EEE1005_-_Islands_Of_Glory.pdf

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easy eightÕs
Islands of Glory
Created by
Brad Sanders Devin Cooley
Bob Brodeur Jim Bland & Kurt Coyle
©
COPYRIGHT © 1998 EASY EIGHT ENTERPRISES, INC.
10036 CAENEN LENEXA, KANSAS 66215
www. battlegroundwwii.com
1•800•335•2977
All rights reserved. No part of this publication unless otherwise marked may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted
in any form by means electrical, mechanical or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
introduction
In December of 1941, the United States was thrust
into World War II by the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor
in Hawaii. Simultaneously, Japanese ground forces raced to
assault and quickly capture key American islands throughout
the Pacific. Virtually overnight the war for the Pacific had
erupted. A war that ultimately would be characterized by
extreme brutality and bloody combat, but also one of total
sacrifice, heroism and duty for one’s country. Perhaps the
greatest legacy of the Pacific War was the individual sacri-
fices the common soldier on both sides made in unheard of
and dangerous locales now famous as battlegrounds:
Guadalcanal, Saipan, Peleliu, and Tarawa to only name a few.
Ultimately, the story of the war in the Pacific is truly the story
of these ordinary men accomplishing extraordinary feats in
rotting jungles, extinct volcanoes, and disease-infested
swamps. We hope the story of these men and the battles they
fought becomes alive in Islands Of Glory.
Islands of Glory is the first Campaign Pack from
Easy Eight Enterprises. It highlights the “Island Hopping”
campaign conducted by predominately American forces in
the Pacific from 1941-1945. Special attention has been made
to Japanese forces and U.S. Marines. Special rules for these
and for particular terrain and weapons used in the Pacific
Theatre are contained within. This Campaign Pack is broad in
its scope and general in its nature when pertaining to combat
history and units. This is intentional. Islands of Glory forms
the core base for future Easy Eight products that focus on the
Pacific. Look for detailed Scenario Packs in the future focus-
ing on detailed battles and units in the Pacific.
U.S. Army elements presented in the scenarios mir-
ror the American Army as presented in the European rules set,
Easy Eight’s Battleground World War II. Also, note that own-
ership of Easy Eight’s Battleground World War II is required
to play Islands of Glory, though we encourage you the gamer
to use this Campaign Pack with any other rules/game sys-
tems.
Creating Islands Of Glory has been great fun. We
would like to thank all of our Battleground World War II
playtesters from around the world, especially the following:
Jim Berhalter
- contributing ideas and playtesting rules
Fox Valley Historical Wargamers
(for playtesting rules
and the scenarios Jungle Hell, Stars and Stripes, The All
Americans):
John L. Martin
- special credit for the map of The
All Americans
Scott Tyler
- special credit for the map of Stars and
Stripes
Dan Wideman
Kevin Arft
Jerry “Tad” Bronson
Greg Porter
The Fox Valley guys also provided detailed Battle-Reports
about the scenarios. Thanks a million guys. Islands of Glory
couldn’t have been done without you!
We would also like to thank the Eisenhower Library
at Ft. Leavenworth for their assistance, Nancy Cooley (typ-
ing), Tavish Sanders (proofing), Tabletop Game & Hobby
(Lenexa, KS), Harold Coyle, and author Col. Joseph H.
Alexander, USMC (Ret.) for his excellent historical works on
the Pacific. Bob wants to thank Devin for being “kick”.
Lastly, thanks to all of the Battleground gamers and fans; for
all of you Pacific nuts - “This one’s for you!”
Happy Gaming!
Devin, Brad, Bob, Kurt, and Jim
“Banzai !”
“Gung-Ho !”
The plan
The plan
The Japanese
When Germany invaded Poland in September of 1939,
Japan had been at war with China for a little over two years.
This bloody war had deteriorated into a brutal guerilla war
and landed the Japanese in a much unwanted stalemate with
Chinese forces led by the Nationalist Chiang Kai-Shek and
the Communist leader Mao Tse-Tung. China offered the
growing Japanese Empire much needed raw materials and a
seat in the mainland Asian political arena, yet bloody atroci-
ties committed by Japanese forces in China had been turning
world opinion against the Japanese Empire for months. Trade
from European countries, already outraged and bracing for
war in their own backyards, suddenly disappeared. Also, a
severe drought in Japan and Korea ruined a large percentage
of crops. The Japanese High Command determined at the
end of 1939 that the Japanese war machine in China needed
raw materials quickly: rubber, tin, oil, bauxite, and rice. But
where would these vital raw materials come from?
As the tides of war in Europe began to turn against
France, Britain, and Holland, Japanese strategists looked
longingly to the south. The French were vulnerable and iso-
lated in rice-rich Indochina. British forces in Burma and
Malaysia were too thin to counter any serious threat to the
British Empire’s rubber plantations. The Dutch merely pre-
tended to police the hundreds of islands in the Dutch East
Indies loaded with oil reserves. Armed with threats and a pro-
paganda policy of “Asian Co-Prosperity” that encouraged
Asians to throw off the Eurpean colonial yoke (in order to
wear a Japanese one), the Japanese began implimenting plans
to drive to the south. By the summer of 1941, the raw mate-
rials in the south were now absolutely vital, even at the risk
of war with the United States.
In July of 1941, the Japanese occupied French
Indochina in a bloodless change of hands. In response the
U.S. placed an embargo on American oil exports and froze
Japanese assets. As Japan and the soon to be Allies slipped
toward war, Japanese strategists convinced the military lead-
ership that Japan must strike immediately while Japan was
strong and the Americans weak. With war inevitable, the
Japanese began to plan a blitzkrieg of their own.
The main goal of the Imperial Japanese Army’s attack
were the Dutch East Indies and the oil reserves there. This
would be supported on the Asian mainland by assaults into
British held Malaysia and Burma. The American occupied
Phillipine Islands, in addition to the islands of Guam and
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The plan
Wake, were also to be attacked with the intent of knocking the
American military presence in the Pacific out of action. Once
this was achieved, Japanese troops would then disperse and
occupy key positions in the Solomons, the Carolines, the
Gilberts, the Marshalls, and the Aleutian Islands. To top
things off, the Imperial Navy would launch a massive air
strike against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii.
If all went according to plan, the “Greater East Asia
War” (as it would soon be called by the Japanese) to the south
would decisively destroy the American and British military
might in the Pacific. Most importantly, it would successfully
deliver the raw materials for the Japanese war machine in
China - where the Japanese believed the real war was being
fought. According to Japanese estimates, only 21 battalions
of troops would need to be stationed in the Pacific as a safe-
guard against the Americans.
This could not be more wrong.
The Americans
Prior to the war with Japan, the United States’ plan in
the Pacific was certainly in theory and not in practice.
Ultimately, American installations would be expected to hold
on until reinforcements could arrive from Hawaii and the
States. The U.S. Pacific Fleet based out of Pearl Harbor
would play a key role in preventing Japanese landing opera-
tions while simultaneously delivering the convoys of rein-
forcements to the Phillipines, Guam, Midway, and Wake
Island. Yet, as time would tell, the U.S. Navy would be crip-
pled and American installations beseiged at the outbreak of
war. As American forces crumbled in the Pacific, so did the
existing American plan (actually more of an assumption) to
fight a defensive war. New plans to save Australia and to
drive the Japanese back in the Pacific would need to be devel-
oped.
Luckily, the Americans had been experimenting with a
new theory of warfare: amphibious operations. Since the
1920’s the Navy and the Marine Corps had been developing
the idea of attacking enemy islands en masse with specially
trained troops in amphibious vehicles. These troops would be
supported by naval battleships and support craft that would
give the landing troops help in firepower and supplies.
Though landing troops on enemy islands was not a new prac-
tice, this new amphibious theory proposed the ability to land
tens of thousands of troops basically anywhere and at any-
time through precise coordination with the Navy.
As a possible conflict with Japan loomed closer, the
Navy and Marine Corps began putting the new theory to the
test. New landing craft were designed and prototypes built.
Troops began to train in the art of storming beaches. Attack
plans from war studies in the 1920’s were dusted off and re-
evaluated. Thus, when the war began, the United States was
ready to employ its new amphibious theory in actual combat.
This would lead to some of the most brutal fighting and hard
fought lessons in the war and in the history of the United
States. In what would be known as “island-hopping,”
American amphibious operations would eventually defeat the
Japanese Pacific but at the huge cost of material and men.
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islands of glory
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The battle
The battle
The Japanese
The war in the Pacific erupted like a volcano in 1941. In
December an unprepared United States suddenly found itself
reeling from the devastating air attack on its Navy at Pearl
Harbor, while its Marines and Army personnel braced them-
selves for sieges on numerous islands throughout the Pacific.
Japan, combat tested and ready from years of conflict in
China, quickly raced to seize the initiative by launching
strikes on US forces in the Philippines, Guam, and Wake
Island.
American military forces in the Pacific were unprepared
for the sudden attack of the Japanese. The effects of reduced
spending on the military by the US leading up to 1941 would
manifest itself in a hodgepodge collection of military out-
posts scattered throughout the Pacific. These vital installa-
tions were vastly undermanned and suffered from the lack of
modern weapons and supplies. In addition these “colonial”
outposts offered more in the ways of country club living than
the military effectiveness required. American troops lacked
anti-tank weapons, machine guns, and were mostly armed
with the World War I vintage Springfield rifle.
The Japanese, on the other hand, were mostly well-
trained and combat ready. The key to the Japanese declaration
of war against the US was speed. The Japanese sought to
quickly overrun American possessions before troops from the
US mainland could reinforce their beleaguered comrades
overseas. Armed with tanks, ample supplies and a clear ocean
free of American warships, the Japanese felt the time for a
sudden and decisive strike in the Pacific had come.
The Philippine Islands were the key to both sides’ suc-
cess early in the war. The strategic site of the islands would
definitely be paramount as a supply base for both sides in a
Pacific campaign. The Americans realized this a few years
prior to the war and attempted to train and arm a Philippine
defense force comprise of Philipino nationals and supported
by small active duty American units. Unfortunately for the
Americans, the realization of such a force would come too
late. In two months American forces were driven down into
the Bataan Peninsula and Manila abandoned. Still hoping for
reinforcements and supplies, the remaining American forces
retreated onto the island of Corregidor across the harbor from
Manila. Unfortunately, these troops would surrender in time
with the survivors being subjected to the grueling Bataan
Death March into Japanese captivity.
The American held islands of Guam and Wake also held
out to the last possible second but without help from the
States they too succumbed to the Japanese offensive. By the
Spring of 1942, the Japanese held the reigns in the Pacific and
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