When we started research on this topic, it had been our intention to cover all Amphibious Operations of the Second World War. The more we found in our research, the more we learned that there were several different Amphibious Wars within the Second World War, and we ended up with having to scale back our topic to Pacific Amphibious Operations.
It is an amazing fact that within the United States Military Structure, little or no interchange of information existed between the ETO and the PTO, in spite of the fact that the United States Army and Navy were fighting in both places. Those US Army officers who were transferred from the Pacific to England to take part in the invasion of Europe found themselves ignored by the planners, while the famed Sherman DD (Duplex Drive) amphibious tanks were not used in the Pacific until the invasion of Okinawa, and then in very limited numbers.
As a result, this section will focus on the War in the Pacific, and the equipment and problems found there. A future supplement of the CP will cover Amphibious Operations in Europe.
As a starting point, there are two sorts of amphibious landings, opposed and unopposed. Unopposed landings are just that, and present no hazards other than natural ones. Because such landings are pretty dull from a gaming standpoint, they will not be dealt with in great detail. Opposed landings will be deal with the USMC for now, as the Japanese conducted few opposed landings during the war.
PRELANDING PREPARATIONS
An opposed amphibious landing is a complicated affair, involving a great degree of cooperation between sea, land and air forces. Transport ships have to be acquired, troops and supplies collected, and the logistical details of getting the fighting men ashore in good shape have to be ironed out. Complicating details such as tides, weather, expected enemy action, and so on have to be taken into account. Fortunately, much of this can be factored out from a game standpoint.
For a game, the planning involves picking the landing zones, assigning air and naval support, and working out the landing sequence for the troops. The referee may dictate these things, or allow the players to work out their own schedules within broad guidelines. Weather, geography, logistical constraints, enemy action elsewhere, and the requirements of other operations will place limits on what is available, and what can be done when. Interesting scenarios result when there are shortages of landing craft, transport ships, air support, and so on.
This should not be done at the game itself, but should be dealt with at a special planning session of the players, or handled by the referee. The loading schedule of troops and supplies is not something that one should do at the game. The referee is warned however, that too much logistical preparation can get old real quick, however, and he should not lay too much on the players.
Generally, there will be several waves of troops coming ashore, using the available landing craft to cycle several groups in. The attacking player should get to choose what lands in which wave. Timing of the waves is a function of how fast the newly emptied craft can get back to the amphibious task force, load up again, and return to the beach. The landing ships, ie transport and cargo vessels will stay at least one to two miles off the beach, so the trip will envolve a total run of 30 to 60" in and back.
Calculate the time for a round trip based on the distance from the main fleet to the shore and allow an additional 1-3 hours (roll a d6 divided by two, rounded down for the delay for the wave) for loading, refueling, and the fact that the landing craft may just get lost.. If recreating an actual landing, the historical turn-around times can be used, if available. Random variation should be used to represent unforeseen circumstances, and keep the players hopping. Players need to keep in mind that amphibious operations are slow in nature, and that it takes some time to carry out the cycle.
MODELING A LANDING When modeling a landing, it is usually possible to find models of the LVCP's, LVT's and smaller crafL There also exist some models of LCM's and LCI(L), but these are usually in 1/200 scale, and are not always easy to find. Larger size vessels can be mocked up from wood and cardboard, but players should keep in mind that one does not send the larger landing craft ashore while combat is still going on the beach.
PLANNING A LANDING
For most games, the two key elements will be the six of the landing force, and the number of landing craft that can be used. For game purposes, the numbers of transport and cargo ships present is not importam As a general rule there should be be the following number of models present per Marine Division being landed
| Model | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LCP(L) | 24 | - | - | - |
| LCV | 12 | - | - | - |
| LVCP | - | 48 | 48 | 60 |
| LCM (2) | 4 | 12 | - | - |
| LVT Bn. | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| LVT (A) Bn | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| DUKW Co. | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| LCM (6) | - | - | 16 | 16 |
| LCT 5/6 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| LST | - | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| LSD | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| LCI (G) | - | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| LSM (R) | - | - | - | 2 |
If LCI (L)'s are used, they will replaced the LCVP's used as the troops lifted withh not be moved on transports, but lifted directly by the LCI (L)'s.. For every LCI (L)'s used, remove 4 LCVP's.
Referees are free to substitute their own guidelines for the above. Based on the above, players wishing to carry out a 1943 invasion would find that they have sufficient lift to bring ashore 96 stands in LVCP's, and 36 stands in LVT's. Vehicles will remain the majorproblem, as there is a shortage of lift space. Each Marine Infantry Battalion needs lift space for 24 stands, which means we can put five reinforced battalions a shore in one lift, if we so choose, adding engineer and recon elements to the battalions mentioned above, or we could put advance elements of six battalions ashore. Assuming the last, our plans call for beaches RED 1 and 2, BLUE 1 and 2, and GREEN 1 and 2. One Infantry Regiment will land on respectively on RED, BLUE and GREEN, with a battalion allotted to Beachs 1 and 2, while the third battalion remains in reserve.
The final plan for the landing on RED 1 is as follows:
0600 - First Wave - 6 LVT-2s with two Marine Infantry Companies will touch down.
0615 Second Wave - 8 LCVP's and 1 LCM 2 will land with 1 M3 Stuart Light Tank, therhe maining Rifle Company, as well as the Headquarters and Weapons Company, and attached engineer stands. The LVT's withdraw from Red 1, may return in a minimum of 4 hours
0630 Third Wave - LCT comes ashore with supporting elements (vehicles, etc.) Second Wave (LVCP's) withdraws, may not return for a minimum of 3 hours, based on a three turn run back to the fleet, at least an hour delay in loading, and three turns back to the shore.
The next wave of reinforcements in LVCP's is due to arrive at 0930, and must be set in advance. It will consist of the Regimental Weapons Company, a Pioneer Company, and elements of the Third Battalion.
The wave after this will be due to arrive at 1130, and consists of the remainder of the Third Battalion coming ashore in the LVT's and LCM's. Players may wish to send in fewer craft, depending on the size of the beach, and thus have more waves, but the basic problem remains the same, amphibious warfare does not allow one to make quick changes on who goes ashore and when.
TERRAIN
The referee needs to ensure that the ten-ain for a game involving amphibious warfare includes any limitations that the coastline may impose on the landing craft used in the game. Depending on the scenario, this information may or may not be revealed to the players involved. All reefs, and submerged obstacles needed to be marked on the referees map, as well as sinkholes and other problem areas. The map must also indicate the point at which personnel stands and vehicles may move from. (Landing craft are not always able to make it all the away ashore before they have to discharge their troops/vehicles.)
WATERBORNE MOVEMENT
Amphibious vehicles move at 1/2 their cross-country movement rate while moving in the water, with the exception of the LVT's, which move at full speed. Landing craft have their own movement rate per type, but both landing craft and amphibious vehicles may only use ahalf movement orderon the turn that they wither land or depart from the beach that they are using. Personnel stands and tracked vehicles (not amphibious) moving through water move at a cost of 2" for every 1" actually moved, while wheeled vehicles pay 4" per 1" moved.
Submerged Hazard:
Submerged hazards may be natural (such as reefs and sandbars) or man-made. Landing craft attempting to cross submerged obstacles run aground on a roll of 4 or less on a D10. This dieroll can be modified by the size of the landing craft, as well as by the referee and the scenario being played out.) Landing craft may attempt to free itself once per turn by rolling one die: 1-3 freed, undamaged, 4-6 freed, but disabled; 7- 10, remain aground. Landing craft may not attempt to free themselves if they are disabled when they run aground or are disabled by enemy action while aground. Landing craft which have run aground may still may attempt to discharge any vehicles or troops that they am carrying, or transfer them to other landing craft.
In addition to the problems created for landing craft, there exists an different possible problem for troops and vehicles which have landed offshore. Sinkholes and areas too deep to be crossed by the stands/vehicles can cause casualties in the following manner.
Troop stands which are using a full movement order and which cross such an area take one automatic hit per turn that they cross the area Troops that are using a move half order do not take a casualty. Vehicles that use a full move order and which drive into such an area are considered as disabled at that point, Vehicles which use a half movement order are considered as damaged at that point. Vehicles which are following a personnel stand inshore that is moving at half rate are exempt from damage. UDT Teams if present can mark lanes down which vehicles and personnel stands can safely move to land.
Mines
Minefields may be laid on or adjacent to beaches. They function as normal minefields with regard to vehicles and personnel. Landing craft which encounter submerged mines are disabled on a roll of 4 or less.
Antivehicular Obstacles:
These include dragon's teeth, abatis, ditches, etc. Engineer stand can clear a path through them at at rate of one inch per two turns, provided they do nothing else during that time.
Scattter:
Depending on the scenariobeingplayed, thereexists a substantial chance that the landing craft win arrive at the wrong beach. The referee needs to determine the training level of the landing craft crews, as well as the nature of the currents found in the area and determine a die roll. The roll should be made on the basis on one roll per wave, and not one roll per landing craft.
Beachmaster and Shore Party:
Depending on the game, it may be necessary to include the beachmaster and shore party. As a general rule of thumb, the shore party can unload one ton of supplies per stand per turn from the landing craft. The landing craft being unloaded may not move during this turn.
NAVAL FIRE SUPPORT
Landing heavy guns is tricky, especially in the absence of good port facilities, and invasion forces are always short of artillery support. Naval gunfire can go a long way towards remedying this. Cruisers and battleships, with guns of 8" and larger, are not often used in close support, being used instead for preliminary bombardments, destruction of inshore bunker complexes, long range inderdiction fire, and so on.
The ships carrying these guns are big, and draw a lot of water. Therefore, they can't come as close in or maneuver as well as the smaller vessels ... a big thing when you're doing support work while under threat of enemy air attack or shore bombardment. Also, fleet admirals are not always willing to give up their big battlewagons for such mundane purposes as fire support (and many of them subscribed to Nelson's dictum that "A ship's a fool to fight a fort...").
As a result, naval gunfire is divided into two different types, the preliminary bombardment, and naval fire support. The preliminary bombardment is best carried out by battleships and cruisers, or from artillery firing from an adjacent island over a period of time prior to the actual landing. As this tended to be map fire against suspected enemy positions, the best way the to handle it is as follows:
Preliminary Bombardment:
Dealing on the naval ships or guns avaible for the preliminary bombardment, the referee needs to roll from 2 to 5 six sided die per enemy position in the target area. The numbers rolled equal the points of damage inflicited upon that any position.. If a position is destoyed, all troops holding it are destroyed as well. However the following limitations exist on the number of dice that the American Navy can roll in any given year.
- 1943: 2
1944: 4
1945: 5
Naval Fire Support is primarily carried out by destroyers, which usually bring to bear one (orrarely, two) "batteries" worth of 3" to 5" guns. As a rule of thumb, each battalion-sized unit of the landing force should be allocated a destroyer for fire support, although this can vary considerably, especially for early war landings.
In addition, armed landing craft were also pressed into service for support for the landing force. Once ashore, naval gunfire can be called in from either naval shore parties, or US marine FOs, JASCO and ASCO teams may call in naval gunfire. The ammunition used depended on the target, but most of it is equivalent to BE. Armor-piercing rounds are rarely used except against extremely large underground complexes, and are of little use in a direct support role. The ships are understandably reluctant to use up too much their ammo on shore bombardment (especially their AA ammo), and accuracy requires that the ships be moving fairly slowly, if at all (something else the ships don't like to do when in harm's way), so the duration of the support is limited to a few turns of fire, say three to five. The following are the number of batteries can can be used from a ship, and the HE factor of their shells:
- APD 13" Battery, HE 3/ 1"
DD 15", Battery, HE 6 / 2"
CL four 6" Batteries, HE 7 / 2", two 5" Batteries HE 6 2"
CA three 8" Batteries HE 8 2", two 5" Batteries HE 6 2"
BB three 14" Batteries BE 10 / 3", two 5" Batteries HE 6 / 2"
Naval gunfire is usually lifted when air sorties are flown within a mile of the same target. Sometimes they aren't resumed again, causing problems for the lads in the landing.
Naval gunfire is called for and adjusted as if it were any other form of artillery.
As the war progressed, accuracy got better because ships were required to come in closer to shore and maneuver less during fire support operations. Prep barrages lasted longer, and were dropped only seconds before the landing craft hit the beach (preferably).
AIR SUPPORT
Air support, like naval gunfire, is needed to supply heavy firepower, but like naval gunfire, it is often limited to a few turns. Floatplanes were sometimes supplied by seaplane tenders, and at other times by cruisers or other vessels which were vulnerable to enemy surface and air action. Carrier planes could not always be counted upon, especially if there was a chance of a fleet action near where the landing was going on.
At Guadalcanal, for example, the American admiral withdrew his carrier task force (and theair support available for the troops ashore) because he felt his carriers were at excessive risk from the Japanese fleet (whether he was right or wrong depends a lot on whether you were in the Navy or the Marines).
Artillery shells and airplanes don't mix well. While shells are falling, airplanes won't fly within a mile of the impact point (even observers). This can cause some words to be exchanged between the air, land, and naval commanders.
Only FACs or US Marine ASCO and JASCO teams can direct air attacks. Navy/Marine FACs can only direct navy/marine planes, army FACs can only direct army planes. ASCOs and JASCOs can direct aircraft from all arms.
Parachute Drops:
Parachute drops are handled as per the basic rules, and need only be mentioned in passing to remind players of their potential. They were rare in the Pacific, but they did happen occasionally. The planes that carry paratroops must be land-based.
Observation Aircraft:
Observation aircraft can function as a FO for threir own ship, if ship launched, or for any one artillery battalion. Airborne FO's may not spot any targets within woods or forest, unless said unit is on the edge firing out.
COMBAT RESULTS
Due to the nature of the amphibious landings, hits on landing craft will be handled in a slightly different manner.
LVTS:
LVT'S while in the water are always considered as vehicles in cover, and so have all Direct Fire by Artillery Weapons halved. Indirect fiire and small arms fire considers an LVT 1 and 2 as a soft vehicle, and all other models as light AFV's,
LANDING CRAFT:
All landing craft and ships have a pair of hit nurnbers assigned. When hits equal to the first number are made, the landing craft is disabled: it moves athalfrate, itmay still land its embarked troops, but after that it may no longer be used. If the second number is equaled, the landing craft is sunk, and it and its contents are removed from play.
For small arms attacks and indirect HE, treat the landing craft as light AFV's. If fired on by Direct Fire BE, treat the damage as you would a direct hiton a structure, ie damage is equal to the HE- 4, with the exception that the damage can neverbe reduced below 1. Damage caused by bombs has no modifier, rather the target takes a full eight points of damage. All hits by AP shot automati- cally cause one hit point worth of damage.
For every hit on a landing craft, one hit is placed at random an an embarked stand or vehicle.
EXAMPLE: A Japanese 6" Gun direct fires on an American LCM (6). A hit is scored, and the round does 3 points of damage. (HE value 7-4 equals 3) The LCM (3) needs three hits to disable it, so it is disabled. In addition if carrying four stands of troopos, three hits would need to be placed randomly on those stands.
INTERSERVICE PROBLEMS
During the early days of the war, there were a few teething problems in Large operations involving several services.
American:
As has been mentioned, the Navy was hesitant to risk their carriers and battlewagons in support of a landing, and wasn't happy about providing destroyers for naval support. The Marines involved in a landing thought the Navy and the Army Air Force were always someplace else when they were needed most. The Army infantry thought the Marines got all the glory. The Army Air Force thought they weren't appreciated enough for the risks they took.
Then there was the question of who was in charge: Navy officers didn't like to be subservient to Army officers, and vice versa (the Marines had no choice, but they disliked the Navy anyway). Force of personality was often more important than strict adherence to the chain of command. By early 1944, a system was hammered out, but problems stiff arose.
Japanese:
Japanese Army/Navy cooperation was no better than that between the American services, and in a lot of ways was much worse. In 1942 and 1943, the army refused to send troops to garrison a number of islands that the navy had just captured...sort of a "you caught 'em, you clean 'em" approach to warfare. The Army General Staff was never informed of the full extent of naval losses at Midway, and continued to make plans based on what they thought the navy could do. Strategically, operations were often undertaken not because they were the best plan, but because they were the only plan on which both army and navy could agree.
In any game with Marines from from January 1st, 1943 on, Marine Aviation will exist as well, and should be built into the game, weather permitting as well as the wishes of the referee. The following table is suggested as a guideline for Marine aircraft.
Roll a D6 at the start of each hour to determine what assets will be available during that hour.
| USMC AIRCRAFT AVAIBILITY CHART | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D6 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
| 1 | 1 F4F-3 | 2 SBD | 2F4U-1D | 2 TBM |
| 2 | 1 SBD | 2 F4U-4 | 2 SBD | 2 F4U-1D |
| 3 | - | 1 F4U | 1 TBM | 1 SB2C-1 |
| 4 | - | - | 1 SBD | 1 TBM |
| 5 | - | - | - | 1 F4U-1D |
| 6 | None | |||
The following are the statistics for Marine Aircraft. All Marine Pilots should be considered as Veteran.
| Ftrs | Year | Strafe | Bomb |
|---|---|---|---|
| F2-A3 Buffalo | 41 | 2 | 1/2 |
| F4F-3 Wildcat | 40 | 3 | 1/2 |
| F4F-4 Wildcat | 41 | 3 | 1/2 |
| F4U Corsair | 43 | 3 | 0 |
| F4U-1D Corsair | 44 | 4 | 2 or R |
| F6F Hellcat | 44 | 3 | 0 |
| Dive Bombers | Year | Strafe | Bomb |
|---|---|---|---|
| SB2U Vindicator | 37 | 1 | 1 |
| SBD Dauntless | 41 | 2 | 2 |
| SB2C-1 Helldiver | 44 | 3 | 2 |
| Attack Bombers | Year | Strafe | Bomb |
|---|---|---|---|
| TBF/TBM Avenger | 43 | 2 | 2 or R |
| PBJ (Mitchell) | 43 | - | 3 or 2 and R |
| Transports | Year | Cargo |
|---|---|---|
| R4D (C-47) | 41 | 2 |
| R5C (C-46) | 41 | 2 |
| R5D (Skymaster) | 44 | 4 |
OBSERVATION plane: OY-1 from 1943 on
| USMC Personnel Movement and Small Arms Chart | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stand | ROF | Range | Walk | Run |
| Infantry 1931-1943 | 1 | 10" | 8" | 16" |
| Infantry 1944-1945 | 2 | 10" | 8" | 16" |
| Parachute SMG | 2 | 2" | 8" | 16" |
| Raider | 2 | 8" | 8" | 16" |
| MMG | 2 | 15" | 8" | 16" |
| Mortar Stand (Stokes/81) | 1 | 8" | 4" | 8" |
| AAMG Stand (DS) | 2 | 20" | 4" | 8" |
| Weapons 1941-1943 | 2 | 15" | 8" | 16" |
| Weapons 1944-1945 | 3 | 15" | 8" | 16" |
| Command | 1 | 4" | 8" | 16" |
| Vehicle MG | 1 | 10" | - | - |
| Vehicle AAMG | 1 | 20" | - | - |
| All Other Marine Stands* | 1 | 6" | 8" | 16" |
| *Includes: Pioneer, Engineer, Support, SeaBee, Gun Crew, etc. | ||||
CD Charts for Rules
- US Marines Weapons
US Marines Vehicles
Landing Craft List: US
Landing Craft List: Australia and Japan
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© Copyright 1992 by Greg Novak.
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