War in the Middle of Nowhere
A Red Desert Preview
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
March 2014

In the early summer of 1939, Mongolian troops (clients of the Soviet Union) crossed into a disputed border region around the village of Nomonhan, clashing with Manchurian soldiers there (clients of the Japanese). Over the following weeks both sides poured in troops, tanks and aircraft, until by September a major conflict raged over a small stretch of extremely symbolic but otherwise useless desert.

A very, very long time ago Avalanche Press set out to make a wargame based on this strange battle for nothing and everything, called Red Desert. The notion to do a game on this subject is even older, and even pre-dates Avalanche Press. It is an unusual battle, as both sides are fighting mostly to make an impression on their opponent in order to influence a diplomatic outcome — there are utterly no economic or strategic objectives on the battlefield. Each side needs to eject the enemy from the stretch of useless desert east of the Khalkin-Gol River.

The disputed zone. U.S. Army map.

There are two or maybe three phases to the conflict. In the first, taking place between May and July 1939, the Japanese 23rd Infantry Division, reinforced by part of 7th Infantry Division and backed by two tank regiments, attacks the Soviets and drives them back over the river. In the second, Soviet Lt. Gen. Georgi Zhukov pre-empts a Japanese offensive with one of his own in late August, nearly encircling the Japanese Sixth Army. In the third, the Japanese pour in fresh divisions for an all-out offensive (an option seriously considered but ultimately dropped).

The design for this game has hung around for many years, and in late 2013 I decided to completely revise it. I was always torn between which of our battalion-level game systems to use. Designing a new system from scratch was never an option: while that might gratify a game designer's childish ego, players want to play the game, not study brand-new rules. And designing rules system doesn't gratify my ego anyway.

The original game design used the Mechanized Battlefield rules, like Island of Death or Alamein. In some ways the battle is suited to that system, with its wide-open spaces and the use of armor by both sides. In others it's not; its emphasis on formations doesn't capture Japanese ad-hockery without special rules, and while Alamein has a sophisticated supply sub-routine I wasn't completely sold on it for these battles.

As I pushed the pieces around I became less and less satisfied with the game system, and decided to try the Chaos system we used in a lot of games now out of print. It's based on what we call a chit-draw mechanism, and I like the effects much better.

The biggest reason for the switch is Japanese reliance on their night-fighting abilities; in designing a scenario for the planned Japanese September offensive, I saw the chit-draw mechanism much better suited to the Kwantung Army operational directive to make all attacks at night. As author Stuart Goldman asks, somewhat incredulously, "What did Kwantung Army planners think the Red Army would be doing during the daytime, with their superior tank, artillery and air power?"

That works perfectly with a chit draw; for Red Desert I kept the one-day turns the system uses for other subjects but added a special night turn. The Japanese player may withhold chits from the regular daytime turn to be used in a night action. In practice it works very smoothly and I like it a lot. That pretty much ruined by grand scheme to give these games a unified series rulebook, but I can live with that.

Otherwise, the game scale is just like Winter Fury or Army of Lappland: Units are infantry battalions and tank companies; the battlefield is shown at a scale of two kilometers per hex. Units are rated for attack, defense and movement. Artillery units can provide offensive or defensive support.

	Japanese troops approach the Khalkin-Gol River, July 1939.

On the Japanese side, there is what the Kwantung Army considered a major commitment of tanks, two small regiments' worth. When the Soviets launch their own offensive in August they bring two full brigades of tanks, plus several battalions attached to other divisions. The Japanese tanks are slow and lightly-armored, over-aged and not particularly well-armed — they do not carry an effective anti-tank weapon. The crews also have little training in cooperation with the infantry. The Soviets are not yet the powerful armored force that will dry out Nazi dreams in a few years, but they are still far more capable than the Japanese. Even the BT tanks are greatly superior to the Japanese machines, with much greater speed and armament. The Japanese are forced to rely on infantry tank-hunting teams.

Japanese striking power lies in their infantry. The two divisions are regular army units and well-trained, but rely on infantry attacks as the solution to all tactical problems. They are generally better than the Red Army's foot soldiers. In terms of sheer bravery, the Japanese almost meet their own lofty expectations. They are more effective at night, reflecting their peacetime training, but they are hamstrung by an irrational offensive doctrine and an officer corps that in many cases sees death on the battlefield as a career goal.

The Japanese also use a number of other units in front-line infantry combat: a brigade of border guards, divisional engineer and reconnaissance battalions, and a Manchukouan cavalry regiment. The Soviets have two rifle divisions and a motorized rifle division, plus a number of smaller units including a parachute brigade (deployed as elite infantry in this campaign). A small Mongolian cavalry division guards each Soviet flank.

Japanese machine-gun team and two Soviet armored cars, July 1939.

After the June clashes, the Japanese committed what they believed to be a massive amount of artillery. Most Japanese artillery is of fairly light weight, with the 70mm mountain howitzer the most common piece. The 1st Motorized Heavy Artillery Regiment, described at the time as the "most precious" unit in the Japanese Army, brings modern 150mm howitzers to the battlefield in mid-July, and the Japanese receive another regiment of 150mm howitzers and two regiments with 100mm guns.

Yet the Imperial Japanese Army's maximum effort represents less firepower than the organic artillery of the two Soviet rifle divisions on the field, let alone the many corps-level assets available to the Soviet player. Even before the new artillery arrived, the Japanese high command cautioned local commanders that shell supplies were limited. The Soviets have much greater ammunition reserves. Artillery is the god of war, Comrade Stalin noted, and the Red Army is a loyal disciple.

You'll be just as happy as these men of the Japanese 23rd Infantry Division with their "comfort bags."

Over the years we've published a number of scenarios and even complete games based on rather unusual premeses. Red Desert has its own gonzo moment, but it doesn't arise from my feverish imagination. Following their crushing defeat, Kwantung Army set out, in all seriousness, to launch a major war against the Soviet Union on its own initiative, in direct defiance of the Imperial General Staff and, by extension, the Emperor himself. Four fresh divisions would deploy to Nomonhan and smash the Reds. That the Soviets might use their superior communications to deploy even more troops doesn't seem to have occured to the Japanese, who also ignored the snow which started to fall even before their jump-off date. You can try out this insane plan for yourself.

The Soviet player has to be favored in every scenario, but the Japanese player gets to launch furious attacks that can overturn Soviet material superiority. After a wait this long, it's going to feel good to finally get his game released, and the result looks like it will be a lot of fun.