Breakthrough at the Yangcheng Line – Autumn 1937 Sino-Japanese War

In the aftermath of the Shanghai fighting, the Imperial Japanese Army presses its advantage inland, seeking to exploit shaken Chinese defenses and maintain momentum. 
Another outing for the Sino-Japanese War and the next game using Xenos Rampant.

At dawn, under a low grey sky, Japanese reconnaissance elements identified a weakly held section of the Yangcheng defensive line, Spearheading the attack, a mixed armoured column of light tanks and infantry looked to punch through the frontier defenses with speed and aggression. Chinese forward positions, thinly held and lacking anti‑tank weapons, looked to do what they could to stem the advance.

The Japanese push toward Yangcheng Garrison, a key strongpoint anchoring the region’s defence. Their objective is clear: seize the junction, cut supply routes, and collapse Chinese resistance across the sector. The Japanese move up to the barb wire blocking the road to Yangcheng looking to draw the Chinese into a firefight as infantry spotted an opening in the wire through a pine wood.

Inside the garrison, Chinese forces—comprised of regular army troops reinforced by militia and remnants of frontline units—prepare to make a stand. There only Light AT Gun was man handled into position.
With the main defense weapon committed a Japanese armoured column breaks right and rushes the for the wire in the open ground.

In the centre of the the table the wire road block is breached and Infantry poor through the wood, the Chinese militia are thrown back.

Similarly on the right flank the Japanese armour makes a breach in the line. A solitary Chinese armoured car makes a run for cover to shore up the left flank.

The armour rushed forwards the Chinese infantry fell backwards unable to damage the Invaders armoured thrust. Chinese morale falters and units fell back into the centre of the village.

The Japanese push on.

A comprehensive victory for the attacker, the village Y junction is secure, infantry flood the village and even had the nerve of assaulting the SDKFZ 222 and set it alight by throwing grenades into it.

Another fun outing for Xenos Rampant giving a good result in an evening which captures the challenge for the Chinese of trying to defend against a well trained, well armed, aggressive attacker. The Japanese did not have it all there own way, but the Chinese need a few more options, queue another order :-)

The last of the Kyoushuneko Chinese (for now).

Just before the weather got to the point where paint was drying on the brush, the last of the Kyoushuneko prints roll off the paint table production line finishing off - Chinese month for June.

I went for a lighter Khaki for these, which appears to be prominent in the south of the country. Unlike the previous 88th division these are equipped with British & US Kit (or copies)

I had a couple of head swaps to give me a little more variety and pinched a couple of backpacks and water bottles from some warlord supres to give them a slightly different feel to the other troops.

Whilst I am really happy with them, the Chinese in apple green looked great, so now think I need a 'few' extra's to top up the Nationalist forces - Looks like an order is coming Eureka's way.

In total 2 more squads, a second AT Gun, 81mm Mortar and Sniper.

Let's see if these reinforcements can slow the Japanese advance.

Chinese 88th Infantry Division (2)

It's June and back to the Sino-Japanese conflict.

Opted for the apple green colour for this unit, I had seen it on some 'dress' units but they do like rather different to the other units completed.

The 88th Division was part of the “German-trained” elite units formed in the 1930s, and as such it represented the closest China came to a standardised, modern infantry organisation at the start of the war. While still subject to shortages and battlefield attrition, its structure was more consistent and better equipped than typical Nationalist units.

The backbone of section firepower, was centred on a ZB‑26 light machine gun, the most widely used automatic weapon in Chinese service during this period, together with several riflemen. Although for very early war units I might strip the LMG team and replace with additional riflemen.

I bolstered this faction with a HMG team, swapping heads from some of the original 3D casts.

I am currently sticking together some additional Japanese and figured I might 'borrow' a couple of the knee mortars for the Chinese units, having done some reading they seem to be introduced later in the war to counter the Japanese grenade launcher platoons.

Sino-Japanese War - Xenos Rampant - Scenario Delta - Ceasefire.

Welcome to June and finally an opportunity to give the Chinese and Japanese a run out, still plenty more on the paint table, but enough now to get a game together.

Flicking through the Xenos Rampant Scenario's - Cease fire felt like the perfect game to kick off the string of battles, 6 numbered markers with both sides not wanting to be the one to fire first. - Once the balloon goes up Victory Points for being closest to the markers at the end of the game +5 Victory Points if your Opponent fired first. 

In the tense outskirts of a remote Manchurian village, both Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) forces and Chinese National Revolutionary Army (NRA) units are conducting live-fire exercises. 

The situation is already volatile—patrols overlap, nerves are frayed, and neither side trusts the other’s intentions. 

Played across the table both sides manoeuvrer looking to get close enough to grab the makers but conscious that being in the open is not good for one's health if the firing starts. 

Within XR I pulled down the Chinese morale and increase the Japanese they are also very tasty in hand  to hand with sharp blades, the down side they all have wild charge so keeping them on mission might be a problem.

So a battle of quality vs quantity, the IJA cross the paddy field and both sides skirt round the compound separated by a high wall.

Something had to give the IJA Tankette grabbed the terrain marker, facing off against a against a Soviet made BA10. The NRA Morale broke first and they firer a round at the little Japanese tank - war had started.

So much time had been wasted getting into position it was now a frantic rush to grab the markers and push back the enemy. The Chinese broken cover from the wood rushing past a Japanese armoured car who was pouring fire into the compound.

At the river crossing the Japanese morale kept a section in play but it was slowly whittled down by twice their number.

In the centre of the table the Medium Tank pushed forwards grabbing the central marker as their supporting infantry pinned the defending Chinese in the field.

The BA 10 having taken care of the Tankette grabbed the left hand marker with the Japanese too few in number to cover all 6 markers with any concentration of force.

Night fell and the Chinese had bagged a surprising victory.

Chinese - 5 Markers in their possession 15 Points.

Japanese - 1 Marker in their possession and they did not break the cease fire 8 Points.

Great fun for the first outing, a couple of tweaks are needed to the units and point values, but it had a really good feel to it and a great scenario which matched perfectly the opening of the war itself.

Now for the next batch of Chinese troops and I suspect more Japanese.

Chinese heavy weapons.... 2nd Sino-Japanese War.

Last batch of Chinese for a while..... as the itch to paint something different takes hold....

Again a mix of uniforms for the AT Teams to support the completed infantry sections.

Also something a little stronger to put a stop to the Japanese advance. A Pak 36 supplied by the German Army to the Chinese before supplies were switched off.

A nice kit from Kyoushuneko Miniatures 3D print. Now to get some game time....

Next up.... something a little different....

Chinese 88th Division - 1937

You can't beat an Easter weekend an opportunity to bag a day or two of painting.

With the Chinese Army made up of a number of Warlord factions, some troops are better than others. One of the most famous was the Chinese 88th Division deployed at the battle of Shanghai.

One of Chiang Kai‑shek’s German-trained divisions, they make for an interesting addition to the Chinese forces.

During the 1930s, China cooperated closely with Nazi Germany for military modernisation. The 88th Division was reorganized, trained, and partially equipped following German Army (Wehrmacht) doctrine, including, Modern infantry tactics & Improved discipline and drill.

Perhaps they should be heavy Infantry in the Xenos Rampant tweaks.

They will need some heavy weapons to help keep the Japanese at bay.

Yet more Chinese.....

The Chinese steamroller continues, with the first taster batch completed in January the pace is really picking up, first game in April if I can crack a couple more sections over Easter.

Coming off the paint table 2 additional sections of Chinese.

I have been playing quite a bit of Xenos Rampant of late for WW2, just need to now think about how I present the Chinese in the unit stats.

This are Kyoushuneko Miniature 3D prints a number of head swaps amongst this bunch to give me more variety within each section. 

Looking forward to getting this into a game.

2nd Sino-Japanese War - Chinese Infantry Part 2

After last weeks support weapons time to get to grips with more infantry, as mentioned in previous posts I wanted to break up the Chinese formations with different uniform colours and styles.

These section is issued with British helmets and comes in a khaki tunic.  

Lovely designs from Kyoushuneko Miniatures on my of the close ups on the web they look a little cartoon like but painted up they compare really nicely with Warlord, Perry's and Battlehonours.

I need to think about what their national characteristics look like, the misconception is that the Chinese were very poor quality, but the more I read on them they are perhaps more stoic than first thought, outside of the German equipped divisions they lacked support weapons, armour and artillery.

Next up more boys in blue.

Who wore it best - Chinese Infantry - Sino Japanese War 1937.

With the last of the Arab cavalry complete now for something that little more modern.

With the testers completed in January in the bluish grey, I thought I would mix it up a little with some Khaki for those troops in the south of the country, I have some lighter tunics planned for the third phase to really given that unstructured feel for the uniform types for the Chinese troops.

Nice designs from Kyoushuneko Miniatures, with plenty of characters in the faces on the Chinese troops.

Heavy Machine Gun Teams, will they be enough to stop the Japanese onslaught?

Spotters and mortars to help keep the enemy at bay... Next up more Infantry.

Sino-Japanese War 1937 - 1945 - Chinese Infantry WW2

Something a little different for 2026 and the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War Project.

Lots more to come but I thought I would start with a small section in a bluish-grey uniform, this was common in northern China with Khaki dominating in the South. The Nationalists appeared to have a patch work of uniforms due to the lack of centralised manufacturing so the plan will be to paint up a number of sections each in a different uniform shade. This will tie in with the mix of kit ranging from British, French, Russian & even German kit in the early years of the war.

These are all 3D prints from Kyoushuneko Miniatures and my first large collection of prints instead of metals or plastics, they have a reasonable range of sculpts but with a choice of 4 different heads in some of the packs and with a snip or too on the others you get quite a range to put on the table.

The greatest challenge is sticking them to the circular base as they don't print with a moulded base- Super glue is your friend here. They can be a little brittle in some areas but they represent great value for money when being printed locally.

They take the paint really well and have just the right level of detail without to many buckles, smaller elements that are missed when on the table.

For this cohort these were the colours used.

Uniform - GW Russ Grey 

Helmet - Foundry STorm Green Shade 27A

Blanket Roll - GW Eshin Grey /GW Straken Green

Boots - Black.

Sword Sheath = GW Catachan Flesh

Flesh - GW Kislev Flesh

Rifle/chin strap - Foundry Chestnut Shade 53A

Nap sack - Foundry - Rawhide Light 11C

Webbing Foundry - African Flesh Light 126 C

Wash - Warpaint Fanatic - Soft Tone.