The Marianas Islands newbie style

[Mike McCreery]

July 15, 1944

Had a large fleet bombard Saipan at 13Km Still took 13 shell hits to my fleet.

Killed 272 troops and did some general damage.

30 liberator, 20 mitchell & 11 corsair - 61 troops killed 19 planes damaged, 1 destroyed

28 mitchell bombing - 13 troops killed

July 16, 1944

Still moving troops to Tinian.

Ending Turn.

bombing bombing bombing..

July 17, 1944

End of Turn.

Bombardment of Guam

359 troops killed... now THAT is what I am talkin bout...

July 18, 1944

More troops arriving at Tinian

End of Turn

July 19, 1944

Loading everything I can carry for an assault on Guam.

End of Turn

July 20, 1944

Forming assault force for Guam.

July 24, 1944...

Took too many days to get 2 hexes. I am not sure why but it probably had to do with some ship still needing to add supplies.

Anyway, shock attack at guam

Happened on July 25, 1944

1-1 odds both sides lost about 2000 troops with 1 japanese unit destroyed.

July 26, 1944...

Naval bombardment kills 1314 troops.

Allies attack again with 5-1 odds and capture guam!!

Japanese losses 2798, allied losses 1417

Score Japanese 1713/Allied 5824...

[Mike McCreery]

July 27, 1944

Set troops on Guam to defend due to disruption.

Loaded troops from Rota and Tinian for preparation to assault Saipan.

July 28, 1944

Continuing to load troops

End Turn.

Japan just created 12 midget submarines as an emergency..

Going to have to do something about them... This could get ugly considering the guns...

July 29, 1944

Deliberate attack at Guam.

Getting troops organized at Tinian and Rota.

Ace up my sleeve is another division arriving from PH. There is still one there however.

End of Turn.

Ground Combat at Guam 41891 troops, 926 guns, 1226 vehicles AV 1485

Defending force 16600 troops, 127 guns, 0 vehicles AV 359

Adjusted 938/54

Allied assault odds 17 to 1

Japanese losses 1516 59/29,7/46,2/0,5/4

Allied Losses 376 2/38,1/5,0/13,1/14,1/25

Score Japanese 1216/Allied 5714

[Mike McCreery]

July 30, 1944

Need to wait 1 more turn.

Sending ASW ships to try to kill more SSX probably got 4 last turn due to dauntless & ASW

Leaving troops on Guam on deliberate attack.

End of turn

Allied attack 35 to 1. Defending forces lost 1920 out of 14968.

Allies lost 530

Score Japanese 1224/Allied 5675

I keep losing points, I think it is due to him repairing ships.

July 31, 1944

Pre-invasion off Saipan... 520 costal guns but only 1 BB hit.

OOF... Lost 2415 troops landing on Saipan... 2/494,2/619,1/226,1/128

2nd round 10 BB hits, 6 DD hit, 1 AK hit, 48 losses.

3rd round only 210 coastal guns fired with no ship damage 68 troops lost.

Japanese Bombardment on Saipan

Attacking force 25,318 troops 241 guns, 44 vehicles AV 991

Defending force 20,268 troops 526 guns, 621 vehicles AV 622

Japanese losses 12

------------------------------------

Allied Deliberate Attack Guam

Attacking 41818 troops 926 guns 1226 vehicles AV 1436
Defending force 13423 troops 104 guns 0 vehicles AV 205

Allied assault odds 71 to 1

Japanese losses 2962
Allied losses 254

Score Japanese 1270 Allied 5908

[Mike McCreery]

August 1, 1944

I only have a few days left apparently so it is time for a hail mary pass...

Loading as many troops as I can from Guam and running them to Saipan.

Removing the last ampibious fleet for reorganization and re-assignment to other battleships.

End of turn

Deliberate attack at guam 36 to 1. Japanese losses 956 of 11344. Allied losses 46.

August 2, 1944

Sending troops from Guam to Saipan.

Sending remaining supplies and troops from previous tinian assault back to Saipan.

End Turn

BB Idaho hit a mine at Saipan.

BB Idaho takes 13 shell hits from amphibious assault.

Japanese bombardment at Saipan

25,303 troops 241 guns 44 vehicles AV 988

Defending 39,546 troops 932 guns, 1032 vehicles 1301

7 japanese casualties

--------------------------------------------------------

Allied deliberate attack at saipan (I thought I bombarded...)

LOL!!! Allied adjusted odds 1 to 87 (fort lvl 5)

Japanese losses 58. Allied losses 105.

----------------------------------------------------------

Allied attack at Guam 68 to 1

Japanese losses 912 out of 7843

Allied losses 6

---------------------------------------------------

Score Japanese 1294/Allies 5968

[Mike McCreery]

August 3, 1944

Moving more troops

Doing shock attack at Saipan

Shock attack allies 1-4 (fort lvl 5)

Japanese lost 1824 of 34736

Allies lost 6374 - Ouch....

Going to have to rest... This might be it.

[Mike McCreery]

August 4, 1944

Decisive Allied Victory

Japanese 1401

Allied 6210

Allies gained at the end due to the troop casualties and some aircraft losses as I sailed towards Pelieu in the last days of the combat to do another port attack (and forgot).

Overall I consider the scenario a success.

As a newbie I made several fundamental mistakes. First of all I had no knowledge about the time delay of the KB. Secondly some of my first transports were to move troops to tarawa and makin.

When I do the scenario again I would create my main air combat TF and move it at full speed west toward pelieu. The KB is outmatched facing 8 CV's and 9 CVL's and early attacks on shipping would help to start degenerating the Japanese supply situation. I would send every land combat unit I could on the moderately fast ships in the first 2 days to Tinian supported by all of the CVE's. I would send all support naval shipping to Eniwetok to handle resupply and refueling.

I would plan on having my main air combat fleets meet up with the first transports for the initial assault on Tinian. I would plan to leave my main air combat forces to shelter Tinian while I use the CVE fleet to sail back and cover the slower LST ships, Base Forces, Construction forces.

Based on this plan, I think I could take Tinian, Rota & Guam within 45 days.

I should try to actually get some RL work done before I post "The Marinaras by a Journeyman"

[BBfanboy]

You did well, Wargmr! I hope you do replay the scenario - you will learn new things with every new approach.

The time pressure to take all three islands [Guam, Tinian and Saipan] and the need to move massive numbers of troops creates the tension here. In my second attempt I took Pagan to provide a place to attack Saipan from the north and to draw down the bombers from Iwo Jima. It worked well, except for the time lost which delayed movement of some of the Saipan invasion troops by about a week and I ended up like you, with the troops landed and on the cusp of taking the island but the clock ran out as the Allied shock attack was ordered. [:(]

I'll watch for your Journeyman effort. Keep those amphibs moving!

[Chickenboy]

Hi Wargamr,

Captain Mandrake and I (and another pairing of players, whose handles I do not recall) went head to head on this scenario a year or so ago. My POV was "Killing Kasey Casem", you may be able to dig that up on the old AAR thread. We played a 'mirror' campaign-with each of us playing the Japanese and Allied players.

Upshot: The Allies have all the cool toys for this scenario. A real steamroller of an effort that *should* be sufficient to the task at hand.

From the Japanese point of view: Get supply and reinforcements to Saipan ASAP. Carrier pilots stink, so some training-although it's a little late in the game-can be helpful. Going head to head against the Allied carriers is a losing proposition with the depleted KB, so 'nibble around the edges' as best you are able. Get submarines into the long supply chain for best effect. Rotate them out of their target hexes to drop DL.

From the Allied point of view: Getting Tinian first is good. Getting Pagan and then Tinian is better. Use these two airfields to get superb USAAF fighters into the Marianas. Then use these to bludgeon / attrit the Japanese aircraft / airfields in the area.

The Allied carriers are a big hammer. Use it early and often. Port strikes on enemy bases are an excellent way to destroy Japanese naval might. Your submarines work very well as picket ships and as interdiction devices. Properly deployed-they'll pay dividends quickly.

Bombarding Saipan's CD defenses is a must. Port attack settings by aircraft really help too. This will drop supply on Saipan and render CD guns inoperative (disruption)-makes for a much smoother landing.

My biggest mistake as the Allied player was to fail to look into my arriving infantry queue. You have some good stuff coming in late in the scenario, so figure a way to get them into the Saipan assault quickly. You don't have to take Saipan with what's "one the board" at the start.