Blood Reef: Tarawa CGI 21AM
Konnichiwa List denizens,
The following is an AAR for 21 AM of CG I of Blood Reef: Tarawa, "A Hell of A Way to
Die," between myself and George "Magilla" Grella.
George and I first met during the "second" Playtest of BR:T. George is a very
talented player and has a great sense of humor. We hooked up for this CG at the SVASL
Meeting in San Jose and it turned out to be pretty interesting. We only played part of the
full campaign and my Japanese were giving it to George's Marines. It was a very fun
experience, enough so that we decided that after the MMP publication of this HASL, we
would try the "official" version as a re-match.
For those of you unfamiliar with the first CG Campaign, it all starts on the second day of
the attack, with the Marines in two small toeholds both on the Beak (Green/Red One) and by
the Long Pier (Red Two). The Marine Player wins immediately if there are no unbroken
Japanese Units on the Island and they do not lose 204 CVP. There is an initial Scenario
Victory condition of clearing one of three beaches, but I feel that if the Japanese has
paid attention to detail and thought out his/her defense, the Marine doesn't have any
chance of winning this way. Also, after setup, a dr is made to determine who starts first.
For those of you who have played or are playing this, we should note who started for any
Balance reporting as this could be significant, IMHO.
Japanese Strategy for 21AM: First off, I need to survive for 28 Turns.
The focus of my planning is to last four full CG dates. Since this is an ongoing
game, I really can't go into the specific purchases as my worthy opponent frequents this
List. He found most of them, but a few surprises still exist. My setup was designed to
contain as much as possible the Marines in their setup area. The Marines on the Hinterland
are very tough to stop. They have a lot of firepower, good morale and great leadership,
but they are contained somewhat and restricted by their jumpoff point. Once through the
main line of defense, they would be too unstoppable and my
demise would be fairly quick. My Japanese defense is a layered series of fortified centers
linked enough to provide assistance to other centers that may be under pressure. Most of
my front had wire placed to slow the initial rush with a sprinkling of squads guarding
them. Behind this small wall were Bombproofs, Bunkers and the Guns. I spent my GPPs on
120LAA, 75AA, 70*, 12.7AA, 50cal. and HMGs. A very strong (morale-wise) Officer Corp would
help these fortified points. The Command Bunker on Red One was stocked with the heavy MGs
and would be useful in taking pot shots at the Marine reinforcements. The 12.7AA were
situated to cover the likely attack routes for the Navy FBs (all except one on Red Two
that would work on the Marine Units on the Hinterland). There are two areas fortified for
the end game, at the bottom of Green and in the middle of the airfield. The weak point in
the line was the extreme eastern flank, which is where I thought the Marine would push in
order to interdict reinforcements. Because of the setup restrictions that forces the Red
Two troops to stay within 3 to 4 hexes of the Beach, with the Marines one hex in and the
airfield behind, there is a squeeze effect of the extreme right flank. My counter for this
would be to bring reinforcements onto the Board as soon as I could, forgoing the Night
Banzai, and insert them in the fortified Airfield center. I planned to be aggressive in my
defense, looking for any opportunity to get into CC or THH attacks. Normal Banzai's would
most likely be out as the Officers are few and I might need them towards the end. Glory to
the Emperor!
The Marines were setup strong on the extreme flank of Red Two as I suspected he would. On
Green/Red One, most of the vehicles were in plain view of some of my heavy Guns. After a
thorough Taunt and Pose phase (T&PPh), George won the start, beginning with tentative
searching/exploring of my front lines. One of my HaGos took a CH from a Marine Mortar
almost immediately. My return fire picked on his Vehicles, with a M4 and a couple of LVT
being knocked out. But it was obvious that the Marines were going to move against my right
flank and it was too weak to hold for long. George used WP and Infantry Smoke with
abandon, covering his movements and limiting my response. What began slowly continued for
a number of turns as George's Marines would move up, take heat, some would rout back,
others would continue. CVP was even throughout the initial three turns. Several
highlights: one of my HaGos places a CH on a hex killing a FT toting Leader and a HS; a
Japanese Leader becomes Heroic; the Command Bunker reaches out, tagging a few CVP from
wading Marines in the Lagoon and the Marine 9-2AL led M4A2 clears out one Gun crew and
collapses the Tower spotting for the 8"ers in a flurry of ROF.
Thing really began to heat up by Turns 4 and 5 as the Marines began to penetrate the
Buildings on the right and push through a gap near Red One. On Red One, NOBA WP had
been brought down earlier to help cover the advance. It effectively screened almost
all the Units around the Command Bunker at the Neck and provided (IMO) a false sense of
security for the Marines as they began working towards the PBs and Buildings along Red
One. Much smoke was used, even my Mortars were in action covering his awesome FGs. Several
Buildings and a PB were cleared. But fire from a Bombproof at L10, which we fondly
nicknamed the "Deflection Tower" of Star Wars fame, repeatedly shredded these
incursions. So effective was this position, that the 9-2 led M4 was repositioned to begin
shelling it for the remainder of the CGS. As the WP cleared, the Marines again were
exposed to fire from the Neck and things began to crumble. On Red Two, the Marine
Firepower and Leadership began to whittle away the defenders facing them, clearing most of
the Buildings. I had to bring on reinforcements on the flanks to hold onto the corner
building (P32) and maintain CC in a Trench at P32. I also had to scramble Units in the
Pocket over to keep the Marines from breaking through. Highlights: the Navy FBs
arrive, one dropping a Bomb on an AA Gun and it turns out to be a Dud; another FB is shot
down by a 12.7 on the Bird's Head (my first); a Japanese Crew breaks a 12.7, tries to
repair it and loses the Gun. They then move to an unmanned 75AA and proceed to break/lose
it too!
Game end was wild. On Green/Red One, the Marines fell apart. Dying by the half squad, the
Grunt's forward progress stalled and they were unable to clear the Japanese positions. To
add insult to injury, a large stack had routed to the end of the Beak out of the line of
fire (so they thought). Fire from a 12.7 across the Lagoon caused the 9-2 Leader in
the hex to go berserk and the rest of the hex followed suite. They would die to the last
man charging on the final Turn leaving the 9-2 Tank and four squads in the same perimeter
as they had when they started. The opposite was happening on Red Two. The Marines
eliminated all the Japanese Units defending the corner buildings and began shredding the
reinforcements manning the center airfield complex. But they did not move towards the
Pocket as each stab they tried was blunted. Unfortunately, each of these "stabs"
usually caused Units to flip and the CVP began to rack up. The scenario sputtered out with
the Japanese doing a few meager counterattacks, claiming some of the ground/beaches on Red
Two and scratching the paint on the M4 in a couple of CC attacks on Red One. Highlights: a
HaGo manages to get moving and comes down the Airfield and fires an improbable CH on a LVT
that had pushed out from the Building area at Red Two. This amazing shot abruptly stopped
a breakthrough and stabilized the line. Another FB would go down in flames to the same
12.7AA on the Bird's Head.
Aftermath: This was an extremely bloody and fun match. Both of us were
able to frag large groups of squads and Leaders. On Green/Red One, the perimeter stayed
the same, but the Marines were down to the M4 and four 668 squads. There were no Leaders
that survived. I would imagine that this group will hunker down in the next CGS and be
reinforced by the "Condom Fleet." These Marines now benefit from my wall of
Wire. On Red Two, the Marine perimeter bulged out three or four hexes from their jump off,
starting at O32 to O28 then straight back to the Beach at R27. In that Bulge was a
good-sized Marine contingent, with the 75* and plenty of nasty Leaders, including the
"Hawk". This group was reinforced by the wading 1/8 and will not have too much
trouble expanding in the next CGS. This will pose a problem if they are able to cut off my
reinforcements, shortening my longevity in the process.
The Marines lost 77 CVP including one M4, two FBs and all the LVT. My 56 CVP losses were
significant as I lost 7 Leaders and almost half of the 1st Line and Elite Squads, most of
which were defending Red Two. Two Guns were captured. 2 Guns, a HMG and a Mortar were lost
because I broke them. I did manage to capture 2xDC, one MMG and one Mortar from the
fleeing Marines and I hope to use them next time.
A side note: there is nothing better for learning the rules than playing a Campaign. You
get to utilize almost everything in one of these!
That's all for now. I need to prepare for the next CGS. There are evil round eyed gaijin
to kill and the Rikusentai will prevail!
Sayonara,
Rear Admiral Connell
Click here to read George's AAR of this CG Date...
