Cartwheel and Galvanic

[US87891]

There is yet another small-map, short-time scenario in preparation. Moving along the time-line, the Guadalcanal scenario ends April, 1943; other operations kicked-off very soon thereafter. These posed certain operational problems that were quite different from Watchtower (Shoestring) and advanced the development of amphibious operational art. They represented the definitive seizure of the initiative in the Pacific Theater, as well as clearing the board for the subsequent two-pronged advance through the central Pacific to the Ryukyus and through northern New Guinea/Morotai to the Philippines.

Operation Cartwheel kicked-off June 30, 1943, with simultaneous operations along two operational axes by ComSWPac and Com SoPac.

June 30, 1943, Toenails; the US Navy operations in the central Solomons, and Buin/Faisi in southern Bougainville under ComSoPac (ComFifthFlt).
Operations through November include Vella Lavella , Treasuries and Choiseul , and Bougainville. Toenails is set up to begin with New Georgia, staging from the Russels. Timing and objectives of subsequent ops are discretionary.

June 30, 1943, Chronicle; MacArthur’s forces take Woodlark and Kiriwina Islands.
Operations through November include Lae/Saidor, the reduction of the Huon Penninsula, and Arawe/Cape Gloucester in New Britain. These secured the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits in preparation for the seizure of the Admiralties and Emirau. Chronicle is set up to begin with Woodlark/Kiriwina, staging from Milne Bay. Timing and objectives of subsequent ops are discretionary.

???, 1943, Galvanic; US 5th Fleet, V PhibFor, operations to seize the Gilberts. Galvanic began with amphibious assaults at Tarawa/Makin, November 20, 1943. However, sufficient assets could be in place for advanced timing, and sequential assaults on chosen objectives. Historical objectives need not be chosen. Objectives are discretionary, except Gilberts, per se, must be taken. They may not be bypassed.

There is opportunity for major Japanese naval retaliation from Truk and the Marshalls, but intelligence believes contemporary US attacks in the Solomons will be seen as a direct threat to Rabaul, causing diversion/dispersion of Japanese air and naval assets, thereby reducing the risk to the amphibious forces. Are they correct?

Each of the three axes requires a different approach to operational concept and all have different levels of available assets. MacArthur, for example, had only Kinkaid’s 7th Fleet for support and VII-PhibFor only comprised LST, LCI, and LCT types. PhibForSoPac had a few robust TransRons, but not many. V-PhibFor had the vast majority of AP/APA and AK/AKA types. Needless to say, asset allocation was cast in stone and each Command had to function with what it had.

This one should pose interesting problems from several perspectives.

Matt

[Oberst_Klink]

ORIGINAL: US87891

There is yet another small-map, short-time scenario in preparation. Moving along the time-line, the Guadalcanal scenario ends April, 1943; other operations kicked-off very soon thereafter. These posed certain operational problems that were quite different from Watchtower (Shoestring) and advanced the development of amphibious operational art. They represented the definitive seizure of the initiative in the Pacific Theater, as well as clearing the board for the subsequent two-pronged advance through the central Pacific to the Ryukyus and through northern New Guinea/Morotai to the Philippines.

Operation Cartwheel kicked-off June 30, 1943, with simultaneous operations along two operational axes by ComSWPac and Com SoPac.

June 30, 1943, Toenails; the US Navy operations in the central Solomons, and Buin/Faisi in southern Bougainville under ComSoPac (ComFifthFlt).
Operations through November include Vella Lavella , Treasuries and Choiseul , and Bougainville. Toenails is set up to begin with New Georgia, staging from the Russels. Timing and objectives of subsequent ops are discretionary.

June 30, 1943, Chronicle; MacArthur’s forces take Woodlark and Kiriwina Islands.
Operations through November include Lae/Saidor, the reduction of the Huon Penninsula, and Arawe/Cape Gloucester in New Britain. These secured the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits in preparation for the seizure of the Admiralties and Emirau. Chronicle is set up to begin with Woodlark/Kiriwina, staging from Milne Bay. Timing and objectives of subsequent ops are discretionary.

???, 1943, Galvanic; US 5th Fleet, V PhibFor, operations to seize the Gilberts. Galvanic began with amphibious assaults at Tarawa/Makin, November 20, 1943. However, sufficient assets could be in place for advanced timing, and sequential assaults on chosen objectives. Historical objectives need not be chosen. Objectives are discretionary, except Gilberts, per se, must be taken. They may not be bypassed.

There is opportunity for major Japanese naval retaliation from Truk and the Marshalls, but intelligence believes contemporary US attacks in the Solomons will be seen as a direct threat to Rabaul, causing diversion/dispersion of Japanese air and naval assets, thereby reducing the risk to the amphibious forces. Are they correct?

Each of the three axes requires a different approach to operational concept and all have different levels of available assets. MacArthur, for example, had only Kinkaid’s 7th Fleet for support and VII-PhibFor only comprised LST, LCI, and LCT types. PhibForSoPac had a few robust TransRons, but not many. V-PhibFor had the vast majority of AP/APA and AK/AKA types. Needless to say, asset allocation was cast in stone and each Command had to function with what it had.

This one should pose interesting problems from several perspectives.

Matt

The scenario I wished for and considered, with another chap, to create. I still got some material extracted from various publications on the subject, as well as bits from the old WitP. So, if I can be of any assistance Matt, please do not hesitate to drop me a line.

Klink, Oberst

[US87891]

Thanks Herr Oberst. We have a ton of stuff from the official records for the US, OZ and NZ. John donated his annotated copies of Senshi Sosho and the monographs so we have an excellent view of the other side of the hill. There are some very cool things in T & Ps notes on vol. 62.

Always good to have more info and another pair of eyes. I will pass this on and if anyone needs some help, we will be sure to let you know.

matt

[Mac Linehan]

Matt-

I have been away for some time; am absolutely delighted and very grateful that you and the Babes Team have continued to chug right along.

Thank You, Thank You for all that you have done.

Also: Have read Toll's first two volumes on the Pacific War, and "Six Frigates". All are absolutely outstanding. All of this gives impetus to playing (with a better understanding of what actually occurred) the Babes Team's operational scenarios.

Mac

[US87891]

We had to make modifications to the map so that everything would work out correctly. The attached map shows the relative positions of Lae, Wau, Terapo, Salamaua, and Nadzab. To get this, we had to move Wau from the hex NW of Lae to the hex just E of Terapo.

We then added the ‘Black Cat Track’ from Terapo to Wau. The first half of the track is actually the Lakekamu River with an extension along the Eloa River to the boundary of Gulf and Morobe Provinces. From there to Wau and beyond (to Black Cat), it is just like the Kokoda. By herculean effort by Australian engineers, the Black Cat was made practical (single lane, dirt, un macadamized) for vehicles up to 3-ton trucks by September 1943. Long since abandoned, portions of the road are still discernable and the track itself is a holiday destination trek.

We long since changed the ‘road’ from Salamaua to Nadzab from secondary to ‘track’. There was no road, per se, just some tracks along the Markham River, and the river itself. The modification was to delete the yellow secondary road graphics.

We also added Nassau Bay in the hex SE of Lae. The X in the Lae hex shows where it was, but the one base per hex rule made it necessary to shift it down to an empty one. Still and all, the 162nd Inf Rgt can now do what it did and the Aus 17th Brig can do likewise; concentric movement against Lae from the S and W.

There are some other added bases in the Solomons (c.f., Segi Point) that were put there for the same reason. The map panel (#23) is already in the Babes Ext Map set. We’ll just replace it with this one. You will also need a new pwhexe file for the Black Cat track. We’ll put that into the Scen database folder too.

Matt

[US87891]

We are making a few changes in the specs for AAA and Aircraft MGs and MCs, to account for explosive rounds in the 12.7mm and 20mm data. This should account for HE, HE-T, HE-I, as well as AP, AP-T, AP-I, and the nominal SAP. This should give some slight improvement in aircraft ground strafing as well as some improvement in AAMG/AAMC capabilities against soft infantry targets.

Matt

[US87891]

Hello.

Sorry for the delay on this one. Our stuff is now one of the training aids at EWS at MCU, Quantico and AAS-West, Pendleton. This is a very exciting time. They wanted some modifications for better integration with the tactical sim (J-ATOC), so that’s been the top item on our plate. Not surprisingly, some of the modifications involve organizational structure and capability data consistency when moving between the S-level (Strat) and T-level (Tac) systems.

It makes a good deal of sense to incorporate some of these concepts into the small-map, op-problem, scenarios for AE, where possible. This should give the SMOPs a touch better situational response. Anyway, we’re still working on it and should have a beta in a few weeks.

Matt

[Darrell999]

Is this mod available yet? Thanks!

[NigelKentarus]

A little OT, but as this moment I'm watching Cartwheel on Discovery History:Battlefield (UK). Interesting.

[Darrell999]

Any progress on the Cartwheel scenario?