1 April DAR

[Poopyhead]

Sanders’ heart was pounding as he switched the dial on the RCA radio to “off”. He had just heard FDR’s “Day that will live in Infamy” speech. He knew that events in the Pacific would overtake his peaceful life like a screaming Japanese torpedo. It had been several years since he was a Marine in the steaming swamps of Central America, but the nightmares were still fresh. He was certain that Fate would be knocking at his door.

“Harley, go see who is knocking at the door!” his wife screamed from the back porch. Sanders opened the front door and smiled as he looked at the tall Marine, “Gunny, I haven’t seen you since we closed that cathouse in Guatemala.”
Remaining at attention, the sergeant saluted and whispered, ”It’s kinda official business Sir”, and his eyes shifted to the Government agent to his right.
“Colonel, I'm Frank Blunt, I have an urgent message for you from the War Department.”
Sanders’ smile faded and he shook his head, “No one in Kentucky calls me Colonel. I’m just a simple chicken farmer.”
Just then, the head of his older son poked out of the doorway into the autumn cold and he asked, “You won’t be leavin’ again, will you, Pa?”
Sanders stroked the hair from his son’s forehead and said ”Now you and your brother go help your Momma with lunch. Gentlemen, if you’ll follow me into the parlor, I think we can talk…more freely.”
As the men entered the parlor, the only sound was the “tic tock” of the grandfather clock in the corner as its brass pendulum swayed to and fro.
The G-man spoke quickly, “Look, I’ll be blunt. The U.S. is totally unprepared for the type of machine age war we are now faced with. We need brave men of valor to lead our Marines to victory against great danger!”
Sanders smiled and broke in, “So that’s why the War Department figured I should be the first man you should contact?”
“Well no, actually, we have plenty of Marine officers who can do that. We have a Top Secret mission and…” quickly checking his notebook, “you are the fifty seventh Marine we have contacted.”
Sanders’ smile faded once again, “Well what is this Top Secret mission?”
The agent opened his briefcase, pulled out some documents and replied in a hushed tone, “How familiar are you with combined arms warfare?” Sanders glanced at the Gunnery Sergeant, who rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. The agent continued, “Well it’s a plan those Nazzy bastards came up with that combines motorized infantry and artillery, airplanes and, what are those metal things called, oh yeah, tanks, into a team that can move at speed and overwhelm any slower infantry force by maneuver. Well the Commandant of the Marine Corps figures that those Army boys are going to convince the pencil pushers in Washington that the Marines can’t fight as a modern combined arms force. If that happens, then the Army will get all the new rifles, the best tank stuff, and even worse…all the Thompson submachine guns!”
Sanders’ fist pounded the table in front of him, “Good God, man! What can be done?”
The agent stood up and pulled a letter from his pocket then handed it to Sanders, “Colonel, I’ll be frank. The other officers I’ve talked to think the carnage that infantry faced in the First World War was a fluke. They still believe that the only way for civilized nations to resolve their differences is with a bayonet charge. The Commandant needs someone to create, train and lead a combined arms force of United States Marines.”
The sergeant snapped to attention and the agent remained standing as Sanders read the letter. The hands on the grandfather clock both slowly rose to the top, as if at attention as well. As the tension built to an unbearable level, the clock slowly tolled twelve times. Finally, Sanders rose to his feet and spoke, “I guess you know what this means.”
Puzzled, the Sergeant replied, “I’d guess that means it’s noon, Sir.”
“No sergeant…this means that you have just found the right Marine for the job!”

I'll post here if anything neat happens in my long campaign with a "Marine Steel" battalion. In the mean time...April Fool.[:D]

[KG Erwin]

Hey, I liked it. A Sanders, from Kentucky? His first name was Harland, and he made great fried chicken, based on a secret recipe of his Momma. Was that leading up to the story about Col. Sanders trapping an entire Japanese battalion after he left a batch of Chicken Teriyaki in an abandoned camp? His withdrew his force into ambush positions outside the camp, and well, you know the rest. [;)]

[Poopyhead]

Glad you liked it, KG.

So far I took the default points and bought five Marine infantry companies. I deleted everything except the first platoon from each. The first company became the HQ and I added an FO and three platoons of 81 mm mortars (The Army mortar platoons are 140 points cheaper, so that’s what I used). From the Marine list, each of the remaining companies got an engineer platoon, a recon squad (I assigned an extra recon squad to this for a total of six patrols), a platoon of M2A4’s and a platoon of 60 mm mortars. I then assigned a dozen 13-passenger Army HT’s to each company Commander for the infantry, engineers and mortars. The HQ got a few more HT’s for their Marine platoon, as the Army mortars also needed an HT for each tube. Last, I bought some 7-point jeeps with what was left and divided them up between the companies. The recon patrols double up in the HT’s or ride in the jeeps.
I then renamed the Company Commanders Sisko, Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Archer. Their officers were also renamed accordingly, for example, CPT Kirk’s engineers are led by LT Scott and his recon/security squad by LT Sulu.
My first mission is a meeting engagement at Salamaua. For support, I took two ammo carriers, three 60 mm mortar platoons and two Army 81 mm mortar platoons.
It is a daytime mission of 35 turns in clear weather with a vis of 8, but there are few places where this is possible. It is a large square map and the terrain is like nothing I've done before. No roads or trails are present, or any structures at all. Lots of trees with several large groups of rough hexes. With some good terrain analysis, though, I was able to pick out a route (one hex wide) in the south where the jungle was less dense and a few mixed hexes were available. I hold one group of VH's and the Japanese start with one group. The three in the middle are all north of the route I found, but are "per turn". I've decided not to rush in since my unit lacks morale and experience (one of the company commanders has a morale of 53!).
Kirk and half the mortars with one ammo truck will hold opposite the center VH group. Picard and Janeway will advance through some breaks in the rough terrain on the southern group. They also have half the mortars and one ammo truck. Janeway will secure this group and Picard will move north where he will assist Kirk in taking the center. Once secured, Picard will move north and take those VH's. I did have recon units in jeeps take as many of the per turn hexes as possible and fall back. Archer will "thread the needle" along the route I found in the jungle to the south, to round the Japanese flank and disrupt their rear area.
It's turn twelve and all is well. The Japanese main attack was in the south. With half my force already there, victory was mine. Picard and Janeway's tanks tore the Japanese apart in a field of mixed terrain. With the south secure, Picard is preparing to move on to the center. Kirk has already pushed forward to the edge of the center VH's behind an artillery barrage. Best of all, Archer was able to slip undetected into the Japanese rear area. By maintaining march discipline and not moving too fast through trees and such, I was able to get Archer's company through about a mile and a half of the jungle with only one jeep breaking down! Archer was able to destroy about a dozen mortars (50, 81 and 90 mm) and the Japanese HQ. Without artillery, I think that the Japanese are doomed. Because of the per turn hexes, I'll probably only get a Marginal, but I think that is acceptable for a first effort.
The Japanese morale broke on turn 20. I had all the objectives and had inflicted 1250 casualties (out of over 3 thousand Japanese in about 16 infantry companies) and lost 243 Marines, 2 AFV's and 17 halftracks/jeeps. The mobility of the mechanized companies was a definite plus. Hordes of Japanese were pinned down and virtually immobile, while my forces could rapidly change objectives. The M2A4 tanks, with four MG's, were excellent at stopping the Japanese charges. Several log entries were "M2A4 hull struck by bayonet". I fixed all my losses and upgraded three jeeps to ammo carriers, as toward the end of the battle my mortars were running low on ammo.

[Poopyhead]

The Japanese are the perfect AI opponent. They are very aggressive and really put up a fight. In a meeting engagement, I had the three line companies move quickly and secure the middle 3 VH groups, while Kirk and his boys moved north and outflanked the Japanese to take the last VH from behind. The AI had correctly sighted several ATG's deep to prevent this manuever (Hooah AI), but a good dose of smoke along the route of advance kept my losses to a jeep and an HT. Even though I was able to grab all of the VH's early, the AI threw wave after wave of infantry at me, as well as fifteen tanks! Fortunately, I was able to spot the Japanese A0 near their starting VH and rout him. Their morale finally broke for a DV. In addition to the armor, the Japanese had used fourteen infantry companies (!), as well as a battery of 150 mm, 90 mm and 75 mm artillery. The battle really ebbed and flowed as my losses mounted. If I hadn't outflanked the AI and taken the last VH's quickly, I would simply have been overrun. I had over 300 casualties with several dozen HT's and M2's knocked out or abandoned. A combined arms force against the Japanese is the best match-up I've found.

[PimpYourAFV]

Good report. Thanks for this. Nice to see how others conduct operations.

[Poopyhead]

Thanks. Next up is a delay. [:D]

The delay was in a hilly area with a road network. No creeks or other obstacles were present, although there were several rough hexes in the center and a two-hex stone building for my use. I had three VH groups forward (one at the south edge, one in the center and one slightly more to the north) that were “per turn” and two groups in the rear that were “last to hold”. The weather was clear and the vis was 13 hexes.
I put one company in each of the forward VH groups, forming three hard points. Each was augmented with an extra engineer platoon and two .30 cal units. I then set up an artillery park in the center rear area with the reserve company formed around them for TOC security until they were needed (The artillery would normally be mobile, but the AI never fires at them). I had upgraded 9 jeeps to 105 mm SPA. I spread out the recon units so that I could cover the whole front and they all managed to stay hidden. I always start my turn by sighting with every recon unit so that I get the “big picture’.
Each line company was deployed with the Marines forward of their VH group and dismounted. The six engineer squads were set to lay mines along the most likely route of AI advance. I then positioned the HT’s in two lines several hexes behind the infantry to provide flak cover. The tank platoon was in immediate reserve ready to move forward and strike (using tanks as static pillboxes is like French kissing your sister). The company’s 60 mm mortars were kept near the front, as they are most effective inside about 6 hexes.
I did not put all three companies on line with each other. The northern company was slightly to the rear of the center company and the southern company was slightly forward. I hoped that the AI attack would then make contact in an uncoordinated way, so that I could concentrate artillery on one flank, then the center and then the other flank. I hit the AI center with a massive artillery barrage on turn one, to facilitate this. I had a row of barbed wire just in front of the area where the engineers would lay mines and a second back at the edge of my LOS. I tailored the wire to create kill zones where the AI units would bunch up.
Everything worked as planned and the AI morale collapsed on turn 14. The Japanese again had about 14 infantry companies, a dozen tanks, and several squads of mortars (mostly 81 mm) with some off-board 75’s. I only took about 150 casualties. Next is an assault.

[Poopyhead]

It’s July ’42, and my next mission is an assault. The weather is clear and the terrain is dense jungle. The visibility is thirteen, but the jungle only really gives you about one hex in most places. The Japanese have three “per turn” VH groups forward, one at the south edge and two in the center. Behind these, are two groups of “last to hold” VH. A railroad track runs east to west through the center of the map, but is of no use. My side of the map has some roads, which are good for shifting my reserve around.
I have decided to split my force in two. Kirk and Picard’s companies will assault the center VH groups through one breach the engineers will make 4-hexes wide in the minefield. Once through, each company will take one of the VH groups and secure it. Janeway and Archer will also assault through one 4-hex breach in the south. Janeway will secure the VH group there and Archer will outflank the Japanese to take the remaining deep VH groups to end the mission. Each of the companies has been augmented with an engineer platoon in HT’s, giving me twelve engineer squads to clear mines at each breaching point. I also picked up twelve more 105 mm SPA for support (I don’t trust off-board artillery). Finally, I have a mech infantry company in reserve.
For the breaching operation, smoke wasn’t necessary, since vis was squat. The engineers moved quickly over “no man’s land” and set up with four platoons on line, one platoon per hex. The tank platoons set up several hexes behind them and the Marines were mounted in HT’s several hexes behind the armor. Thus, except for the engineers, no “cluster targets” were created by this dispersion of forces and the whole mechanized force could move through the breach quickly. I used the 105 mm artillery to hit the area first, as rounds of this caliber can reveal the locations of mines. What a revelation it was. The southern VH group was behind five rows of mines! The center had only one row, but it had thirty or forty mines per hex.
It took ten turns to breach the minefield and take the “per turn” objectives. I used the 60 mm mortars up close to smash the closest Japanese positions, the 81 mm to suppress positions 2-4 hexes away and the 105’s to suppress positions farther away than that. This (mostly) reduces friendly fire casualties. The recon patrols inch forward, followed by tanks and Marines. Most of the area behind the mines was covered with entrenchments, which slows movement. On turn four, two Lily class bombers hit my center force and caused a lot of casualties to the engineers. I sent the reserve company in, with Sisco and the HQ security platoon, to shore up the center group. In the south, there was less resistance, and Archer was able to outflank quickly. The rear objectives were each guarded by three tanks, with no infantry support. The Marines took them out pretty easily as well as the Japanese A0 unit. By turn 14, all objectives were secure and I started a massive artillery bombardment to break the Japanese morale. However, they stubbornly refused to break. For fifteen turns the AI hit me with everything it had. 15 cm off-board artillery, human wave attacks, even one Lily came back and strafed me. The fourteen Japanese infantry companies put up quite a fight. (If I only had a battery of 28 cm Wurfrahmen rockets.[:D]) About a quarter of my Marines earned purple hearts and I only managed a draw (5600 points to 3600) even though I held all of the objectives.
Lessons Learned: Sighting was more difficult than usual. Normally, if you click a unit then you automatically see all enemy units that unit can sight. I found that I had to check each direction by right clicking to change facing for all nearby units to show up. Perhaps this was because of the entrenchments. At any rate, always start your turn by sighting with every one of your units before you do anything. (Of course, rally a unit before you sight with it.) Set the recon units to range “0” and move them slowly. Don’t forget to check the hexes you occupy. I found three Japanese squads in one hex in the middle of Kirk’s company. I guess that they were routed when I entered the hex and eventually rallied. I moved my unit out and fired them up!
In future assaults, I will take some flak units with more bite than the .30 cal AAMG’s of the HT’s and tanks. Instead of a mobile reserve, I think that I will just take more leg Marines and shuttle them with existing HT’s. Perhaps one unit of high caliber artillery or dive bombers would really help smash the infantry horde.

[Poopyhead]

August ‘42
The next battle is a delay in a dense jungle with a vis of 1 hex (night action). The VH’s are in three groups forward and two further back. I upgraded all of the Marine infantry squads to 2 Bn raider squads (the ones that have 2xBAR’s and Thompsons). I again strung two lines of barbed wire to slow down the human wave. I placed one company around each forward VH group and reinforced each of them with a platoon of engineers and a battery of 60 mm mortars. The Marines were deployed dismounted along a line in front of the VH groups and the engineers laid a minefield to their immediate front. The tanks were on line behind this and the HT’s provided flak cover from a line behind the tanks. The gaps between the companies were under the scrutiny of recon patrols. The AI attacked with 15 infantry companies, one battery of off board 150 mm mortars, two squads of 150 mm mortars on board and eight squads of 81 mm mortars (no tanks or aircraft). The wire slowed them down so that the artillery could suppress and eventually rout them. The new Marine squads shot apart anything that got through. The AI concentrated its artillery on my center, but I moved their tanks forward to stiffen them up and that was that. On turn 18 the Japanese morale broke for a DV. My support units received 40 casualties to the Japanese 600+. Nothing in the core force was damaged. I am attempting to make a generic combined arms unit for the U.S., so I switched out three M2A4’s for M4A3 Shermans in each tank platoon. Eventually, each company will have a whole platoon (5) of Shermans and four Wolverines as well. Then. I’ll be ready for North Africa. (I may switch out the 60 mm mortars for 3 inch AT, too.)