Tarawa Battle Report – First Night and Break of Day
PLANNING FOR THE NIGHT
The destroyers – having hit nothing for some time decide to fire on the command centre and bunker. Once again we regretted not keeping a bombardment back.
The artillery on the island aimed to provide close support for the dug in infantry and then a pre-bombardment of sorts on specified areas.
We also saw the need to get more supply in so Mark got busy with the remaining Amtracs (the ones John hadn’t frittered away).
And so the horror started…
Turn 17 (11pm)
The Japanese try to close assault our units but we managed to call mortar in on the charging Japs and suppressed one of them
Mark then shot the 75’s – and missed with all 6 shots! He got some withering looks from me and John as the Japanese rolled through our defences, killing units at will.
Russ started getting giddy – suggesting that they were going to cream our gallant Marines! Trouble was, we thought he was!
The only luck we had was that the Japanese HQ got lost in the dark and wandered off towards the beach.
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| The Japanese sprawl over the AT ditch. let the massacre begin! |
Turn 18 (midnight)
The Japanese HQ continues to be lost but rather than follow him the rest get stuck in
Not wanting to leave our fate in Mark’s hands, I took over the 75’s …and also missed! Mark must have cursed the dice.
The Japanese charge in and as. we’re on –1’s at best, we keep on losing platoons.
Therefore we take another blatting! It becomes quite depressing to see our troops disappear before our eyes as the Japanese run amok.
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| The soon clear a path right through John's 2/2 and 2/1 |
Turn 19 (1pm)
The Japanese HQ is still stuck on the wire and therefore unable to enjoy the killing spree going on on Yellow 1.
Three Jap platoons get stuck in – and our mortars fail to hit this time.
Our indirect fire from the artillery misses everything again! We have not thrown higher than a 4 in about 9 turns! As a consequence we take another close combat hammering.
I lose a unit to close combat (lose again) and we can’t kill anything.
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| More carnage - they also destroy a huge supply dump without being discovered. Clever guys, these Japs. |
Turn 20 (2pm)
Mark misses again!!! That’s 9 lots of artillery with no 6’s at all. I have never seen dice rolling this bad since…the last time I fought a battle. It is like we’re cursed!
We therefore lose another one platoon to the silent, invisible killers. It now feels like we’re up against the Japanese version of Captain America (Captain Nippon?) as every base they touch disappears. John’s 2/1 and 2/2 are whittled down and even I am taking casualties from 6/1 and 6/2.
The Japanese HQ extract themselves from the wire but still don’t know where they are. Surely they need only follow the sound of screams and terror from the Marines dying in droves just yards away!
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| Half of Yellow 1 is lost to the Japanese marauders. Note the HQ by the burning Amtracs - finally making his way in the right direction. |
Turn 21 (3pm)
Our indirect fire – guess what! We fail to hit anything again. Then miracle of miracles we finally, finally suppress one Jap unit – hoo-fecking-ray.
And then they get unspressed at the end of the turn.
Much head holding from the American side and general disbelief as entire areas are swept clean.
Somehow the Japanese also manage to destroy a supply dump without making any noise at all – a point in the rules that might need addressing!
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| The John-O-Meter - eyes closed in disbelief at the debacle unfolding |
Turn 22 (4pm)
Please mummy – make it stop! As the sky lightens in the East it’s the last chance for Tojo to make hay before the sun shines.
They waste no time in getting stuck in again. So keen are they that Ian charged one of his own units in his excitement (which we tried to claim would have died in the combat but they weren’t having it).
Then – hang out the flags - we finally kill one Japanese unit..
They then killed 2 more of ours.
I hadn’t kept a tally but rest assured, they absolutely marmalised us something like 10-1 at least.
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| The Japanese continue to push us back as our numbers count for nothing |
END OF DAY 1
Russ was getting giddy again, which prompted a move to cut his beer supply or reduce the caffeine intake. Ian was meanwhile rubbing his hands together so fast I swear there was smoke coming out of them. The Japanese had made the absolute best of the situation and we’d made the worst. We were practically back to square one. In a way though, at least the bridgehead was secure as dawn broke. I think if we’d been tied down on Red 1 or 2 and had the same battle, the Japanese could have seen us off the island completely.START OF DAY 2
Turn 1 (5pm)
Dawn breaks to show the Japs in close attendance. We therefore ask Mark for more artillery to be landed. I try to get 6/1 2 and 3 sorted out to allow us to set up some form of attack. Mark controls the first air attack of the day - going in against the heroic Japanese 20mm.
We meanwhile try to consider any options to keep our troops alive – such as floating Higgins boats within range of the twin-linked gun which would then have to shoot at them rather than my Marines (target priority). As the planes go in we spot the next AA battery - a 75mm gun blazing away at our gallant airmen (and so another target on our list).
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| The American aircraft go in. Don't get excited...Mark's throwing the dice. |
Mark however manages to miss. Again. The general consensus is that our dice are shit as more throws for the guns shows nothing higher than 4.
When the Japanese opened up and failed to kill one of our platoons as they needed a 6 – which they then complained about, it was met with shouts of incredulity and mirth from our side…
“Oh boo-hoo-hoo, we didn’t roll a 6!” “Better commit hari-kari then!”
Our infantry could at last see the Japs – but 3 lots of infantry fire missed. I was for throwing my entire dice stash out of the window at this stage.
The Japs have 1 MG shot back – a 6 – a kill! Talk about rubbing salt in the wounds!.
Ian’s super Japs therefore ignore all incoming fire and walk through the Americans without trying. It’s like we’re fighting with both hands and legs tied behind our back. We can’t hit anything as we need 6’s to even stop them, the Japs get +3 on just about everything.
We managed to kill one platoon though – but it took the combined shots of three units to do so.
And on the Suppression roll, we get a 1! Typical.
Turn 2 (6pm)
More terrible dice rolling from Mark for indirect fire – more misses from everything. We’d have been better if Mark had been in another room and John and I began to suspect that he might be a Japanese agent.
Despite the sunshine the Super Japs continue to run in. We fail to hit anything again as we need 6’s and we get 1’s.
However, the glimmer of hope as my mortar suppressed the HQ and my platoons took out the MG.
Short lived hope however as the twin-linked killed another of my suppressed units.
In the close combat phase another Jap brace of 6’s suppress and kill a unit. They then get another6 for close combat. We just can’t compete!
But the sun was rising in the sky. We’d had a terrible, terrible beating but were still in the game. Was a turn of fortunes on the cards?