Desperate Antitank Tactics

By 1942, the Japanese military realized that they were far behind the Allies in antitank weapons systems. The situation only got worse as Allied armor increased their protection in armor, and the quantity of armor available for battle. In desperation, a variety of short range antitank weapons were fostered on the "poor bloody infantry" (as the British would say). From left to right-explosives that were to be carried directly onto the enemy tank, lunge sticks with hollow charges that were to be rammed against the armor of an enemy vehicle, hand thrown improvised explosives (like the infamous Molotov Cocktail) and even obsolete antitank rifles were all used. While a demonstration of fanatic bravery, most of these attempts failed; only succeeding in the deaths of their users and had little major effect on the overall outcome of the various battles were they were employed.

         These are metal 28mm pieces from Warlord Games that I painted in 2018.