All,
So it's been about a month since our last game; it wasn't painting, it was 'real life,' too much nonsense going on. In any case, I've had the table set up for a bit but just hadn't had time for us to play anything. As a matter of fact, even this one didn't go as planned! I wanted to do something different, so I set up a fight between the US Army and Imperial Japanese Army. Here we have doggies of the 24th Infantry Division closing in on the city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte, attempting to secure a foothold over one of the tributaries of the Palo River.
The table, north is down, Americans attacking from left (west) to right (east). The Americans can set up in the far left quarter, the Japanese can set up all the way up to the river. The table is pretty open, actually; in the center, I really opened it up with some bombed out terrain, figuring naval gunfire and Army Air Corps would have given the area a good plastering (without actually hitting the enemy defenses), otherwise it's pretty much flat, perhaps other than the little knoll at right top where the 'z' trench is. There's lots of stands of trees and bamboo, but mostly it's thin enough so as to obscure a target but not actually block line of sight. The river is fordable (bad going) by infantry but not the tanks, and there's some marshy area on the left side of the table that is also no-go for vehicles. There's a small village at bottom center; again, some concealment but not much in terms of cover.
The US Army force consists of the following:
-Three-man command team
-Three-man 81mm mortar team
-Two-man Forward Observer team (for the 81mm mortar)
-Three-man MG team
-Three-man bazooka team
-Three-man flamethrower team
-Six eight-man rifle squads
-One M-3 Stuart
-Two M4 Shermans
The Japanese force consists of:
-Three-man command team
-Three-man 70mm mountain gun
-Three-man 81mm mortar
-Two three-man 50mm mortar teams
-Two three-man MG teams
-Two three-man Anti-Tank teams with magnetic mines and 'lung' mines
-Two two-man Forward Observer teams (one for the Mountain Gun and one for the 81mm mortar)
-A Type 97 Tank with 47mm gun
-Three eight-man rifle squads
Doggies peering through the wasteland dug up by the swabbies and fly-boys at the Japanese z-trench (just visible at top center).
The US main effort reaches the river…
It's brutal, bloody, and up close!
To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
link
We had a great time and are looking forward to more, so stay tuned, more on the way, though not sure if we're going have another go with Bolt Action or kick it up in echelon (I'm dying to give some rules mods by Mr. Martin Rapier for brigade/division-level fights a shot).
V/R,
Jack
