| Great
Pacific War Replay
1939 Campaign Scenario
Part VI: Fall and Winter, 1941
By Doug McNair
January 2008
Japan tries to finish-off the Americans in the Philippines
and then take on the British Empire, while keeping the US
Navy out of Japan’s sphere of influence, in today’s
episode of my Great
Pacific War replay. It’s the middle of 1941,
and Japan is making slow gains against the Americans while
wearing down the British and Dutch, but the turnover of most
of her landing craft to civilian use and her low remaining
BRP stockpile will likely keep her from mounting any new invasions
for the rest of the year. She’ll need to concentrate
on conquering the Philippines and shoring-up her lines in
China (which Mao is doing a good job of penetrating) while
keeping her home waters safe from American and British raiders.
But the Americans and the British are also low on BRPs, so
everyone will have to be very careful how they spend if they’re
going to make significant gains before the year is out.
The war continues…
TURN 9 – FALL, 1941
Production Segment: The US receives a previously purchased
4 CV unit in the West Coast Box, and Britain receives a 1
SURF in the Britain box. Neither of the two Chinas nor the
Soviet Union can afford to build any new units, and the United
States opts to build none for now since she’ll need
all her remaining 15 BRPs (and probably some beyond that)
to fund land and sea operations for the rest of the year.
Britain spends 3 BRPs to build a 1-4 TAC unit at Brisbane,
and Japan does no building.
No new Political Chits go in the cup, and the chit drawn
is NO EVENT.
Communist China and Britain buy one Impulse Chit each, and
the US and Japan both buy two.
Sea Zone Box Placement Segment: The Netherlands
has no BRPs left in her stockpile and can’t send units
to sea. Britain spends 5 BRPs to put a 1-4 TAC in each zone:
Coral Sea, Solomon Islands, Straits of Malacca and Bay of
Bengal plus a 1 CV in the Gulf of Siam. The US keeps her units
in port, and Japan spends 5 BRPs to put units in all the usual
Sea Control Boxes except for the Hawaiian Islands and Midway
(she opts to send some SUBs to the Marianas Islands instead).
Then Britain sends 2 SUB factors to raid the East China Sea,
the US keeps her subs in port (to save her remaining BRPs
for a big finish this winter), and Japan sends SUBs out to
raid British and American BRPs in the Bay of Bengal, Straits
of Malacca and Philippine Sea Zones.
Declaration of War Segment: The Soviet Union
doesn’t have enough BRPs to declare war, and everyone
else is in it already.
Sea Control and Raiding Segment: In the
Gulf of Siam, the Japanese Air Force downs 1 BRP worth of
British carrier aircraft, and then sinks the carrier they
came from with no damage in return. That gives Japan more
than a 4-1 factor advantage against the British in the Sea
Control Box, so Japan has sole control of the Gulf of Siam
now, meaning she can SR units through there with the usual
9 SURF factors. In the Solomon Islands, Japanese carrier planes
shoot down the Australian 1-4 TAC out of Rabaul with no damage
in return, but in the Coral Sea, neither side does any damage.
That means that the RAAF 1-4 TAC in the Coral Sea has joint
control along with the Japanese 2 CV and the Allies can SR
units through there. But Japan’s conquest of Davao on
Mindanao has given her access to the Sulu Sea’s Control
Box where she now has 4 CV, so the Allies can’t SR units
through there to the Philippines. That means the only way
the US can get reinforcements to the Philippines is to transport
them on SURF or LC units during the Operations Segment.
The Japanese 2 CV patrolling the East China Sea fails to
destroy either of the British SUB factors in the Raiding Box,
but the subs score no hits. Japanese subs in the Bay of Bengal
destroy one British BRP (taking no hits from patrolling TAC),
but British TAC in the Straits of Malacca sink a Japanese
SUB and deny the other one any bonus to its raiding roll,
thus keeping it from destroying a British BRP there. The Japanese
SUB in the Philippine Sea does destroy an American BRP.
Strategic Redeployment Segment: Both Chinas
leave their units in place, and the Soviet Union has built
all the units she needs to meet her required minimum deployment
next year, so she sends her last 4 BRPs to Mao so he can carry
on the fight next turn (two get through). Japan’s control
of the Gulf of Siam and South China Sea keeps Britain from
doing what she’d really love – SR a GAR unit out
of Hong Kong to India and an INF unit from India to Hong Kong
to attack the Japanese from the South. So with nothing else
useful to do, she just keeps her units in place. The USA spends
5 SRs to send a 1 LC unit (costs 2 SRs due to double range),
2 x 9 SURF (one of which moves for free since it’s SR-ing
ground units), a 2-4 MAR division and a 3-4 INF unit from
Midway, Hawaii and Johnston Island to American Samoa. That
places them within amphibious assault range of the Japanese
base at Truk, which is the linchpin of the Japanese Trans-Pacific
Patrol Line.
Then America spends her remaining two SRs to send a 1-0 GAR
unit from Hawaii to Midway and a 1-4 MAR division from the
US West Coast Box to Hilo.
Japan counters by sending a 2-3 INF and a 1-3 INF division
from Japan down to Truk along with the 9 SURF that sent them
there. She then sends a 3-5 ARM unit and a 5-4 TAC to the
Luzon beachhead at Vigan. She has Siam SR her 1-3 INF north
from Bangkok to the border with Burma, and uses her sole control
of the Gulf of Siam to send the KWAN HQ from China to Bangkok.
Finally, she sends the 8 SURF unit from Davao to the Nagasaki
shipyards because some of its factors will need to be scrapped
next turn since Japan’s BRP stockpile is now at zero.
Operations Segment: The first chit drawn is…
US PACIFIC NAVAL: 6 CV factors from Hawaii
steam down to the South Pacific 2 Zone and make a naval strike
on Truk.
The carrier planes fly in unopposed and score two hits to
sink the Fleet Train unit that’s been extending the
ranges of the Japanese carriers at Truk, so they can reach
the Coral Sea, and also killing a SURF factor of the unit
that SR-ed in the Truk reinforcements. The carriers then retire
to American Samoa.
Then a force of 18 SURF and 6 CV transport an American 3-4
INF unit from Hilo to the port of Legaspi in the Philippines.
The Japanese have only a light screen of units controlling
the Marianas Islands and Philippine Sea Zones and have no
chance against such a powerful force; the unescorted 4 CV
unit in the Sulu Sea will get blown out of the water if it
engages, so they let the Americans go by. The convoy makes
port, and after depositing the 3-4 INF at Legaspi, a 9 SURF
and a 2 CV remain there while another 9 SURF and a 4 CV pull
back to Guam – a direct challenge to Japan’s control
of the Marianas Islands Zone and a further threat to Truk.
The next chit drawn is…
COMMUNIST CHINA ATTRITION: Mao’s men
advance and attack the 1-5 ARM division that rushed in to
try and close off the breach last turn. The 6 die to 1 attack
destroys the Japanese unit, and the Red Chinese storm into
the breach to widen it to two hexes.
The next chit drawn is…
US ATTRITION: American forces on the Philippines
surge northward and attack the Japanese 3-3 INF they drove
back from Manila last turn. The 11 die to 3 attack gets blitzkrieg
bonuses for tank and TAC participation, and it scores 6 hits
to reduce the Japanese unit and force it to retreat Northward
toward the Vigan beachhead. But unknown to the Americans,
the Japanese infantry were busy turning the jungles northeast
of Manila into a nightmare of ambushes and tank traps, and
they score 3 hits on 3 dice to wipe out the American 2-6 ARM
division and kill an American BRP. But the Americans advance
and push the Japanese back toward the Vigan beachhead.
The next chit drawn is…
JAPANESE ATTRITION: Japanese INF advances
out of the Vigan beachhead to block the American advance and
waits until next turn to attack (so the ARM and TAC units
that were SR-ed to the beachhead this turn can join in).
The next chit drawn is…
JAPANESE ATTRITION: Infantry rushes in to
close the breach in the Chinese lines, and a 9-die attack
scores 2 hits to wipe out one of the 2-2 INF units in the
breach. The Japanese advance to gain the South bank of the
Yangtse again, but there’s still a one-hex breach in
the line (though it’s farther West now).
The last chit drawn is…
BRITISH ATTRITION: The Indian 2-3 INF at
Singapore heads North to Kuala Lumpur in case the Japanese
force massing at Bangkok decides to head South into Malaya.
Supply and End Segments: All units are in
supply, so units return home from Sea Zone Boxes (with some
Japanese SUB factors also going to the Nagasaki shipyards),
and the turn ends.
TURN 10 – WINTER, 1941
Production Segment: The US receives a previously
purchased 9 SURF unit in the West Coast Box. The Soviet Union
rolls a 6 for a standard Russian winter. Britain spends 3
BRPs to build another TAC factor at Brisbane (she needs it
to make Australia’s required minimum deployment), Japan
has no BRPs to build units, and the US spends 3 BRPs to add
an LC factor to the 1 LC unit at Pago Pago on American Samoa.
Then Japan permanently scraps 5 SUB and 4 SURF factors at
the Nagasaki shipyards to bring her stockpile back up to 9
BRPs. The US was planning on scrapping a 9 SURF in the West
Coast Box anyway and does so, gaining 12 BRPs, thus bringing
her stockpile up to 15 BRPs.
No new Political Chits go in the cup, and the chit drawn
is IMPERIAL EDICT. The Emperor orders the armies of Japan
to drive the Americans from the Philippines, and they must
attack at least one enemy ground unit this turn.
Communist China and Britain purchase one Impulse Chit each,
and the US and Japan each purchase two.
Sea Zone Box Placement Segment: Britain
spends 1 BRP to put her 1-4 TAC from Singapore in the Gulf
of Siam Sea Control Box to try and block any more Japanese
SRs to Bangkok. Japan gives up on the Gulf for now, and instead,
spends 2 BRPs to put a 2-4 TAC in the South China Sea to protect
her supply line and SR route through there to the Vigan beachhead
and Indochina. The US spends 2 BRPs to put a 2-4 TAC unit
in the South China Sea to contest the zone.
Declaration of War Segment: Nobody declares.
Sea Control and Raiding Segments: The Japanese
Air Force downs a US TAC factor in the South China Sea, but
that still leaves an American 1-4 TAC there. So the Japanese
don’t have a 4-1 factor advantage and will have to use
18 SURF to SR any units through there. There is no raiding.
Strategic Redeployment Segment: The Chinas
keep their units in place. Britain SRs a 1-0 GAR unit from
Chandranagore in India to Rangoon in Burma, and 1 SURF factor
from the Britain Box around the Horn of Africa to the Middle
East Box on the off-map movement chart. Japan SRs a 2-3 INF
from Taiwan to the Vigan beachhead, a 3-3 INF from Wake Island
to Shanghai, and then overland through Indochina and Siam
to the border with Burma. She then SRs a 4 SURF from Truk
and a 1 CV from Otamari to the Yokohama shipyards so they
can get some quick repairs next turn. The USA SRs a 4 CV from
the US West Coast Box to Pearl Harbor, a 2-4 TAC from Pearl
Harbor to Legaspi, and a 9 SURF from Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians
across the Pacific to the Middle East Box on the off-map movement
chart (cost is 2 SRs due to the range). This will let the
9 SURF start SR-ing British units around the Horn from Britain
and onto the Pacific map in 1942.
Operations Segment: The first chit drawn is…
JAPANESE ATTRITION: The Japanese 3-5 ARM
unit breaks out of the Vigan beachhead, and along with a 5-4
TAC and a 3-3 INF, attacks the northernmost American 3-4 INF
unit on Luzon. An American 2-4 TAC out of Manila flies defensive
air support and shoots down a Japanese TAC factor, but the
10-die attack gets blitzkrieg bonuses and scores 3 hits, just
enough to reduce the American 3-4 INF and force it to retreat
to Maolos. The American defenders score no hits, and the Japanese
infantry advances to the hex the Americans vacated.
The next chit drawn is…
US NAVAL: A total of 8 CV from Legaspi,
Guam and American Samoa attack the Japanese naval force at
Truk.
The Japanese 4 CV factors scramble planes to intercept, but
they score no hits in naval air battle while the Americans
score one hit and kill a Japanese BRP. But the bomber and
torpedo wings miss the mark, scoring just one hit on 8 dice
and sinking one Japanese CV factor.
That leaves most of the Truk naval defense force intact,
but it also “pulls down” the Japanese fighter
cover, and the invasion force from Pago Pago steams in to
hit the beaches at Truk. The Japanese carriers have already
activated, so only the Japanese SURF units can attack the
landing force; the Americans hold-back the 4 CV so it can
provide offensive air support for the landing MAR and INF
units. The American 18 SURF take on the Japanese 10 SURF,
and the Japanese get a coastal defense bonus due to shore
batteries, mines, etc. (+1 bonus to every die rolled).
Once again, the Americans do very poorly, scoring just one
hit on 18 dice while the Japanese score three hits. But, the
US surface forces clear a path to Truk so the Marines and
Army can land. A 2-4 MAR division and a 3-4 INF hit the beach
with 4 CV and 10 SURF providing air and fire support (SURF
add half their strength in attack dice and can’t add
more dice than the landing ground units roll).
But the troops are green, and they only score 2 hits on 14
dice, killing a Japanese 1-3 INF division plus a Japanese
BRP but failing to kill the remaining 2-3 INF on Truk. The
Japanese score one hit to kill the 2-4 MAR division (which
can’t take the hit as a BRP loss since it’s participating
in an amphibious landing), and since the landing is repelled,
the 3-4 INF takes a step loss, and the landing craft carrying
the INF withdraw northward to Guam. Nine SURF go with them
while the remaining 6 SURF and 4 CV return to Pago Pago. Truk
holds out for the Emperor!
The next chit drawn is…
US ATTRITION: The Americans have to pull
a unit back to garrison Manila because the Japanese airborne
division at the Vigan beachhead could airdrop directly into
Manila next turn, thus depriving the Allies of their supply
source at the moment of combat. So they pull back the reduced
2-4 INF that was driven back by the Japanese and move the
3-4 INF they transported in from Hawaii last turn up from
Legaspi to the front lines. The two INF units then attack
the Japanese INF, and each side scores just one hit. The Japanese
lose their reduced 1-3 INF unit, and the Americans lose a
BRP. The last Japanese BRP is destroyed, and the Americans
lose a BRP.
The next chit drawn is…
JAPANESE ATTRITION: Finally, the Japanese
get the jump on Mao and shore-up the Yangtse River Containment
Line into reasonably good order.
The next chit drawn is…
BRITISH ATTRITION: Britain extends her lines
on the North bank of the river near Rangoon.
The last chit drawn is…
COMMUNIST CHINA ATTRITION: Mao advances
a 2-2 INF unit to the one, open hex he can on the South bank
of the Yangtse, mainly for symbolic purposes. He doesn’t
have the strength to attack any Japanese position at the moment,
so the rest of his units hold the line.
Finally, Siam takes an Attrition impulse on her own and sends
her 1-3 INF unit across the Burmese border to take control
of the port of Tavoy. That will give the Japanese 3-4 TAC
at Bangkok a base from which it can support the Japanese army’s
attack on Rangoon.
Supply Segment: All units
are in supply, and the US spends two BRPs to repair her two
reduced INF units at Manila and Guam.
End Segment: With the small numbers of BRPs
remaining in their stockpiles, Japan gets 1 BRP of economic
growth, and the US gets 2 BRPs of growth. Nobody else can
get any growth, so units return from Sea Zone Boxes and the
turn ends.
At the end of 1941, the US Army is holding its own in the
Philippines.
But the Navy isn’t doing much to help the Marines take
islands from the Japanese, and the leathernecks are learning
a lot about landings under fire (the hard way). With Japanese
armor and TAC now on the front lines in the Philippines, the
US will need to get some armor of its own there, and fast.
With Japanese forces massing near Rangoon, Britain may lose
control of Burma, and the US would then have to spend extra
BRPs to set up a new BRP transfer route through Calcutta to
Nationalist China. Malaya and the Dutch East Indies are lightly
garrisoned and ripe for the picking once Japan rebuilds her
landing craft. With all her gains in China intact, plus no
more embargoes to worry about, Japan will have an approximately
equal BRP stockpile to the US at the start of next turn.
Who will get the upper hand in 1942? Tune in next time and
find out!
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