BRT4 - Rikusentai
AAR-fans, Carl Pfeiffer and I have finished playing BRT4, *Rikusentai*, (and Carl will be co-writer of this AAR). This scenario is basically about the Last Stand of a very tough unit, (Commander Sugai's Rikusentai, or Japanese Marines, along with other elements), on Betio Island of the Tarawa Atoll. The Marine player has only 6 full Game Turns to amass >/= 30 CVP, and at the same time he has to control more buildings/pillboxes/bombproofs, (within the At Start Japanese perimeter), than does the Japanese player. Only about 1/5th of the BRT HASL map is used to play the game. We played it using VASL pbem.
*** [cp] The Pocket lies between Red Beach One and Red Beach Two, an exclusive enclave overlooking the scenic northern lagoon with convenient access to the central airfield. The alert observer may spy a playful Japanese sniper among a profusion of palms. The victory area is P-shaped, with a road running east to west along the seawall, a gully to the west, and revetments to the south along the runway. ***
The OB: After beating me with the Japanese in a quasi-miraculous End Game comeback in *China Girl*, we switched sides, so this time Carl had the Marines: 768 x 4, 668 x 10, 458 x 2, 348 x 1, and six leaders, (10-2, 9-2, 9-1 x 2, 8-1 x 2). "Toys" included the always-feared .50 cal Hmg, 2 Mmgs, 4 DC, 2 toasters, (FT), and a radio for 70+mm OBA (HE only). Rolling stock: One M4A2 Sherman, two LVT(A)2, two M3GMC halftracks, (that's 75mm guns, mounted). To defend against those 16.5 squad-equivalents and their machines I had "spending money" -- 21 GPP, 15 CAPP, (extra stacking capacity optional, up to the full 3 squads), and 65FPP, -- and 14 squads: 448 x 8, (all Fanatic, as per SR2), and 447 x 6. The Japanese player receives 5 leaders: a 10-2, 10-1, 9-1 x 2, and a 8-0. Two Mmgs and two Lmgs are provided in the OB, and the rest of the Japanese "toys" are purchased using the 21 GPP, so I went to Tojo-Mart and bought a Year 10 120L AA gun, a twin 12.7 AA gun, a .50 cal. Hmg, and one Type 92 70*mm Inf gun.
*** [cp] I was a little surprised Paul spent a third of his GPP on the slow-firing 120L AA instead of two smaller high-ROF weapons. It ends up being a pretty good choice, though--it's one less gun the Marines can capture (a vital point in this scenario), it can kill the Sherman no sweat, and it packs a HE punch the infantry can't ignore. ***
With the 15 CAPP I purchased three 1-5-7 pillboxes. With the 65 Fortification Purchase Points I bought 1 Bombproof, (10 pts), 5 wire counters, (5 ea. = 25), 3 fortified buildings, (8 ea. = 24), 1 Trench, (4 pts), and 2 Concealment counters, (1 pt. ea. = 2). Note that, as per the BRT rules, one Trench or Passage is provided per 2 OB/Purchased pillboxes. I used one Passage, but opted not to set up more trenches, so I could have converted the purchased Trench into something else, but failed to do so. (Sometimes a guy just wants to get started playin', ya know? Besides, filling the low-DRM locations with Trenches and the like is a two-edged sword, as loss of such positions would give the Marines protection during their advance.) Japanese Setup: My initial thought was that I wanted to pack everything into a tight little circle so that I could blast the beejeesuz out of anything green daring to get close, but luckily I resisted that impulse and played it a bit more cagey that that. One has to take note of the Marine firepower -- disregarding the DC and FT teams, there's a lot of rock'm and sock'm stuffed into "mere" infantry IFP, add to that the AFVs and machineguns. The Marine player can stand at arm's reach, (beyond the Jap infantry's Normal Range), and just started pounding away at anything not HIP or Concealed and do damage immediately. Therefore, I didn't want to stack; I didn't want to drop HIP, (10% of squads, FRU, = 2 squads and their leaders/sw), and Concealment too quickly; and I didn't want to let Carl get the notion that all he had to do was jump on top of a tight little circle and start pounding away. So there was more than a defensive circle, because I put some of my boys out there on the eastern "peninsula" of their defensive perimeter, (defined by the OB), and left it to Carl to wonder whether or not HIP units would be in the same area. Peninsula Force: N30: 1-5-7 pillbox/Lmg448 facing southwest, (CA: 6), parallel to taxiway. O31: 237 hs P31: 237 hs O28: 448 Inner Circle: O27: Wire/1-5-7 pillbox (CA: 2)/448 (I like this wire-on-pillbox tactic) O26: HIP 10-1/Mmg448 N26: Fortified Building/448 P26: Wire M26: Wire L25: Wire P25: 237 N25: Bombproof/12.7 twin AA (CA:4) M25: 448 and Concealed 70* Inf Gun/228 (standard HIP N.A. in BRT) (CA:4) M24: Fortified Building/Concealed 10-2/Mmg448 P24: 447 P23: 8-0/448 L23: 447 (tangent to Inner Circle, south side) M23: Wire M22: 237 (tangent to Inner Circle, west side) N22: 1-5-7 pillbox, (CA: 1, facing beach)/447 N23: Fortified Building/9-1/Lmg447 N24: HIP 9-1/.50cal Hmg/228 (center of Inner Circle) O23: Trench/120L/228, (direction 1, facing beach) JSAN: J27
*** Marine setup: [cp] In any scenario against the IJA, I look to take advantage of my resilience vs their brittleness. I want the enemy to stand and die while I rotate my troops through the front line. Securing some rally terrain out of enemy LOS was the Turn 1 objective, since there are few buildings in the area outside the Pocket. That dovetails with the building control provision of the VC. With almost all of the visible Japanese in the western group of buildings, my attack had to come from the east--FT and big FG vs the pillbox covering the taxiway, LVT-supported infantry vs two rump HS, and some searching for HIPsters. The Hammer: M29: Radio9-1/768/348 M30: DC10-2/FT668 M31: FT668 N31: 8-1/768/668 L30: M4A2 Sherman (CA/TCA: 1) Q28: DC9-1/768/Mmg668 Q29: LVT(A)2 (CA6)/348/DC668 Q30: LVT(A)2 (CA:5)/348 I also needed to fix the enemy in place. Once Paul started feeling the heat, I didn't want him to run a bunch of guys out the back door and leave me chewing on a small delaying force. He doesn't have unlimited room to run, but the Marines don't have the time or the mobility to chase peas around their plate. The containing force was built around the M3 GMCs, since the available HD positions were in the east. It was supposed to mount only a limited attack, and only after the Hammer had broken into Paul's Inner Circle. The Anvil: I25: 9-2/50.cal/668 J24: 348 J20: M3 GMC (CA:3) J18: Crest-HD M3 GMC (CA:3) M21: 768 M20: 458/DC458 in Crest status M19: 8-1/Mmg668/668 ASAN: Q24 ***
THE GAME
Initial Comment: I was a bit surprised at Carl's setup, in that he had such a big force right on top of my "Peninsula Force", but on second thought, it made sense that he would set up to roll-up that flank as quickly as possible, given the time requirement. Also, I was expecting something to come up from the beach on the north side, (it felt too weak on that side), but there was nothing there - although the LVTs and infantry in the northeast were just a move away.
*** [cp] The land-side weighting of the assault was insurance against the squad in the taxiway pillbox, which was in position to cause big FTR problems for busted Marines if not neutralized early. It did leave the beach road approach undermanned, a big problem for the US. ***
Marine Turn 1 The attackers didn't take the first casualties. Just as noted/feared earlier, Carl hit from 6-hex range (with his 8-1/668/Mmg668 stack), and immediately wounded and then eliminated my 8-0 leader in P23, and I think step-reducing his squad. The two known 237 hs in the "Peninsula Force" were both kayoed, also -- one for failure to rout, the other getting crushed by 3:1 odds in CC. I didn't have much to shoot back with yet, as I wasn't ready to lose Concealment and HIP so early. A positive surprise, for me, was that the Lmg448 in the N30 pillbox threw a wrench into the Marines' timetable by surviving the first onslaught, despite the leaders, squads, FTs, and DC on 3 sides.
*** [cp] In the west I'd gambled with Turn 1 stacking in LOS of the 120L, and it paid off with early CVP against defenders admiring the lagoon. On the east flank, middlin' dice with the FT just pinned the pillbox squad, and the 10-2's inept DC attack did nothing. Even Steve McQueen can't simply waltz into a pillbox hex, deliver his bundle of joy, and expect 30 up 5 to do the job against IJA--I should've waited till turn 2 and Set the DC with an in-hex unit. Wish I'd played The Hawk before planning that. ***
Rikusentai Turn 1 Exit my Peninsula Force pillbox squad, when they got toasted by a FT team on the taxiway. On the other end of the perimeter, the halftrack in the gulley got a hit, knocking out another hs from 5-hex range. The Marines' first loss was a big one -- Jap sniper killed the 10-2. (This sort of hit on a top leader seems to happen wayyyy too often, doesn't it?.) Not a lot I could do yet, although I think by now the Japanese Inf Gun was acquiring the OBA stack. I was just beginning to experience how frustrating all the hindrances and obstacles could be. My twin 12.5 AA in N25, I would find, had poor LOS/LOF, (and Carl was in no hurry to place troops in front of it), but this also served to keep them in the game. The 120L missed its first shots, (at the west side group), and then malf'd when I used Intensive Fire.
*** [cp] Losing the 10-2 was bad all around--failed LLMC took the second FT out of action for over two turns. And the 9-1 lost radio contact, making things even tougher on the Hammer group; 70mm HE's not much of a threat against fortified positions, but could easily have taken out the 70* INF, and the hindrance would've come in handy. ***
Marine Turn 2 Different turn, same story line: On the west side, Jap (237r 2nd Line?) knocked-out by a 5-range hit, (8-1/668 firing from palm hex to palm hex, one hindrance), and a step-reduced 348 squad crushed by another 3:1 CC, in the east.
*** [cp] At this point I've got 9 CVP of my 30 and have secured the "peninsula" part of the victory area. So far so good...but here's where the US game first starts to break down. I pushed the two LVTs west up the coast--one along the beach, the other adjacent on the road--with a paltry two HS in support, since the other troops were tied up trying to reduce the last enemy position in front of the wire (which fell in CC). I was trying to turn the corner of the wire and hit what looked like a thinly defended north flank, but it was the beginning of an uncoordinated second phase of the attack. ***
Rikusentai Turn 2 Somebody on the north side got some guts -- a Tank-Hunter hero managed to reach a LVT that'd motored down to the beach, (the THH surviving albeit partly due to some misunderstanding about LVT MG CA's, as I recall), planted an ATMM on it, and...well...ka-blooey! 8-) Other Rikusentai continued to pepper palms, sand, and buildings, but not the Marines. I was getting truly concerned about that hefty enemy command closing in on the Inner Circle with full force.
*** [cp] I try to watch Chapter H pretty closely, but I spaced Note Q which gives LVT MGs unrestricted CA. Screwed up, and my guys were LVT flambee. There was one additional result here which was pretty significant. The only gap in the eastern wire was the N26 fort occupied by a 448. He broke my adjacent engineer squad who, if he'd been there next turn, would've tossed smoke or maybe WP to pave the way for the guys coming up behind. Those units took it in the shorts in an overambitious Turn 3. ***
Marine Turn 3 My index cards show nothing for this turn. (Was this when Carl's luck began to slowly turn south?) "Big guys" like the Sherman, the LVTs, the 120L and the twin AA weren't doing much, and the Marines started having problems when taking on the N26 Fortified Building and the O27 pillbox,close-up. One of the game's gutsiest moves, (Carl might have other words for it), occured when a Marine 9-1 attempted to DT with a DC and toss it on a key position in the Inner Circle, but he broke and routed back along the shore road, to the northeast.
*** [cp] Here's where things really fell apart. The FTs were out of position in PFPh, but I pushed the Hammer group's assault anyhow instead of waiting until Turn 4. On the land side, the 9-1 accompanied a second engineer squad forward to toss some WP into the N26 fort, even though I had no other units that could follow up. They pinned and then broke under accurate fire from the INF and adjacent units, leaving no effectives by the taxiway except for the Sherman. I'd led with a couple of HS onto the wire, which was pretty rational, but then I boneheadedly brought the remaining LVT up onto the wire to support them. I'm at a loss to explain this--guess I just didn't want to expose it to the Twin .50, and I think I had some vague hope I'd clear the wire on the bog roll or roll low on the BFF shot. This left the LVT adjacent to the previously HIP 10-1/MMG, in deep guano. (I think this must have been one of those evenings when I got ROF with the beer tap.) Both of my remaining hairs stood on end. I frantically looked around for anything I had that could save that bathtub. So here comes my _other_ 9-1 scurrying up the coast road with a purse full of TNT--ducks two or three decent shots, gets ready to unload onto the MMG...and breaks from an 8 up 1. He slinked on back to sulk by the beach for the next couple of turns. Meanwhile, the west "Anvil" force began a cautious creep toward the wire and the fortified heart of the Japanese position. ***
Rikusentai Turn 3 Okay, so now the Marines were getting into point blank range. One 348 tried to use LVT cover, (in the Wire at P26), but the 10-1/Mmg(448) had dropped HIP and knocked 'em out, (range:1). A second 348 also went down from a range:1 shot. In the MPh, my second Tank-Hunter Hero was knocked-out at point blank range by 30FP of THH-hating Marines. I tried to regain momentum with a 248 advancing onto wire to CC with a 348 also hung-up on the wire, (in the O27 pillbox hex), but they lost the HtH. And another 248 got FT-toasted during the DFPh. Japanese skulking continued, but it was obvious that space-to-skulk was going to be getting pretty thin.
*** [cp] With the LVT stunned and its escorts busted, I was taking no chances with that THH. It was kind of a silly shot, since the LVT was on wire and the THH would've had a tough time getting a result--but with the vehicle hindrance, I didn't have much chance of affecting the enemy units to the south. For better or worse, I was committed to penetrating along the coast road with two lousy squads and a MMG, to be followed by the 8-1 and whatever he could rally up in the rear. Yeah, _I_ was feeling like King Kong. ***
Marine Turn 4 The LVT in the Wire hex on the northeast side at P27 took two hits from the ADJACENT Mmg and went down, crew and all. I think this was after being stunned earlier. A Marine 348 also was elim'd, with a Range:2 shot, by a 9-1/447 I'd moved into the Trench with the malf'd 120L, (which had continued to defy repair, although not disabling.) In the CCPh, yet one more Marine HtH knocked-out a step-reduced 448, this time in an ambush. This gave Carl 13 CVP, (17 to go), and I'm sure he had the required majority of buildings in Marine Control, by this point.
*** [cp] Anvil force completes its ponderous move to the western perimeter just in time to see my 9-2/.50cal go down hard in front of the runway wall. Sherman arrives from the east a turn too late, and lack of coordination causes another combined assault to wither on the vine. A couple of HS join the creep up the coast, though, and the lead engineer squad gets ambush in a critical CC to gain a toehold in the northern buildings. CVP count's still only 13 of 30, but it ain't over. ***
Rikusentai Turn 4 Remember the gutsy 9-1 who just broke during his "DC run"? Well, he boxed his self-rally attempt. "Probably died of shame", Carl wrote. The Rikusentai lost another hs from a FT zap into N26/Fort'd bldng, but the general "feel" of the game that was developing, by this time, was one of the Marines running out of time, while the Japanese were continually breaking just enough of their "inside thrusts" to retain the integrity of the Inner Circle. This might have been the turn when I really went on a tear, dicebot-wise. Somewhere in here, also, I got the .50 caliber moved in with the 10-2/Mmg448, because it was clear --despite the danger of stacking -- that I needed some real Hurt that I could throw at the likes of the 9-2/348/.50-cal 668 that had taken over K25. This tactic worked. With Fanatic Elites in a Fortified Building with a 10-2 Japanese leader, worry about stacking is minimized.
*** [cp] Marines' rally dice blow hot and cold (normally, they just plain blow). DC boy meets a humiliating end, but a big stack rallies up in the east to prepare for another crack at that N26 fort in the middle of the wire. Brave but clumsy FT HS reduces the squad inside, but the remaining Japs sneak out and jump him in CC--a devilish counterattack I didn't see coming. Everybody dies and the FT drops to the ground as the LVT-killer 10-1 group moves up to reoccupy the fort. It'll have to be taken the hard way, the only way we know. ***
Marine Turn 5 The 120L finally bounced back and repaired. (Is there such a thing as ASL drool? If so, I got it!) Of course we all know that American units are built to bounce back. So they kept bouncing back, but when one bouncing-back 348 tried to recover the abandoned FT in front of the N26 Fort'd Bldng, they were wiped-out by Mmg fire, (the 10-1/Mmg448 had Advanced in from O26, since previous tenants had a tendency to die.) Carl revved-up his two halftracks and the Sherman and started slamming into the south line, (one of the GMCs finished-off the Inf Gun crew with a R:1 Advancing Fire shot!), but all three AFVs bogged down -- the halftracks in wire, and the Sherman in palm debris. A Marine 348 was able to advance into the Inf Gun hex and capture it, temporarily, for CVP purposes, but too many key Marine elements were unable to stay GO as they squeezed the Japanese defenders, (although the Marines did take Control of building locations P23, P24, and P25, along the north line, and O24, and eventually O26.) But in this one player turn, the Marines lost 6 halfsquads, (including two trying to recover dropped FTs, and two ambushed by a step-reduced 448 [348r]), and a Mmg and a 668 were all blown to Hades, (with others breaking), as they moved to the N22/shellholes within R:2 of the repaired 120L.
*** [cp] I needed 15 points in a hurry, and I figured the way to get them was to go for the guns. Capturing the INF near the airfield got me up to 21 CVP temporarily, but I couldn't hold the position in the next turn. The 120mm AA by the lagoon was the other target, but it kept the Marines at bay with some well-aimed fire that cost me two more squads. A 668 broke as it tried to place a DC on the kill stack in the M24 fort, and another squad and a half broke under point-blank fire as they approached the Twin .50. Grim stuff. ***
Rikusentai Turn 5 All kinds of death had occurred in/adjacent to that Fortified Building in N26, and now when they needed it most, the 10-1/348r lost their malf'd Mmg to a disabling dr6 in the RPh. Carl matched this RPh blunder by boxing a rally attempt with his 9-2, (thus losing yet another 348). The Japanese just kept firing away and making small moves, where needed. The .50 cal exploded the GMC bogged in Wire in L25. The Marines lost another leader, (the last 9-1), to a sniper hit, and a 348, (to LLMC), and the 120L elim'd a 348 and wounded an 8-1. I also lost a 9-1in the Trench, (to PBF from Mmg668 and R:2 fire from 348/668), but the 120L crew stayed GO, and the 447 squad was step-reduced. Japanese Controlled locations by this time were N26, N25, N24, N23, O23, and M24, with M25 taken back by CC/HtH, (recapturing the malf'd Inf Gun and its CVP), and the 348r that'd won against the odds via Ambush in CC/HtH in O26 tried to dump an Ami DC on an ADJACENT cx768, but x'd the attempt due to captured use penalties. So I advance-moved that mmc out of there, (thus relinquishng Control of O26), and into the Fortified Building in N2, where they joined the 10-1/348r already in place. (Oh, no! More stacking! But there were too many Marines, too close, to leave such a small unit by itself.) In the APh, I moved the .50 cal to control L23, (thus going cx) to reduce stacking in M24, (the Sherman and GMC PBF were getting too accurate), and to help repel the last assault from the west side.
*** Marine Turn 6 [cp] Amazingly, I still had a reasonable chance of picking up 11 CVP and pulling the game out. But a 20FP shot got no effect against the 120L AA, an engineer squad trying to lob WP on it rolled a 6, and when an 8-1 tried to AM adjacent and place his DC it pivoted two hexsides and pounded him. It then proceeded to take two more shots in DFPh, killing the leader and breaking the engineer. Some days it just don't pay to get out of bed. Still, I just had to take my shot at the leader and two squads thumbing their noses at me from the N26 fort. There were two flamethrowers lying in front of it with a 668 adjacent to one and a 9-2 two hexes away from the other. I'm thinking pig roast. The leader drew fire, but was able to grab the heater, while the 668 went down to a lousy 6 straight SFF shot. Sgt. Rock was screaming "Top o' the world, Maaaa!!!!" and spewin' Ethyl...but all he could manage was an anticlimactic two-check, which the fanatic IJA stack barely noticed. That was the game. ***
Japanese Final Comments I have to agree with Carl that this was more a
Tyson-type boxing match, not a Sugar Ray fight. It had that "clenching" feel to
it, which, if you want to see a couple of heavyweights knock each other around,
well...it's disappointing. However, in this match there was enough firepower, (for the
Japs, only when the Marines got close), that the "clenching" got pretty doggoned
vicious! And I have to admit,
*** Marine final comments: [cp] Well, yeah, it was pretty Tysonesque, but with less ear-biting and a damn sight less buttocks-fondling. And Tyson's left-right combinations are significantly smoother than mine; I was constantly having problems coordinating my attacks. I'm still having problems getting used to the difficulty of movement in this terrain--especially when I'm trying to place DCs, seems like. I think the root of my problem here wasn't with the plan--I still like the hammer-and-anvil approach, since it provides rally terrain for the main attacking force--but with impatience and poor execution in turns 3 and 4. The failure to use the OBA was bad; it's partially traceable to the early loss of the 10-2, but the radio probably should've been somewhere else. Re Paul's comments on fortifications, I'd mostly agree--the wire was a real problem for me. A better-than-average scenario, worth playing. ***
