Operation Stalemate The US Army's Assault on Angaur Island Order of Battle

Operation Stalemate
The US Army's Assault
on Angaur Island

A Mini Campaign for Command Decision II

Order of Battle

by Allen Garbee

ANGAUR SECTOR UNIT
(JAPANESE)

Troop Quality: Veteran, Morale: 10

Sector Headquarters, with:

1st Battalion/ 59th Infantry Regiment, 14th Division, with:

4 MMG stands

Mixed Artillery Battalion, with:

Japanese Notes

A. The Japanese player may deploy his troops however he wishes, however the artillery battalion must set up South of the road from Saipan town to the Middle Village and on to Rocky Point.

B. The Japanese have available the following field works/fortifications; 15 pillboxes, 28 bunkers , 30 inches of entrenchments, 60 inches of wire and 9 weapon pits. In addition there are 10 caves on the perimeter the of Lake Salome depression. Each cave may contain 1 personnel stand, or a class III weapon and gun crew.

C.The 120L45 Type 3 Naval Howitzers are fixed weapons and may not move-including change of facing-in the course of the game.

D.The Japanese may placed up to 40 inches of real and 40 inches of dummy minefields.

E. The effect of the preliminary bombardment is resolved before the US lands. Roll 3d6 damage points for all field works in the open, and 1d6 for all field works under cover. If a position is destroyed, all stands and/or guns in that position are eliminated.

UNITED STATES SET-UP

81st Infantry Division (elements)

Troop Quality: Regular, Morale: 8

Division Headquarters Troops, with:

Headquarters Company

321st Regimental Combat Team with:

3 Infantry Battalions (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
316th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm) Direct Support

322nd Regimental Combat Team with:

3 Infantry Battalions (1st, 2nd, 3rd)

317th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm) Direct Support
906th Field Artillery (105mm)-General Support
318th Field Artillery (155mm)-General Support

52nd Engineers (shore party)
306th Engineers (shore party)

Attached Units:

2 Medium ammo trucks with medium trailers

Service Company, with:

1 Light Company, with:

3 Medium Tank Companies, each with:

726th Amtrac Battalion

Battalion Headquarters, with:

3 companies, each with:

776th Amtrac Battalion

United States Navy III 'Phib Support Group

Angaur Attack Force

Reinforcements/withdrawals

Day 3 (19 September 1944) at any beachhead:

7th AAA Battalion, USMC P<>Day 5 (21 September 1944) withdraw:

UNITED STATES NOTES

A. The above units are organized according to the TO&E for a 1943-45 Infantry Division. Only when the campaign organization differs from the "book" are components listed.

B. All US forces start the campaign afloat aboard ships of the III Amphibious Corp. The actual transport ships are deployed out of range/firing arc of the shore batteries, or screened by smoke and may not be engaged. Landing craft, LVT's and ships conducting bombardment missions may be engaged by shore batteries.

C. The US players must develop a landing plan. It takes 1 hour for the landing craft to travel from the transports to the beach, another hour to return, and a further hour to reload.

D. Beach Parties: the 52nd and 306th Engineer Combat Battalions support the 321st and 322nd RCT's beachheads. They should be landed during the first day to clear the beachhead and unload supplies. These battalions remain on the beachhead for the duration of the campaign. Up to one company of engineers, and any flame-thrower-engineer stand, may be directly attached to each RCT they support. The 154th Engineer Combat Battalion is not a beach party unit and may freely be used in combat, to build roads or field fortifications, or other tasks that the players may see fit. Each engineer battalion may land up to 10 tons of engineering supplies, per day.

E. Air support: Starting with 0900 hours 17 September, the US player rolls 1d6 for the number of aircraft available in the next hour. Aircraft may be F6F, Helldiver, TBF, Wildcat, OS2U Kingfishers, SBD, SB2U, and medium or heavy bombers. OS2U Kingfishers may direct and call for naval gunfire support, using the normal rules for artillery forward observers.

F. Flame-throwers: Each engineer company has one engineer stand equipped with flame-throwers. In addition each infantry battalion has one flame-thrower stand attached to the headquarters company.

G. The 7th Marine AAA battalion should be considered a rear echelon unit, and will only be encountered if the Japanese break through to the beachheads. REFEREE'S NOTES

Game length: The game begins with the 0700 turn on 17 September 1944 with the LVT's of the 726th and 776th battalions located 60" offshore. The campaign lasts until the 2000 turn on 23 September 1944 or the elimination of the Japanese, whichever comes first. Use the campaign structure from Appendix -II Campaigns in the Command Decision II rulebook.

Enviroment: Anguar is located about 9 degrees North of the equator in the tropics. During the campaign daytime temperatures over 100 degrees were not uncommon. The weather was generally good, with light breezes and occasional clouds. For the campaign the weather starts perfectly, maximum visibility is 120".

For weather changes roll 1d10 for the following results 1-2 weather degrades one level, 3-6 weather remains the same, 7-0 weather improves one level.

Terrain:The wooded areas on the island (almost all of the island!) are thickly overgrown and very difficult to traverse. For game purposes all wooded areas are forest. Treat all edges of the forests as abatis. Abatis may be removed according to the engineering rules found in Command Decision. Beaches are 1.5 inches deep on average. All other terrain types are described in the Command Decision rulebook.

Angaur Naval Gunfire Support Group:The naval bombardment force vessels provide supporting fire for units of the 81st Division. Each capital ship (BB or CL) may respond to a call fire issued from an OS2U or a JASCO stand. Naval gunfire support is only available from September 17, 1944 through 21 September 1944.

Us Air Support Coordination Failures: After the first incident of "friendly fire" from naval air support aircraft, General Mueller, the commander of the 81st Division, will order all further airstrikes canceled until further notice. To determine when airstrikes will resume use the following procedure; After two full days have passed, roll a d10 at the start of the morning turn, on a result of "1" airstrikes are resumed. Roll at the start of each following day adding 1 to the number required for success. For example; on the fifth day after the check fire is imposed a three or less on one d10 is required for airstrikes to resume.

Victory Conditions:The Japanese players win a minor victory if at the end of the 2000 hour turn on23 September 1944, they field a company that contains 5 or more stands (this may be accomplished through the use of the take command order). The Japanese win a major victory if they still control Southern Anguar Island at the end of the 2000 hour turn on 23 September. The Japanese win a decisive victory if they repulse the American landing. Any other result is an American victory.

Map Notes:There is one map for use with this campaign-an operational map scaled at one map square represents an area 500 yards on a side, or ten inches by ten inches of tabletop space. The terrain represented on the map is described in Command Decision, 2nd edition. All buildings found in the towns are wooden. The lighthouse on Lighthouse Hill is a level three stone building until it is destroyed, at which time it becomes rubble. The edge of all forests are treated as abatis for movement purposes. Beaches extend around the entire island and are approximately 1.5 inches wide. The railroad track in the Lake Salome bowl area is considered to be on a steep embankment for movement, spotting and firing purposes.

More Stalemate II

Historical Overview

Large Map (slow: 139K)

Jumbo Map (extremely slow: 326K)

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