Paratrooper: Great Airborne Assaults (S&T 2020)

[Whiterook]

Paratrooper: Great Airborne Assaults, Palembang & Primosole Bridge is a two player game system simulating airborne operations from World War II to Korea. Each game in the system will include one or more scenarios, representing different airborne operations. This first game includes two scenarios. The first is Palembang: The Air Assault on Sumatra, February 1942, the Japanese airborne operation that attempted to gain control of the Dutch East India oilfields. In the second, Primosole Bridge: The Clash of Airborne, Sicily July 1943, the British 1st Airborne Brigade clash with the German 1st Fallschirmjaeger Division. Units represent airborne (parachute, glider) and ground forces at the company and platoon level. Each hex on the map represents approximately one mile. Combat resolution is quasi-tactical. Central to play of the game is the command system, with players expending command points to conduct special actions.

Components: 22x34 inch map, 176 die-cut counters.

Love me some paratrooper action! I’ve not played Sicily.Italian campaign games much so, this has my attention and is fairly high on my purchase radar.







Current price as of this writing, $49.99 at S&T #72

[mikeh]

Looks like a good one. Both scenarios sound good. You almost forget that the Japanese had airborne troops.

[Whiterook]

May 22, 2024 11:01:06 GMT -5 mikeh said:

Looks like a good one. Both scenarios sound good. You almost forget that the Japanese had airborne troops.

Yeah, that’s a great point! …you never see movies, documentaries, or books that really cover Japanese paratroopers. Per haps they were a small part of their military doctrine at the time of WWII?

[mikeh]

May 22, 2024 17:25:57 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

May 22, 2024 11:01:06 GMT -5 mikeh said:

Looks like a good one. Both scenarios sound good. You almost forget that the Japanese had airborne troops.

 Per haps they were a small part of their military doctrine at the time of WWII?

As traditional as the Japanese are, their General Staff were probably very sceptical of the whole airborne idea. You would think they would see the benefit for grabbing islands but may have thought that would be stepping on the toes of the Imperial Navy. This is of course just speculation on my part.

[Whiterook]

May 26, 2024 17:09:37 GMT -5 mikeh said:

May 22, 2024 17:25:57 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

 Per haps they were a small part of their military doctrine at the time of WWII?

As traditional as the Japanese are, their General Staff were probably very sceptical of the whole airborne idea. You would think they would see the benefit for grabbing islands but may have thought that would be stepping on the toes of the Imperial Navy. This is of course just speculation on my part.

I’d say you’re probably on the right track with that… Infantry and Naval forces seem to me to be their bread and butter; armor was rather behind, compared to other major nations on both sides. The interesting thing that comes to my mind is, they had a fairly substantial naval air presence, but I never got the impression their land-based air program was very high up on their military doctrine, so perhaps that coincides with a weak paratroop presence.