This is a wargame on the battles of Imphal and Kohima 1944 and came out in JagdPanther magazine #11.This review first appeared in IPW, the newsletter for all discount games club members. Contact colin@allusedgames.demon.co.uk for details.THE MARCH ON INDIA, 1944Issue game JagdPanther #11On the 6th March, 1944, the last great ground campaign of the Pacific theater began. The Japanese launched a two pronged thrust against the allied held towns of Kohima and Imphal. Both towns were allied forward supply dumps and the Japanese were intent upon capturing their contents. The offensive came as a great surprise, as allied Intelligence had suggested an attack on this scale was beyond Japanese capabilities.Historically, both locations were surrounded, but Imphal was reinforced and supplied by air. Neither town fell and they were both relieved by allied troops advancing from the railhead at Dimapur, further South West. At the time of writing, this is the only simulation I know of that covers the entire campaign at an operational scale.A game turn commences with the British and Japanese players checking supply. The British player has Supply Dumps, each with its own number of supply points recorded on a track on the map. Units trace supply to these dumps and the points thereby consumed are subtracted from the track record. The Japanese are automatically in supply for the first two game turns. From turns three to eight, however, they must trace supply in a similar manner to the British, except that supply points are held by their HQ units rather than in supply dumps. These, being mobile, are more flexible.The Japanese continue to trace supply after turn eight in the same manner, but supply points become rather scarce. Units without supply have both movement and combat factors halved and cannot attack. The exceptions are the three Japanese allied units of the Indian National Army, who are eliminated after two turns without supply. The supply rules for this game are its most complex procedure, but are easily manageable for an experienced player. Japanese movement and combat follow. Movement uses standard wargame practice, though a lot of the terrain on the map is tough going.Combat also holds no real surprises, being based on odds adjusted by terrain. Combat results are exchanges, retreats and eliminations. On lhe first turn, the Japanese get a second movement phase after combat, simulating the initial advantage of surprise.British movement and combat follow, after which any British reinforcements are added to the pool of such units held off map. The British player then gets to transfer supply points between dumps or transport points from an inexhaustible supply dump off map to those on. The catch is that these same rail and air resources are also required to transport reinforcements on to the map. These, of course, are no good without supply, and vice versa.Finally, Japanese reinforcements are added to the map and the game turn is over.Little exists in the manner of Special rules. Engineers assist units in assaults across rivers, but not, strangely, against fortified lines. Artillery have a two hex range and British armored cavalry can retreat before combat in certain circumstances. Victory is determined by the number of towns and cities held by the Japanese player at games end and each players unit losses.Despite being published back in 1975, March on India 1944 remains a good game whose rules are remarkably playable. Not suitable for beginners, but eminently playable solo, its subject has been sadly overlooked by game designers ever since. In my opinion, on the strength of this previous worthy offering, the subject deserves a more up to date treatment to test the mettle of the current crop of designers. Until then, seek out a copy of this one. You won't be disappointed.Alan Sharif - BoardGameGeek