Sugarloaf Hill Playtesting Underway!!!

witchbottles

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Between 14 and 15 May, 1945, the Sugarloaf Hill assault itself consumed most of three full companies of Marines from 22nd Marine Reg't. in 24 hours, three companies led separate attacks to reinforce the previous one. the first, 132 men and 6 officers, were annihilated with only 2 survivors, the runners sent back to inform Col woodhouse the summit was under Marine control on the afternoon of the 14th. The second assault, remnants of "G" Co, consisted of 3 officers and 46 men, of which 8 Marines reached the summit by nightfall. Radio contact was made from hilltop to Col Woodhouse, and he was informed of the dire straits the Marines were in on the hilltop. He requested and received "K" Co, 22nd Marines and launched them on a night assault to reinforce the hilltop at 0100 on 15 May. Of the 4 officers and 99 men of "K" Co to step off for that assault, by 0600 on 15 May 1945, only 23 Marines were still alive of this Company on the hilltop, with 19 of them wounded but still fighting in their positions.

By 0800 on 15 May, the 7 remaining survivors from "G" Company were ordered off the hill and back to the rear. 2 of those lost from "G" Company would later be awarded Medals of Honor for their stand on that night on the hilltop.

It was one of the bloodiest 24 hour periods on the line for the 6th Marine Division during the Okinawa campaign.
 

witchbottles

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Were it not for the Shermans and LVT'S, this photo could pass for that of a First World War battlefield. One of the Corps' many hallowed grounds.
it is amazing the devastation of the area in the period photographs at NARA. Almost impossible to imagine.

Post war, the top of that hill at Sugarloaf was blown almost flat by USAF engineer to make way for postwar consturction.

9815

The Sugarloaf Hill remnants are marked, Naha Terrace is the remnants of the southern portion of Hill 1. Charlie Ridge lay just to the top right out of the photo, above Nakamoto Clinic. That swastika symbol to the right of Sugarloaf Hill is a Buddhist Temple.
 

TopT

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it is amazing the devastation of the area in the period photographs at NARA. Almost impossible to imagine.

Post war, the top of that hill at Sugarloaf was blown almost flat by USAF engineer to make way for postwar consturction.

View attachment 9815

The Sugarloaf Hill remnants are marked, Naha Terrace is the remnants of the southern portion of Hill 1. Charlie Ridge lay just to the top right out of the photo, above Nakamoto Clinic. That swastika symbol to the right of Sugarloaf Hill is a Buddhist Temple.
Yeah, I was stationed there twice (a year apiece) and I found it a touch difficult to visualize the WWII battlefields. Shuri Castle were basically ruins. I didn't have a lot of free time and when it came down to traveling south [Camp Hansen] and then hoofing it around to get to the sites or relaxing with my free time, the relaxing took over. My 2nd tour I took my wife with me and she had zero interest in lugging our 9 month old around the battle sites and plus I spent quite a bit of time in Korea & the Philippines.
I found kind of the same thing when I was on Tinian & Saipan. You could see old bunkers and rusted hulks of vehicles but the modern world just kind of overtook the battlefields. I think I might have just had too high of expectations. I was kind of looking/ hoping for a Gettysburg type battlefield tour and it wasn't.

post update: I have been reading about the battle sites, Okinawa: Then and Now and Dave Davenport. I was too young to really appreciate what I was looking at. My wife and I want to go back and visit Okinawa as we had a good time when I was stationed there, maybe I can appreciate it a little better.
 
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witchbottles

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9833

Remnants "D" Co, 29th Marines , in bivouac on Northern slope of Sugarloaf East military crest line, after being relieved by the rest of the 2nd Bn, 29th Marines, in the line. This photo taken on the afternoon of 18 May, 1945. Sugarloaf was about 90% under USMC control at that time, but isolated caves on the reverse slope, covered by fire from Japanese forces on Horseshoe Ridge, were still holding the advance of the 29th Marines on sugarloaf hill itself, and the hill was not declared secured by MGen Shepard, CG, 6th Mar Div, until the morning of the 19th of May.MGen Shepard visited this bivouac on the morning of the 19th of May, as he brought up the 3rd Bn, 29th Marines with his HQ staff so they could leapfrog into the line on the other side of this ridge in the photo at the base of the south slope of Sugarloaf, and begin the attack on Horseshoe Ridge.
 

witchbottles

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Lt Gen Geiger released the 4th Marines to take over from the shattered 22nd and 29th Marines in the Sugarloaf area on the 20th of May, 1945.

Total losses to 22nd Marines were 1,286 officers and enlisted. Total losses to 29th Marines were over 3,000, including the complete elimination of every single Marine in two separate companies. most of the remaining companies by sunset on 19 May 1945, numbered between 23-56 officers and men, in each company. (from a T/O complement of 243 Marines in each company on 1 April, 1945).

Japanese defenders were placed at just over 2,300 in the entire Sugarloaf complex. Of those, 106 were taken prisoner, 34 of those wounded.
 

witchbottles

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Peace Memorial Marker dedicated July 9th, 1997, on the NW side of the retaining wall holding the water tank that now sits on the only remaining portion of Sugarloaf Hill
 

JRKrejsa

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What town , city is that? Urban sprawl happens everywhere....
 

djohannsen

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Two six months pumps to Hansen and I never got out to see any of the battlefields - what a wasted opportunity. (sigh) Best of luck with this project, gentlemen.
 

TopT

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Two six months pumps to Hansen and I never got out to see any of the battlefields - what a wasted opportunity. (sigh) Best of luck with this project, gentlemen.
That is what I was trying to say. I did 2 separate year long tours and could rarely get enough time to go south on a regular. On my first tour ('82) I was young and the lure of S(K)in-Ville was way too strong. Who, at age 19, had ever seen anything like the sites that awaited you outside of the main gate of Camp Hansen? It is not a proud thing to state but once I got sucked in to it I rarely even thought of touring the battlefields. That and my time off was negligible. I was young and dumb and got into quite a bit of stupid trouble and the little time off [that I might have gotten] would be spent working off my transgressions.
 

witchbottles

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Felipe Zavala and I began another run through of BD-01 :Opening Probe" - this time giving the Marines that missing BAZ 45 in their OoB that was suggested for play balance. Turn 2 saw the 47L ATG open up and immobilize a M4A3, then go on a ROF tear, causing multiple D5.5 TC's on that crew - but they hung tough. Other fire caused the Japanese sniper to go off twice in that MPh- first wounding the only 9-1 ldr the Marines have and then killing him after he had moved to no covering TEM. Marines down to a 8-1 and a 8-0 ldr left.

a THH goes after another M4A3 in turn 2 japanese turn, with a DC and gets stopped one hex from the tank, but its banzai charge let a 4-4-7 move up to a point 2 hexes from that tank, in a grain field, and able to move to recover the DC or just go for the tank or generate ore THHs if he's still around, and the Marines shot 11 shots of 6 FP +1 or better at the 4-4-7 before finally scoring a PTC pin on a 9 DR.

The Marines know where the caves are, the 47L ATG is smoked in for now with a dispersed WP +1 in his hex, and Marine losses are 1 x 348 and 9-1 KIA, the 7-6-8 packing the Ft broken and DM and an immobilized M4A3 sitting right in the 47L 's gunsights.

Japnese losses, 1 x THH.

3.5 more turns to go and the Marines need to take down 3 caves or take the two backfield trenches and take down 1 cave, their choice.

KRL, jon H
 

jrv

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a THH goes after another M4A3 in turn 2 japanese turn, with a DC and gets stopped one hex from the tank, but its banzai charge let a 4-4-7 move up to a point 2 hexes from that tank, in a grain field, and able to move to recover the DC
When a DC hero is eliminated, its DC is eliminated [G1.425]. There's no recovery of a DC used by a DC hero.

JR
 

fzmann

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Felipe Zavala and I began another run through of BD-01 :Opening Probe" - this time giving the Marines that missing BAZ 45 in their OoB that was suggested for play balance. Turn 2 saw the 47L ATG open up and immobilize a M4A3, then go on a ROF tear, causing multiple D5.5 TC's on that crew - but they hung tough. Other fire caused the Japanese sniper to go off twice in that MPh- first wounding the only 9-1 ldr the Marines have and then killing him after he had moved to no covering TEM. Marines down to a 8-1 and a 8-0 ldr left.

a THH goes after another M4A3 in turn 2 japanese turn, with a DC and gets stopped one hex from the tank, but its banzai charge let a 4-4-7 move up to a point 2 hexes from that tank, in a grain field, and able to move to recover the DC or just go for the tank or generate ore THHs if he's still around, and the Marines shot 11 shots of 6 FP +1 or better at the 4-4-7 before finally scoring a PTC pin on a 9 DR.

The Marines know where the caves are, the 47L ATG is smoked in for now with a dispersed WP +1 in his hex, and Marine losses are 1 x 348 and 9-1 KIA, the 7-6-8 packing the Ft broken and DM and an immobilized M4A3 sitting right in the 47L 's gunsights.

Japnese losses, 1 x THH.

3.5 more turns to go and the Marines need to take down 3 caves or take the two backfield trenches and take down 1 cave, their choice.

KRL, jon H
Remember that the 47L survived the WP CH 4 MC by just pinning. Unbelievable but that's ASL for ya.

FZ
 

klasmalmstrom

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C11.4 (last sentence) "A CH automatically destroys both the Gun and its manning infantry".
NA to WP CH though - per Q&A:

A24.31 & C11.4
C11.4 ends with “A CH automatically destroys both the Gun and its manning Infantry.” and A24.31 defines CH possibilities for
WP OBA, Ordnance and grenades. Can a WP CH destroy a gun per C11.4 from OBA? Ordnance? Infantry Grenades? Or does the
earlier part of C11.4 which requires an IFT roll preclude any form of CH w/WP from automatically destroying a gun?
A. WP cannot destroy a Gun.
 
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