The Commander Series Forum

Has anyone done any USMC landing scenarios?

I am making a Tarawa scenario perhaps using a 4x6 table / or hex map of the whole island.

Curious as to other players experiences wargaming Pacific theater.

I have the second print run edition of BKC. I am curious of any of the unit stats will change with the 2/e rules.

Tarawa was a fascinating battle, I am still studying the scale and ranges for this scenario using 6mm Micro Armor.

I haven't had a chance to play BKC yet so any advice welcome.

Thanks,

Iain

Sadly not done pacific theatre Jap games yet so also interested in this threads answers!

There are some excellent sources for Tarawa, but out of interest here are the leading ones I am using... the real expert on this battle is Col. Joseph H. Alexander. USMC Ret. He has reprint of his earlier book Across the Reef on the web at:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extcont...

He also wrote the much acclaimed Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa, without a doubt the best single volume on the battle.

Also Robert Sherrod's classic Tarawa: Story of a Battle as a first person memoir.

http://www.amazon.com/Tarawa-Story-Battle-Rober...

A chapter of this account is my book: The Greatest US Marine Corps Stories Ever Told.

http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-U-S-Marine-Corps...

One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa by John Wukovitz was an amazing read as well.

There was a famous news film made of the battle you can see online here:

http://www.archive.org/details/WiththeMarinesat...

Eric Hammel's Tarawa and the Marshalls: A Pictorial Tribute (U.S. Marines in World War II)

http://www.amazon.com/Tarawa-Marshalls-Pictoria...

One thing I'm trying to figure out is what happens when a unit is pushed back past the waterline... I suppose it should count as simply eliminated, or perhaps make an extra roll for hits.

I would appreciate any ideas. I am keen to use a hex map with 1.5" hexes to accommodate 30mm based units. I need to figure out ranges and movements.

I did some scenario work on another game system which I still have all the original files for in varying formats.

I referenced the same Col Alexander book here (the maps are slightly better resolution)

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Tar...

I also used 76 Hours by Eric Hammel and John Lane
and the Osprey book by Warwick

I posed a similar question in this illustrious group here a while ago

http://www.blitzkrieg-commander.com/Content/For...

I am itching to give this a go in BKC when I get my hands on the new BKC book so V interested in how you get on.

Si

Scenario Design question...

OK if in 6mm we are playing q unit = a platoon... Should I base TWO LVT landing craft per base to represent landing each platoon?

If so a 50x40 mm base seems to work and still have room for a unit label.

Or would it better to just base a single LVT model to represent the platoon landing crafts?

Japanese anti-boat defense will play a critical part of the game so I'm wrestling with how to accurately represent landing craft and amphibious landings correctly.

Well, since a truck unit represents a "platoon" of trucks, I'd say that the LVT base represents more than one LVT, you could get away with just using one LVT figure on the base.

If my facts are right it took two LVT's to land a platoon for 40 men. I'm trying to figure out a system of casualties.

I suppose it could be done with 1 LVT per base and randomize the losses when they land?

Look at it this way. You have one stand of LVTs (representing two of the craft) carrying one platoon. If one of the LVTs is sunk, the other 1/2 of the infantry platoon is not going to be very effective in platoon terms, so it is essentially KOed.

In BKC terms, a KO on the LVT stand could represent the sinking or disabling of one or both of the LVTs. The infantry stand it is carrying is effective KOed as well.

I found this post on another thread:


I love playing landing operations and was particularly inspired by

the RF book on D-Day. Playing these scenarios out with BKC demanded

a few tweaks which follow. I must stress that I dispensed with the

business of moving the LCs into their landing positions. As per BKC,

I started with the LCs on the beach and rolled for losses as per the

rules. Much faster with the same effect including drift.

Here are my rules (posted before):
BEACH ASSAULT AND FORTIFICATIONS RULES FOR BKC
Landing Craft (LC)
Use the mechanics noted in the rules, but add the following

modifiers to enhance the risk of blunders for beaches that were

particularly well covered by obstacles.

D-Day:
Juno Beach, +4 to the initial command roll.
Other D-Day beaches, +3

To speed play, an umpire could pre-roll the damage to assault units

prior to the game. Players should not be informed of these losses

until they deploy the figures at the water’s edge on the turn of

arrival.

LC firing: LCs may not fire except AA equal to a CO.


Amphibious Vehicles
DD tanks and other amphibious vehicles were very vulnerable to

becoming swamped. Roll for Blunder for each tank model when they

arrive. If such a vehicle suffers a Blunder on the deployment turn,

the vehicle is considered swamped and KOed. Particularly rough seas

might result in plus modifiers.

The Beaches
Movement:
For really difficult beaches, maximum movement for all units is 10cm

– this affects only faster vehicles. In addition, movement is

affected by the Command modifier for the soft sand (-1). Note that

beaches can be considered marked minefields for vehicles due to the

beach obstacles in scenarios like D-Day.

Optionally, units that land ahead of their HQ are rolled with a -1

for being outside of 20 from HQ. This might not be necessary as

preparations for landings usually assumed a higher degree of

initiative for the initial assault units.

Movement and obstacles/mines:
Dozer vehicles and Flails that are clearing a path on the beach move

no more than 10cms per Initiative Phase and may not fire. Instead of

the usual 5 cm width, each flail/dozer can automatically clear a

frontage of 10cms – 5cms to each side measured along the front edge

of the model as it advances up the beach at clearance speed (use the

decorative beach obstacles to note the path).
Vehicles that are moving on the beach in an area not cleared of

mines/obstacles must roll for mines normally (1 attack per cm moved;

4-6 to hit; 6 saves, 4-6 to suppress – units forced to Fallback by

other fire are destroyed). Prior to exiting the beach, roll for

mines; if suppressed, remain on the beach. Troops on foot are

unaffected by obstacles/mines on the beach unless otherwise noted.

The sea walls cannot be crossed except after a bridging vehicle has

deployed a bridge or demolitions have been used. Use normal rules

for these actions (e.g. all engineering tasks are done in the

initiative phase). Infantry touching the beach side of the seawall

with their front or rear base edges cannot be observed from units on

or behind the seawall (e.g. it is dead-ground). Low seawalls count

as full cover and do not block LOS.

Bunker busting
Use the standard rules except add the following:
Tanks and guns may fire at bunker embrasures within 20cm only – no

range bonus.
Small arms have no effect against enclosed bunkers and small MG

tobruks. Exceptionally, infantry may use AT weapons against the

defenders or must close assault a bunker and may do so against any

embrasure or door.

Bunker and MG tobruk defenders are suppressed with ‘6s’ (not morale

grade). This differentiates this kind of cover from other ‘6’ full

cover like open trenches and stone buildings.

In addition to demolitions, small MG bunkers and pillboxes may be

attacked with naval artillery – no other indirect fire has an effect

on bunkers. Naval firing is indirect; calculate the position of the

artillery template and roll the normal allotment of dice (usually

6). To destroy a small pillbox or MG bunker requires 2 ‘6s’. All

occupants of a destroyed bunker are killed.

Direct Fire from a bunker:
During the Command phase, the German player may once freely pivot

their AT guns or the tobruk Mgs prior to firing (no separate command

action required).

All embrasures in enclosed bunkers have ‘restricted’ arc of LOS and

can similarly be targeted from within that zone.

Bunkers with tank turrets:
These bunkers often lack the embrasures against which attacks can be

directed, but the turrets used on these positions were usually

obsolete both in terms of weapons and armour. AT can be fired at the

turret needing a 6 to hit (turret is the only target and thus harder

to hit). Saves and hit values vary from turret to turret and should

be defined prior to play based on the vehicle stats in the rule

book.

Unit Morale: Panic
All normal unit condition rules apply EXCEPT that Allied troops on

the beaches, having no where to go, do not Fallback. The unit

remains stationary suppressed or is removed if the fallback is more

than 10. Units off the beach Fallback normally, although stop short

at contact with the beach. Normal morale rules (breakpoint) do not

apply to beach assault games for the attackers nor for defenders.

The former have no where to go and fight until 75 % losses (as

opposed to 50%) before checking BP, and the bunker defenders (WN

strong-point garrisons) represent largely isolated pockets that must

be destroyed piecemeal.

In-land reinforcing units apply the normal Breakpoint rules.

Command:
Engineer units are often dispersed along the entire front and are

each independent “Formations.” Although they will generally be

performing initiative engineering actions, when they are performing

normal movement or fire actions roll a normal HQ command roll for

each unit. Initiative engineering actions cannot be combined with

normal movement or combat actions. All other units require HQs/COs

as normal.

Alternatively, engineering units can be attached to the nearest

Formation and commanded in the normal fashion.

I'd like to do something with the USMC in it. If doing Tarawa don't forget the British "contingent"!

Yes, Tarawa fascinates me. Col. Alexander noted that yard for yard it was the most heavily defended target the Marines ever assaulted and was a battle that could very easily have been lost.

I need to create some fog of war rules, random events to simulate what happened or could have happened and keep each game from playing out the same.

Rolling for losses upon landing makes a lot of sense. I suppose there should be a similar roll for naval and air preliminary bombardment.

One thing we did for our Tarawa game as far as "random events" concerned the death of Admiral Shbasaki. As you know the Japanese were largely forced to stay within their fortifications leaving them out of desperation in small groups of men or during the one small counter attack during the second night. If the scenario is setup historically the Marine players are fully aware of the limitations encountered by the Japanese in organizing any meaningful counter attack. Whether or not the death of Shibasaki,is the cause for the Japanese failure to organize a counter attack is debatable, but what if he wasn't killed? Would the Marines have been annihilated the evening of D-Day? Our scenario included a convention that allowed the Japanese player to roll a die to determine the fate of Shibasaki before the battle (keep the result secret from the Marine player). If he survives, the Japanese can use his troops as he sees fit but if he dies, then the Japanese are limited to the number of units he can order to move. I don't recall the exact details but that is the gist of it.

Another rule we adopted for Tarawa concerns the actual landing location of the assault waves. We retained the historical unit/beach assignment per the operation plan but each time a unit moved toward the beach from the reef we would roll a die to determine if it went off course. The rule was designed so that if a unit did go off course there was a tendency for that unit to continue going off course in the same direction and therefore would land at the wrong spot. Our game scale was one vehicle to one model and a squad per infantry base and I think we rolled for each platoon, that is groups of 2 amtraks with an infantry platoon in them, or just an infantry platoon if wading from reef to beach. In one game most of King Company 3/2 (designated beach Red One) landed at the far end of Red two near the long pier while 2/2 and 2/8 were intermixed throughout Red Two and Three.

Another thing we contemplated was the tide. You could randomly determine whether or not the LCVPs can cross the reef.

The houserules you copied above are mine. I love landing operations and however you do them, be creative in your special rules, especially to reflect the particular terrain.

Rolling for prelim bombardment is a good idea prior to the start of play so that you can get right into the action. Indeed, if you are the umpire I would pre-roll landing unit losses and the bombardment losses. Assuming the defenders are already in their fixed positions, get the attacker to deploy without knowing the results of either effect. Then start removing stands before play begins!

Cheers,
Chris