Great Pacific War Replay
1939 Campaign Scenario
Part 18: Fall 1945
By Doug McNair
March 2008

Total war comes to the Pacific in today’s episode of my Great Pacific War replay. Last time, the Allies just barely maintained sea control in the Marianas Islands, keeping the supply line open to their LSAC bases on Guam and Saipan so the bombing of Japan could continue. But Japan destroyed the Soviet HQ in Korea, which will force the U.S.S.R. to either buy a very expensive General Offensive chit to keep her offensive going there or resort to Attrition chits while she constructs a new HQ.

Japan also built an airbase on Bonin Island (on the border of the Marcus Island sea zone) forcing the American SAC on Marcus Island to retreat to Wake so American TAC could move to Marcus and keep the supply lines open to that base. More American units streamed onto Mindanao, but a Japanese naval victory in the Java Sea prevented a British counter-invasion of Borneo.

The British conquered Bangkok and knocked Siam out of the war while defeating the Japanese Air Force in the Gulf of Siam, and Nationalist China conquered Hanoi to take French Indochina away from Japan. Only a weak collection of Japanese air, naval and ground units stand in the way of an Allied conquest of Borneo and the Philippines.

The war continues . . .

Turn 24: Fall 1945

Production Segment: Nationalist China and the Netherlands hang onto their last few BRPs, but Communist China builds a 1-2 INF for 2 BRPs while the Soviet Union rebuilds her 1/FEF HQ for 5 BRPs. Britain holds onto her BRPs while Japan builds a 2-4 TAC for 6 BRPs. The U.S. spends 12 BRPs to build 2 LC at Davao and a 3 SUB in the U.S. West Coast Box.

No new political chits go in the cup, and the chit drawn is MANHATTAN PROJECT! U.S.S Indianapolis heads to Guam with the Bomb, and the Imperial Japanese Navy’s failure to defeat the U.S. Navy in the Marianas Islands last turn and cut supply lines to the LSAC bases there may have sealed the doom of the Empire.

The Soviet Union buys one impulse chit, Japan buys two and the U.S. buys one.

Sea Zone Box Placement Segment: The Soviet Union has just 3 BRPs left and can’t afford to place any units in sea zone boxes. The Netherlands spends 1 BRP to put her 1-4 TAC unit at Bangkok in the Gulf of Siam, and Britain spends 5 BRPs to put TAC in the Gulf of Siam, Java Sea, Coral Sea, Bismarck Sea and Marianas Islands sea control boxes, plus 4 SUB in the South China Sea control box.

The U.S. spends 5 BRPs to put forces into the Marianas Islands, Marcus Island, Hawaiian Islands and Bering Sea 2 zones. Japan spends 5 BRPs to ring Japan with protection, put a 2-4 TAC from the Bonin Island airbase in the Marcus Island sea zone, and also put a heavy presence in the Sulu Sea and Philippine Sea zones plus 5 SUB in the Solomon Islands and 2 SUB in the South China Sea. She does not put any SURF or SUB units in the Marianas Islands sea zone because they can’t hurt the Allied TAC units there. Finally the Netherlands spends 2 BRPs to put her 2 SUB unit in the East China Sea raiding box and the U.S. puts 5 SUB in the same raiding box.

Sea Control and Raiding Segment: In the Marcus Islands, the American 5-4 TAC destroys the Japanese 2-4 TAC from Bonin Island with no damage in return. There are no other contested sea zones. In raiding, the Japanese 4 CV in the East China Sea control box sinks a Dutch SUB factor, and the remaining Allied 6 SUB kill the maximum 3 Japanese BRPs for the zone.

Strategic Redeployment Segment: The Soviet Union SRs a 4-5 ARM and a 3-3 INF in from Europe. Britain spends all four of her SRs to have her 9 SURF at Madras move 2 x 2-6 ARM divisions from the Britain box down to Nagor Rajasima in Siam. Japan uses her LC at Kagoshima to SR a 1-3 INF to the beachhead on the south China coast to complete the Japanese line there and her other LC to send a 1-3 INF to Legaspi in the Philippines. She then SRs an INF division to the Chinese provincial capital at Changkyuan while redeploying home-guard INF units around Japan. The U.S. uses her 9 SURF at Marcus Island to send Britain 15 BRPs, and SRs her 5 SUB and 3 SUB from the U.S. West Coast box to Marcus Island and Wake Island (respectively).

Operations Segment: The first chit drawn is . . .

U.S. GENERAL OFFENSIVE: All units of America and her allies activate (except for the Soviet Union, whose units can’t be activated by other nations’ impulse chits). British units swarm into French Indochina while the Kuomintang advance to hit the Japanese southern flank in China. The American 5-4 TAC at Davao moves to the British airbase at Sandakar, and the LSAC unit on Saipan performs strategic bombing against Tokyo and scores three hits to destroy 3 Japanese BRPs.

Then the LSAC on Guam drops Little Boy on Yokohama. That makes all facilities at Yokohama (city, port, and shipyard) unusable for the rest of the game, permanently reduces Japan’s BRP base (not stockpile) by 15 BRPs, and will force a Japanese surrender roll in this turn’s End Segment.

Then the American 1-3 PARA division from Leyte airdrops onto the peninsula just southeast of Manila to cut Manila off from Legaspi.

The British 2 LC at Broome transports an Indian 3-4 INF to Camranh Bay, and the Japanese 2 SUB in the bordering East China Sea zone scores no hits. The Indian troops land and capture the port, and the 2 LC (which takes no losses in the landing) pulls back out. The Japanese SUBs once again score no hits, and the 2 LC relocates to Bangkok where more Commonwealth units are waiting.

Then the U.S. Marines ship out of Truk along with 2 LC and 3 CV. The Japanese 5 SUB in the bordering Solomon Islands sea zone attacks them, but the American carriers score one hit to none and the Marines make it out of port safely. They then sail up to the Bismarck Sea and rendezvous with another 2 LC out of the Mindanao beachhead, carrying an American HQ and a 5-6 ARM unit. The group then sails north into the Philippines Sea and is attacked by the Japanese 2-4 TAC and 2 SUB there.

The American 3 CV scores one hit to none in air battle, and the remaining Japanese 1-4 TAC and 2 SUB miss the invasion force in naval combat. 2 x 4-4 MAR hit the beach at Legaspi supported by 3 CV and 9 SURF. The attack scores six hits, far more than enough to wipe out the Japanese 2 x 1-3 INF guarding Legaspi. One MAR unit occupies Legaspi while the other advances inland, and then the followup group of the HQ and a 5-6 ARM unit lands. The ARM unit uses exploitation movement to drive up the peninsula and attack Manila, and the five-die-to-four attack scores two hits to none, killing a Japanese 1-3 INF plus a Japanese BRP but leaving the Japanese 3-3 INF in control of the capital.

The Kuomintang perform an 11-die-to-2 line attack on the extreme south flank of the Japanese line in China, and the Japanese die very well, scoring two hits to destroy a Kuomintang 2-2 INF. But the Chinese also score two hits, destroying both 1-3 INF units holding the Japanese flank and advanceing to overrun the Japanese south China coast beachhead. A 5-die-to-2 attack farther up the lines scores no hits. British tanks use exploitation movement to move closer to Camranh Bay, and the impulse ends.

The next chit drawn is . . .

SOVIET UNION GENERAL OFFENSIVE: All Soviet and Communist Chinese units activate, and Mao’s men plunge through the gap in the northern Japanese lines toward the dual capitals of Changcyuan and Peiping. The breaching forces score one hit to eliminate the Japanese 1-3 INF division protecting Changcyuan, and advance to seize the provincial capital.

Then Red Army infantry encircles the objective capital city of Kirin while a 2-4 TAC from Vladivostok pounds it from the air, and more Soviet forces attack the port of Darien and the Japanese lines between there and Kirin. The 12-die-to-1 attack on Kirin scores two hits, enough to destroy the Japanese 1-0 GAR unit there permanently since it was out of supply at the time. The Soviets advance to the capital and beyond, and other Red Army forces attack all down the Japanese line with the intent of destroying the last BRPs in the Japanese stockpile. The attack on Darien scores one hit to kill a Japanese BRP.

The four-die-to-five attack southeast of Darien destroys another Japanese BRP, but the fanatical defenders score four hits to destroy a Soviet 1-3 INF and reduce a Soviet 3-3 INF. But a 12-die-to-4 combined-arms pincer attack behind Kirin scores five hits to destroy 2 x 2-3 INF and cut off another two Japanese units, which then get attacked by more Soviet infantry that score one hit to permanently eliminate a 1-3 INF (the Japanese score a hit in return to eliminate a Soviet 1-3 INF). The Soviets attack the Japanese southeastern flank and each side scores one hit, destroying the last BRP in the Japanese stockpile plus a Soviet 1-4 CAV unit.

Then Soviet ARM, CAV and TAC press the assault in exploitation combat. The 5-die-to-2 attack on Darien scores three hits, wiping out the Japanese 2-3 INF there and taking the objective port on the Yellow Sea. A combined ARM and CAV attack to the southeast scores two hits to wipe out a Japanese 2-3 INF while the defenders score one hit to kill a Soviet BRP.

Then an attack by a 4-5 ARM and a 3-4 ARM on the Japanese 3-3 INF that’s been holding the southeast flank scores three hits, reducing the Japanese unit and forcing it to retreat. But the Japanese score one hit in return, taking the Soviet BRP stockpile down to 1, meaning Stalin won’t be able to buy any impulse chits next turn! The Soviet advance ends for the year, but the Japanese forces in Korea are down to critical levels.

The last two chits drawn are . . .

2 x JAPANESE ATTRITION: Japanese lines in northern China fall back, and two Japanese INF attack the Communist Chinese units that breached Japanese lines. But the five-die-to-two attack ends in disaster, scoring no hits while Mao’s men score two hits to destroy a Japanese 2-3 INF unit. The Japanese then pull back their southern flank to the objective capital city of Kweilin.

Supply Segment: The cut-off Japanese 1-5 ARM division in Korea is out-of-supply and permanently removed from play. All other units are in supply, and Japan doesn’t have any BRPs to rebuild her reduced INF unit in Korea.

End Segment: An atomic bomb has been dropped on Japan, so Japan has to make a surrender roll.

The total modifier to the roll is: –4 (one nuclear weapon dropped on Japan) – 1 (two or more provinces of Manchukuo are enemy-controlled) – 2 (fewer than 15 BRPs are in Japan’s stockpile) = –7. Japan rolls two dice and gets a result of 6 – 7 = –1, and with the result of zero or less . . .

JAPAN SURRENDERS!

The United States scores a Major Victory (Japan surrendered), Britain scores a Minor Victory (all objective cities that were under British control at game-start are still under British control), and the Soviet Union scores a Minor Victory (Vladivostok, Blagoveschensk, and one or two other objective cities are under Soviet control at the end of play).

I hope you’ve had as much fun reading my Great Pacific War replay as I’ve had running it. Back to the grindstone now to get Arctic Front and Island of Death out to y’all before the month is out.

Play your own scenario. Order Great Pacific War TODAY!