British Army, Indian Army, Canadian Army, Hong Kong Colony forces and Royal Air Force units.
The Japanese forces include Japanese Army and Japanese Navy land and air units.
MAPBOARD
The map represents the main part of the British Colony of Hong Kong, with the ‘New Territories’ connected to the mainland in the north, and the island of Hong Kong itself in the south.
The British coastal batteries are preventing a Japanese landing on the island of Hong Kong until a majority of them is captured or destroyed.
The landing boxes (square in the main harbor or near Aberdeen / Stanley) represent the local shipping necessary to cross to the island. They can’t be entered until Kowloon and the main piers on the mainland are seized.
Roads: movement within friendly Dense Urban regions (i.e. Victoria, Kowloon) is 0.5 MP, because of good transportation network (1 if unfriendly). Outside cities or jungle (flat 3), the cost is usually 1 less than in a roadless equivalent terrain.
AIR STACKING: in this scenario it is limited to 5 points of stacking in all regions except off-map boxes, where it is unlimited. Most air units have a 1 point stacking value.
VICTORY
IMMEDIATE VICTORY
The Commonwealth player wins if he still controls its HQ on Hong Kong island at the end of the game.
The Japanese player wins if he captures all structures on the map or eliminates all enemy land units in play.
Otherwise, the player who has 30+ VP wins instantly. If not, the side with the most Victory Points at the end of the scenario wins the game.
BONUS OR PENALTY VP
Both players receive VPs at the end of the game for the control of cities (1 VP each), Reservoirs (3 VP) and the HQ site on Mount Gough (5VP). Piers and Kai-Tak earn 1 VP (3 if on Victoria Island) for Japan only.
The Commonwealth player earns 3 VP at the end of each week (every 6 turns in game turns). He also gains 1 VP for every military site (airfield, batteries, forts) that he still controls at the end of the game. Each eliminated Japanese leader or unit also brings 1 extra VP.
Initial options offered to both sides may cause them a loss of starting VPs (both start with 10).
REINFORCEMENTS
COMMONWEALTH
[Turn 1] December 8th, 1941
No reinforcements in this scenario, but two cards, linked to initial events, will allow for a stronger defense in the begining, at the cost of Victory Points. Namely:
– Buffalos (4 VP): the RAF receives a fighter air unit – see also Kai-Tak bombardment rule below.
– More Troops (6 VP) : this option grants an extra 3 artilleries, 1 armored card, and minefields on the initial defenses, plus extra replacements (+1 every second turn).
JAPAN
[Turn 1] December 8th, 1941
On turn 3, the Japanese receive an Armor units and 2 artilleries as reinforcements. In addition two cards, linked to initial events, will allow for the following:
– Kanoya (4 VP): this crack air unit of the Japanese navy enters directly into the game (+2 units).
– More Troops (6 VP): this option grants more replacements (+2 every turn) and extra troops when the 66th Regiment (recieved via Card Play) enters the game later on.
SPECIAL RULES
WEATHER
At the time of this scenario some heavy rainfall may occur in this part of Southeastern China. This is handled via the play of cards or events. Bad weather will usually ‘ground’ all air forces and limit the movement ability of land forces.
REPLACEMENTS
Commonwealth receives 1 replacement every second turn (plus one more each turn if the option «More Troops» was selected).
Japan receives 3 replacements every turn (plus 2 more each turn if the option «More Troops» was selected).
Additional replacements and constructions for both sides are handled by cards.
CARDS
There are two cards drawn each turn in this game, and players may keep up to 10 of them in hands.
FOG OF WAR
Both sides benefit from a partial fog of war, i.e. the player cannot see what an enemy stack contains (only a flag is displayed on those) until they enter in battle with those.
SUPPLY SOURCES
Supply affects both sides. Supply sources are the following:
Commonwealth: Kowloon, Supply Icons on Victoria island (reserves, HQ).
Japan: northern entry regions, China off-map boxes (showing supply icon).
ARMOR, LEADERS, ENGINEERS and BREAKTHROUGHS
In this game, the Japanese (only) may breakthrough with their Armor, Leaders or Engineers units. Japanese infantry may follow breakthroughs if at full strength. Commonwealth units cannot breakthrough.
COASTAL BATTERIES AND LANDINGS
The British coastal batteries are preventing a Japanese landing on the island of Hong Kong until a majority of them is captured or the coastal guns in them are destroyed.
The landing boxes (square in the main harbor or near Aberdeen / Stanley) represent the local harbor shipping necessary to cross back and forth to and from Hong Kong island. They can’t be entered by the Japanese player until Kowloon and the main piers on the mainland are seized.
BOMBING OF KAI-TAK
The airfield of Hong Kong, Kai-Tak, suffers an intial air raid, represented inside the game by random losses (from 10 to 100% of losses) on the British air unit(s) present there.
Note also that this is the only place where RAF airplanes can land, so those units will be eliminated when the airfield is conquered.
DESIGN NOTES & CREDIT
THIS GAME IS BASED ON THE BOARDGAME «GLORY RECALLED» designed by David Cheng.
Special thanks to Gary W. Gardner for his extensive playtesting of the game.
For the PDF version, use the links below :
SGS Glory Recalled – Fact sheet (PDF) : Main campaign.