Marine Corps

[RangerX3X]

My incredibly vain splash above

I’ve done some more work on the estab file and have come up with a rudimentary effort based on the Table of Organization F-1 that was implemented in May 1944. The result is a mock-up of the 3rd Marine Division, with varying levels of success based on time constraints and information resources available.

Please note that this if anything is to be regarded as an “Alpha” version, most certainly not ready for prime time (but a work in progress nonetheless).

The core building block is the four man fire team which consists of the following and branches out accordingly:

Three M1 Rifles, 1 BAR
Three fire teams are led by a squad leader, issued a M1 Carbine, making a Rifle Squad
Three Rifle Squads are led by a platoon HQ, issued 2 M1 Rifles, 5 M1 Carbines and a 1 M9A1 Bazooka, making a Rifle Platoon
Three Rifle Platoons are complemented by an organic Machine Gun Platoon consisting of 22 M1 Rifles, 4 M1 Carbines and 6 M1919A4 machine guns
This is further enhanced with an organic Mortar section consisting of 18 M1 Rifles, 1 M1 Carbine and 3 81mm mortars
This is rounded out by a HQ element which consists of 31 M1 Rifles and 2 M1 Carbines

This combined force of 158 M1 Rifles, 27 BAR, 31 M1 Carbines, 6 M1919A4 machine guns, 3 M9A1 Bazookas and 3 81mm mortars constitutes a 222 man Rifle Company (the bazooka and mortar teams would have weapons as well, the machine gunners would not which is why the count is slightly off).



Three Rifle Companies would be complemented by a mortar platoon consisting of 54 M1 Rifles, 4 M1 Carbines and 9 81mm mortars. This force is rounded out with 125 M1 Rifles and 13 M1 Carbines which would constitute the Battalion HQ, Intelligence Section, Supply Section, Communications Platoon and US Navy Medical Detachment.

This presents a battalion sized element of 653 M1 Rifles, 81 BAR, 110 M1 Carbines, 9 M9A1 Bazookas, 18 M1919A4 machine guns and 18 81mm mortars for a total personnel strength of 862.



Three Rifle Battalions are complimented with a regimental headquarters unit, a regimental base unit and 4 anti-tank gun platoons consisting of 4 M6 37mm guns each. The HQ and the base I am completely clueless on as to personnel count and weapon mix, so I am using a clone of the US Army Line regiment HQ and base estab’s.

The total regiment count is 3,055.



Three regiments are grouped together and complimented with an attached tank battalion which I did model off of very specific information (three companies of 15 Sherman’s each), however I just took a wild guess at the naming convention for the Battalion HQ and subordinate companies.



The final piece of the division is the artillery assets, which I have tagged in the force list as 1-4 Battalions of the 12th Marines (again most likely totally off base here so any help would be appreciated). These battalions each consist of 12 105mm M2A1 howitzers, jeeps, trucks and what have not from the cloned estab.



The attached sample mission is called “Battle Axe”. It assumes that Japan has surrendered in May 1944 which frees the United States Marine Corps to participate in the European Theater and the final push to Berlin. It is not intended to be a serious mission, only a fictional what-if to test out the workings of everything.

I am certain I have a ton of things wrong, from weapons used to naming nomenclature to organizational structure, however I am open to constructive criticism and especially anyone who can call something out that can be backed up by web-based documentation (such as a link to Wikipedia or some other online resource I can refer to without having to trudge to the local library).

To play the attached mission, I am not sure if you have to have the .xml and the .coe files in your Estabs directory of the game, so I am including them as well.



Don’t leave your Marines on the beach!!

Once the force list is imported into a scenario, the cohesion can be adjusted accordingly for that specific mission (i.e. have the Marines start out with "SNAFU" or "Shambles" as the cohesion setting to simulate a beach landing or other water borne insertion).

Links

Force List and Estab Files (2)

Battle Axe Scenario

Units Colors

The unit color scheme for the Marine Corps is scarlet (255/36/0) and gold (255/215/0):



I know this is visually close to the British para units in the HTTR expansion pack, however those are the official colors of the Marines.

[RangerX3X]

As the basic building block of this mod is the company sized unit as part of a battalion/regiment composition, I decided to see how my iteration of a Marine Corps Rifle Company (based on the 13 man squad concept X 3 = platoon X 3 = company + organic machine gun platoon + organic mortar section + organic headquarters element) stacks up against a line army infantry company and a parachute infantry company in the game:



My initial research on the company-sized element:



Light in the pants concerning the bazooka asset but the research I have suggests that a Rifle Platoon only had access to one.

[RangerX3X]

I made a fundamental change in the naming convention of the estab file to WF - USMC -



It was nice to see that this seamlessly integrates into the scenario files without further tweaking required.

[sweeteye]

Not sure but it seems like this is the first estab to be released by someone in the community..At least I have not seen one yet..might have missed others.Will have to check it out.Looks like something different that would be neat to work with....I will add also that I will not release any scenarios using this estab...since it is a work in progress..Probably be a while before I release anything else..Takes many hours of work to finish and test a scenario...I have done enough for a while...still need to go back over some of my scenarios...

[RangerX3X]

There has been some significant tweaking to the estab file and I have a revised force list as a result, modeling I Marine Amphibious Corps (later to become III Marine Expeditionary Force) consisting of the 3rd Marine Division circa mid-1944, which is comprised of the 3rd, 9th and 21st Marine Infantry Regiments, the 12th Marine Regiment (artillery) and the 3rd Reconnaissance Company. I have also beefed up the core infantry company based on some very specific research, proving a flamethrower to each squad bring the company total to 9:





This is my after action report siggy for Lieutenant General Alexander Vandergrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps which is stored in the side briefing (although I cannot figure out yet how to create a recurring side briefing for this force list so as not to have to retype the various messages based on the result of the scenario).

[RangerX3X]

I am putting the finishing touches on the first scenario using the revamped I Marine Amphibious Corps focusing on the mid-1944 organizational structure as represented by the 3rd Marine Infantry Division. It is a fictional scenario where the 3MID must seize three tactical checkpoints in the St. Oedenrode sector. They are up against two regiments of German forces.

When I am done testing this I will put it out with a read me file, a force list, the estab files, and the cropped map files.

[Arjuna]

Nice work. Could I suggest changing the unit colouring scheme for the Marines to one based on dark olive green or some other colour scheume that differentiates them from the British para.

[sweeteye]

Kinda jumpin in out of turn but I can't resist...I remember the old D Day board game I used to play....The Germans were basically a pink color of all choices..[:D][:D][:D]...and the allies blue...Thought I would edit this or rather add to to it...I don't want to give off the wrong impression...Really doesn't matter to me what color is used so long as you can read the counter and distinguish it from others...Perhaps the printers were limited in their ink colors and and an off color of pink was the best choice...Just always thought it was kind of funny to have pink counters..

[RangerX3X]

Although I am fond of the scarlet and gold, I do agree. Below is an example with a one color change, trading the scarlet for a dark green (64/64/0):

[RangerX3X]

Here is a visual comparison of some common forces in the game with my Marine Corps battalion on the far right using 64/64/0:



I think it is in line with the other American infantry units but unique enough to be differentiated in game play if the forces were to be combined by the mission designer.

Note: The military symbol icons for the mortar units are different because examples 1, 3 & 5 are para units and 2, 4 & 6 (USMC) are line units.

[RangerX3X]

Scenario: Hold the Line



Teaser: Two powerful divisions face off in the Sint-Oedenrode sector. The 3rd Marine Infantry Division of the I Marine Amphibious Corps must hold the line at three bridgeheads against the 9SS Panzer Division of the II SS Panzer Korps.

For the Allied player, they must prevent the Axis from exiting a significant amount of their forces to the northeast.

For the Axis player, they must break through the Allied defensive line and exit 1/3 of their anti-personnel firepower rating and 1/3 of their bombardment rating.

The scenario is to showcase the Marine Corps estab that I am working on, however it is designed to be played by both sides.

Release date: Most likely tomorrow as I have had a few too many brews...

And testing from the German side, the scenario is winnable based on the auto-end I set for achieving the parameters of the exit objective as described above. I won this session at D04 03:31 when the scenario end time was D04 12:00:

[RangerX3X]

This is my current estab file structure used in the Hold the Line scenario above:



The change of note is adding a new service, the United States Navy to bring in Seabees in the combat engineer role as in mid-1944 TOO F-1 they were detached from the Marine Corps and returned to the Navy proper.

And the current force list as used in the scenario above, circa mid-1944 USMC:



The one battalion is branched out to demostrate how all battalions are configured.

[wodin]

Excellent work. Though I never knew the Marines fought in the West. What would be amazing is if you did a Far East mod. Take some work and I'd reduce the scale to platoons aswell.

[RangerX3X]

Description

Hold the Line
Fictional Scenario

October 15, 1944
Sint-Oedenrode Sector, Netherlands

The 3rd Marine Infantry Division of the I Marine Amphibious Corps must hold the line at the three bridgeheads against the 9 SS Panzer Division of the II SS Panzer Korps.

For the Allied player, they must prevent the Axis from exiting a significant amount of their forces to the northeast.

For the Axis player, they must break through the Allied defensive line and exit 1/3 of their anti-personnel firepower rating and 1/3 of their bombardment rating.

Allied Briefing

Commander,

German forces in division strength are moving through this area on their way towards Uden.

Your mission is to stop a significant number of their forces from breaking through our lines at Sint-Oedenrode and inflict as much damage as possible on their force.

We have not received confirmation of reinforcements as of yet, so make the best of the situation with the forces at hand.

Good luck,

Lieutenant General Alexander Vandergrift
Commandant of the Marine Corps

Axis Briefing

Commander,

American forces in division strength are positioned along the river blocking our advance to Uden.

Your mission is to break through their lines of defense at Sint-Oedenrode and move as many of your forces as possible onwards to the northeast.

We have not received confirmation of reinforcements as of yet, so make the best of the situation with the forces at hand.

Good luck,

Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model
Commander Army Group B

Features

The Marines have at their disposal three companies of US Navy Seabees filling the role of combat engineers. While the mission starts with the three bridges unprimed, the Allies objectives are defensive in nature and not deny crossing. This means you can use the Seabees to prime the bridges and blow them without upsetting the victory point balance necessary for winning the scenario. The enemy AI however can also unprimed the bridges putting you back at square one:



The following files are included in the download package:

Scenario File

The file Hold the Line.cos should be placed in the following folder:

C:\Matrix Games\Battles from the Bulge\Scenarios\My Scenarios (or wherever you installed the game at).

Estab Files

The files MyEstabs.xml and MyEstabs.coe should be placed in the following folder:

C:\Matrix Games\Battles from the Bulge\Estabs

Critical step: After the MyEstab files are placed in that folder; you must copy the BFTBEstab_Images folder and rename it as MyEstabs_Images.

Map Files

The files StOedenrode.cop.cache and StOedenrode.cop should be placed in the following folder:

C:\Matrix Games\Battles from the Bulge\Maps

Force List File (optional)

The file I Marine Amphibious Corps Full Group.xml should be placed in the following folder:

C:\Matrix Games\Battles from the Bulge\Force Lists

When starting a new scenario from scratch, be sure to first install the estab files, and then select MyEstab instead of the BFTBEstab in the map selection window. Once the map is loaded, you can then import the force list which will automatically set the I Marine Amphibious Corps HQ as the Supreme Force.

Note: The MyEstab files are built off of the BFTBEstab files and contain all estabs from the original (you are not losing access to anything by using MyEstab).

Signature File (optional)

The file Vandergrift's Sig.bmp should be placed in the following folder:

C:\Matrix Games\Battles from the Bulge\Graphics\Scenario\Default

When creating a mission using this estab and I Marine Amphibious Corps HQ as the Supreme Force, you should edit the default side briefing so that Vandergrift is the Supreme Commander (and not Bradley or Montgomery).

Download Scenario and Required File Pack Here

After Action Report



This is to demostrate the AAR signature in the game. Other customized messages that will be boilerplate for this mod are as follows:

Draw

The battle has ended in stalemate.
I cannot conceal my disappointment at the outcome of the battle.I will continue to resist attempts by our colleagues to interfere with my command but I fear Washington may demand action if results do not improve.

Decisive Victory

Heartiest Congratulations Commander, you have won a decisive victory!
I was thrilled to hear the grand news of your smashing victory. On to final victory! (And by the way, my recommendation for your well-deserved promotion and the Navy Cross is on its way to the War Department.)

Marginal Victory

Congratulations Commander, you have won a marginal victory.
The news of your victory is heartening. For your persistence and drive in achieving this success I have nominated you for a promotion.

Decisive Loss

Fool!!!
I have just been informed of the true extent of the debacle you have perpetrated in your pathetic attempt. I understand there is a junior position available in Nebraska. Pack your bags!!!

Marginal Loss

You have been defeated.
I am formally ordering you to call off the offensive as it has become clear that the enemy has succeeded in regaining the initiative. A security Bn at Fort Leavenworth awaits you.

Review Final Situation

It was a good battle with the Axis breaking through the bridgehead in the south and pressing at the main bridge.

[wodin]

Ranger, do the Marines feel different when playing compared to standard US inf?

Again I think you should go the whole hog and do the Far east You need Jungle terrain and a Jap OOB. I'm sure many will clamor for it.

Great work.

oh I wasn't trying to be funny mentioning the marines in the West I just thought maybe your privvy to knowledge I was unaware of.

[RangerX3X]

ORIGINAL: wodin

Ranger, do the Marines feel different when playing compared to standard US inf?

Again I think you should go the whole hog and do the Far east You need Jungle terrain and a Jap OOB. I'm sure many will clamor for it.

Great work.

oh I wasn't trying to be funny mentioning the marines in the West I just thought maybe your privvy to knowledge I was unaware of.

They feel different at the battalion level definitely as the individual companies are more robust than that of other US infantry companies.

The difference fades a bit at the regimental and divisional HQ and base units as they are more direct clones of the BFTBEstab files albeit with some adjustments for head count.

I am working on a side project which is not at the divisional level, but at the small scale tactical level of the brigade, with the three line companies having three platoons each and organic mortar and machine gun platoons.

The goal there is a series of 10X10 or 10X20 maps to capture key battles in the Pacific Theater, but overall it is a very ambitious project as I am working on the Japanese Imperial Army from scratch (weapons, vehicles, what not) and my map making skills are in their extreme infancy.

The structure of that effort embraces this hierarchy:

Supreme Force –
Regiment HQ
Regiment Base
Weapons Company
Battalion One
Company One
Platoon One
Platoon Two
Platoon Three
Mortar Section
Machine Gun Section
Company Two
Company Three
Mortar Platoon

In that effort the scope of the primary warfighter on the map would be the companies and the platoons, with the battalion HQ back near the regiment HQ and base. Divisional artillery assetts would also have to be attached at the regimental level...but that is going way OT at the moment.

Right now the Marine Corps Mod is nothing more than throwing the US Marines circa mid-1944 into the European Theater after a fictional capitulation of Japan in May 1944.

Thanks for the positive feedback.

[RangerX3X]

This is where I am at with the Imperial Japanese Army so far, structurally down to the battalion in this example, but all estab work is crude at the moment as I am still working on specific weapons, vehicles, etc. What I am shooting for on a divisional scale is the 6th Division as part of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group that faced off against my I Marine Amphibious Corps 3rd Infantry Division in the Bougainville Campaign from Nov 43 - Aug 45. There were a lot of battles and skirmishes during this campaign that essentially annihilated the 6th Division, but could make for some great smaller scale tactical engagements on maps the size of 10X10 or 10X20.



I can say one thing though, after having bought Highway to the Reich for $15 off of Go Gamer years ago and sitting on the sidelines bitching about the insane prices of COTA and BFTB, once in the editors trying to correctly model an army starting from a Type 38 bolt-action rifle on up, I have a new found respect for Panther/Matrix/Slitherine and all that goes into making these games, which at the end of the day are dirt cheap compared to the resources involved.

I am only one dude with a six pack of Miller Lite that started this at the end of February and I am simply amazed at the sheer amount of effort involved.

[RangerX3X]

Here I have the 37th Infantry Division (an Ohio National Guard unit that was attached to I Amphibious Corps at the start of the Bougainville Campaign in the Pacific) as a Favor Allies reinforcement schedule in the Hold the Line scenario:

[Central Blue]

You may find these resources on the Corps to be useful -- if you haven't found them already:

Bayonet Strength includes other nations besides the Corps: http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/Uni ... arines.htm

Staff Officer's Field Manual for Amphibious Operations (Especially as it Pertains to the Pacific Ocean Area.) Organization, Technical and Logistical Data: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/re ... index.html This will fill in the regimental/divisional picture plus elements that Fleet Marine Force might attach to a division.

Now I will have to buy the game when I get off work.

[GoodGuy]

ORIGINAL: RangerX3X

What I am shooting for on a divisional scale is the 6th Division as part of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group that faced off against my I Marine Amphibious Corps 3rd Infantry Division in the Bougainville Campaign from Nov 43 - Aug 45.

You mean 3rd Marine Division, I guess? The 3rd Inf Div fought in North Africa and then in Europe (Sicily, South Italy, penetrated the Siegfried-Line and took Nürnberg and Augsburg).

ORIGINAL: RangerX3X

Although I am fond of the scarlet and gold, I do agree. Below is an example with a one color change, trading the scarlet for a dark green ....

I know you switched colours already .... but C Coy of the 1st Bn/7th Marines has the only authorized second guidon, which is white and black:
http://www.suicidecharley.com/suicide-c ... idons.html

I have no info about when it had been introduced, though.

Basilone served in Dog Company 1st Bn, 7th Rgt, 1st Marine Division, by the way.

Good stuff. Keep it up, Ranger.