Battleground WWII - Friday Cold Wars 2015

Friday afternoon at Cold Wars 2015, I ran a Battleground scenario called "Defending the Pont".  The scenario was a recreation of K Company's defense of "The Point" on Peleliu.  It was a hard fought battle for the Marines as Japanese machine guns and direct fire guns steadily whittled them down, man by man.  Random artillery rounds fell on the Marine positions through the fight with little real effect. 

The Marines gave as good as they received and Japanese casualties littered the sand.  In the rear, the Japanese Commander stayed in his bunker the entire battle - not very inspirational but he did survive the battle.

A view of The Point from the Marine side

 On the first turn of the battle, the Marines lost their radio to Japanese howitzer fire.  And with it their chance of obtaining artillery support from the landing beach.

On the left flank of The Point, the leader of one Japanese unit told his men to prepare to banzai charge. 

Japanese unit prepares to banzai charge....or maybe not

 As they got ready, the leader, Naga-Jeff-asaki, changed his mind and ran off the board (Rolled a 20 on a morale check); leaving his troops very confused.

 

On the other side of The Point, another Japanese leader yelled for his men to follow him.  Yelling "Banzai....Banzai", he charged toward the Marine position.  After 20 yards, he noticed that none of his men had followed - he died alone but with honor.

 



A view of The Point from the Japanese side

 

Marine casualties start to add up



On the left flank, the Marines wait for the inevitable Japanese assault

As things got tough for the Marine defenders, 4 or 5 Japanese managed to gain a foothold on The Point, killing several Marines.  Captain Hunt moved to intercept them.....

Captain Hunt engages  4 Japanese

Captain Hunt earns his Navy Cross

 In the end, the Japanese came close to gaining a foothold on The Point....but close wasn't good enough.  The Marines held on until reinforcement arrived.