General Rule

Combat occurs between adjacent opposing units at the Phasing Player's discretion. The Phasing Player is considered to be the Attacker, the non-Phasing Player the Defender, regardless of their overall strategic position. 1942: Campaign For Malaya uses the standard Attacker / Defender ratios to determine the combat chance of success or failure; a random die-roll determines the outcome of the combat. The combat strength of the attacker and the defender can be modified by terrain and supply considerations, the die-roll can be modified in many ways.

Which Units May Attack

During the Combat Phase of his Player-Turn, the Phasing Player may attack any and all Enemy units adjacent to Friendly units. Only those Friendly units directly adjacent to a given Enemy unit may participate in an attack upon that unit. An attacking unit must also be able to enter the defender's hex in order to attack (for example, an armored unit may not attack any hex that is not connected by a road or a rail to the hex occupied by the armored unit).

Attacking is completely voluntary ; units are never compelled to attack, and not every unit adjacent to an Enemy unit need participate in any attack. Exception : Friendly units participating in amphibious assaults must attack Enemy units defending the target port. Friendly units in a stack that are not participating in a given attack are never affected by the results of the attack.

An Enemy occupied hex may be attacked by as many units as can be brought to bear in the six adjacent hexes.

No unit may attack more than once per Combat Phase, and no unit may be attacked more than once per Combat Phase.

All units defending in a given hex must be involved in the combat, and they must all be attacked as a single Strength. The defender may not voluntary withhold any units in a hex under attack. The attacker must attack all the units as a whole, the Defense Factors of all the defending units in the hex are totalled, and this Defense Strength is attacked. Different units in a given hex may not, therefore, be attacked separetely.

Units in a hex that contains an attacking unit need not participate in that same attack nor any attack.

If a unit is adjacent to more than one Enemy-occupied hex, it could attack one, and only one, of them.

Effects on Combat Strength

Combat Strengths of unit s may be affected by terrain and supply considerations (see Supply and Terrain Effects Chart). Such effects are always cumulative.

If a unit's Strength is halved or quartered, fractions are not rounded.

Air Support

The attacker may add Air Point to support the attack (Air Points must be available at that time).

The defender may add Air Point to support the defense (Air Points must be available at that time). The defending air points commited to the defense are determined by the game mechanisms (depends on various factors such as combat ratio, defensive terrain type, etc.).

Modifiers

See the Combat Results Table for detailed informations.

Combat Results

See the Combat Results Table for detailed informations.

Retreats After Combat

Whenever a combat result requires a Player's units to retreat, those units must immediately move two hexes away from the combat hex and toward a Friendly Supply Source (if possible). All retreats are mandatory unless blocked. Such a retreat is not considered normal movement, but is rather a function of combat. It does not require the expenditure of movement points. The retreat must be made through hexes that, under normal conditions, would cost the least number of movement points for the unit to enter. A unit can only retreat away from a Friendly Supply Source or enter hexes that are not the least costly in order to avoid violating retreat priorities.

• A retreating unit cannot enter an Enemy-Occupied hex.
• A retreating unit cannot enter a hex that it could not move to normally.
• A retreating unit cannot enter the same hex twice.
• A retreating unit cannot end its retreat in vioilation of stacking limitations. If such would be the case, then the unit would continue retreating one more hex. If at the end of that third hex of retreat, stacking limitations are still not satisfied, then that retreat path is not available.

If a retreat could not be satisfied without violating one those rules, then the unit (or the stack) would suffer a two steps loss penality.

Every Enemy ZOC entered during the retreat requires the unit (or stack) to lose an additional step.

Advances After Combat

Attacking units may advance after combat only if the defending hex has left the place (due to elimination of retreat). They may then advance into the attacked hex. Such advance does not expend any movement points. The advance may be made even if moving from enemy ZOC to another enemy ZOC.

Advances may not violate stacking limitations.

• A retreating unit cannot enter an Enemy-Occupied hex.
• A retreating unit cannot enter a hex that it could not move to normally.
• A retreating unit cannot enter the same hex twice.
• A retreating unit cannot end its retreat in vioilation of stacking limitations. If such would be the case, then the unit would continue retreating one more hex. If at the end of that third hex of retreat, stacking limitations are still not satisfied, then that retreat path is not available.

When making amphibious assaults, each attacking unit suffer one additional step loss and return to the reinforcement box if it is not able to advance in the defender hex.

Procedure

The game mechanisms control every aspect of combats ; combat strengths are determined and ajusted as needed, die rolls are resolved and ajusted as needed, retreats are automatically conducted, advances when available are controlled.

• At the start of the Combat Phase, every Enemy unit that can be attacked is marked as Available

Combat Declaration :

• If no combat is already declared, clicking on an Available Enemy unit will select that unit (as well as all other stacked units in that hex) and mark as Available all Friendly units that may attack. A combat is therefore under declaration.
• If a combat is declared, clicking on any of the defending unit will cancel that combat. [Esc Key]
• If a combat is declared, clicking on any Available Friendly unit will add this unit to that combat. Clicking on any Selected Friendly unit will cancel this unit's participation to that combat
• The attacker may add Air Points (if available) to the combat (see the Combat Panel). Defending Air Points will be added just before the combat resolution (this is made by the game mechanisms, may depend on owning player previous decision to make Air Points available for defensive actions, and does not take into account the attacking Air Points that are commited to the combat).
• As soon as a declared combat can be resolved, the "Roll Dice" button becomes available. Clicking on that button resolves that combat (no undo).

Combat Resolution :

Required steps losses are automatically distributed among participating units. Units with two steps remaining take losses first, then one step units. Among each category, losses are distributed randomly.

Retreats :

If required, retreats are automatically handled by game mechanisms. Further losses may be distributed as needed (as stated in retreat's procedure).

Advances After Combat :

• At the start of any advance Sub-Phase, every Friendly unit that can advance is marked as Available
• Clicking on an Available unit will advance that unit to the defender hex
• Clicking on a unit that has already advance will cancel that advance
• When done, click on the "End / Cancel Current Combat" button (see the Combat Panel).

 

 

(C) 1999 Kamikaze Wargames Designers