A Little PTO

 

Marines land on a godforsaken island somewhere in the Pacific.

The view up the beach.

Maries take cover at the log wall (I forget what they are called)

The beloved company commander hits the beach.

Losses are heavy but a platoon, or what's left of it, manages eliminate the enemy protecting the bunker's flank.

It's not going well for the Marines over all though.

The PL and a single squad assault the bunker.

And capture it!

Is the tide turning?

The Marines consolidate and roll up the Japanese positions.

The Marines on the beach are still taking a hammering.

The Japanese mortar crew retreats to the bunker - the Marines are coming!

The Marines mass and assault the remaining bunker on this stretch of the landing zone.

We interrupt this game report to share with you the pitiful die rolls each side made for their close combat. The 1 is the Marines. The only saving grace is they get bonuses for the PL, CC, and more than one squad.

The bunker is captured! This sector is secured!

Rules used were my own - a combination of Crossfire, Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit, and The Portable Wargame.

The turn sequence is as follows:

Side A Phase 

1. Side A Rally
2. Side A Prep Fire
3. Side A Move - except those who Prep Fired including reinforcements arrival.
4. Side B Defensive fire
5. Side A Advancing Fire - fire with penalty, and only those units who did not fire in Prep Fire
6. Side A Assault Move 
7. Resolve Close Combat

Repeat, sides reversed for Side B phase.

I've been messing around with these for a few weeks now, and I think they are usable as is, although I'm sure I will tweak them (and add armor eventually). My plan is to use them for a fictional Pacific Island assault. Possibly using The Isle of Dread (D&D module X1) as the island in question.

The thing I'm most happy with is the way movement and Defensive Fire work to mimic overwatch/opportunity fire without having to simultaneously play both sides. Since I play solitaire, I don't like having to keep an eye out of Opportunity Fire for the other side. All movement is one grid space and allowing units to move 1 space, then defensive fire, and then eventually move one more space means the effect is the same as overwatch/etc., but I don't have to switch back and forth between the sides while I move a unit.

I've played this scenario several times - the USMC wins most times, but at a high cost, which seems right. In this case, they lost over half of their rifle squads.

For this game, I set a 12 turn limit and the game ended on turn 10.  The Japanese had a platoon of three  rifle squads, a knee mortar squad, and a Platoon Leader. They also had two MGs in bunkers. The USMC had a company consisting of three rifle platoons (and their PLs), and a company commander. The heavy weapons teams were ignored and assumed to be functioning as riflemen in the CCs squad. I probably could have rolled them up into an extra single rifle squad (figuring some of the men are carrying mortars and MGs and can't fire their rifle, only run) on the table and might do that next time.

It really looked like the Marines were going to be slaughtered before they got off the beach, but that's why you never give up on the Marines!