Island Hopping

[lowlylowlycook]

Really loving the photography.   

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys, and yeah, the big, cool rug really makes it fun to take and post closeups

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Ooer !

Missed this one yesterday.
Nice one Jack.

Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Thanks Phil!

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 1530 on 24 December 1941, and 1st Platoon is tasked with taking Horseshoe Ridge, again.  The good news is that the platoon has gotten plenty of water and some hot chow, and five of their men have recuperated well enough from their injuries to rejoin the unit.  The bad news is they're heading back to Horseshoe Ridge, where twice they've battled the Japanese, taking heavy casualties.

Sgt Carlson: "Horseshoe Ridge again, eh Sir?"  "Yes Cody, Horseshoe Ridge.  Ours is not to reason why, young man," Capt Moon said with a smile.

"Christmas Eve, eh Sir?"  "Aye.  It will be all the merrier when we're sitting atop Horseshoe Ridge, manning our machine guns, with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads," the Captain laughed.  "We'd best get to work."


Overview, north is to top left, the entirety of Horseshoe Ridge is displayed, the mass at center, running west (bottom left) to east (top right).  The previous two fights took part on the eastern end of Horseshoe Ridge, at top right.  The Platoon linked up with the Company CP off camera to bottom center several miles, and now is making a push to take the ridge again.  The Marines will enter from the west, the Japanese will be on and around the ridge.  The table is, once again, 6' x 4's, and my son and I are playing co-op as the Marines against the Japanese in 15mm, using Ivan Sorensen's rules, "No End In Sight."


The Marine 1st Platoon, reorganized again: Platoon Commander, Platoon Sergeant, two-man M-1917 water-cooled machine gun team, three-man 60mm mortar team, an M-3 Stuart of the Army National Guard's 194th Tank Battalion, and two seven-man rifle squads.  The Company Commander, Major Ford, promised help after he tracked down the rest of the platoons.  Guess he hasn't found them yet...


Mortar rounds (blue beads) are targeted all around the Japanese howitzer (bottom left), which is engaging the US tank (top center left), which has just crested the west end of Horseshoe Ridge.


A Japanese Lieutenant leads a Banzai charge straight into US guns.  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://oldleadbreed.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-philippines-fight-4.html

Cut off by a second Japanese landing at Lamon Bay in southern Luzon, Capt Moon and Sgt Carlson reorganized the platoon, working in replacements from 3rd and 4th Platoons, then sited them in a 360 degree perimeter atop Horseshoe Ridge, and waited for the Japanese counterattack.  It came the following night, Christmas.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Coooooooool!

[Techno]

Very good, Jack !

Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 2245 on 25 December 1941, and 1st Platoon is finally in possession of Horseshoe Ridge, but for how long is anyone's guess.  Yesterday afternoon Captain Moon led 1st Platoon, with a big assist from a National Guard M-3 Stuart, in a successful assault to take Horseshoe Ridge.  Once the Japanese were evicted, Capt Moon and Sgt Carlson consolidated into a small, 360 degree perimeter.  But later that evening Major Ford, their Company Commander, came up, with good news and bad news.  The good news was that 3rd and 4th Platoons were stood down, and their men were fed into 1st and 2nd Platoons to bring them back up to strength.  With that, 1st Platoon was ordered to hold the entirety of Horseshoe Ridge.  The bad news was that General Parker, the US South Luzon Force commander, needed his tank back.  Also, Major Ford was taking 2nd Platoon and heading west, assuming a defensive position on a small hill overlooking a bridge, with the understanding that the Marines were not likely going to be able to hold for long, and would soon need to retreat to the west, making their way to Cavite and/ore Manila, to link-up with the rest of the South Luzon force and maybe even the rest of the US troops on Luzon, now withdrawing into the Bataan Peninsula.

With that, you need to understand we're reaching a dark time in the campaign: in real life, the main US force on Luzon is about to voluntarily bottle itself up in the Bataan Peninsula, where it will put up a brave and dogged defense, but ultimately will fall back until there's no more room to fall back, then capitulate.  Immediately following that, the Japanese will pound McArthur's headquarters, the island fortress of Corregidor (across from the Bataan Peninsula, in Manila Bay), then launch an amphibious assault that, for all intents and purposes, ended the US resistance in the Philippines in April 1942.

So, the 1st Platoon is but a microcosm of this overall situation.  They have taken Horseshoe Ridge and been reconstituted, victories at the tactical level.  But the overall situation is that their time in the Philippines is coming to a violent close.  While they have a full complement of troops, the food, ammo, and medical supplies they have on hand is all they'll ever have; the platoon is severely outnumbered, surrounded, and cut-off.  The only reason they've even lasted this long is because the Japanese have, in the overall scheme of things, been ignoring them, rushing past them from, east to west, to capture Manila.

The time is drawing near where the Platoon will cease to be a coherent fighting force, and more a band of fugitives searching for a means to escape the Philippines.


Overview, north is to top left, the entirety of Horseshoe Ridge is displayed, the mass at center, running west (bottom left) to east (top right).  The previous three fights took part on the eastern end of Horseshoe Ridge, at top right, and with the Platoon assaulting the west end of the ridge, at center.  The Platoon linked up with the Company CP off camera to bottom center several miles, then came back and finally took the ridge.  The Marines, as per their orders (and due to the uncertain disposition of the enemy) are occupying the ridge in its entirety, in a 360 degree perimeter, though it is not a continuous line as they don't have enough troops.  The Japanese will be attacking from all points of the compass.  The table is, once again, 6' x 4's, and my son and I are playing co-op as the Marines against the Japanese in 15mm, using Ivan Sorensen's rules, "No End In Sight."


Overview of the table, with all forces placed on the table.  The Marines are on the ridge at center, and everything on the perimeter of the table is Japanese.  The Marine position is simple: 1st Squad is at the west end of the ridge (center left, fanned out just below the clump of trees at center).  2nd Squad is in the center, facing north (top), sitting between the two clumps of trees.  They have the 60mm mortar team sited in right behind them.  The Command Post (Capt Moon, Sgt Carlson, and the sniper) are just to their right (just left of the third clump of trees, at center right top).  3rd Squad is on the east end of the ridge, just on the other side of the clump of trees from the CP, facing east (right).  Lastly, the MG team is just right of 3rd Squad, on the finger jutting out to the south (center top right).

In the west, the blinds have been cooperative with the Japanese, allowing them to mass a significant force, with support.  They have three rifle squads (bottom left, far left, and just to the right of the village at top left), their 70mm Howitzer (top left), and a sniper (on the left side of the tree clump at top center).  They are supported at bottom center and far right, by two MG teams, a Lieutenant, and another sniper.

They also have a decently powerful supplementary attack force on the top right (northeast) corner of the table (top center right), where they have a rifle squad, an officer, an MG team, and a Type 95 tank!

If you haven't figure it out yet, the Japanese are serious about taking Horseshoe Ridge   The Marines either need to hold the ridge, or escape the ridge.


At the east end of the ridge, the Japanese tank (center) pounds 3rd Squad (top left), while a Type 92 machine gun (far right) lays into 2nd Squad (top center).


Looking from east to west, the Marine MG team bottom center finds itself with no targets, but 1st Squad is being overrun in the west (top center), so they take up a supplemental position, facing about to support 1st Squad.  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://oldleadbreed.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-philippines-fight-5.html

I will say that the Marines still have some semblance of a platoon left, and are moving southeast (away from the Japanese thrust to the northwest), trying to find a way out of the Philippines.  But a Japanese patrol stands between the Marines and their means of escape, so stay tuned.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Wow! Heck of a report boss!

[bigjackmac]

Thanks Lemmey, 'twas a helluva fight!

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 2030 on 6 January 1942, and 1st Platoon is looking for the exit.  Alone and cut off in southern Luzon, a Marine Provisional Rifle Company faced off against much superior Imperial Japanese forces.  The Marines put up a valiant defense, and they would likely have been completely annihilated had the Japanese not been more focused on by-passing them on their way to the capital city of Manila.  Following a series of fights on Horseshoe Ridge, the platoon has suffered more than 50% casualties, and their commander has now come to the decision he must seek an escape from the Philippines for his men and himself.  On the run, they ran into a small group of Marines living on rumors of a US Navy ship lying concealed in a cove to the southeast.

Captain Moon and Sgt Carlson kept the Marines moving east on the southern coast of Luzon, but soon they came to a bridge at a small fishing village.  Captain Moon wanted to avoid enemy contact at all costs; the Marines were unable to skirt the village to the south due to the ocean, but scouting parties sent north were unable to find a suitable crossing as well.

Captain Moon turned to Sgt Carlson: "well, Cody, I guess we're crossing here."  So the Platoon sat tight until nightfall, then sent a squad forward to clear the area before the main body moved to cross.


Overview of map, north is right.  The (fictional) village of Begate is at center, with the river just below it, running north to south.  The Marines are entering from the west (top), the Japanese will be spread throughout the village and on the east (bottom) side of the river.  The Marine will send a squad forward to secure the crossing; they've got to have a bridge as they're carrying all their wounded.  The table is 6' x 4', though we're only using about 4' x 3', and my son and I are playing co-op as the Marines against the Japanese in 15mm, using Ivan Sorensen's rules, "Five Men at Kursk."


The opposing forces, with US on the right and (potential) Japanese on the left.  Finally got the Type 95 tank in the picture.  The US force is all from Eureka Minis, while the Japanese are Eureka except for the tank and the three Type 92 Machine Gun teams, which are from Peter Pig.  You can really see how much the platoon has suffered, down from 33 able-bodied Marines to 21 (after receiving almost seventeen replacements), out of mortar and machine gun ammunition, low on food, water, and medical supplies.


Fighting is getting up close and personal; Sgt Carlson (center, just behind retaining wall) takes care of three Japanese soldiers himself, two in hand-to hand!


But Japanese on the other side of the river (bottom center) prove a problem for Sgt Carlson and his Marines in the village (top right).


The squad's automatic rifleman takes out a Japanese soldier n the opposite bank (casualty figure at bottom left), as Sgt Thomas leads two Marines across a foot bridge (center left) to deal with another enemy troop (bottom right).

To catch the exciting finish to the Marines' saga in the Philippines, please check the blog at:
http://oldleadbreed.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-philippines-fight-6.html

The Marines got a move on, looking to get clear of the crossing before dawn brought more Japanese troops.  It took awhile, but ultimately Capt Moon and Sgt Carlson were able to locate the US Navy, and make their way out of the Philippines.  But it was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire: the Navy deposited the raggedy, worn out Marines in the Dutch East Indies, which just so happened to be Imperial Japan's next big offensive.

Thus ends our fights in the Fall of the Philippines, with the Marines escaping only to take part in the Fall of the Dutch East Indies, which will be the next set of five to seven fights.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Nice one

[bigjackmac]

Thanks Lemmey.

The saga in the Philippines is over.  I added an epilogue to wrap up this chapter, if anyone is interested.

http://oldleadbreed.blogspot.com/2017/02/1st-platoon-in-philippines-epilogue.html

V/R,
Jack

[d_Guy]

As always, Jack, you supply wonderfully engaging narrative with your wargaming.
(I hardly ever post from my phone, which insists on changing to "ear gaming" - in a sense that is true.  )
What little I know about the defense of the Philippines, your narrative captures the look and feel of the period,
Well done!

[toxicpixie]

What d_Guy says

Those Marines are a bit like 2rd Indian Motor Brigade, and are in for a "very sticky war"...

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Yoiks!

[bigjackmac]

Thanks Guy and TP, I appreciate it, and glad you guys liked the series.  The next one (in Sumatra) will look a lot like this: ragtag Marines overwhelmed by Japanese, have to make barn-burning escape.  After that we should be taking it to the Japanese; I've got plans to introduce air-to air (a Marine fighter squadron), and I've been reading up and I'm thinking about a US Navy PT Boat squadron as well.  We'll see.

V/R,
Jack

[toxicpixie]

We use a small boats rules set sometimes for action in the channel - pop me a PM with an email address Jack and I'll throw you a copy! It's long pit of print so shouldn't be any probs with that

[bigjackmac]

TP,

Sent you a PM, thanks!

V/R,
Jack