Okinawa: Combat Command

Scenario 16-1: The Opening Guns

By Larry Freeman

Gaming the May 4 Attacks

While overall unsuccessful, General Cho's plan and attacks give us plenty of examples for scenarios where we can explore many different battles or phases of the Pacific war as it wound down. All of the scenarios are written for the Combat Command rule set.

Scenario

Company A blunts the Japanese 89th Regiments advance during a night assault on May 4.

Company A, 15t Battalion, 17th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division:
Smoke: 0
Special Ammo: none
Satchel Charges: 1D4

2 x Lieutenant. He is armed with a M2 Carbine.
1 x Sergeant. He is armed with a M1 Garand or a M1 Thompson SMG.
1 x PFC Tillman Black. Use the Sergeant characteristics. He is armed with a M1918A2 BAR.
2 x Veteran Platoon HQ Section. Each section has 4 men. All are armed with M1 Garands, or M2 Carbines.
5 x Veteran squads. Each squad has 10 men. One to three men can be armed with M1918A2 BARs. The rest are armed with M1 Garands, M1 or M2 Carbines.
2 x Veteran MMG sections. Each section has 2 men. They are armed with the M1919A4 MMGs.

89th Regiment, 24th Division:
Smoke: 4
Special Ammo: none
Satchel Charges: 10

1 x Taisa. He is armed with a Taisho 04 Nambu Pistol.
1 x Tai-i. He is armed with a Taisho 04 Nambu Pistol.
1 x Sho-i. They are armed with a Taisho 04 Nambu Pistol
1 x Company HQ group. It has 8 men. Six may be armed with the Type 100 SMG. One figure may have a bugle, the other may carry a battle-flag.
10 x Nitto-Hei Rifle Squads. Each squad has 13 men. One may be armed with the Type 11 Nambu LMG or the Type 99 LMG. The rest are armed with Meiji 38 Bolt-action Rifles.
2 x Nitto-Hei HMG teams. Each Team has three men. They are armed with the Type 92 Shiki HMG.

Artillery barrage.

At the start of the game, the Japanese player will randomly place six 65mm+ blast markers during the Morale support phase of BOTH the Japanese and American turns for the first two turns of the game (four phases overall) by using the method below. To determine where each shell will land, roll a D8 and a D6. The D8 will represent the eight foot side, or length of the table and the D6, the width. To help with placement, see the game map to cross-index where the shells will land. The Japanese player Roll both dice for each template and place it in the center of the square it rolled. You do not need to roll for accuracy or drift. It is already taken into account by the die rolling. The shell will attack any troops under the template -friendly or enemy. Roll for casualties and penetration as normal. If a '6' is rolled on the D6, then that round has landed off the table entirely for just that Morale / Support phase. It will not remove the battery as per the normal rule of 6, so all six shots are always available until they run out at the end of the second US Morale / Support phase.

Victory:

The Japanese must exit two squads off of the East board edge to win or break, capture or destroy all five US squads. Anything else is a US win. The Japanese move first and have six turns to accomplish their mission.

Terrain:

The Hills are considered normal for movement. Woods dot the tops of all four large hills except f or the smaller one near the US start line. They are heavy and give a +2 save. The hedges are also very thick and give any units behind them a +2 save. The hedges, however, will not block line of sight, as they are not high enough. The US player may fully entrench every squad section or weapons team. Two positions may be made into reinforced bunkers to simulate the US using Japanese burial mounds as part of their defensive works.

Deployment:

All Japanese units must start within 6" of the west edge. Unlike other battles, they did not emphasize infiltration as they hoped to overwhelm the US line while it was under attack. The US players must set up first, but they are hidden. Only the entrenchments must be placed on the table, not what they contain until they are spotted or fire. All Hidden units are automatically on overwatch.

Special Rules:

Night rules are in effect.

Okinawa: Gen. Cho's Plan (Historical Account)

Okinawa: Combat Command

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© Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum
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