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Pacific War Replay
1939 Campaign Scenario
Part XI: Summer 1943
By Doug McNair
February 2008
Japan deals with enemy invasions in Siam, Manchukuo and Karafuto Province in today’s episode of my Great Pacific War replay. Last turn, the U.S. Army was defeated in the Philippines, but the Marines struck back by seizing the Japanese provincial port of Otamari. Due to the Long Range Bombers rule that takes effect in 1943, Otamari and the land around it is within SAC range of Japanese objective cities and thus a huge potential bomber base for the USA. But a devastating Japanese carrier strike wiped out all the American carriers at Otamari plus several SURF factors. So, the only thing that can keep a supply line to there open now would be the entry of the Soviet Union into the war and a victory by the Red Air Force over the Japanese in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The war continues.
Turn 16: Summer 1943
Production Segment: With the American defeat in the Philippines, Chiang Kai Shek assumes the flow of BRPs will resume and spends 2 BRPs to build a new Kuomintang 1-2 INF at Chunking. Communist China rebuilds a 2-2 INF for 3 BRPs, and Britain builds a 1-4 TAC and a 2-3 ANZAC INF at Broome for 6 BRPs. The USA builds a 5-8 SAC and 1 LC in the U.S. West Coast Box plus an airfield on Wake Island for 23 BRPs. Japan adds 3 SURF factors to units at Japanese shipyards and then purchases a 2 x 2-3 INF, a 1-4 TAC and 2 SUB for a total of 25 BRPs.
No new chits go in the political cup, and the chit drawn is AIF. All ANZAC INF units are already on the board so there is no effect.
All nations buy one impulse chit each, including the Soviet Union!
Sea Zone Box Placement Segment: The Netherlands spends 3 BRPs to put units in the Java Sea control box, and the Soviet Union spends 3 BRPs to put a 3-4 TAC from Sovetskaya Gavan in the Sea of Okhotsk control box. The USA spends 5 BRPs to put units in the Sea of Okhotsk, Hawaiian Islands, Marianas Islands and Sulu Sea control boxes, and Japan spends 5 BRPs to put units in all the usual sea control boxes plus the Sea of Okhotsk. Then the USA sends 2 SUB from Legaspi to raid Japanese BRPs in the Yellow Sea, and Japan sends a total of 7 SUB from Camranh Bay and Takao on Taiwan to raid British BRPs in the unguarded Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Straits of Malacca zones.
Declaration of War Segment: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan for 15 BRPs. That takes her stockpile down to zero, so she’ll need a BRP infusion from an ally to keep her going for the rest of the year.
Sea Control and Raiding Segment: America and Japan both have a 4-4 TAC in the Sulu Sea control box, but each side scores just one hit in three rounds of air battle. The only other contested zone is the Sea of Okhotsk, where Japanese 18 SURF and 6 CV take on American 15 SURF and 3 SUB plus a Soviet 3-4 TAC to decide the fate of the Otamari beachhead.
The gods continue to be very angry with the foreign invaders. The Japanese carriers score 3 hits on 6 dice in naval air battle to down the entire Soviet 3-4 TAC unit. The untested Soviet airmen score no hits in return, leaving the Americans without air cover. The Japanese carrier planes then sink 2 American SUB factors while the Japanese SURF scores an unbelievable 8 hits on 18 dice to sink the remaining SUB plus 7 American SURF! But the U.S. Navy gives a good account of itself, with the SUBs scoring one hit before dying to kill a Japanese CV factor, and the SURF scoring 4 hits on 16 dice to kill 4 Japanese SURF. But the surviving American 8 SURF has no chance against the surviving Japanese 5 CV and 14 SURF, so it runs for harbor at Otamari and tells the Marines they’d better start learning to live off the land. The Americans gain a healthy respect for the Imperial Japanese Navy and make a note never to ask the Soviets for a favor again.
The Japanese score no hits on the American SUBs in the Yellow Sea raiding box, which kill one Japanese BRP. Then in a small consolation for the Allies, the unopposed Japanese subs in the waters around India and Burma only kill 2 British BRPs.
Strategic Redeployment Segment: The Soviet Union, the Chinas and the Netherlands all keep their units in place. Britain spends 2 SRs to get her LC and the 2-3 ANZAC INF back from the Tonga Islands (where Winston sent them) all the way to Broome, and then SRs a 3-4 Indian INF from Madras down to the British army southeast of Rangoon. She then sends the Soviet Union 4 BRPs.
America’s plans to reinforce the Otamari beachhead have been shot all to hell by the Japanese Navy, which has sole control of the Sea of Okhotsk. So the Americans start to remedy this turn’s huge naval losses by spending 2 SRs to move the 9 SURF in the Middle East box (the one that has been SR-ing British units onto the board) to Wake Island. They then spend 2 SRs to send a 5-4 TAC unit via LC from Hilo to the new airbase on Wake Island (it takes 2 SRs because of the distance), and another 2 SRs to send the new 5-8 SAC via LC from the U.S. West Coast box to Hilo. The last SR goes unused. Then Japan spends 3 SRs moving INF units to protect the Manchukuo provincial capitals of Tsitishar and Kirin (must … save … beer …), and then sends a 3-3 INF from the Philippines through the Vigan beachhead to a position behind the line northwest of Bangkok. The 1 LC at Kuching on Borneo SRs the 2-3 INF and CEA HQ from Manila up through the Vigan Beachhead to Kuching, and the LC moves to the Vigan beachhead.
Operations Segment: The first chit drawn is …
NATIONALIST CHINA ATTRITION: The Kuomintang plunge into the breach and attack to the right, scoring one hit to none on a 5 die to 2 attack and killing a Japanese 1-5 ARM division.
The next chit drawn is …
JAPANESE GENERAL OFFENSIVE: Ground forces in China and the Philippines move into attack positions, the 2-3 INF at Kuching on Borneo moves through the three surrounding hexes so more units can be SRed in beyond the beachhead, and forces in Manchukuo pull back to create something resembling a defensive line. Then Japanese SAC performs a strategic bombing attack on Vladivostok.
The bombers score a very solid 3 hits on 5 dice to kill 3 Soviet BRPs. That brings the Soviet BRP stockpile down to 1, so they won’t be able to buy any impulse chits next turn! Japanese carriers then attack Wake Island and Broome, gunning for Allied landing craft. The attack on Wake is unopposed and sinks 1 LC, but the Aussies have a 1-4 TAC at Broome that fights the Japanese in air battle before the strike. The Japanese score one hit to none and down the RAAF TAC, and then score more hits to sink the British LC. The carriers return to Japan and Fusan. An LC lands a 2-3 INF on the Siamese coast adjacent to Bangkok to protect the supply line to the forward units. It then goes down to Kuching. The 1-3 PARA division and the 3-4 TAC at Bangkok then fly four hexes north, and the PARA airdrops on the 3-4 Indian INF there while the TAC and the neighboring 3-3 INF attacks.
The 7 die to 3 attack scores two hits per side, killng 2 British BRPs plus the Japanese PARA unit and a Japanese BRP.
The Japanese then attack the Kuomintang unit that moved into the breach, and the 5 die to 1 attack scores a hit to destroy the breaching unit and re-form the line. Farther east the Japanese commit their air support to a 9 die to 2 attack on one of Mao’s units that crossed the Yangtse, and they score 2 hits to one, destroying the unit and breaching Mao’s lines to advance back to the Yangtse while losing a BRP. Three elite infantry units at the bulge between the rivers make a 9 die to 3 attack, scoring 2 hits to kill a 1-2 INF and a Communist Chinese BRP, and Mao’s men score one hit to kill a Japanese BRP.
Then the Japanese make the final assault on Legaspi in the Philippines. The 9 die to 2 attack gets a +1 bonus to all offensive die-rolls since the only Allied combat unit at Legaspi is a division, and it scores 6 hits to one. The American 6th HQ and a 2-6 ARM division are destroyed, and the Japanese lose a BRP before advancing to capture Legaspi. The American 16 SURF that was waiting to evacuate the Americans is ejected from the port and must retreat to the closest friendly or Allied port, which is Leyte. The Japanese 3-4 TAC in the Sulu Sea zone attacks them and kills a SURF factor before they make port. The Japanese ARM division heads north toward Manila using exploitation movement.
The next chit drawn is …
SOVIET UNION ATTRITION: The Red Army crosses the border into Manchukuo and attacks the provincial capital of Tsitishar.
Neither side scores hits in air battle, and the 13 die to 3 attack gets blitzkrieg bonuses and scores 3 hits to wipe out the defenders and seize the capital. The defending Japanese 1-4 TAC retreats to Shemyang. The Japanese breathe a great sigh of relief that the Soviets won’t be able to continue the offensive next turn due to lack of BRPs.
The next chit drawn is …
COMMUNIST CHINA ATTRITION: Mao sends men into the breach and counterattacks the advancing Japanese unit with air support. The 7 die to 2 attack scores one hit to kill a Japanese BRP, but the Japanese score two hits on defense to kill two 1-2 INF units.
The next chit drawn is …
U.S. NAVAL: American LCs stage a 3-4 INF unit forward from Midway to Wake while taking a 1-0 GAR back to Midway. The American carriers at Pearl and Hilo opt not to make any naval strikes because they have no SURF escorts and would be easy targets for Japanese units in sea control boxes.
The last chit drawn is …
BRITISH ATTRITION: British and Indian ARM and INF units attack the north end of the Japanese line north of Bangkok, and the 8 die to 3 attack does superbly, scoring 4 hits to reduce the Japanese 3-3 INF and drive it south. The British still can’t advance because they don’t have enough units in the sector yet to protect their flanks and the supply line back to Rangoon.
Supply and End Segments: The Japanese naval victory in the Sea of Okhotsk has cut the supply line to Otamari, and the American 2-4 MAR unit there surrenders to Japanese coastal defense forces and is permanently removed from play. All other units are in supply, and the Japanese spend 2 BRPs to repair the INF unit that was reduced northwest of Bangkok. All units in sea zone boxes return to base (with the American 3-4 TAC in the Sulu Sea landing at the British port of Sandakar on Borneo), and the turn ends.
So at the midpoint of 1943, the Japanese have fought back handily by stabilizing their lines in China, repelling the first American invasion of Japanese territory at Otamari, and conquering the last American ground forces on the Philippines. But the Soviet Union has captured Heilungchang Province in Manchukuo, and Japan needs to rush many more units there to counter this new threat. That will bleed forces from the developing ground wars against the British in Siam and Borneo, so Japanese SUBs will need to keep hammering British commerce to immobilize British forces and keep more BRPs from going to the Soviets this year. As for the Americans, they need to use all their BRPs to rebuild their army and navy while trying to regain the initiative by conquering a Japanese island within SAC or LSAC range of Japan. Can they do it? Tune in next time and find out!
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