Rifle units are the basic building block of the Japanese army (and most other armies as well). The Arisaka Rifle unit differs from the average riflemen other nations can field in two ways. For one, its medium range attack against infantry is only 5, as opposed to the average of 6. It more than makes up for this deficiency however, with its Hand-to-Hand 12 ability. Twelve dice against an enemy infantry unit in the same hex can be quite devastating, especially since this attack ignores cover. This makes the Arisaka Rifle very useful on maps with a lot of terrain. The downside of this is that you still need to get through the enemy's defensive fire, which can be a problem if you're trying to attack from an open hex. However, using a combined arms approach by disrupting enemy units with artillery and heavy weapons can overcome this problem.

  -- By J.S. from Connecticut on October 08, 2009