We played the first day of the invasion of Tulagi, the ex-seat of British government turned into Japanese seaplane base. In reality, the Japanese yielded the beaches to the Marines without a fight (one man injured when he cut himself trying to hack open a coconut). The Marines reached their objective of Phase Line A without much resistance, but then the Japanese Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) troops (the Marines rightly feared the fanaticism of SNLF troops, the equivalent of Japanese marines) began to push back. The Japanese countered with nighttime assaults (the primary Japanese tactic finally questioned following Maj Ichicki's demise) that, while unsuccessful, exhausted the Americans and affected their combat operations the next day when the island fell. In total 155 Marines died in the two days it took to "secure" the island (never mind those guys in the caves!). This time around, the Japanese decided to contest the beach...

A and D companies of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion landed on the beach only to find themselves met by a company sized reception committee of SNLF troops reinforced by 37MM anti-aircraft guns set up to fire at targets four to five feet off the deck. Well disciplined fire from the motivated Marines rattled the AA guns and their supporting infantry, but only a full charge into Japanese troops could hold back disaster. Disaster struck anyway. The AA guns and their support were quickly pushed aside, but the three remaining SNLF platoons reeked havoc among the invaders. While the Marines were able to eventually clear the beach, the fanatic defense by the SNLF caused horrific casualties amongst the Marines and kept the beach tied up for the better part of an hour. Already the attack was off to a bad start. What SNLF troops that survived the landing began to melt into the surrounding jungle. The Marines had no choice but to go in after them.

The only thing worse than combat on the beach was combat in the jungle. The Japanese troops had no intention of surrendering, and repeated attempts by the Marines to eject them resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. The exhausted troops on both sides began to hunker down and snipe at each other. The only shining point came when two broken Japanese platoons ran down the clear path on the west of the island only to be caught in the open by Support Force Mike of the US Navy, and the light cruiser shelled the bejeebers out of the SNLF troops. Some air support by carrier planes saw the SNLF troops suffer 50% casualties before finally getting away.

Speaking of air support, the promised support by said US Navy carrier planes could be described as intermittent at best. The limited support, while typically effective when it arrived, was not sufficient to seriously disrupt Japanese forces hiding in the jungle. While they bombed the tar out of Japanese service troops on top of the island's highest spot, these forces kept their heads down until the planes left the area and then reconstituted into a force that continued to annoy the Marines.

B, C, and E companies of the 1st Marine Raider battalion made it on shore and began to push north and east across the island while A and D companies, or what was left of them, were assigned to secure the western portion. With reinforcements on shore, the Marines were beginning to get the upper hand. Japanese resistance was beginning to fade, and while the casualties suffered so far made the operation anything but a victory, at least it could marginally be called a success. That is until Maj Johnson, leading his platoon down the trail on the southern shore of the island, found himself ambushed by a force of SNLF troops hidden in the jungle. Assuming the Japanese were flushed out of the area and trying to get to the seaplane base, Major Johnson found his entire platoon wiped out in a vicious volley of gunfire followed by a fanatical charge by Japanese troops let by Lt (Naval) Arai. While Maj Johnson was able to prevent death or capture to himself until Capt Smithers arrived with reinforcements, the effect of the ambush tempered Marine willingness to close ranks again.

A renewed wave of assaults on Japanese positions in the western jungle, while expensive, finally broke the resistance on that end of the island; further east, however, after dispatching Lt Arai's force the Marines found the Japanese taking refuge in a network of caves. While the Marines maneuvered to surround the Japanese defenders (and capture the seaplane base), the Japanese opened up with a torrent of fire that once again tore into the troops under Maj Johnson. Fearful of another assault on strong Japanese positions, the Marines formed fire groups around the Japanese and prepared for a long battle against the entrenched SNLF troops, now supported by the service troops from the seaplane base that survived the short but vicious air attacks. And the Marines still had not reached the eastern end of the island.

As the day wore on, the Marines would land more forces, and the invasion force would eventually overwhelm the Japanese defenders. They would die to a man with the exception of troops on the eastern end that swam to Florida Island nearby. Unfortunately for the Marines, the commanders would spend some time writing letters to the families of the deceased troops. While the newsreels showed footage of an island secured from the Japanese, the horrified command staff of the Marines would be forced to reconsider tactics, training, and equipping of their units, and questioned their ability to face the Japanese. The troops would long remember the ferocity of SNLF troops, and dread another confrontation. And perhaps worst of all, the mauled 1st Marines Raider battalion had to be withdrawn from combat, a move that would have dire consequences in the next stage of operations, the invasion of Guadalcanal.

Observations: Proof that assault is the way for the Japanese to win. Victory conditions included geographical for both sides, but step loss requirements were the Marines could not win with more than two steps suffered and the Japanese won with seven or more inflicted. 13 turns into a 38 turn game saw the Japanese inflict ten step losses on the Marines (only eight lost for the Japanese), nine during assaults. Played out I would expect two or three more, but probably split between assault and DF.

Japanese setup is critical. Fight for the beach. Hard. You will lose a lot of troops, but Japanese troops are expendable. After one turn the Marines had suffered three step losses, and could only get a draw at best. The rest was hiding in jungles and caves making the Marines come after the Japanese. The Japanese do have to watch the aircraft and CL. Don’t get caught in the open. And keep the AA gun a little farther back from the beach so the Marines can’t assault on the first turn.

The alternative is to play conservative, yield the beach, and hide. You’ve given up the initiative, and you are gambling on poor Marine performance. With 38 turns, the Marines should be able to expand everywhere. Only the caves will present a challenge, and the Japanese have to inflict the step losses to force a draw or capture the win.

The Marines were too impatient on this one. With 38 turns available, take time to get all forces on shore. Move troops within shooting range of the Japanese and use DF until they get beat up, then launch the assault. Expect the caves to be nasty. You don’t need to empty the cave that is a Japanese objective if you move down to the east side of the island and kill service troops to secure the end.