Burma (wargame)
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Burma is a board wargame published by Game Designer's Workshop (GDW) in 1976 that simulates the battle between Japan and an alliance of nations for control of Burma during World War II.
In December 1941, Japan invaded British-controlled Burma, opposed by a hastily arranged alliance of British, Indian and Chinese forces. By the end of 1942, Japan had taken control of Burma and threatened to invade India.[1]
Description
Burma is a two-player wargame where one player controls the Japanese invaders who are trying to open a path to an invasion of India, and the other controls the Allied defenders trying to retake control of central Burma.[2]
Components
The game includes a hex grid map of Burma in 1942 from Ledo, Assam to Rangoon.[3] There are 240 die-cut counters representing Japanese units as well as Allied infantry, artillery, tanks, engineers, chindits, transport aircraft, and four American counters. The rule is only eight pages long.[2]
Gameplay
The game uses an alternating turn sequence. First the Japanese player has the following phases:
- Supply Determination Phase
- Reinforcement Phase
- Land & Naval Movement Phase
- Combat Phase
Then the Allied player has these phases:
- Supply Determination Phase
- Reinforcement Phase
- Land & Naval Movement Phase
- Airpower Phase
- Combat Phase
This completes one turn, which represents one month of game time. There are also rules for Long Range Penetration Forces using gliders, engineers building the Burma Road, and Chinese reinforcements.[4] There is only one scenario, which lasts 26 turns, covering the period following the establishment of Japanese rule in Burma in 1942 until the end of the war in 1945.[5] There are no optional rules.
The end of the game is dependent on how long the Japanese forces are in India, how soon the Allies occupy Rangoon, and how soon the Burma Road is built.[3]
Publication history
Burma was designed by Marc Miller and was published by GDW in 1975 as a ziplock bag game. The rulebook served as the game cover, and featured artwork by Rodger B. MacGowan.[6] Critic Brian Train, writing in 1999, noted "The game attracted polite attention when it came out and has always been sought after by collectors and people interested in the subject."[5]