Second World War at Sea:
Strait of Magellan
Scenario Preview
October 2013

When Cone of Fire came out it represented the first expansion of the Great War at Sea/Second World War at Sea universe into the South Atlantic, and added the navies of all the major South American maritime powers to the GWAS/SWWAS mix. But with only a few historical naval battles having taken place in the area, the majority of the game’s scenarios were devoted to alternative-history studies of possible naval conflicts between Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

That’s fine as far as it goes, but far more intriguing possibilities arise when one considers what would have happened if Japan had attacked the Panama Canal and rendered it inoperative at the beginning of World War II. Suddenly, Allied naval traffic would have to be routed ‘round the Horn, and the areas covered by the Cone of Fire maps would become a major “hot zone” of the war. Strait of Magellan explores all the possibilities around this, and lets players bring the American, Japanese and British naval forces appearing in many of our other SWWAS games onto the Cone of Fire maps to fight for control of the vital sea routes there.

Below is a summary of all ten scenarios in Strait of Magellan. We hope you enjoy them!

Battle Scenario One
Cruiser Warfare
December 1941

While Japanese cruiser crews had been trained to a deadly efficiency, some of the South American navies could most charitably be described as "lax" in their outlook. So even if given enough warning to mobilize their most powerful battleship, the Chileans — usually described as the best-trained of the Southern Cone's fleets — would have been at a disadvantage against Japanese cruisers with crews able to fire and rapidly reload their deadly Long Lance torpedoes.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Midway and Cone of Fire.

Commentary: Here’s a classic exploration of technology and efficiency vs. brute force: A Japanese cruiser squadron making an initial probe of the straits runs into Chile’s battleship and supporting light ships. Chilean primary guns will do massive damage to Japanese light ships, and the heavy armor on the battleship makes her immune to Japanese gunfire. But the waters will be thick with Long Lance torpedoes, especially from the horrifically powerful Japanese torpedo cruisers. So in a close-in night fight among islands and treacherous coastlines much better known to the Chileans than the Japanese, the fight could go either way.

Battle Scenario Two
Wallowing Monsters
March 1942

Japanese doctrine called for the fleet's battleships to be held back for a decisive battle in defense of the Home Islands. But the opportunity to seal off the Pacific Ocean would have demanded modifications to this thinking, as the Allies would be forced to fight for the Tierra del Fuego choke point. The demand to retain national territory could well have forced action before help could arrive from more distant allies.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Midway and Cone of Fire.

Commentary: Here Japan sends her big-gun battleships into the Straits for a decisive engagement with the combined battle-line of Argentina and Brazil. Though the Japanese have the upper hand, the allied South American nations must try to strike a significant blow against them to obtain a political and military victory big enough to make the Japanese slow their advance till the North Americans arrive.

Battle Scenario Three
Raiders
September 1942

Were South America somehow made an active theater of war, the huge volume of trade flowing in and out of the Plata estuary and Rio de Janeiro would have been at risk. The South American fleets had impressive paper strength, but many of their ships were older than those of major powers, or weaker, or both. In the absence of modern American or British units, they would have to suffice.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Arctic Convoy and Cone of Fire.

Commentary: Here German surface raiders attack an Argentine convoy bound for Britain. A South Atlantic supply line to southern English ports would have stretched the U-Boat wolfpacks significantly, but state-of-the-art German battlecruisers and pocket battleships would have had a decent shot against older-model Argentine escorts.

Operational Scenario One
Great Southern Land
January 1942

Gen. George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army's Chief of Staff, testified after the Pearl Harbor attack that he had expected the Japanese to open an aggressive war against the United States by first putting the Panama Canal out of operation in a surprise attack. The Japanese did not even start drafting a plan to attack the Canal until April 1942, a complicated scheme involving submarine aircraft carriers that would take over two years just to build. Had the Japanese somehow managed to wreck the vulnerable locks, the Americans would feel compelled to secure passage around South America - whether the locals accepted their presence or not.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Cone of Fire, Bismarck and Midway, and all three Cone of Fire SWWAS maps.

Commentary: In this scenario, the Americans respond to Japanese moves against the Straits by forming an early alliance with Brazil and then using Brazilian ports as staging areas for a counter-invasion of the Straits. Neutral Argentina and Chile are caught in the middle and have no desire to surrender control of their home waters. But their navies and air forces will need to fight hard to prevent the determined Americans from capturing a port near the Straits for use as a base to contain Japanese incursions there.

Operational Scenario Two
Carrier Strike
February 1942

With the Panama Canal inoperable, the Strait of Magellan and Cape Horn
routes would have become vital to the Allied war effort and a possible
target for Axis action. Taking action half a world away would not have been
easy, and would have tied up valuable assets for weeks just getting to the
region even if the Germans could extract logistical help from the Vichy French. But success for such a long-range strike would have been an enormous boost to the German Navy's battered self-esteem.

Note: This scenario uses pieces and the Tierra del Fuego 4 map from Cone of Fire, and pieces from Bismarck, Midway and Arctic Convoy.

Commentary: In this variant, the Americans have traded the stick for the carrot by forging an alliance with both Argentina and Chile, promising to defend the Straits from Japanese aggression in exchange for the use of ports there. The local merchants are doing a good business resupplying the Gringos, so the Germans decide to help their Japanese allies by sending a powerful raiding force against the coastal convoys while hitting Argentine and Chilean ports with carrier-based airstrikes. The Germans may give Raiding missions to some of their task forces (meaning they can use hidden movement), and their lack of a port in the area is mitigated by the presence of several off-board German oilers with Supply missions. But the Americans have stationed two powerful aircraft carriers in the area along with a major USAF presence at Argentine airbases. So, hit-and-run must be the order of the day for German raiders that don’t want to be sent to the bottom fast once they reveal themselves.

Operational Scenario Three
Out of the West
March 1942

Pearl Harbor would not be the last surprise attack to generate fear-induced hallucinations of potential danger. Right after the Japanese attack, British planners claimed that the Japanese might strike the Falkland Islands next to seal off the routes around Cape Horn. In that case cooler heads prevailed, and unlike the ducks and bunnies at a notorious Alabama petting zoo the Falklands sheep had to get by without extra defenses.

Note: This scenario uses pieces and the Tierra del Fuego 4 map from Cone of Fire, warship pieces from Bomb Alley and Midway and transport pieces from Arctic Convoy or Bismarck (it doesn’t matter which).

Commentary: In yet another variant, the Japanese have scored a diplomatic coup by exploiting traditional Argentine resentment against Britain for the theft of Las Malvinas. The Falklands War happens forty years early, but with the Argentine invasion forces backed by a Japanese carrier strike force! Just as with the historical scenarios in Eastern Fleet and Strike South, the British have little chance in a stand-up fight with the Japanese carriers. So, they need to go after the Argentines before they can link-up with the Japanese in hopes of eliminating the troop transports before they can reach the Falklands.

Operational Scenario Four
South American Axis
March 1942

Though often suffering authoritarian rule, none of the South American naval powers — even Rawsonist or Peronist Argentina — ever seriously (or even fleetingly) considered aligning itself with the European Axis. But in the dark months that followed Pearl Harbor, American and especially British planners laid out a number of scenarios that had only a tenuous connection to reality. This is one such nightmare.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Cone of Fire, Bismarck and Midway, and the La Plata 5 and Rio de Janeiro 6 maps from Cone of Fire.

Commentary: In this variant, Argentina throws in with Germany and becomes the breadbasket of the Reich. Argentine convoys leave for Occupied Europe on a daily basis, but the increased importance of Brazil to the Allies has boosted Brazilian trade with them as well. Axis and Allied convoys ply the same waters, so both sides have sent in naval forces to guard their own convoys and raid those of the enemy. American, Brazilian, German and Argentine forces all get into the mix, with off-board German surface raiders attacking Allied convoys while American carrier planes do the same against Axis convoys while searching for the German raiders.

Operational Scenario Five
Hitsuji Shima
September 1942

Japanese control of the Straits and Cape Horn could not be tolerated, particularly if the Panama Canal had been put out of operation. The United States would have to establish secure communications between the Atlantic and Pacific, even if it meant waging major operations at the end of a very long line of communications.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Cone of Fire, Arctic Convoy and Midway, and all three Cone of Fire SWWAS maps.

Commentary: Here the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy meet in the South Atlantic for the first time. The Americans get support from their Brazilian allies while the Japanese (having fulfilled their promise to help retake the Falklands) get vital support from Argentina. Once again the Americans must slam the door on Japanese expansion beyond the Straits, so they must get an invasion force to the southern tip of the Cone and take an Argentine port or the Falklands. But with two fleet carriers per side, this one will likely be a far hotter and briefer action than Great Southern Land.

Operational Scenario Six
Bulwark of Democracy
September 1942

With the delivery of the American warships requested by the Brazilian Navy,
this newly-enlarged force could then take a major role in defending the southern half of the Western Hemisphere from Axis aggression. When Brazil sought the ships, the odds of actually having to use them against an enemy were remote and, in any event, the U.S. Navy needed every warship it had no matter how obsolete. Had the Brazilians somehow seen their desires fulfilled, they would have been expected to employ these new assets in case the enemy appeared.

Note: This scenario uses warship and aircraft pieces from Cone of Fire and Midway, and transport pieces from Arctic Front or Bismarck (it doesn’t matter which). It uses all three Cone of Fire SWWAS maps.

Commentary: With the war heating up in other parts of the world, the Americans must pull back from the South Atlantic and entrust the task of containing Japanese influence there to their ally Brazil. This will not be easy for the unfortunate ally, but the addition of a Brazilian fleet carrier with American-made fighters and dive-bombers on deck will make the task of raiding Argentine and Japanese commerce in the area much easier.

Operational Scenario Seven
Reckoning
October 1944

Argentina could likely have seized the Falkland Islands with impunity at any time during the early years of World War II, and kept them afterwards in the highly unlikely event of an Allied defeat. Once the German Kriegsmarine was swept from the seas and Italy defeated, the Argentines would have to face the wrath of the Royal Navy.

Note: This scenario uses pieces and the Tierra del Fuego 4 map from Cone of Fire, and pieces from Leyte Gulf and East of Suez.

Commentary: Losses in the Pacific have forced Japan to withdraw her navy from the straits, leaving Argentina to defend the islands that Japan helped her capture. But Argentina has taken a lesson from the Japanese and built three aircraft carriers, so the four-decades-early dénouement of the Falklands War could have a very different outcome.

Strait of Magellan is available (for now) in print
and in downloadable PDF — just print and play.