by Jerry Lannigan
This battle was a tactical victory for the Japanese. Its cost seems to be out of all proportion to the advantages gained. While the entire American garrison went into captivity save the 52 Marines and sailors who were killed, the Japanese casualties have been estimated at 900 killed and 1100 wounded. Additionally, two destroyers were sunk and 21 aircraft lost in comparison to the 12 Wildcats of VMF211 which were destroyed. The Japanese garrisoned the island and even added 8" naval guns to its defense. Ironically, Wake was to become a military backwater, bypassed by Nimitz' Central Pacific advance. Like so many military "what ifs" it is interesting to speculate what might have happened if Rainbow 5 had crystalized. But that was not to be. What did occur was that the names of Devereaux and Putnam, Cunningham and Elrod have passed into the military mythology of the United States. And deservedly so, for as a final tribute to their valor both VMF-211 and the 1st Defense Battalion were honored with a Presidential unit citation on 5 January, 1942. Considerations For Wargamers This study was motivated by the desire of our Editor, Mike Vogell, and the author to replay the defense of Wake using as our rules set "Battalions in Crisis". One of the English glossies had covered a British attempt at the game for a show and we decided it would be doable on part of Mike's 24' long table. As the research unfolded, several things became very apparent. First, the air game and first attack on December 11 could be gamed, but not by us. We focused on the December 23 events and developed a scenario for our gaming club to try. We decided upon a 5 to 1 ratio for our troops and weapons allocations. I did the figures, Mike created the terrain. What we played invariably followed the historic picture I attempted to describe above. Enormous Japanese casualties were suffered every time. However, part of that might be caused by the rather shorter than historical beach area we had for our landings. (I usually play the Japanese side.) The Japanese then capture the island(s). This time around, the Japanese made excellent use of their knee mortars and machine guns. It is interesting to note that the Japanese critique of the defense centered around the American lack of mortars and relative lack of grenades. They did not criticize American valor or willingness to fight it out as witnessed by one stark reminder - SNLF and Marine locked in immortal embrace having simultaneously bayonetted each other. Rules employed should emphasize that much of the battle was fought in the dark and visibility is down to a few yards. Morale for both sides should be rated at least "good". Victory conditions should be related to how much of the invading Japanese force is actually killed by the defenders. Having played this now three or four times, it would seem to be a Japanese victory with anything short of 50% casualties. The need to call in a second wave of blue jackets as reinforcements means a tactical defeat at best. Figure availability is excellent for the Japanese and good for the early war Americans. Raventhorpe has produced an extensive line of Japanese, a somewhat smaller line of US figures, a really great looking 3" AA gun, and a wide range of heavy weapons. (You might want to get a Japanese flamethrower figure as one was reported at Wake.) Platoon 20 also makes some very nice items. The FAA Japanese are superb and can be supplemented with some nicely done Wargames Foundry pieces. One last suggestion. Not everyone will have the resources or desire to play the entire battle. Perhaps, a player wishing to play part of this might focus either on the rather evenly matched firefight on Wilkes or the firefight around Hama's gun position. Either way an interesting skirmish can be played out. SourcesCressman, Robert J. A Magnificent Fight Naval
Institute Press: Annapolis. 1995.
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