General Corlett, 7th Infantry Division commander, ordered an early morning attack on 2 February. Thick vegetation prevented the Americans from knowing the full details of the defensive works. Japanese strong points had been constructed behind the beaches as sort of a second line, as well as around the airfield. Additionally, Rear Admiral Monzo Akiyama had attached tanks of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Amphibious Brigade dispersed throughout the islands rather than as a concentrated force. This brought the Type 2 and 3 amphibious tanks into the defense.
Attacker: American (Elements of 7th Infantry Division)
Defender: Japanese (Elements of 6th Naval Base Defense Force)
7 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:18.0 D:13.0
AFVs: A:4
M4 x 2 M3A1 Satan x 2
D:2
Type 2 KA-MI Type 3 Ka-Chi
Guns: A:0 D:2
Type 88 7.5cm Mobile Field High-Angle Gun Type 96 25mm AA Gun Twin-Mount
This is an action packed scenario with tons of toys for the US and many potential surprises from the Japanese. I defended heavily on the Japanese left with an upfront defense. My 75 was HIP in the forward kunai behind the road with some overlapping fields of fire from the MMGs in a trench with the 10-1 and a pillbox - all connected by trenches to one another and to the second pillbox with LMG. Eric did not oblige me by running tanks in front of the 75. But it was moot. My plans did not consider the possibility of malf'ing the 75 and both MMGs by the end of turn 2. Once the crust was broken, the Japanese could not hold back the US horde. Hidden Tank-Hunter Heroes chocked and only provided some interesting diversion; even with two having ATMM, they choked on the big stage. Flamethrower Stuarts were tough. Both sides took a lot of casualties and it went down to turn 6 after the Japanese reinforcements swarmed into the rearmost buildings. Too many remaining US squads and functioning AFVs earned a concession at the end of Japanese turn 6. Highlights for the Japanese included staying HIP in cover, allowing US squads to pass through and get shot/broken, and then dropping HIP to eliminate them for failure to rout. I would play this again in a heartbeat after paying tribute to the dice gods.
2020-09-26
(D) Rob MacGinley
vs
Ian Willey
American win
USA overwhelmed the IJA
no tricks worked and in reality even tanks driving next to swamps had no trouble
2020-09-26
(D) Rob MacGinley
vs
Ian Willey
American win
Big American unit with lots of punch
IJA have to spread out and be very much in depth
expect to be slowly ground to dust!!
2020-07-17
(A) nathan wegener
vs
Mike Van Hoy
American win
Lost my best 2 leaders and 2 squad equiv to 3 sniper rolls and subsequent LLMCs in my first movement phase!!! Almost conceded but decided to push onward. I was able to flank the Japanese who had fully committed to up front defense. We raced to the village and he was not able to get enough back to prevent an American mob from occupying much of the village. My highlight was executing an overrun of his 75mm AA gun with my FT tank.