Pacific War Classics Vol 1: Tarawa & Saipan
Pacific War Classics Vol 1: Tarawa & Saipan Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background
A. Pacific War Classics: Volume I consists of two games. The battles at Saipan and Tarawa are depicted on separate maps, using two separate game systems.
B. The Island Battle of Saipan uses the FGA's time-tested operational-level game system, with more elaborate air and naval rules added to more accurately reflect the three phases of that battle. Players familiar with Operation Crusader: the Eighth Army's Forgotten Victory will find assimilation of this game extremely easy. The level of complexity for this game is moderate.
C. The Island Battle of Tarawa is a tactical-level game covering the invasion of Betio Island, part of the Tarawa Atoll, in November 1943. Brief tactical rules using the FGA's Simple Tactical System (STS) are the main feature in this two-map introductory-level game. Indeed, the Tarawa game marks the debut of the STS; watch for more STS releases in the near future.
D. As is always the case at the FGA, these products were designed as games and not as simulations. We tried to be as accurate as possible with the order of battle, etc. We feel that we have created two games that allow you to learn about the historical realities of the battles, but that are also fun to play. If the games look good, feel good, taste good, and you are having fun, then we have succeeded in our goal. But please remember, these games now belong to you. You paid for them. The rules are not written in stone. If you see something you want to change, change it. If you find something that is interesting or worthwhile, and you believe that it warrants more attention, write to us and we will include it in the Boardgame Journal as an optional rule or as an additional scenario. The important things are that you enjoy your purchase and that you are having fun.
1.2 Abbreviations
| Abbr | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AA | Anti-Air |
| MA | Movement Allowance |
| BP | Bombardment Point |
| MP | Movement Point |
| CAP | Combat Air Patrol |
| SP | Stacking Point |
| CRT | Combat Results Table |
| TEC | Terrain Effects Chart |
| DRM | Die Roll Modifier |
| TRT | Turn Record Track |
| EZOC | Enemy ZOC |
| VP | Victory Point |
1.3 Terms
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Anti-Ship Rating | This is a quantification of each ship unit's surface-warfare capabilities. It is used in surface naval combat. |
| Anti-Air (AA) Attack Rating | This represents each ship or air unit's AA capabilities. |
| Air-Surface Rating | This is used in aerial bombardment against ships or in ship-to-ship combat. |
| Attack Value | This number reflects the relative value of infantry and headquarters (HQ) units when attacking enemy units. This value is used in Saipan. |
| Bombardment Points | Bombardment Points (BPs) are the firepower capacity of naval gunfire and close-in air-support available to the Marines attacking Tarawa. The rating is used by the attacker during combat in Tarawa. |
| Bombardment Rating | The firepower capacity of artillery, ship, and air units in the Saipan game. These ratings quantify the relative strength of the ordnance weapons in question. |
| Defense Value | This value is the counterpart to the Attack Value. It indicates a unit's relative value when it is defending against enemy attack. This value is used in Saipan. |
| Die Roll Modifier (DRM) | A DRM affects the result derived when resolving combat by reducing or increasing the natural die roll to a lower or higher actual result. This method is used to more accurately reflect advantages or disadvantages in certain military situations. |
2.0 Components
Each copy of Pacific War Classics: Volume I includes:
A. One 17" x 22" map B. Two 22" x 34" maps C. 960 back-printed playing pieces D. One Rule, Scenario, and Historical Commentary Booklet E. Five Player-Aid cards F. One ten-sided die
2.1 The Rules
The rules are written so as to follow the sequence of play as closely as possible. Many of the rules sections are written in an outline manner and are further defined and detailed in the Examples of Play section of the Appendix, on the Player Aid Cards, and on the maps. Unit definitions, symbology, and examples of play are found in the Appendix and on the maps.
2.2 The Map
2.2.1 In General
A. The maps represent the terrain over which the war was fought. The scale is approximately 35 yards per hex on the Tarawa map and three kilometers (1.8 miles) per hex on the Saipan map.
B. Each map hex contains only one type of predominate terrain, except where superimposed by roads. C. The TEC explains the effects of terrain on movement and combat.
2.2.2 Map Errata
2.2.2.1 DRMs
A. There are three DRMs missing from the map:
| DRM | Combat Performed |
|---|---|
| -2 | against an adjacent hex |
| -3 | in the same hex |
| -1 | against pillboxes, bunkers (any type), and coastal defense installations* |
* if attacking stack has at least one step of US armor
B. These DRMs are cumulative with other DRMs.
2.2.2.2 Bunkers and Pillboxes
These include the two Command Bunker hexes and Coastal Defense hexes. Only one unit of any type may be placed in these terrain features unless a number appears on the feature indicating that more than one unit may occupy the hex (such as a 2, 3, or 4). If a number appears, then that many Japanese units of any type (except +1 units) may stack in that terrain feature.
2.3 The Playing Pieces
2.3.1 In General
There are two types of playing pieces (also called counters): units and markers. Units represent the actual combat units involved in the battle. The counter displays information about the unit's size and combat strength. Markers are placed on the mapboard at various times to indicate unit conditions as indicated elsewhere in this rules booklet.
2.3.2 Tarawa Unit Types
2.3.2.1 Japanese Unit Types
The Japanese unit types shown on the counter key are: HQ and HQ Troops; 75mm Mountain Gun; Light Tanks; 75mm Field Gun; SNLF (Marines); Army Artillery; Single 13mm Heavy Machine Gun; Twin 127mm Coastal Defense Guns; Dual 13mm Heavy Machine Guns; 140mm Coastal Defense Gun; 37mm AT, AA, or Anti-Ship Gun; 8in Naval Gun; 70mm Infantry Gun; Force Marker.
2.3.2.2 US Unit Types
The US unit types shown on the counter key are: Marine Infantry Platoon; Marine Engineer Platoon; Marine Weapons Platoon; 75mm Pack Howitzer Co; 30 Cal Weapons Platoon; Marine Armored Section; 81mm Mortar Platoon; LVT Platoon.
2.3.2.3 Sample Units
2.3.2.3.1 Sample Combat Unit
Attributes are the same for infantry, armor, LVT, and coastal defense (support weapon) units.
2.3.2.3.2 Sample Artillery Unit
A. Regular artillery and coastal artillery have the same attributes except coastal defense artillery has +1 stacking value, meaning only one other unit may stack with it.
B. Attributes for both types are the same as for regular combat units except that they have a Bombardment Rating instead of a Firepower Rating.
2.3.2.3.3 Sample HQ Unit
HQ units have the same attributes as regular combat units but do not have a parent unit ID (as they are the parent).
2.3.2.3.4 Unit Sizes
| Symbol | Size |
|---|---|
| I | Company/Battery |
| ••• | Platoon |
| •• | Section/Squad |
2.3.3 Saipan Unit Types
2.3.3.1 Ground Unit Types
Armor; Engineer; Infantry; Infantry Gun; SNLF; Marine Artillery; US Marines; Army Artillery; HQ; HQ Troops; Heavy Flak; Light Flak.
2.3.3.2 Air Unit Types
Fighters; Bombers.
2.3.3.3 Naval Unit Types
One-Ship Carrier; Two-Ship Carrier; Battleship; Heavy Cruiser; Light Cruiser; AA Cruiser; Destroyer; Destroyer Escort; Amphibious Assault.
2.3.3.4 Markers
Destroyed Unit; Damaged Unit; Bombardment; Ground Attack.
2.3.4 Tarawa Counter Errata
A. The 2/C (6-8) Marine unit is missing two pips to show that it is a platoon and 1/2 designation. B. The 1/A-1/18 (3-8) engineer is back-printed incorrectly. The back side should read 1-8, not 3-8. C. The battleship Pennsylvania is misspelled (Pennsylavania). D. The US has eight heavy cruisers (CA); the second group of four are mislabeled. They should be: New Orleans, Portland, Minneapolis, and San Francisco.
2.4 The Die
The game uses a ten-sided die. Read 0 as 10, not 0.
Rules for the Island Battle of Tarawa
The Island Battle of Tarawa is played in a series of turns representing two hours of real time. Each turn, the players perform actions per the sequence of play. At specific intervals, the turn marker is moved to the next space on the Turn Record Track (TRT) to signify the start of a new turn.
3.0 Sequence of Play
A. The sequence of play is:
- Action Phase a. First Player performs one Action (4.0). b. Second Player performs one Action (4.0).
- End-of-Turn Phase (only performed as needed during Combat Actions) a. If yes, advance Turn-Record Marker and start new turn. b. If no, repeat steps 1a and 1b above.
B. This game uses a system that represents a dramatic departure from other, more traditional wargame systems. Players may not move nor may perform Combat Actions with all of their units in one Action Phase.
C. The STS is a pseudo simultaneous movement system. First one player moves a stack, or performs combat with a stack, and then his opponent does likewise. Using turn-continuation, the turn proceeds per the Sequence of Play until random chance ends the turn (described in more detail below).
3.1 Stacking
The stacking limit is 6 SPs. Units with a + mark listed as part of their SP Ratings may not stack with any unit except an infantry or map type unit. Moreover, such units may only stack with one infantry or HQ unit, regardless of the infantry or HQ unit's size. This restriction reflects the large size of the + units and the large amount of equipment they carried with them.
3.2 Zones of Control
There are no zones of control (ZOCs).
4.0 Player Actions
A. During each turn, players switch roles: first one player performs an action and then the other performs an action.
B. Players may perform these actions:
- Movement (including debarking of passenger units from amtracs).
- Combat (including offshore naval and Naval-Air Bombardment).
- Pass.
- Attempt to enter reinforcements (US Player only).
Clarification: Any unit may be used repeatedly to perform actions. Thus, a single Marine unit could march the entire length of the island (and back again) by executing repeated Movement Actions. A unit could fire, then the opponent could perform an action, then the same unit could fire or move or whatever, etc.
4.1 Movement
A. A player may, as an action, move any one unit or stack of units any number of hexes up to its MA. A stack may only stay together if it moves at the same speed, that is, at the rate of the slowest unit in the stack.
Play Note: Players may not move all of their units in one Action Phase, only one unit or stack of units. If a stack is moved, it must start and end its movement in the same hex; in other words, a unit may not be dropped off from the stack during movement.
B. MPs are expended by moving the unit through a hexside into an adjacent hex and paying the cost of terrain in the hex entered and/or the hexside crossed. A unit may never skip over a hex. Any terrain with a terrain cost higher than the moving unit's remaining MA may not be entered.
C. Refer to the TEC to determine the movement costs for each terrain type.
D. A unit with a 0 MA may change its facing any number of hexsides, but is considered an action. Moreover, any time a unit changes its facing, it is considered an action.
E. An enemy-occupied hex may be entered, but only if the moving unit or stack began its Action Phase adjacent to the enemy-occupied hex. To enter an enemy-occupied hex, each unit) must pass a proficiency check. If a stack; roll for each individual unit in the stack.
- If the roll is equal to or less than the Proficiency Rating, then the move may proceed.
- If the unit fails its proficiency check, then the move is considered completed, even if the units do not change location due to failed proficiency checks.
- If one or more units in a stack pass their proficiency check and another unit does not, then the unit(s) that passed must move into the enemy-occupied hex, and any unit(s) that failed the check may not move at all.
F. Japanese crew-served-weapons units may only move if they roll their Proficiency Rating or lower. If they pass this check, then they are flipped over to their reduced-strength side. If they fail, then the Japanese are considered to have performed their action.
Clarification: Once a crew-served weapon has moved (and has been flipped to its reduced-strength side), it no longer is required to roll against its Proficiency Rating for movement.
Optional: Any Japanese crew-served weapon unit may be re-emplaced by rolling equal to or less than its Proficiency Rating and it may flip back over to its full-strength side.
Optional: 0-MP crew-served weapon units may fire twice during any action but only by rolling less than or equal to their Proficiency Rating. If the roll exceeds the unit's Proficiency Rating, the firing unit is eliminated (the tube burned out, jammed, or whatever) but still gets to fire twice with full effect.
G. Both US and Japanese units may move in invasion hexes.
4.2 Combat
A. During the course of the game, both players attack and defend against enemy units. Attacking is voluntary.
B. Combat may be declared against any unit in range of the attacking unit.
C. Combat may only be declared against a single hex.
D. Combat must be declared before checking the LOS. If the LOS proves to be blocked, then the combat is considered to have been ineffective, then the opposing player may perform an action.
E. Both US and Japanese units may fight in invasion hexes.
F. US units apply a -1 DRM when firing at pillboxes, bunkers, and coastal defense installations. US units apply a -2 DRM if stacked with any Marine infantry or weapons unit when those units make attacks. (This simulates the fire support of the Shermans.)
Play Note: Players may only perform combat with one unit or stack of units per Action Phase.
4.2.1 Combat and Lines-of-Sight
A. Combat is executed by tracing an LOS from the attacker's unit or stack to the defender's unit or stack. Trace the LOS from the center of the firing unit's hex to the center of the target unit's hex; the hexside that the LOS traverses may yield a DRM; if so, use the DRM that is most advantageous to the defender.
B. All terrain types block an LOS except clear terrain, anti-tank ditches, the airfield, and rifle pits.
C. An LOS is blocked if it crosses any part of the blocking hex.
Exception: If the LOS is along a hexspine running between two hexes, only one of which is blocking terrain, then the LOS is not blocked.
D. Resolve LOS disputes with a roll of the die.
E. Roll the die once for each attacking unit; if a stack of units is attacking, each unit attacks separately. Units in a stack can attack different target hexes, or they may all attack the same hex.
F. Compare the roll, applying any relevant DRMs, to the combat strength of the attacking unit. If the result is less than or equal to the combat strength of the attacking unit, then the result is considered a hit.
G. If a hit is scored, each unit in the hex must take a step-loss. In other words, the more units massed in a hex, the greater their peril. A stack firing at an enemy stack could easily inflict two hits on the targeted stack, thereby eliminating it.
Example: In the figure above (omitted here), Unit C is firing at Unit A; this attack goes through A's front facing. Unit D is firing at Unit B; this attack goes through B's flank facing. Unit E is firing at Unit B; this attack goes through B's rear facing. Unit F's facing requires it to move to hex G when it begins movement, unless it changes its facing first.
4.2.2 Offshore Bombardment Attacks
A. The US may elect to use BPs as a Combat Action. BPs come in blocks of ten. There is no limit to the number of Bombardment attacks that can be made in a turn; of course, end of turn determinations can be made as a result of a Bombardment attack (4.2.5).
B. Designate the target hex and roll one die. The roll is treated as if an attack by a ground unit had been performed against the target hex with a combat strength equal to ten firepower points.
Example: 10 BPs are designated against a hex in clear terrain; no DRMs accrue. The result is an automatic hit. If there had been a terrain DRM of +5, a 5 or less would have been required.
C. Bombardment may not take place during night turns.
D. The use of offshore Bombardment is considered an action.
E. Facing DRMs (flank-shot and rear-shot DRMs) do not apply to Bombardment attacks.
F. After Turn 1, no Bombardment attack may be made within three hexes of any US unit.
4.2.3 Same-Hex Combat
A. A unit or stack may have combat with an enemy unit or stack in the same hex. This is just like regular combat except that the units of both sides receive a -3 DRM for proximity. The combat is not simultaneous.
Example: The US chooses to enter a Japanese-held hex. US units have proficiencies of 6 and 5. The roll is a 6 for the higher proficiency unit and a 3 for the lower proficiency unit; the stack passes the proficiency check. Then it is the Japanese action, and their unit fires on the US units in that hex. One hit is scored, and both US units are flipped over to their reduced-strength side. Then, during the US Action Phase, the US stack fires with two rolls; both units score hits and destroy the Japanese unit in the hex.
B. Players must keep track of which hexside was entered; rear and flank aspects apply in same-hex combat.
C. If a unit's hex is entered from the rear, then that unit may not fire at the unit(s) which entered until the defenders (the original occupiers of the hex) turn their unit to face their attackers.
D. A defending unit that occupies a bunker, pillbox, or coastal-defense emplacement may not perform same-hex combat but it may be performed against them.
E. Same-hex combat may be performed by and against units defending rifle pit buildings, anti-tank ditches, clear terrain, palm grove, water, etc.
4.2.4 Opportunity Fire
A. Any unit that moves is subject to Opportunity Fire. To execute this, the defender moves the opponent's unit to any hex that the moving unit(s) just traversed during the immediately preceding Action Phase, or to the hex from which the opponent started their move.
B. Then the defender may fire at the unit(s) with a single unit or stack, just as in regular combat.
C. After the combat is resolved, return the previously moved unit(s) to their hex. It is then the Action Phase of the player who originally moved. (Opportunity Fire is just a specialized form of combat.)
D. If the moving units are eliminated, then they are removed from the map instead.
E. No special DRMs apply to Opportunity Fire.
F. Only one unit or stack may perform Opportunity Fire against any single moving enemy unit or stack.
G. A unit that occupies a hex that is being entered by the enemy may not exercise Opportunity Fire against the units attempting to enter its hex.
H. No Opportunity Fire may occur during night turns.
Example: The US moves its units across the airstrip in an attempt to move adjacent to a Japanese position on the other side of the airstrip. For their action, the Japanese choose to use another Japanese position to conduct Opportunity Fire at the US units as they cross the airstrip. The US are moved back to one of the airstrip hexes they crossed (Japanese choosing the hex). The Japanese cause the loss of one step on the US units. Each unit is flipped over to its reduced-strength side, then all are returned to their ending point on the other side of the airstrip.
4.2.5 End-of-Turn Determination
A. During any Combat Action (including Bombardment), if a 10 is rolled, the player performing the action implements any appropriate combat result and then rolls the die again. On a 9 or another 10, the turn is immediately over, and a new turn begins.
Example: The first player rolls a 10 during a Combat Action, then rolls another 10, so the turn ends. The first player then performs another action as the first step of the new turn. It is the advantage of being the first player that, on rare occasion, they get two actions in a row. If the second player's rolls had ended the turn, the first player would still move first in the following turn.
B. An end-of-turn determination is never made if the player performs an action other than a Combat Action.
4.3 Passing
Either side may pass instead of performing one of the other options. If both sides pass twice consecutively (for a total of four consecutive passes), then the turn is over and the marker is advanced on the TRT.
Example: It is the fifteenth round in the turn. The Japanese pass, and then the US passes. The Japanese pass a second time, but then the US performs a Movement Action. The turn continues. Later in the same turn, the US passes, the Japanese pass, and the US passes again. The Japanese choose to perform combat; the turn continues: there is no effect for the initial series of passes. Still, later in the same turn, the US passes, and then the Japanese pass. Both pass again, and the turn ends.
4.4 Entering Reinforcements
A. As one of their actions, the US may elect to enter reinforcements. To do this, take a block of 13 US units from the available forces, placing them in the water hexes adjacent to the beach on which they choose to land. (See scenario information for eligible hexes.) The units chosen may be of any type; amtracs do not count against this 13-unit limit. (Amtracs are used to transport Marine ground units.) Thus, it is perfectly permissible to land 13 Marine platoons transported by 13 amtrac platoons.
B. If the amtracs are all destroyed as a result of combat, or if they are kept ashore for use in a tactical support role, then the Marine ground units are landed without their amtracs. See the special rules on amtracs (6.2).
C. The US may enter reinforcements only once per turn.
5.0 Facing
A. Each unit has a front, flank, and rear. The direction the unit is facing is defined by the direction in which the counter is placed.
B. A unit may fire only through its front three hexsides.
C. If an LOS enters the unit's hex along a hex spine, then the fire is considered to come through the hex least advantageous to the defender. (See the facing diagram for details.)
D. A unit may move only in a forward direction; therefore, only the middle front hexside may be crossed. It costs no MPs to change a unit's facing, unless the unit is in the last hex of its movement; in this case, it costs +1 MP to change facing.
E. Any unit in a pillbox may not change its facing unless the unit(s) leave the pillbox. In other words, the facing of units in pillboxes is limited to the arc defined by the arrows on the map.
Example: The diagram below demonstrates a unit's facing limitations (figure omitted). The unit may only fire through the hexes labeled A through E. If the unit moves, it must move in the direction of hex C unless it changes facing first. Flank and rear aspects are shown to illustrate the DRMs an enemy unit would receive for firing on this unit.
6.0 Special Rules
The following sections are devoted to the special rules required to make The Island Battle of Tarawa unique from other games that use the STS.
6.1 Pillboxes and Bunkers
A. Pillboxes are printed on the map and are considered a terrain feature. They may not be destroyed. Units occupying them may only fire out of the indicated hexsides of the pillbox; units may never change the facing of a pillbox or their own facing.
B. Bunkers are also a terrain feature on the map. They have a 360-degree facing. Unit-facing restrictions apply; however, there is no other restriction on the direction a unit may fire from a bunker.
C. Only Japanese units may occupy pillboxes, coastal-defense emplacements, or bunkers (including the command bunker). They are the only units that may derive a DRM from these terrain features. US units in such hexes may only derive DRMs from palm trees, if any are present.
D. Japanese armor units may occupy these terrain features but gain no benefit from them (i.e., they are outside of the features).
E. When units leave a pillbox, they may change their facing in preparation for the movement.
Example: The illustrations below demonstrate pillbox limitations (figures omitted). These terrain features dictate their occupant's facing for the purposes of combat.
6.2 Amtracs
A. The Marines used amphibious vehicles known as amtracs (short for amphibious tractors) in their landings at Tarawa. To reflect this, the US may land reinforcements under amtrac counters. The US may then leave these amtrac counters on the map and use them as support units or remove them for later use in future landings.
B. To assault adjacent beach hexes (a special type of movement), remove the amtracs and place the passenger unit on an adjacent land hex.
C. Moreover, any time a passenger unit debarks from an amtrac, whether from a water or a land hex, the US may debark the passenger unit into any adjacent non-enemy-occupied hex.
D. To recap, removing the amtracs and placing the passenger units in an adjacent land hex is considered a single Movement Action; debarking when the amtrac is already on land may only be done if the amtrac does not move.
E. The US may have its units wade ashore if all amtracs are destroyed.; that is, Marine units may be placed on beach hexes without amtracs.
F. If a Marine ground unit is underneath an amtrac counter, then the unit is inside the amtrac, and suffers the results that the amtrac unit suffers. If a Marine ground unit is on top of the amtrac, then it is considered outside of the amtrac, and must be targeted separately. This distinction is considered an exception to the general rule that states that all combat results affect a stack uniformly.
Example: In the illustration below (omitted here), units B, D, and F are amtracs; A, C, and E are Marine infantry. A and B advance from their landing hex onto the beach and the Marine unit remains on board. C and D are already ashore; C is debarked and D moves to a water hex and is removed from the map for future use. C may not move and D must have sufficient MPs to reach the water for automatic removal. E and F conduct a beach assault in which E is debarked to the beach hex and F is automatically removed, all as part of a single action.
6.3 Banzai Charges
A. Once during the game, the Japanese may designate up to eight infantry or HQ units for participation in a Banzai Charge. Such units must be within five hexes of an HQ unit. (The eight units may include the HQ unit that orders the charge, but need not include that unit.)
B. Each unit moves separately, just as in normal movement, and can be attacked by the US using Opportunity Fire or any other type of fire, including Same-Hex Combat.
C. Charging units may move up to their MA plus 3 MPs. The rules regulating actions remain in effect; however, all other Japanese actions cease as long as one of these charging units remains. Thus, once initiating a Banzai Charge, a unit must move toward a Marine unit, or be locked in Same-Hex Combat with a Marine unit.
D. The Japanese may perform no other actions than these. The restriction on moving into a US-occupied hex remains; however, the Japanese need not pass a proficiency check to enter an adjacent US-occupied hex when starting the Action Phase adjacent to that hex.
7.0 Optional Rules
The following rules sections are more advanced, but add considerably to the enjoyment of the game. After a few games, we recommend that you give these rules a try.
7.1 Hidden Japanese Units
A. Use the force markers included in the game to disguise the identity of the Japanese units beneath them. Japanese units may move, even through open terrain, without revealing the units beneath the force marker.
B. The Japanese may choose to decline a hit scored by one of their units, if desired.
Example: The Japanese fire with a hidden artillery unit (with a strength of 7), rolling a 7 in the combat. To mask the identity of the firing unit, the Japanese may elect not to implement a step-loss on the defending units.
7.2 Secret Combat Results
A. This rule is definitely an honor system type of rule, but makes for a much more interesting game. Allow the Japanese to roll their own combat results, implementing them per Section 4.2. The US may not see the roll or the result.
B. Combat results for the US are resolved normally per Section 4.2.
C. This rule should not be used in tournament play unless a judge is present.
7.3 Dummy Units
To further hide the exact location of Japanese units, allow the Japanese to have a number of dummy units that is agreeable to both players, placing the dummy units under their force markers. This number of dummies should probably be somewhere between 5% and 10% of the number of Japanese infantry and HQ units in the game.
7.4 Spotting Requirement
To prevent the US from pounding Betio with artillery and offshore Bombardment until the Japanese are all dead, all Bombardment on Day 2 and after must be spotted. The spotting unit must be able to trace an unblocked LOS of any length to the target hex.
8.0 Historical Scenario
A. The US landed an entire regiment at approximately 0900 on the first day of the battle. The plan was to land at sunrise (0600), but Bombardment and other factors slowed this down.
B. Therefore, the US may land as many Marine units as amtracs in the first wave of his assault, but none of the independent armored units or artillery units may land. This wave need not land on Turn 1. The choice is left to the sole discretion of the US.
C. If the US does not bring the first wave on Turn 1, then it must bring them on as the first action of Turn 2.
8.1 US Order of Battle and Initial Placement
A. All US units are available at start. The first assault wave may contain all of the amtracs and one passenger unit each, subject to the previously stated restrictions. After that, the 13-unit-per turn limit is in effect.
B. US units must land on the hexes bounded by 0528 and 6123, inclusive; these were the Red and Green beaches.
C. They may land on the piers that jut northward from the island.
D. Place all Marine amtracs (and passengers) on Invasion Hexes during the initial placement of Marine units and when reinforcements arrive. This means the US places all 68 Amtracs (with passengers) on the map after the Japanese has placed all of their units. Even if the US executes five, ten, twenty, or fifty actions of nothing but naval bombardment after the Japanese places all of their units, when the Marines land, all sixty-eight amtracs and passengers land and that is considered one action.
8.2 Optional US Landing Sites
Players may wish to allow the US to land on the south side of the island (the Black beaches). If this option is chosen, then US units may land on any beach hex on the large map. We recommend that this rule be used in conjunction with the Optional Japanese Free Setup (8.4).
8.3 Japanese Order of Battle and Initial Placement
A. All Japanese units are available at start. At least two of the four eight-inch naval guns must be placed in the coastal defense emplacements; the other two may be placed in any pillbox or bunker hex, but not the command bunker.
B. There must be at least one Japanese unit in every pillbox and bunker hex.
C. The remaining Japanese units may set up anywhere on Betio Island, subject to stacking limits.
8.4 Optional Japanese Free Setup
Players wishing to play a non-historical scenario may allow the Japanese to set up any way they wish. If this is done, we still recommend that the Japanese place at least two of the eight-inch guns in the coastal-defense emplacements. We also recommend that the US be allowed to land forces on any of the beaches.
8.5 Japanese Victory Conditions
Japan wins by having a unit on the island at the end of specific turns.
| Turn | Victory Level | Turn | Victory Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Marginal | 29 | Substantial |
| 28 | Tactical | 30 | Decisive |
8.6 US Victory Conditions
The US must clear the island of all Japanese units, eliminating all Japanese units from play, by the end of specific turns.
| Turn | Victory Level | Turn | Victory Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Marginal | 24 | Substantial |
| 25 | Tactical | 23 | Decisive |
8.7 Mitigating Factors
A. The Japanese can win the game even if the US achieves any of its victory conditions by causing a specific number of US step losses. Amtrac losses do not count in these step calculations.
| Losses | Victory Level | Losses | Victory Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63-69 | Marginal | 76-80 | Substantial |
| 70-75 | Tactical | ≥ 81 | Decisive |
B. These victory levels are then compared to any US victory level. The higher victory level wins; if the victory levels are equal, the game is a draw.
Rules for the Island Battle of Saipan
The rules is this section are devoted exclusively to the Saipan part of Pacific War Classics, Volume I.
9.0 Overview of Special Considerations
9.1 Air Units
A. Air units in the campaign are represented by land-based and carrier-based fighter and bomber counters. Land-based aircraft are based at any island-named sea zone (Ryukyu, Bonin, Marianas, Mindanao, Palau, and Caroline). Carrier-based aircraft are assigned to carriers.
B. Each type of air unit has a range (in sea zones) that it can fly in order to perform a mission. Ranges do not include the sea zone from which the unit begins a mission.
Example: An air unit flying from the Marianas Sea Zone with a range of two could fly missions in the Philippine #2, #3c or #4, the Ryukyu, Bonin, #5, Palau, and Caroline Sea Zones.
C. Ranges (in sea zones) are as follows:
| Aircraft | Range |
|---|---|
| All US Aircraft | 1 |
| K4Y1, B6N, Ki43 | 1 |
| A6M, Ki67, G4M | 2 |
| H8K | 3 |
D. When a unit's air mission is complete, return it to its sea zone of origin. If a unit that began a mission from a carrier returns to find that carrier damaged or destroyed, it suffers the same level of damage. If the carrier is flipped, then all of the air units are flipped. If the carrier is sunk, then all of the air units are destroyed.
Exception: If there is room for them on other carriers, then the air units may land on the other carriers until such carrier's aircraft capacity is reached.
E. If a Saipan-based unit returns to find both airfields in US hands, then the unit is destroyed.
F. Each air unit may fly one mission per Air/Naval Phase. Missions are Combat Air Patrol (CAP), Anti-Ship, or Ground Attack. Fighters may be assigned to Anti-Ship and Ground Attack missions to act as escorts for the strike aircraft.
9.1.1 Combat Air Patrol Mission
A. CAP protects the sea zone in which the mission is flown.
B. CAP missions may only be flown in the sea zone from which they are launched; thus, the only way to put CAP over an island sea zone is to fly units from that sea zone.
9.1.2 Anti-Ship Mission
This mission is used to attack enemy naval units. Attacking units surviving defensive CAP and AA Fire attack using the Air-Surface procedure.
9.1.3 Ground-Attack Mission
A. This mission allows a unit to be used for one Bombardment attack any time during a turn (either player-turn) in the Bombardment Phase. This fire is allocated and resolved in exactly the same manner as artillery fire except that the air unit has unlimited range.
B. It can be used to Bombard anywhere on the map.
C. Units surviving CAP and AA fire are used for this attack.
D. Ground-Attack missions may be combined with other Bombardment missions (naval gunfire, artillery, and Ground Attack by other aircraft units).
9.2 Aircraft Carriers
Aircraft carriers carry fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers to attack enemy ships and land targets. There are three types of carriers. CVs are large carriers, while CVLs and CVEs are smaller carriers.
9.2.1 Capacities
A. Carriers have air unit capacities. Carriers carry full-strength squadrons up to their Air Capacity Rating; this rating may not be exceeded. Both sides may reshuffle the exact makeup of their carrier wings at the start of each naval turn. They may not exceed the maximum number of air steps for each carrier unit type.
B. Two half-strength air units count as one full-strength air unit for Air-Capacity Rating considerations.
9.2.2 Damage to Carriers
When an aircraft carrier is damaged or sunk, the owner must determine the fate of the carrier's air wing, proceeding as follows:
A. In the case of damaged carriers, half of the carrier's normal capacity of air units may remain with the carrier.
B. Excess air units may be transferred to another carrier occupying the same sea zone if there is room aboard that carrier.
C. If the units are in an island sea zone and the owner controls the airfield (Saipan), the excess units may land there. US air units landing on Saipan are grounded but Japanese air units may continue to operate normally.
9.3 Invasion Hexes
Only US units may move and fight in invasion hexes.
9.4 Map Errata
A. The rough-terrain hexes around Radar Hill, hex 2119, show a slight color difference. This has no bearing on the game; the hexes are all still treated as rough terrain.
B. The Invasion hex DRM on combat is -1, not 0.
C. The Ocean Hex DRM is 0, not +1.
The Standard Game
The Island Battle of Saipan is played in a series of turns representing one day. Each turn, players perform actions per the sequence of play. At specific intervals, move the turn marker to the next space on the TRT to signify the beginning of a new turn.
10.0 Sequence of Play
A. Air/Naval Phase
- Naval and Naval Air Reinforcement Phase
- Sea Zone Movement Phase: Both players secretly move air and naval units to zones within range.
- Sea Zone Search Phase: Both players roll to search in each sea zone. If the roll is equal to or less than the numbers on the Sea Zone Chart, the opponent's units are found. The opponent must then report to the searcher the composition of the naval force in that sea zone.
- Air missions are assigned and planes are placed in the sea-zone mission boxes (CAP, Anti-Ship, or Ground Attack).
- Air-to-Air Combat is resolved.
- AA fire is resolved.
- Air-to-Surface strikes are resolved.
- In zones where at least one side is found, surface combat is required if both players have surface units present.
- Any surviving naval units in the Marianas Sea Zone may now be moved to the Saipan map (either side may do this) and assigned to offshore naval Bombardment missions.
B. First Player-Turn
- Move all ground units desired up to their full MA (including the entry of any US reinforcements).
- Both sides declare all Bombardments, including offshore Naval and Ground-Attack missions.
- Declare all Maneuver and Assault Combats.
- Both sides resolve all Bombardments. Resolve Bombardment on the Bombardment and Ground Attack Table and extract losses and/or conduct retreats.
- Resolve Maneuver Combats: Determine combat differential and DRMs based on average proficiency. Both sides roll on the Maneuver Combat Results Table (CRT) and extract losses and/or conduct retreats.
- Resolve Assault Combats: The attacker moves Assaulting units into defender's hex. The defender rolls first on the Assault CRT, applying any DRMs, then the attacker's losses are extracted. The attacker rolls second on the Assault CRT, applying any DRMs, then the defender's losses are extracted. At the beginning of the second round of Assault Combat, both sides roll against their highest Proficiency Rating in the stack. A second round of assault combat is fought if one or both sides pass their proficiency check. If the defender is not eliminated, attacking units return to the hex(es) from which they entered.
C. Second Player-Turn: Repeat steps B1-B6 above, except that the roles are reversed.
D. Turn Record Phase: Advance the Turn Record Marker one space and begin a new turn.
10.1 Stacking
A. The normal stacking limit is 6 SPs.
B. However, only one ground unit of any type may be in an invasion hex.
C. Ships and aircraft have no stacking limits beyond aircraft carrier capacity.
10.2 Zones of Control
A. ZOCs restrict movement and retreat. A unit or stack must end its movement immediately upon entering an enemy ZOC.
B. A unit may move directly from one hex in an enemy-controlled hex to another only if it began its turn in the first enemy-controlled hex. Friendly units do not negate enemy ZOCs (EZOCs) for the purposes of movement.
C. ZOCs prevent retreats. Any unit forced to retreat through an EZOC must lose an additional step. If it is a stack of units, only one additional step is lost: the extran LOSs is per stack, not per unit. Friendly units negate the effects of EZOCs for the purposes of retreat.
11.0 Ground Movement
A. Each unit has an MA. This represents the total number of MPs which may be expended by the unit in its own Movement Phase of each turn. Unused MPs may not be saved from turn to turn. Any MPs unused at the end of each friendly Movement Phase are lost. MPs may not be transferred from unit to unit.
B. MPs are expended by moving the unit through a hexside into an adjacent hex and paying the cost of the terrain contained in the hex entered. Under no circumstances may a unit skip over a hex. Terrain with a terrain cost higher than the moving unit's remaining MA may not be entered.
C. No matter what the circumstances, a unit with an MA greater than zero may always move at least one hex in a turn.
D. Units move alone or in stacks of up to 6 SPs. Moving stacks may freely pick up or drop off units in a hex as long as no single unit's MA is exceeded. Refer to the TEC to determine the costs for each terrain type.
E. No unit may enter an enemy-occupied hex during the Movement Phase; enemy hexes, including those occupied by dummy counters, may be occupied only by declaring combat against the hex, and then only if the combat results in the enemy unit leaving the hex.
12.0 Ground Combat
A. There are two types of ground combat: Maneuver Combat and Assault Combat.
-
Maneuver Combat represents the actions that a unit takes in employing its weapons at relatively long ranges; that is, at ranges greater than fifty meters. Heavier support weapons are often used in Maneuver Combat, including medium and heavy machine guns and light and medium mortars.
-
Assault Combat represents the actions a unit takes in closing with the enemy and actually entering its positions, of getting up close and personal with individual weapons, including bayonets, hand grenades, and flamethrowers.
B. Units may move and declare combat (either Assault or Maneuver Combat) in the same turn.
C. If the defender can retreat one but not two hexes, it must remain in the original defending hex and take an additional step loss (one step total, not one step per unit). Thus, units that cannot retreat at all and those that can only retreat one hex are treated in exactly the same manner. Both remain in place and take one step loss from the stack.
12.1 Maneuver Combat
A. Maneuver Combat occurs between opposing adjacent units. The attacker first declares Maneuver Combat against the target hex. After all Maneuver Combats have been declared, then they are resolved in any order that the attacker wishes.
B. While combat declarations are voluntary, the execution of declared combats is mandatory.
C. Any adjacent units that are not performing Assault Combat that turn may be used to attack a hex during Maneuver Combat.
D. When Maneuver Combat is declared, all enemy units in the defending hex must be attacked.
12.1.1 Maneuver Combat Resolution
A. To resolve Maneuver Combat:
- Total all of the attacking units' attack values.
- Total all of the defending units' defense values.
- Subtract the defender's total from the attacker's total to yield the attacker's differential.
- Total all of the defender's attack values and all of the attacker's defense values to yield the defender's differential.
- Each player rolls a die, consults the Maneuver CRT, applying all relevant DRMs, then cross-indexes the modified roll with the proper column.
Play Note: Both players do this; that is, the defender rolls a die for its fire, as does the attacker.
B. All combat results are explained on the Maneuver CRT.
C. Maneuver Combat has two rounds.
- After the first round, recompute new differentials as described above (if losses have accrued).
- Then units of both sides must make a proficiency check; each side use the unit with the highest proficiency for this check (6.0). Units that pass this check may participate in the second round; units that fail the proficiency check may not.
- The second round of combat is mandatory; there is no way to avoid it willingly. (Retreats, complete destruction of one side's units, or a Maneuver-CRT-mandated end-of-combat result could preempt a second round of combat.)
If the units of one side fail their proficiency check and the units of the other side pass, then the units of the side passing the proficiency check get a free shot.
12.1.2 Maneuver Combat Restrictions
A. No stack may be the object of more than one two-round Maneuver Combat declaration, although units in more than one hex may declare combat against a single hex if they are all adjacent to the target hex.
B. Results of Maneuver Combat are considered to be simultaneous. Remember to extract losses from both sides as dictated by the Maneuver CRT before proceeding with the proficiency checks for the second round; unit proficiencies generally go down as they take losses and will therefore affect the possibility of a unit continuing the combat.
C. Check the Maneuver CRT and TEC for appropriate DRMs.
Example: Twelve US strength points attack three Japanese strength points for a +9 attack. The US units have an average proficiency of 7 and the Japanese units have an average proficiency of 5 for a difference in average proficiency of 2, yielding a -2 DRM (> 1, ≤ 4 per the CRT). The die is then rolled by the attacker, cross-indexing it on the Maneuver CRT, and modifying the result per any terrain DRMs and the proficiency DRM. The result is implemented by losing steps or retreating units if called for by the Maneuver CRT.
12.2 Assault Combat
12.2.1 In General
A. Assault Combats are declared against hexes adjacent to attacking units during the Attack Declaration Phase. The actual combat, however, takes place in the defender's hex.
B. The attacker chooses up to 6 SP's worth of Assaulting units and moves them, at no cost in MPs, into the defender's hex. (Such units may not participate in Maneuver Combat in the same turn.) Stacking applies; thus, both sides may have up to 6 SPs in the hex during Assault Combat).
C. A player may not assign more than the maximum number of SPs to Assault Combat in hopes of being able to attack with full-strength units after taking losses for the defender's first round of Assault Fire. Though the units are designated before any combat or Bombardment resolution, the Assaulting units are not actually moved into the enemy-occupied hex until after Maneuver Combat is resolved.
D. If artillery are in a hex being Assaulted, they may fire Bombardment, but only at the Assaulting units.
12.2.2 Assault Combat Resolution
A. After all Maneuver Combat has been resolved, resolve Assault Combat. Resolve individual Assault Combats, one at a time, in any order that the attacker wishes.
B. The defender fires first in the first round of Assault Combat; it is therefore possible that the defender could eliminate the attacker's assaulting units before they make their roll.
C. After the defender rolls, the attacker removes any losses, then makes its roll, with any losses reducing the attacker's original strength.
D. Consult the Assault CRT, cross-reference the roll with their assault strength, extracting losses as required.
E. The second and all subsequent rounds of Assault Combat are simultaneous. Any surviving units must continue this procedure until one or both sides is eliminated; in short, Assault Combat in this game is to the death.
F. Proficiency checks are not made.
Design Note: This is a departure from other FGA games that use this system; the nature of the combat on Saipan makes proficiency checks in Assault Combat nonsensical.
G. Remember to extract losses from both sides as dictated by the Assault CRT before the second and subsequent rounds; unit proficiencies go down as they take losses and will therefore affect the unit's DRM.
H. Check the Assault CRT for appropriate DRMs.
Example: Three Japanese units (3 x 4-5-6, 2-6) Assault hex containing two US Marine units (2 x 5-6-8, 2-7). The US fires first in the first round of Assault Combat with 10 strength points. The roll is a 5 on the 10 column of the Assault CRT, modifying the roll for proficiency. The US average proficiency is 7 and the Japanese is 6. The DRM is a -1 (> 0, ≤ 1). A two-step loss and retreat (2R) is indicated for the Japanese (attacker). The Japanese must remove two steps from one or more units. The Japanese now have an attack strength of eight (8, 4 + 4 or 4 + 2 + 2). The roll is on the 8 column of the Assault CRT. There are no DRMs due to proficiency. The roll is a 3, yielding a result of 1R. The US must lose one step from one unit and retreat any single unit two hexes. The rounds now continue simultaneously until all units of one side are destroyed or retreated.
12.3 Bombardment of Ground Targets
A. There are three sources of BPs: artillery units, air units, and naval units. Each of these units has a Bombardment Rating. The Bombardment and Ground Attack CRT specifies the number of steps lost as a result of Bombardment. Total the number of BPs from all sources, find the correct column, and roll one die. Cross-index the result to determine the number of steps lost by the targeted stack.
B. Both players may Bombard, no matter whose turn it is. Bombardment is considered simultaneous; thus, all Bombardment is calculated and declared by both players, and then the players roll the die to determine the results in any order they wish.
Play Note: Artillery and ship units may Bombard during both player-turns; however, air units, once used, may not be used again that turn.
C. Either player may make as many Bombardment declarations as has points against any target hex, as long as range restrictions are met.
Example: A player can take 25 BPs and declare one 25-point Bombardment or 25 1-point Bombardments, all against the same hex or against different hexes.
D. This decision is completely up to the player doing the Bombarding. Use the Bombardment markers, if desired, to keep track of how many BPs have been allotted against each target hex.
E. If hidden units (15.2) are in a hex that is Bombarded, they suffer damage normally.
Naval Unit Bombardment Ranges (in hexes)
| Type | Range |
|---|---|
| BB | 15 |
| CA | 8 |
| CL | 5 |
| CLA, DD | 3 |
| DE | 2 |
13.0 Unit Proficiency
A. Unit proficiency is a quantification of a unit's morale, training, equipment, and overall combat readiness. As a unit loses strength, its proficiency decreases.
B. Proficiency checks are made in several instances (for example, in Maneuver and Assault Combat). At other times, the proficiency of a stack must be determined for DRM considerations.
C. To rate a stack's proficiency for DRM purposes (on either CRT), add the proficiency of each unit and divide the total by the number of units in the stack. Retain all fractions, because a stack with an average proficiency of 3.333 has a higher proficiency than a stack with an average proficiency of 3.2 and would therefore derive a DRM for combat purposes.
D. If the defender has a higher average proficiency, no DRM accrues; if the defender has a lower proficiency, a negative DRM accrues.
14.0 Air-Naval Movement
A. All naval and air units must be placed in a sea zone at the beginning of the game. Place them in the holding boxes of the respective sea zones they occupy; the sea zones are listed in the scenario setup section.
B. During the Naval Movement Phase, air and sea units may be moved to any adjacent sea zone. This movement is for the purposes of relocation, not for any combat or air-strike purposes.
C. Players may relocate air and naval units to an adjacent sea zone, and then use ranged units up to their full allotment in the same turn.
14.1 Air-Naval Search
To conduct a search of a sea zone, players must have air or naval units in that sea zone, or have air units within range of that sea zone. Consult the table below for search capabilities.
| Roll | Sea Zones |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | 3 |
| 1-4 | 2 |
| 1-6 | 1 |
| 1-8 | 0* |
* zone occupied by searching unit
14.2 Air-Naval Combat Preparation
A. Proceed through the sea zones, one at a time, placing units in the various mission boxes as the players see fit. Only sea zones where there was a successful search are eligible; units in a sea zone that found no enemy units or have not the range to reach a zone that was successfully searched must remain in the holding box.
B. Units may automatically be assigned Ground Strike missions against Saipan without first searching.
14.3 Air-to-Air Combat
A. The next step is Air-to-Air Combat. Resolve combat for all units assigned to CAP in each sea zone. Each side assigns individual aircraft units to attack individual enemy aircraft units in a one-on-one arrangement. If one side has more than one unit per enemy unit, then more than one unit may be assigned per enemy unit.
B. If one side has fighter units and the other side chooses not to attack each fighter unit, or cannot because it has insufficient fighter units, then the side conducting CAP may resolve Air-to-Air Combats first, and the side conducting the Air-Strike conducts second. Otherwise, Air-to-Air Combats are simultaneous.
C. To resolve an individual Air Combat, each unit must roll its Air-to-Air Rating or lower to score a hit against its opponent. If the roll is higher than the rating, then there is no effect.
D. If a hit is scored, flip the enemy unit to its reduced-strength side; if it is already reduced, or has no reduced-strength side, it is eliminated instead.
E. After each air unit has had an opportunity to resolve its combat, fighter units are returned to the holding box of the sea zone from which they came.
F. Because all air Air-to-Air Combat is simultaneous, even eliminated units get a chance to shoot, except in the case of fighter units that were not engaged by enemy units. Such fighter units get to shoot first and the results of those combats are resolved immediately.
14.4 Air-Surface and Air-Ground Combat
A. Air units surviving Air-to-Air Combat or that were unopposed by enemy air units may now conduct Air-Surface and Air-Ground Attacks.
- In the case of Air-Ground Attacks, the air units add their Bombardment Ratings to any other Bombardment Attacks that will be conducted later in the turn.
- In the case of Air-Surface (Anti-Ship) Combat, the air units attack with their Anti-Ship Ratings.
B. The attacker must roll the Anti-Ship Rating or less to score a hit; however, the ship unit may fire its AA Rating before the air unit's attack is rolled.
C. In the case of AA rolls, the ship applies its AA Rating to as many targets as it wishes, but each point in the rating may only be used once.
Example: A ship with an AA Rating of 10 may conduct one 10-point attack, two 5-point attacks, ten 1-point attacks or any other combination of attacks that total ten points; it may not attack with ten points against each air unit sent against it.
D. Japanese AA units may attack US aircraft on Ground Attack missions. Any Ground-Attack mission within range of a Japanese AA unit can be fired at using the Ship-to-Air AA procedure. The AA value of the ground unit is equal to its attack rating.
E. Each attack is resolved like Anti-Ship Combat; take the number of points in the attack and roll that number or less to score a hit against the incoming air unit. It is possible to make two attacks against one air unit, and if the rolls are low enough, to score two hits and thereby destroy the air unit before it executes its attacks.
F. After all Air-Surface and Air-Ground missions are executed, return surviving air units that performed these missions to the holding box of the sea zone from which they came.
14.5 Surface-Surface Combat
A. The last round of Naval-Air Combat is Ship-to-Ship Combat. If there are naval forces from both sides in a sea zone, they must engage one another.
B. Each ship is assigned to attack any enemy ship it wishes, and the results are implemented simultaneously.
C. More than one ship can be assigned to attack one enemy ship, or a side may assign all of its ships to attack a single enemy ship, if desired.
D. Each ship unit executes its attack as other combats in this section: the Anti-Ship Rating or lower must be rolled to score a hit.
E. The Anti-Ship Rating may be split between enemy targets as long as the points used to attack enemy ships do not exceed the total Anti-Ship Rating.
Example: A ship unit with an Anti-Ship Rating of 8 could execute one 8-point attack, a 5-point and a 3-point attack, eight 1-point attacks, etc.
F. Use the DRMs for the various ship types from this table:
| Target | DRM |
|---|---|
| BB | 0 |
| CL, CA, CLA | -1 |
| DD or DE | -3 |
| AA | -5 |
G. After Ship-to-Ship Combat is resolved, return surviving non-transport units to their holding boxes.
14.6 Troopship Capacity
A. AA-type ships (transports) may carry ten ground units of any type per ship unit.
B. If a transport takes a hit, every unit on it takes a hit.
C. If the transport is sunk, then all passenger units are lost.
D. After all other air and naval activity in the sea zone is completed, then the transports may land their passenger units on Saipan, then the transports return to their holding box.
E. Transports may only unload passengers in the Saipan Sea Zone; if they move to another sea zone, they may not unload their passenger units.
F. Transports may never leave the map.
G. US reinforcements may not be taken per the reinforcement schedule unless there are sufficient transport units in the Saipan Sea Zone to carry them.
15.0 Special Rules
A. To make The Island Battle of Saipan more realistic, several special rules have been added. Players should feel free to experiment with their own special rules.
B. Players who wish to are encouraged to send their experimental rules to the FGA in an article format for inclusion in the FGA's magazine, the Boardgame Journal.
15.1 Banzai Charges
A. The Japanese may designate any Assault Combat as a Banzai Charge.
B. Banzai charges have these effects:
- The stacking limit in the target hex is doubled for the Japanese only.
- The US is allowed two rounds of Assault Combat before the Japanese may roll.
- The Japanese units have a Banzai Proficiency of 10.
- The US receives a -1 DRM on the third and subsequent Assault rounds during the Banzai Charge.
- All retreat results in a Banzai-Charge Assault-Combat are ignored by both sides.
C. A Banzai Charge that results in the destruction of all US units in the assaulted hex is judged successful. For each successful Banzai Charge, lower the US victory level by one (or, if appropriate, raise the Japanese victory level by one).
Example: If the US won a marginal victory, a successful Banzai Charge would yield a draw; a strategic US victory would become a tactical US victory, a tactical Japanese victory would become a strategic Japanese victory, and so on.
Play Note: More than one successful Banzai Charge would effectively wreck any hopes of US victory.
15.2 Force Markers and Hidden Units
A. This is a fog-of-war rule designed to more accurately depict the one-sided intelligence during the battle. The Japanese had a good idea of where the US was and what it had, but the converse was not true. Use the force markers included in the game to disguise the identity of the Japanese units beneath them. Japanese units may move, even through open terrain, without revealing the units beneath the force marker.
B. The Japanese intelligence was hardly perfect, however. The Japanese may not inspect the contents of US stacks; only the top unit may be inspected by the Japanese.
C. Players desiring play balance may adjust the limitations of this rule as they see fit; or, they may entirely dispense with this rule (and 15.3) if they wish.
15.3 Dummy Units
To hide the exact location of Japanese units, allow the Japanese to have a number of dummy units under their force markers. The number should be agreeable to both players, probably be somewhere between 5% and 10% of the number of Japanese infantry and HQ units in the game.
16.0 Historical Scenario
16.1 Japanese Order of Battle
A. Japanese set up first. All Japanese ground units are available at start and must set up on Saipan, subject to stacking restrictions.
B. All 36 Japanese land-based air units (those without a CV label) are available at start, and may be placed in the Ryukyu, Bonin, Marianas, Caroline, or Palau Sea Zones; however, no more than nine land-based air units may be placed in any single zone.
C. All units start the game at full strength.
16.2 Japanese Reinforcements
The Japanese receive naval and naval-air reinforcements on Turn 3. Reinforcements may be delayed at the owner's option. Reinforcements are all Japanese naval units and all Japanese naval-air units designated by a CV. These units may enter via any or all of these sea zones: Ryukyu, Mindanao, Philippine Sea #1, or Philippine Sea #2.
16.3 US Setup and Reinforcements
A. The US moves its initial units onto the map as reinforcements. After the Japanese set up, the US moves first. No US units are placed on the map before Turn 1.
B. All US units are available on Turn 1 as reinforcements. They may enter through any or all of these sea zones: Caroline, Marianas, Zone #5.
C. All CV aircraft units must be placed with a CV ship unit; all ground forces must be assigned to AA units.
D. The US may only land 18 ground units on Saipan on Turn 1, and six ground units per turn thereafter. The transport units, however, must all be placed on the map on Turn 1. The US may not hold its transport units off the map for safe-keeping.
E. US units landing on Saipan may only land on hexes that are designated on the map as invasion beaches (see terrain key).
F. US units may only be attacked by Maneuver and Bombardment attacks. US units may only use Assault Combat from invasion hexes.
G. US units required to retreat return to any available transport (Amphib). In the case of steps lost, units remove the required steps and remain in place, but only if no retreat was called for.
16.4 Victory
A. When all the Japanese ground forces are eliminated from Saipan, the game ends. Each side receives Victory Points (VPs) for eliminating or damaging enemy units, per this schedule:
| VPs | Unit Type | VPs | Unit Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | BB or CV eliminated | 2 | DD, DE, or AA eliminated |
| 5 | BB or CV with 1 hit | 1 | DD, DE, or AA with 1 hit |
| 6 | CA, CL, or CLA eliminated | 1 | Air unit step |
| 3 | CA, CL, or CLA with 1 hit | 1 | Ground unit step |
B. The side with the most VPs wins.
C. At the end of Turn 30, if the Japanese still have ground forces on Saipan, the Japanese win regardless of VP totals.
17.0 Designer's Notes for Saipan
A. A quick note on the Saipan Banzai Charges. At first, these seem a little harsh on the US, but careful consideration of historical reality will yield a clearer picture.
B. The US forces on Tarawa were utterly successful; the Japanese forces were all destroyed; virtually all Japanese soldiers were killed, while the remainder were captured. Despite this, the American public effectively saw Tarawa as a defeat. Why was this? Because of high casualties; high, that is, in the eyes of the American people. Such a high casualty rate on Saipan would have caused a similar response from John Q. Citizen back in the States, and the rule was included for that very reason.
C. On the other hand, an unsuccessful Banzai Charge yields heroic defenders who go down in history, just as it happened on Saipan most of fifty years ago.
18.0 The Pacific Island Campaign
A. The Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor caught the American nation unaware. There were certainly some who had prior knowledge, and there were several who should have known, indeed had been derelict in their duties for not having warned President Roosevelt about the surprise attack. (There was a school of historical thought in the early 1970s that claimed Roosevelt had indeed had specific knowledge of the attack, but the author who spawned that school refuted himself in the early 1980s with documents released under the Freedom of Information Act. Ten years after the fact, he argued that the Chief of Naval Operations and, to a lesser extent, the Chief of Staff of the Army had specific knowledge of the attack; of course, the details behind this are part of another story for another time.)
B. However, the specific details of 7 December 1941 and the several days preceding it actually transpired was less than important on 8 December 1941. What mattered was that the nation was now at war, and found itself woefully unprepared for the upcoming effort. The Army and the Navy found themselves weak and underequipped. The Navy had especially been hurt by the loss of several capital ships at Pearl Harbor; the good news, if there could have been any good news on the eighth of December, was that the aircraft carriers had been out at sea conducting exercises and had thereby escaped damage.
C. The Japanese surge had come all at once. Unlike their Axis partners in Europe, who had conquered their empire one country at a time, the Japanese had lunged into every corner of their realm, stretching all the corners of their empire in as many directions as possible. At about the same time that they attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese forces launched an attack in the Philippines, captured Guam and Wake Island, sank HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse as they attempted to buttress the British naval-military presence at Singapore, and launched a huge campaign to subjugate southeast Asia and the Dutch East Indies and capture Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. The world stood and watched in awe as the Japanese war machine first swallowed, and then digested, huge bites of foreign soil.
D. The Allied response was, for all intents and purposes, an American one. The Australians, feared to be next on the Japanese hit list, had few resources, and had sent many of those to help the British fight the Germans in North Africa and Greece. The Chinese, though in possession of a large pool of manpower, were nonetheless impotent before the rich Japanese forces, for the Chinese war machine lacked money to fuel it. The British were preoccupied in Europe, and the other European colonial powers had been conquered by the Germans. That left the Americans, if only by default, to call the tune of retribution.
E. The leaders of the nation sat down over the several weeks following the infamous December day to plan their global strategy. Roosevelt had agreed with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that Germany must be defeated first. This basic assumption left two reality factors by default: there would be an ongoing struggle between the commanders of the Pacific Theater of Operations and the those of the European Theater of Operations for equipment and resources; furthermore, the Pacific Theater would always finish a distant second in the race for equipment and financial allotments. In this context, it could be argued that the Pacific war was conducted on a shoestring budget. Indeed, the first major operation planned against the Japanese was named Operation Shoestring, and the Guadalcanal campaign was a story largely composed of logistical nightmares.
F. The American strategy in the Central Pacific was primarily the brainchild of two admirals, Chester W. Nimitz and William Bull Halsey. Rather than fight for every single Japanese-held island bastion in the Pacific, the American forces would perform a leap-frogging series of maneuvers called island hopping. This meant that the American forces would seize strategic bases between the United States and Japan sufficiently far apart to fly and sail between them with impunity; the other Japanese island garrisons were left to wither on the vine. (This strategy, of course, was directly responsible for a number of television plots two decades later in which Japanese soldiers stranded on uncharted islands, not knowing the war was over, would attack or otherwise molest the protagonists in the show.) In retrospect, this strategy was the only workable solution to a difficult strategic and logistical situation; at the time, the strategy was considered bold and innovative.
G. Part of the execution of the strategic plan in the Pacific was the implementation of a logistical innovation called the fleet train. This was a task force of ships that was self-sustaining, and had an operational radius far greater than had been the case before. Instead of fueling a collection of warships and sending it forth to do battle with its enemies on the high seas, the fleet train included along with the warships transports of all kinds, including troop ships, hospital ships, tankers and oilers, and supply ships. In short, the fleet train was a naval base that could sail the seas. This made the US strategy of island-hopping feasible, and unhinged the Japanese empire that had presumed that the buffer of islands in the Pacific would hold the US at bay for years.
H. After the long struggle at Guadalcanal, the Americans were ready to begin the long road back. The Japanese surge had been halted in the Solomons; it was time to push them back.
19.0 Operation Galvanic: The Invasion of Tarawa
A. The first American effort was at the Tarawa Atoll. This string of islands lies just slightly north of the equator. The primary island, in the American view, was Betio Island. This bastion of Japanese resistance was fortified heavily and had been developed slightly: it had an airstrip and other minor developments.
B. The Americans approached Betio with an US popular at the time: "Can do, sir!" The Americans collected its ships and Marines and prepared to overwhelm the Japanese defenders. The Japanese commander boasted that the Marines could not take Betio in one thousand years even if they had a million men.
C. The Japanese were well-prepared, but the Americans had the upper hand. They had more men, roughly a four-to-one advantage, and they had more and better heavy weapons. And they had better intelligence, for they knew to almost to a man how many Japanese defenders there were on Betio.
D. It has become almost a required tale by now. The American intelligence experts had available to them excellent aerial photographs of the island, including photos of the shoreline, on which were located the Japanese latrines. By figuring the normal use of a latrine, that is, how many men each could reasonably service, the American analysts determined that there were 4840 men defending Betio. Their estimate was correct; the factor of their error was less than 0.1%: the actual number of Japanese soldiers was 4836.
E. The difference between Guadalcanal and Tarawa is, in retrospect, obvious. The Americans had conducted no other significant operation against Japanese-held islands after Guadalcanal. At that place, the Japanese had not been firmly established, and had certainly not been entrenched or fortified. Indeed, the Guadalcanal campaign was more of a maritime meeting engagement. This time, the battle was set-piece, and the Japanese were ready. The American commanders cannot be held to account for their lack of experience. What followed resembled a World War I battle in the trenches of Flanders field instead of a 1940s-style blitzkrieg.
F. The American battlewagons lined themselves up off the shores of Tarawa and began to pound the sand of Betio. The Maryland, Colorado, and the Tennessee pounded as hard as any with their sixteen-inch guns, and the other smaller ships joined in. The Japanese were getting a taste of revenge with an American flavor; the Maryland and Tennessee had been among the victims of Japanese warplanes at Pearl Harbor, but they had been salvaged and modernized for their mission at Tarawa nearly two years later. The Japanese eight-inch guns on Betio answered the American challenge, and the artillery duel was on. After only a short time, however, the battery of eight-inch guns on the western tip of Betio erupted in a sheet of flame, turning the pre-dawn darkness, if only for an instant, into light. The Maryland had managed to drop a sixteen-inch, half-ton shell into the ammunition room of the eight-inch battery on Betio. This lucky hit undoubtedly saved many more American lives than the hundreds of Japanese lives it claimed in one stroke.
G. Fire and flame began to ravage the island as the cruisers joined the battleships in their pre-invasion Bombardment. The flames generated clouds of smoke, and the explosions churned the dirt and sand on Betio into clouds of dust. Just before 6 AM., the ships ceased fire and let the smoke and dust clear. It was time for round two, and it would not do for the deliverers of the second round of punishment to be unable to see their targets because of smoke and dust. It was now the airmen's turn.
Transcription note: "ceased fore" in the source text is transcribed as "ceased fire" (apparent typesetting error).
H. The airmen were a few minutes late, and the omen was significant: the Japanese began to fire back, and disrupted the transports and amtracs (a contraction of the words amphibious tractor, a fully-tracked armored personnel carrier that could swim), already full of Marines. But then the carrier-based aircraft arrived and bombed and strafed the island and when the Marines took to the water in their amtracs, the expected to meet a dazed and defeated enemy.
I. Even before they could get close to the shore, they learned the error of their ways. The airbursts and machine gun bullets bounced harmlessly off the hulls of the vehicles, but after awhile, it became obvious that enemy resistance on Betio was not limited to infantrymen. Small artillery pieces were beginning to take their toll on the amtracs, and many sank beneath the waves with their human cargo still aboard.
J. The Marine drivers pressed on. Knowing that the Japanese could not get them all, imbued with the invincibility that only young men possess, they pressed their assault. As they got close to the shore, many amtracs stopped to disgorge their cargo, and the men sprinted to the relative safety of the coconut-log sea wall. Other amtracs continued up to the beach, in an attempt to either perform in a support role with their machine guns, or to take their contents all the way to dry land. These vehicles came under Japanese small-arms and grenade fire.
K. One amtrac, named The Old Lady, carried a Marine corporal named John Spillane who had once had major-league baseball aspirations. He could field and throw with the best of them, and his comrades watched him in amazement as he trapped an incoming grenade and threw it back at the enemy. Another came in and he caught it in midair, returning it to its previous owner just as he had the first, and he even managed to take out an enemy machine gun emplacement with it. Two more came in and were dispatched also.
L. It was the sixth grenade that ended Johnny Spillane's baseball career. He had managed to get five grenades in succession, but could not manage the sixth. It exploded even as he had it in his hand to throw it back, and the force of the explosion drove him to his knees, denting his helmet, and depositing shrapnel in his neck, torso, and hip. His right hand was all but gone. But he did not die. Though he lost his hand to amputation, he had made it possible for his comrades to survive the Japanese defensive fire and make it to dry land. Would that there were enough room to tell the story of all the Johnny Spillanes, for his was not the only story of heroism on the island of Betio that day. 20 November 43 was a day on which uncommonly heroic things became commonplace.
M. The leader of the Scout-Sniper Platoon was such a man, but his heroics would come on the second day of the battle. The lieutenant's last name was Hawkins, so it was not surprising that his acquaintances and his men called him Hawk, especially since his physique resembled that of a bird of prey.
N. By the end of the day, the Marines were ashore, but a good two-thirds of the initial attacking force had become casualties. The issue ashore was still in question earlier in the day, as one ship's bullhorn had announced, and it was still so that first night. Had the Japanese forces carried out their planned counterattack on the first night, it is very likely that the invading Marines would have been swept into the sea. As it was, the American bombardment had destroyed the island's communication system, and the Japanese commander, Rear Admiral Shibasaki, would have been unable to organize his men for the attack he had so carefully planned. If he had lived that is, for the admiral was killed as he moved to a nearby bunker.
O. But, of course, might-have-been was not on the Japanese side alone. The American ground commander, Major-General Julian Smith, had hoped to land additional forces during the night of 20 November 43. He radioed his subordinate on Betio Colonel David M. Shoup, to ask whether the colonel thought; night landing possible. Shoup never got the message, and the Marines of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment stayed in their boats.
P. The first night was not without isolated action, however. Marine riflemen had stood guard over their wounded buddies, knowing that the Japanese might sneak into their perimeters and throw grenades into the closely packed wounded. A few tried such things, but during the day the Japanese attempts were, for the most part, thwarted. But when the sun went down, the game changed. One wounded marine private by the name of Donald Libby had already survived a number of tribulations, including being separated from his unit, but that night came his greatest test. A voice called him in the dark. "What state are you from?"
Q. The approaching figure wore a Marine helmet and had his rifle slung over his shoulder. In its hand the figure carried a bayonet. Libby started to answer that he was from Maine, and then realized that the bayonet had a curved, Japanese-style hilt. Stopping the blow with his left hand, he wrenched the weapon away from the nameless apparition with his right. Having done that, he beat his Japanese assailant into submission, and then drowned him in the surf. It was not until the next day that Libby was found, floating in the ocean, attempting to swim to the ships.
R. The conventional wisdom on this matter claims that the Japanese would have driven the Marines into the sea. That view, of course, is academic; but in my view, it would have been a very near-run thing for whichever side overcame the other. Shibasaki had expected to stop the Americans at the sea wall, but Americans had gotten ashore anyway. It is likely that the Japanese would have failed to drive the Marines completely away, though they might have prompted Smith to send the Marines waiting in their landing craft in despite the lack of a response from Shoup. In the final analysis, it could only have been a near-run thing.
S. On the morning of 21 November 43, just after dawn, the Marines that had spent the night waiting for the call to help their comrades ashore arrived. Their comrades who had landed the day before were holding on to their tiny perimeters, waiting for the big guns and the airplanes from the fleet to help them finish the job they had started the day before. Shoup was in charge on Betio Island Smith was still aboard the Maryland and he exhorted his subordinates into action. The objective for the day was to advance across the airfield and split the island in two.
T. The naval and air forces pounded Betio again, as they had done before the initial landings the first day. Aircraft bombed and strafed pockets of Japanese resistance, though it seemed at times it was to no avail. The reinforcements scheduled to land, the 2nd Marines, had to wade ashore because the amtrac losses had been so high the previous day. The 1st of the 8th came ashore in the landing boats in which they had spent the night.
U. The pounding ceased; Shoup sized up his situation. The only real problem facing him was that the airfield was flat and devoid of any cover whatsoever. He did not, however, realize this at the time; he felt that the situation was less than good at 11:30 AM. He was not blessed with the chance to survey his situation with the benefit of hindsight. At the time, his position looked shaky.
V. Even the bravest of Marines would think twice before running out into the open ground of the airstrip, lest he be cut down by machinegun fire. The initial attacks stalled as entrenched Japanese units, though isolated, stood their ground. It was at this point that Lieutenant William Hawkins and his Scout-Sniper Platoon came to the fore.
W. Hawk's unit had a company-sized job to do. Though they had a platoon of only thirty-four men, Japanese positions with at least five machine guns confronted them. Hawk was sure that his platoon could defeat any company in the world, even if that company had two hundred men. He was going to find out.
X. Leading from the front, he took his men and destroyed the Japanese positions one by one. His men laid down covering fire and Hawk moved from gunport to gunport, where he would throw in grenades or fire his weapon point-blank through the slits. He had lost blood from shrapnel wounds on the 20th, but today his wounds were mortal. Sometime between the first and the fifth pillbox, Hawk was shot in the chest, the second step in fulfilling his personal prophecy that he would die in battle. Hawk and his men destroyed three more enemy positions, and then shrapnel from a mortar shell knocked the energy from the young lieutenant; he was carried away from the battle, not yet dead, but clearly on his way to the other side of the river.
Y. Hawkins and his company had broken open the barrier that had stopped Shoup's men the day before. The reinforcing 6th Marines were on their way later in the day, and the reserves that had landed at dawn were now ready to drive across the island so that the 6th's arrival would be less hazardous. But still, isolated strongholds prevented Shoup's progress. One major complained that his men were held up by a machine gun, and would not go forward. Shoup was disgusted. "You've got to say, 'Who'll follow me?' And if only ten follow you, then that's the best you can do, but it's better than nothing."
Z. The major departed, and the attack got under way, and it was never stopped again. The island was sundered, and the 6th Marines landed safely. It now remained only to clear the Japanese from the rest of the island. Shoup took the time to report to his superiors in terse language that has since become famous. "Casualties many; percentage dead unknown; combat proficiency: we are winning."
AA. There was more evidence than Shoup's estimate of the situation. Japanese soldiers, believing that the Americans would torture them if captured, or seeking to immortalize themselves, or seeking to avoid disgrace, had begun killing themselves when their positions became untenable. Some of Hawkins' men had discovered some Japanese in the fifth pillbox who had blown the heads off by pulling the triggers of their rifles with their toes. By the end of the day, the writing was upon the wall, and even the Japanese commander could see it.
BB. The third day began with thunderous shellfire, reminiscent of the barrages preceding the big-push attacks of the First World War. They had about as much effect. Though the artillerists and naval gunners did their jobs well, many of the Japanese fortifications were in many cases bomb-proof; the Japanese command bunker, for example, withstood more than one direct hit.
CC. The battle was still little more than a mopping-up operation; American casualties were light, though over 250 more Japanese were killed. The American commanders thought at the time that another five days' fighting would be required to clear off the island, for they had overestimated the remaining Japanese forces. Moreover, the Japanese gave the game away. Their radio broadcast its last message. "Our weapons have been destroyed and from now on everyone is attempting a final charge... May Japan last for ten thousand years." First one charge was made, and it was broken up, but the final stand had not yet been made.
DD. At the end of the battle, it was expected that the Japanese would conduct a large banzai attack. Roughly translated, banzai means ten thousand years. It is a victory cry, not a cry of desperation or of battle as such. The Banzai Charge had become known to the Marines on Guadalcanal, in which campaign the Americans had come to expect such attacks any time that the Japanese were pressed into a final, last-ditch situation. The notion behind the attacks was that the Japanese soldiers, compressed into a tiny and untenable perimeter, could help their brethren on other islands form a better defensive position by gaining time and by inflicting casualties on their American opponents. The idea was that the attacking Japanese soldiers would take ten Americans for every one soldier of the Emperor.
EE. It did not work out that way, not on Betio, nor on any other island in the Pacific War. Three hundred Japanese gathered for their final charge. Though a few Marines were killed, it was only a few. The Banzai Charge on Betio was met with withering defensive fire from the Marine machine guns, artillery, and small arms. And bayonets.
FF. At 4 AM, the Japanese unleashed their fanatical attackers on the American positions. One Marine private, Jack Stambaugh, fired his M-1 rifle as fast as he could, and then it jammed. He threw the weapon aside as he rushed to help some of his buddies nearby, who were in danger of being overrun. Stambaugh killed four Japanese with his bayonet, but as he finished the fourth enemy soldier, a Japanese officer ran his saber through Stambaugh's back. Another Marine shot the officer, but was too late to help Stambaugh; the heroic private was dead. The second banzai attack on Betio failed in its mission, and there were many more such attacks on several more Pacific islands yet to come.
GG. But the Emperor's men could never know that their final charges were ineffective, that they failed to buy time for their friends and comrades waiting for the Americans to come and attack them. The word never got back to other defenders on other islands that the Banzai Charges were killing the Japanese faster than if they waited in their positions to be dug out a few at a time, and that they were not getting anything like a ten-to-one return. They did not know, could never know, because, as pirates in the sixteenth century would have said, "Dead men tell no tales."
HH. The banzai attackers on Betio were slaughtered, and got, essentially, nothing in return. Those who did not take part in the final charge saved their last bullets for themselves, or committed hari-kari. The last pocket of resistance was taken near midday on 22 November 43. At 1:30 PM on the same day, General Smith announced that Betio had fallen.
II. Did the Marines really win? I don't think so. Yes, they took the island and killed all of the Japanese garrison. But the American casualties were so high that the only realistic assessment that can be made is that the Japanese won a marginal victory, for the political fallout was very serious back in the United States. It was not so serious that the war effort was endangered, but the American policy makers were forced to slow down their forward march, however briefly, to figure ways that the casualty counts of future assaults would not be as bad as they were at Tarawa atoll. The Japanese did indeed, in my view, win a marginal victory.
JJ. After the battle, one of the most thorough after-action reports ever made was submitted. There were only 17 Japanese prisoners, and some captured Korean laborers who had at any rate no love for the Japanese or their cause. There were no wounded Japanese, at least none who escaped capture. Other than the 17 prisoners, all of the Japanese defenders of Betio perished.
KK. The Marines suffered 47 officers and 790 enlisted men killed in battle. Two officers and 32 men were wounded and subsequently died. Eight officers and 82 men died of their wounds after the battle. 29 enlisted men went missing, and were presumed dead. 110 officers and 2186 enlisted men were wounded in action. In total, there were 3301 Marine casualties.
LL. Four men won the nation's highest award for valor in combat:
- Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., First Lieutenant, USMCR, C Company, 18th Marines, 20-22 November 43, killed in action;
- William James Bordelon-Staff Sergeant, USMC, A Company, 18th Marines, 20 November 43, killed in action;
- William Deane Hawkins, First Lieutenant, USMC, 2nd Marines, 20-21 November 43, died of wounds;
- David Monroe Shoup, Colonel, USMC, Commanding Officer, 2nd Marines, 20-22 November 43.
MM. Other men who had been courageous won lesser awards, or their deeds were known only to God and their friends.
NN. There was no one left to award medals for valor to the Japanese defenders; indeed, there were no defenders remaining to whom awards could be given.
OO. Were there heroes on both sides? Of course there were. It is in the cold light of objectivity that I can say this. I was not at Betio, and have no acquaintances who were. It has been almost fifty years since the battle, and I have no dead friends that lost their lives to Japanese gunfire. The war against Japan is over, and has been replaced with one of economic rivalry, but that, of course, is another story.
PP. But it was my father, in the early 1960s, who taught me that the term, Jap, which I had heard in so many Hollywood movies made for propaganda and other purposes, was a pejorative. He and his friends put their hate away, I suppose, before other people did.
QQ. Yes, there were heroes on both sides and cowards, too, but the heroes on the Japanese side never got the chance to tell their story, and never will, for dead men tell no tales.
Section 20.0 (Credits) of the source booklet is omitted here as attribution.
Transcription Notes
- Printed typesetting errors are transcribed as printed, including "each unit) must pass" and "If a stack; roll for each" (4.1E), "considered to have been ineffective, then the opposing player" (4.2D), "the extran LOSs is per stack" (10.2C), "The rules is this section are devoted" (Saipan intro), "the those of the European Theater" (18E), "an US popular at the time" (19B), "the expected to meet a dazed and defeated enemy" (19H), "at least on step of US armor" (2.2.2.1 footnote), and "The American battlewagons" is printed with its section letter (F) restored from the page layout.
- Corrected in-file (read as the obvious intended word from the page image): "at least on step" is shown as "at least one step" in 2.2.2.1; "i to" in 1.1B is shown as "added to"; "he six immediately adjacent" in the Terms table is shown as "the six"; "ceased fore" in 19G is shown as "ceased fire"; "comer" in 18C is shown as "corner"; and "the the" style OCR spacing is joined (e.g., "FGA's").
- Unit-counter illustrations, maps, example figures, the Sea Zone and CRT charts, and the Maneuver/Assault/Bombardment result tables are not reproduced; the rules text that references them is transcribed.
- Section 20.0 (Credits) is omitted as attribution.