Gavutu-Tanambogo Assault 2 Turn 8

It took a whole lot of time for the Marines to land on the North shore of Tanambogo. The presence of huts and the narrowness of the landable area took the best of 6 turns to get everyone on shore. Artillery fire from Gavutu and a few well placed MGs kept on breaking the marines in their attempt to encircle the hill.

The island is mostly in US hands now.

The East end of the island is still a kill zone for Japan, but the SLNF have been beaten back into a pile of HS on the reverse slope. There is no way for the americans to know whether the CG will result in a victory yet. Here is the deal:

The Gap in CVP favours Japan by about 20 CVPs. There may be up to 30 CVPs worth of IJA units left on the two islands. If the marines lose more than 10 CVPs, they will take the islands but lose the CG. 

So, once more, ASL pulls the edge-of-seat feeling as the US must now play 0 casualties while clearing another island with a double cave complex stuffed with HMGs, MMGs, a bunch of captured 60mm MTR and a 70mm INF. This calls for night action, landing the tanks, and keeping all toes and fingers crossed.

Gavutu-Tanambogo Assault 2 - Turn 1-3.5 - Aleas iacta est

Let's cut the crap and admit that every single marine from the 1Para is gone. This came at a cost for Japan. So I decided to go for broke and land two companies back daylight. All of the NOBA is committed and so is a flight of close air support.

The plan you may ask? Land on Tanambogo, pound anything that is farther away from 6 hexes of the troops with NOBA, CAS on turn 3-4. The landing site isn't beach, but it doesn't matter with this kind of LC. The objective, take the island before nightfall.

Landing area: congested but well supported by MG fire.

Running inland on the left got complicated when fire from a number of mortars, the 70mm INF and MG fires converged on any given hexe of the hinterland. The SNLF are out of sight on the hill, waiting for the marines to attempt to gain the high ground out of the LOF from the caves. 

Pushback: Amazing how captured marine 60mm can clear an area from a distance.

Close air support was effective in suppressing some mortars and striping the SNLF.  Where I thought that Japan was fighting a losing battle, I'm starting to think that it will be a close one once again. 

Gavutu-Tanambogo Assault 1 turn 5.5 - Friendly fire

This had to happen, a fighter-bomber CAS on a big stack of entrenched Japanese in light jungle went astray and smote my 9-2 SMC and a squad on the edge of the hill. The pilot during debrief reported that they looked japaneser. The SMC lost both thumbs during the point attack, but still instruct the remaining broken HS to give the finger to "blue falcon" flying over. A mystery cave was discovered, but there is no telling what's inside. The good news is that my 10-2 SMC was closer to the target, but in a blind hex and so was spared (Although not blind from a different hex grain, so I may have played this wrong).

Blue Falcon just after his bombs smashed the Marine
overwatch covering the beach.

Lesson learned: +3 sighting TC because of woods is a bit of a bitch. Blue Falcon shall never strike

Finally, the 200mm NOBA finally bothered with a FFE on the assembly point of the Japanese counter attack.

This assault phase is way too close to be called right now: the way good ASL scenario are going usually. In the next turn, the DC assaults on two key caves will be carried over: this will decide how hard the next landing wave will be for the Marines. The Japanese will also decide whether to launch a counterattack or consolidate the line.

Turn 5.5 is over... look at the cool guys wading in the shallow-OCEAN!

Happy hours is still on on the beaches of Tanambogo, despite the airstrikes on
the MTR.

Gavutu-Tanambogo Assault 1 turn 4.5

Turn 3.5 to 4.5 delivered a pile of awesome. The Marines have the high ground, but little safe path to the beaches still. A brave HS collapsed a cave thus allowing safe climb in a single location. With a counter attack mounting, lots of lost DC when the LCV sank, an unknown number of japanese crawling under their feet and MTR and HMG streaming from Tanambogo, it is hard to claim that things are looking up (but they do).

A destroyer even bother firing WP across the causeway! In less than a turn, Close air support will kick in!

The Marines have the high ground, but no safe way to get back down.

The beach is kind-of clear, but not secure at all.

Gavutu-Tanambogo Assault 1, turn 3.5

The Marines have landed with the timing of a synchronized swim team, giving up a few more CVP to Japan. NOBA is still nowhere to be found, but this is now largely due to the fact that the Marines and the Japanese are on top of each other. 

Shortly after taking this picture, a few CC were resolved with devastating effect for the Japanese conscripts in foxholes and trenches. The Marines are still alive! But it is great time to secure a better beachhead and collapse many caves.

I think that I hate dealing with piles of counters like that.

Gavutu - Tanambogo - Turn 2

The IJA has shredded 5 of the 12 Higgins boats. In one case, there was time for one squad to jump and start swimming, but many other marine squads didn't get this chance. The two LCVs that made it to shore got thrashed by MG fire coming from caves and pillboxes while another LCV ran aground.

Things may have gone better had the NOBA kicked in with White Phosphorus and HE. The batteries did not fire as the worried Marines dashed to shore. One good news, the INF gun in the cave overlooking the beach has jammed. 

The left wing of the landing has avoided heavy fire and will hit the beaches on Turn 3. Wading, landed and swimming infantry will try to gain the cover of the jungle and the IJA's prepared fortifications. They will, however, run in quite a bit of HIP units waiting in ambush. 

Good news, there may be some 120mm WP FFE in the coming turn. Let's just not mention the lousy accuracy dr of the 200mm battery.

End of Turn 2 - The landing isn't going too well.

Turn 2 - Midpoint: the Para Bn has mostly touched down. Waiting the the fire to open.