The Meat Grinder - Iwo Jima CG

[Honza]

I'm going to do an AAR on my playing (testing) and designing of my Iwo Jima CG. It would be good for me to write some of the stuff down because it will be a form of notetaking.

So the map is finished. Now it is time to design and play the CG. Many of the special rules have already been worked out at the back of my mind.

The combatents are the Marine 4th Division and the Japanese 309th Battalion, elements of the Naval Land/Ground Force and various other Japanese battalions.

The Marines have 3 regiments - the 23rd, 24th and 25th each with 3 battalions. So that is 9 battalions or 27 companies. About 3000 men.

Elements of the Marine 3rd Division also come into play - principally the 21st regiment. So that is another 3 battalions! Making the total 12 battalions or 36 companies of Marines. There were also two battalions of Combat Engineers and Combat Pioniers in the area.

Plus the 4th Tank Battalion. This had about 45 tanks. Including 4 of the new POA 'FT' Tanks. And a company of the 3rd tank battalion with about 15 tanks.

So the final total for the Marines is 14 Battalions or 42 companies of Infantry, which is about 4500-5000 men (or 420 squads). 4 Companies of Tanks, which is about 60 tanks. Plus Airsupport and plently of OBA/NOBA.

The poor Japanese OOB is about 5 battalions of infantry - with 4 companies each - which is 20 companies or 2400 men. Plus about 20 platoons of MGs = 80x MMG/HMG/.50cal. Plus about 70x Guns of various sorts. The squad total is 240 and the crew total is 150, giving a sum of 315 squad equivalents or about 3200 men.

The map covers just over one square mile of Iwo Jima. The whole island is 8 square miles. There were 21000 Japanese soldiers on the island. So if you divide 21000 men by 8 square miles you get 2625 men per square mile. This location on the map is quite central where the Japanese had concentrated their forces, so the Japanese OOB of 3200 men is quite realistic.

I read on the Axis History forum that the Japanese had about 250 Guns on the island. It sounds a bit low to me. The 70 Guns in my OOB for the Japanese is my approximation of the force the Marines were up against. Playtesting will show whether the number is too high or too low.

 

[Vinnie]

Figures sound about right but for the marines does this number include the non-combat effectives? I don't know much about the marines but the UK forces generally only engaged about a third of their strength when "fully engaged". With the marines being based largly offshore they may have a higher percentage engaged.
For the Japanese guns, do your sources specify whether they consider mortars as guns.

 

[Gunner Scott]

Hi-

Good luck on your endeaver Jan, will read your AAR's to check this one out.

Scott

 

[Honza]

If you include the crews for Guns and Heavy Weapons Coy, then the Red Barricades CGIII has got about 33 German Companies vs 66 Russian Companies over 30 CG dates.

This Iwo Jima CG has got about 45 Marine Companies vs 30 Japanese Companies over 20 CG dates.

So I would estimate it is going to be about 2/3 of the size of RB CGIII.

The Germans have about 50 tanks in RB vs about 20 Russian tanks. The Marines have 60 tanks vs about 12 Japanese tanks.

There are other German AFV involved such as AC and HT in RB, and there will be a few SPG HT for the Marines in The Meat Grinder. But Generally speaking the AFV numbers are about the same for both CG's.

 

[Honza]

Figures sound about right but for the marines does this number include the non-combat effectives? I don't know much about the marines but the UK forces generally only engaged about a third of their strength when "fully engaged". With the marines being based largly offshore they may have a higher percentage engaged.
For the Japanese guns, do your sources specify whether they consider mortars as guns.

The Marines had about 60,000 men on Iwo Jima throughout the battle. So in effect the numbers given here for the Marine OOB do not include non-combatants. They are just the fighting forces.

The Japanese Guns do include mortars.

Here is the link to the sources: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=91386&p=1479449#p1479449

 

[jtsjc1]

Great stuff Jan please post AARs.

 

[Ganjulama]

Honza,
You are probably all over this but I thought I would provide this link anyway:

http://iwojimahistory.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

It has everything you ever wanted to know about Iwo Jima. I especially like the 'map room'.

 

[Honza]

Thanks a lot. I was aware of that website, but I just looked over it again and found some new stuff there.... cheers.

 

[Ganjulama]

I really like cave scenarios. I hope this effort sees the light of day as a module.

 

[Honza]

The set-up for the initial scenario of the CG is complete. Photo attached. The black counters are Japanese HIP. The Marines are set-up in foxholes in the lower left hand corner. They have the whole map to conquer over the next 18 CG days. They look puny at the moment, lol. There is two companies of infantry, a platoon of tanks and two MG platoons in that lower corner. The units sat on the sea (the blue) are offboard reinforcements. They will enter the lower left corner in the following turns.

 

[rdw5150]

did you do that map yourself?

If so, its pretty damn impressive.

Peace

Roger

 

[Honza]

Hi Roger, It is my own work. I'm glad you like it.

 

[Thunderchief]

I have to say that doing a playtest like this (in public so to speak) seems like a great move to inspire interest in your work. Good job. :vsign:

 

[Honza]

I have to say that doing a playtest like this (in public so to speak) seems like a great move to inspire interest in your work. Good job. :vsign:

I gave that a bit of thought before I started. Its not the real reason. I like to chat about ASL and in particular what I'm playing at the moment. Plus its good to discuss the development of my ideas and so on...its not a marketing move as such, but more an urge to share! People might be sick of it before its finished. This Iwo CG is more for ME at the moment. If it ever gets published and people enjoy it then great, but it was started for my own enjoyment originally.

 

[jtsjc1]

I'm very interested to see how this turns out. Thanks Jan.

 

[Honza]

I've added a few units to the Marine set-up. They got a few extra HS and some more SW. I'm still juggling with the Marine company composition. The marines need lots of HS to deal with all the SW they get. At this stage in the war the Marine Coy was bristling with SW.
Also because this scenario is set on D-Day there are some LVTs about. So I added 4 LVT(A)1(L) to the OOB. These are counters from Blood & Jungle representing late versions of the LVT(A)1. I'm also using the late war Marine Aircraft counters from B&J. The Corsairs and the Thunderbolts - with and without rockets. These new counters from B&J are going to be very useful. :thumup:

 

[gamesmeister]

It might be for yourself Jan, but this whole thread is very inspirational. Really looking forward to following this

 

[Honza]

It might be for yourself Jan, but this whole thread is very inspirational. Really looking forward to following this

Well I did not want to presume too much about how much interest there would be. I'm really pleased others are keen about it.

 

[ASLSARGE]

Well I did not want to presume too much about how much interest there would be. I'm really pleased others are keen about it.

Great stuff Jan...keep it going! BTW - Not that my opinion is worth much, but when I design a scenario or a map or a HASL, I always pick a subject that is of interest to me. I really think the end product will turn out far better if I have a keen interest in the subject, instead of just designing something that I think others might be interested in. Some guys (like me) enjoy cave scenarios...some guys don't. That's okay. Design it so you enjoy it. There are players out here who will enjoy it right away...and more might enjoy it after they've been exposed to something like this. I've got HASL's I've enjoyed playing for years that have yet to see the light of day elsewhere...but someday soon Grasshopper...soon all will be able to enjoy them.

 

[Will Fleming]

The map does peak my interest more so than expressed in a prev thread. Keep up the good work, but stuff like this must be more a marathon than a sprint.

Might playtest some scenarios if you need help, but would need a VASL map.