This is an AAR of a most exciting scenario: Cushman's Pocket. I got mailings from people who asked me to include most of the starting conditions to be able to see what is going on without having the scenario. So I will heavily bring on the start and then roughly the going of the game. Critics are welcome. The commentaries are a conglomerate from what we actually thought bfore, and discussed in the real AAR-discussion.
I will include his commentary and thoughts uncommented from my side. Any feedback and critics are welcome.
Scenery: Iwo Jima, 7 March 1945. As I read, the marines had bombed, burned and shelled the island fiercly.Casualties are the most horrific since Gettysburg for a single battle and near the 12000 mark on the marine's side. The largest night attack of the entire Pacific Campaign had been launched to dislodge the invisible foe. At dawn the marines stumble over a moonscape scenery. Here the scenario starts......
Scenario lasts 6 Turns, marines go first, on turn one the marines get 2M4A1 and 2 M4 tankdozers entering from the middle of the eastern edge, the Japanese get another 3 1st liners + leader + LMG + DC entering from north edge.
Setup:
I try to set up flexible. my 9-2 starts in 25 L6. From here he will control the hill on the opposite sid, or be able to fall back if the incoming fire force him to do so. 25L5 holds the boys with the BAZ. They can over 25M5 and L4 since fire into crag is allowed.There is also a chance for them to SMOKE a pillbox in their range.25L7 gets a lone 768 to eventually advance into M7 25 J7 holds the 7-0, and a 768. They can move behind the hill quite quick with the leader. They are also able to move into defensive positions to welcome the Jap turn one reinforcements since they control the only area where the reinforcements can enter easy - J10 and the gully stretching from G9 to K8. A shellhole is placed in 25 J7 to get some cover from the level 4 forces that will most likely be placed on board 15 and this hex holds the last squad. L7 holds the second shellhole for a last resort fallback to the L6 crags.
Japanese: (I tell the contents since now I know them, but when the scenario was to begin, I had to guess who is who)
Japanese commentary:
Board 15:
The 76* goes into the all dominating N5 pillbox since during play it can not be moved from the bunker, and no matter which hill the main marine force will try to take, it can be pretty devastating on the marine force already on hill 792.The cal.50 in the bunker K5 can fire on most hexes on/east of hexrow K of hill 792, sees into the gully 25J4 which is an important hex to gain hill 792. If the marines are coming for Hill 783, I will change position into trench 15K4 with minimum risk. K4 was chosen instead of J4 because a fire lane down into 15K1 along the crests could be important at some critical stage of the game. Obviously the pillbox would be better placed in 15 J4, since with this setup hex 15C8 is bad covered and will hold the radio leader, but where then place the now good positioned pillbox in M3? So I choose K5 for placement. 15 M5/M4 Trenches are for the upcoming forces to gain height and cover at minimum risk via 15 M4.
Since I hate to give the green boys a trench in this hex, the squad in it will eventually try to set the DC and move away. I know that Fritz fears my DC toting elite guys, since I use them rather reckless. He knows I will blast the trench if he comes for it in CC no matter what it contains of my own forces at that time. So he won't get my cal.50 eithrer. This is the way to play the sons of the rising sun. 15 I3 contains a full squad since this one is not so easy to kill in CC. The LMG will be able to firelane all the way to 15E5. It is also out of the 2 hex range from an eventually showing up concealed FT in 15 G5/H5.
Board 25:
Pillboxes M2 andJ1 contain the MMGs since they have excellent field of fire if the marines head for 792 and otherwise both cover hexes 15D7, E7, D5, C5 and F5. which are important hexes to get quick foothold on hill 783, or to try to get to the backside of this hill at an acceptable velocity. The US boys have only 6 turns to go, so they can not afford to kid around.I would prefer to have the pillbox from J1 in I2 since there it would have a LOS into Gully 25G1, but then there would be no acceptable place to setup the third pillbox, since I am limited to level one hill hexes and a minimum distance of three hexes between them. Also there is an SSR that forces me to setup all crewed weapons in the pillboxes, which fixes the place for the guns. To place the 45L in 25H3 might seem excentric, but here I have excellent LOS to the armor-babies.They come in between 25A2 and 15A8, and if you carefully look, their way onto hill 792 is very limited due to gully-cliffs and clusters of crag. The 45L is quite impotent for a kill from front, but a deliberate immob will be celebrated as a victory, and all his AFVs are LARGE targets. Should they head for hill 783 I will get some shots from side/rear, shots Fritz must fear. He tends to be quite aggressive with his tanks, but in this scenario I think he will be more conservative since he needs them for the VP. I know this pillbox is in great danger from being assaulted from the hill, but if it survives to hinder and terrorize the US AFV for 2 turns, I consider it expendable. The only forces that cover the box are the 75*, and the .50 cal, but I think this will prove sufficient.
The two trenches may also look weird, but I intend to assault his troops quick on turn two from all sides if he goes for 783, therefore I include a leader for my beloved banzai. This hill is a real bitch, movement costs ridiculous MF except for some special routes, which I think I have covered quite well. K3/K4 stay open ground for not to make it easy for the green ones. The Mtr can provide some WP and/or SMOKE for my assault.
I believe Fritz must go in force for one of the hills. Any center game on his side is soon doomed, crushed, and cut to pieces. Since he has 28 VPs already on hill 792 I will not toy around with them, but try to get them quick, lay their heads on the ridge, and try to move some remnants in a postioin to cover later movement on hill 783.
Setup of the main US force:
It is obvious Werner wants to crash my board 25 forces quick and decisive, and is determined not to let me have the double VP area easily. He has setup guns on both hills to get side/rear shots on my precious AFVs.
After 10 minutes of hard thinking I came up with a plan: I will have my forces on 792 for a 'Custer's Last Stand', concede this hill to him, and try to go on/around hill 783. This will need a lot of SMOKE, but my boys have an exponent of 3. So I setup my force in a carpet-like shape with a tendency toward H783 (the leaders and MGs are on the extreme south edge of my forces.
Setup of the main Japanese force:
Four elite with 2 10-0 leaders and Dcs and one first line squad in 25 O6/O7/O8.
A squad with Mtr in 15O8.The rest in 15O5/O4/O3.
Japanese commentary:
I will try to SMOKE the 792 hill from 15 O8. Since my troops are concealed, this one should survive the initial shootings. Since the Smoke range is just ten hexes, I choose this rather risky hex. I will try to move nearer on turn one, and banzai them on turn two from west, south and north. On board 15 I put a Mtr in O3, to be able to smoke the 15 G3/F2 area on my turn one, if it should be necessary to be able to move the rest unhindered.
The Game:
Turn1: I will have to await my SMOKE score and afterwards I will have to decide which way to go. The 25H3 pillbox makes me nervous. If the smoke will not come at a reasonable rate, this game could soon end if I make the wrong decisions. There is simple no place to hide, and moving is very risky and costs tons of MF, every residual even in the crag hexes might be a nightmare, since circumvention of such hexes is nearly impossible for a lack of time and cover. The first going is excellent. My BAZ in 25L5 shots WP into hex H3 thus blinding the pillbox. I have split a squad in two HS, each toting a BAZ. Direct fire will yield nothing, so I do not care for loss of inherent firepower. Since they will fire their BAZ anyway, I have one more squad to try for SMOKE during MPh.
One of them manages to get a WP in J1. Some of this shots are at four hex range, and I am very satisfied. I knew God is on the side of the Good :-).
Prep Fire turns the Mtr squad in 15 O8 into a step reduced one :-). I move my boys forward, and get 5 additional SMOKE grenades. Now my 9-1 (Lt Wilson) + MMC + dm MMG can move CX to 15 E3. This is vital, since it is a must IMO to advance onto F2, to hinder the Japanese to reinforce the forward pillbox. Lt Nixon (Who made him 8-1 without printing a smiley on the counter ??) leads his dm cal.50 toting MMC to 15C4. Mc Cormack reaches likewise with MMG D4.
Now the tanks enter at 15 A8/A9 area and immediately sneak around the hill, One M4A1 gaining heights at 15D3. My 228 toting the FT (since this boys have selfrally capability) assault move towards hill 792. This way they keep concealment, and I want at least try to get one of those pillboxes. This will keep the Jap busy, as the BAZ stragglers also can aid this boys. You can flame me for that, but the FT/BAZ boys certainly will attract fire and are expendable in the long run, and if my opponent refuses to care for them much....
Defensive fire is heavy, but no Hit on my tanks, one broken squad and one BAZ HS going down is an excellent outcome IMO. I get a 768 into 25 M7 gully durin APh, which is an excellent defensive position. The 75* got aquisition on hill 792 - Yikes! APh brings my FT in two hex range to one of this dreaded 157 pillboxes, one BAZ boy follows behind. Wilson reaches 15F2 as planned. Most of my boys are near 15D6 at the foot of the mountain - SMOKE throwing costs MF so they are a bit behind!! Turn 1 jap sees hex 15 F2 SMOKED - rats! A lot of units reach the K4, M5 Trenches unhindered and concealed (during Aph). The squad in Trench K4 sets a DC - nasty, nasty!! The Mtr in 15O8 gets out three!! SMOKE, and turns 25 L5,L6,K6 into a blinded zone. The units from the south start to run forward. The reinforcement come in at J10 and G10. I kill one of this 447 and the leader! Hurrah! The west jap forces manage to get out some smoke grenades, and parts of them assault move/move forward. My 9-2 strips some concealments, and pins one of them. In the center Prep fire takes it's toll, the BAZ HS bites the dust, a second 768 is broken, DM on the other. The FT HS survives Prep fire, and CRs the crew in the pillbox at J1 (Boxcars on the MC). Werner starts whining. My unit in 25M7 gets killed in CC, taking a 447 with it - Umph this is no good, but this 447 was invincible till CCPh.
In order to get this mail not too long, I will just point out the highlights of the game. During turn 2 my tanks gain height. There is a SSR that an AFV will be recalled, if, at the end of the US MPh there is no US MMC/SMC within two hexes. So I kept infantry and tanks together. The japanese cal.50 broke on turn2, and rolled '6' repair on it's first attempt - this is awful for the Japanese. Werner made one of his feared well coordinated attacks on my hill 792 forces, and wiped them out on turn 2. He blew a 448 and a 10-0 with suicide DC attacks into heaven, but crippled my 9-2/MMG/768 post, and killed the 7-0 with 768 outright with this attacks. The rest was killed in CC, and one 768 was captured for failure to rout! I extracted two further squads in CCPh, and he lost his 8-0 leader. Turn 3 sees a small banzai charge from 792 in the direction of hill 783, after smoking my MMG in 15 F3. This was possible since he had a 9-0 left, and had a LOS to a broken 768 within 8 hexes. Actually there were not many japanese units left, but everyone would hurt me in the endrun.
The rest of the japanese head for pillbox J1.
My radio leader, who fumbles since the beginning with his radio, gets shot by a sniper. Musta think of Tuomos 'real live OBA-Flowchart! WP onto hill 783, centered around 15N5 would have been cool. Heavy defensive fire breaks some guys, and mount some more dead. During turn 4 I slowly grind forward on/behind hill 783. SMOKE and armored assault are the game savers. Routing is difficult (read impossible giving those units in K4 and N4). I use the vehicles to keep a route to 15 H1 for routing. I use the AFVs SMOKE capabilities extensively. On board 25 my FT crew miraculously survives two CH from the 45L gun, and manages to roll a KIA at point blank range. This is somewhat a consolation for the loss of the radio. Now I can freely scoot my AFVs to the best locations! The BAZ HS step reduces a squad!
Turn 5 sees my FT & BAZ HS both dying in CC! Werner grins and melds hill 792 to be free of germs and bugs. Pillbox 15 I3 is dead, but this son of a - Eh - the rising sun as Werner calls them, took 2 squads with him. I am now reaching the VP area. One tank is nearly recalled because the only MMC that could secure his staying gets reduced to a broken HS by multiple breakings. If this one had died, 10.5 VP would have scooted home!!
Things start to get out of control.
Turn 6 sees me moving the rest of my force into the VP area. Turn 6 Japanese is an incredible all-out charge. Werner tries to suck out my firepower in releasing Tankhunters, DC-suicide-squads, and manages to get into CC and kill two of my squads.
But it was not enough!
Score: He controls 5 pillboxes - 10 points, killed 9 squads, a crew (another 20 points),killed 9-2, 9-1, 2x 8-0, one 7-0 for another 8 points, and had one prisoner 768 for 4 VP--- this sums up to 42 VP. I had two tanks, 8-1, 768, 348 in 1.5 x VP area, two tanks in 'normal area for 42.5 points.
This game had a good start for me, but the japanese also had ist highlights. His outstanding performance on turn two in overwhelming my force, VERY good SMOKE shots himself, getting my radio guy by a sniper, excellent CC-results. I could not get pillbox in K5!!
Werner lost this game since he could not kill one of my tanks. They are big VP spenders, and as soon as the 45L is away, they are practically unopposed. The US forces have excellent long range fire, but those pillboxes are nearly invincible barring CH or CC.
Otherwise I have to admit, that grabbing the golden opportunity of a SMOKED board on my turn 1 was the foundation for the victory. If the japanese would not have gacked his .50 cal so early, I would have had a problem. All in all I believe that the japanese have better chances of winning this one, and I would take them if I could choose in a game with something at stakes. Werners commentary: You must be kidding! But although this scenario is an unbalanced dog :-) I enjoyed it very much and I would play it again as the japanese (but only because I have a weakness for the weak ones). OK, this was it! It grew rather long, I hope I did not make too many typos, errors in hex-coordinates, and I hope I got something interesting out.
Fritz Tichy
When Phil Pomerantz heard what we were setting up, he said, "That unbalanced dog?" The record bears out Phil's pronouncement that the scenario is not necessarily favorable to the Americans, and since I had the Americans, I had something to be concerned about. Fortunately I had a plan, and double-fortunately, MZ set up his units so that my plan was nearly guaranteed to win.
The VC require some consideration. The Japanese get VP for CVP and for pillboxes they control at game end (they start with six). The Americans get VP for AFV/MMC west of hexrow K, with units on level >= three worth 1.5 x points on board 15 and 2 x points on board 25.
The Marines start out with a large force of five squads and two leaders "trapped" on board 25. These forces set up first, and the Japanese can potentially surround them, although their setup is somewhat restricted. The Americans have a larger force of Marines in the bottom of a bowl between hills on board 25 & board 15, and four Shermans enter on turn one.
The trapped American force represents 14 VP and the pillboxes are another twelve, so if the Japanese can destroy the trapped force in toto, they have 26 VP. On the other hand, the American tanks total 28 VP, so if these vehicles can be gotten west of the goal line, the Americans stand a good chance of winning the scenario.
Perhaps because of the historical situation, I felt an urge to try to rescue the trapped force. But when I considered the VC and the tactical situation, I decided that the trapped force could be sacrificed. They might be able to exit if the Japanese let them (and the way Mark set up, I could have left), but the tanks could not easily be brought up to relieve and reinforce the pocket because of all the crag (the SSRs allow tankdozers to clear crags, but not quickly enough for my taste for a six turn game). I set the pocketed elements up all west of row K where they counted for VP. I felt this would force the Japanese to try to destroy them, and I was hopeful that the forces spent trying to eliminate the pocket would in effect be out of what was my main drive. As much as possible, the pocket elements would support the other elements (until they died).
(Another possible strategy for the pocket troops is to set them up in the area around 25I5/H5, with the idea of trying to interfer (using Infantry smoke) with any Guns that set up on 25H3 or 25I2. The Japanese player would probably counter this threat with Infantry of his own, but it would draw Infantry away from the south hill. If the Japanese didn't set up enough units to prevent it, the Americans might still go back up the board 25 hill to count as double VP. )
My main effort would be to slide my tanks around behind the board 15 hill with as much Infantry from Company F as was possible. Depending on where the Japanese Guns were, this could be tricky, but it seemed to offer the greatest prospect for a win. If all four tanks survive and are west of the goal line, the game is nearly won. Fortunately for me, Mark had set up the two Guns on the south hill. By SSR, they had to be in pillboxes with their CA pointed into the bowl, so by going south of the south hill, my tanks avoid ever being in their LOS. Mark had his AT Gun in 15H3 (CA G5) and his INF gun in 15N5 (CA M7).
At least one of the Guns has to go on the board 25 hill. I think both Guns will have to have LOS to the American entry area. Possible sites are 25H3 and either 15J3 or 25I2. These cover the American entry area, and at least one will have a side shot if the Americans run behind the board 15 hill. The American counter to such a move would be to put up Infantry Smoke to hinder the LOS from board 25 and to take the shots from 15J3 in an effort to quickly get out of CA after entering on 15A8. Depending on how this initial move goes, the Americans could be out of the battle on the first turn, but they could also be past the point of the gravest danger. Because of the SSR requiring close American Infantry support, at least some of the American squads or SMGs will have to rush over to comfort the tanks. This would give Japanese Infantry an opportunity to blast the moving squads, but at least one unit will probably make it through
The American 60mm OBA would be bringing in WP in such a situation to hinder LOS from Japanese outposts. Any force around 15F3 would be an obvious first choice. Once the Amercans had gotten around behind the hill, the Arty might continue to control LOS to the attack ground or might switch back to support the pocket group. If the 9-2 can be rescued from the pocket, he would find a use directing the .50 cal and the two MMGs.
Is this one an unbalanced dog that can't be won by the Americans, barring really unusual circumstances? I can't say for sure, but I think that five Japanese wins to none American overstates the Japanese advantage. I wonder if players spend too much time focusing on the pocket group; if so, sacrifice them. They are not the key to this battle. The Americans need to get their tanks and some supporting Infantry behind the board 15 hill, and then the scenario will depend on whether the Marines will have enough supporting Infantry and firepower to overcome the forces the Japanese use on the board 15 hill.
JR