Grab your submachine guns and prepare to defend the Fatherland from the capitalist invaders! We’re looking at the tactics of the Korean People’s Army!
The Korean People’s Army
During the second world war, future North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung led a guerilla army against the Japanese forces occupying the Korean peninsula. During these campaigns, he acquired a following of battle-hardened resistance fighters, all of whom would prove useful in the struggle against the south.
Kim and his partisans skirmished with the Japanese along the Korean frontier, staging out of bases operated by the Communist Chinese and the Soviet Union. After being forced to flee across the Amur River, Kim would become a Major in the Red Army, where he would serve until the end of the war in 1945.
Kim’s reputation marked him out as a potential leader in the aftermath of Japanese occupation. With the support of the Soviet Union, he seized power north of the 38th Parallel, using the remnants of his guerilla force and other partisan units to form the Korean People’s Army.
The nascent KPA enjoyed support from the Soviet Union, who provided extensive training and materiel support – allowing them to rapidly outstrip their southern rivals in terms of military force. Adopting Soviet doctrine, the KPA operated using combined arms spearheads that would be driven deep into the enemy battleline before turning inward to destroy any survivors in detail.
In practice, this boiled down to a military force very similar to that of the Russians in central Europe at the end of the war – massed infantry formations supported by huge numbers of T-34 tanks and vast batteries of artillery guns.
On the battlefield, it was found that the KPA’s logistical train and officer corps was significantly lacking, leading to massive casualties and numerous supply shortages.
The KPA in Bolt Action
You’ll find plenty to like in the KPA list. A variety of different infantry squads, including dedicated submachine gun squads and LMG squads, alongside support weapons, T-34 tanks and self-propelled guns.
The army special rules give you a free inexperienced rifle squad with all the trimmings, access to commissars and the ability to re-roll morale tests for HQ, infantry and artillery units. All these should be familiar to Soviet players!
The unit selection is incredibly flexible, giving you options for aggressive or defensive forces – but really, the place where the KPA excel is on the attack, using their weight of numbers to overwhelm smaller or less capable UN forces.
Choose your force
Start your army with the specialists of the 766th Independent Regiment NKPA – tough, dedicated veterans who can decisively lead the attack
Or you can dive right in with this compilation of all your army essentials:
Dan Hewitson
Craig Nixon