Panzer Grenadier Battles on October 24th:
Afrika 1944 #22 - PAKfront Leyte '44 #12 - Flying Wedge
Fronte Russo #9 - Potemkin Village Leyte '44 #13 - Failure at Buri Airfield
Red & White #28 - Bastion
Errors? Omissions? Report them!
Combined Arms
Saipan 2 #22
(Defender) Japan vs United States (Attacker)
Formations Involved
Japan 136th Infantry Regiment
Japan 47th Independent Mixed Brigade
United States 24th Marine Regiment
Display
Balance:



Overall balance chart for Sap2022
Total
Side 1 0
Draw 0
Side 2 1
Overall Rating, 0 votes
5
4
3
2
1
0
Scenario Rank: --- of 1094
Parent Game Saipan 2
Historicity Historical
Date 1944-06-20
Start Time 10:30
Turn Count 22
Visibility Day
Counters 65
Net Morale 0
Net Initiative 1
Maps 1: 82
Layout Dimensions 43 x 28 cm
17 x 11 in
Play Bounty 170
AAR Bounty 168
Total Plays 1
Total AARs 1
Duplicates Saip021
Battle Types
Exit the Battle Area
Inflict Enemy Casualties
Rural Assault
Cave Control
Entrenchment Control
Conditions
Caves
Entrenchments
Off-board Artillery
Scenario Requirements & Playability
Saipan 2 Base Game
Introduction

Lt. Col. Richard Rothwell of the 2/24th Marines faced a hastily-arranged Japanese defensive line manned by the troops who’d been pulled off of the nearby Hill 500. Fourth Marine Division assigned him plenty of armored support: medium tanks, “Satan” flamethrowing tanks, and armored amphibian tractors acting as light tanks. Rothwell had trained his battalion since its formation in 1943, as executive officer and commander. Now he would test its ability to cooperate with armor under battlefield conditions.

Conclusion

Rothwell executed, he wrote afterwards, “the best-coordinated tank and infantry attack of the campaign.” There were not many such attacks in the campaign, but this one did overrun the Japanese lines before they could finish digging in. Rothwell, a long-service “China Marine,” would live to be 99 years old, dying in 2012.

Additional Notes

The USMC HMG's called for in the scenario book should actually WPN's.


Display Relevant AFV Rules

AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle
  • Vulnerable to results on the Assault Combat Chart (7.25, 7.63, ACC), and may be attacked by Anti-Tank fire (11.2, DFT). Anti-Tank fire only affects the individual unit fired upon (7.62, 11.0).
  • AFV's are activated by tank leaders (3.2, 3.3, 5.42, 6.8). They may also be activated as part of an initial activating stack, but if activated in this way would need a tank leader in order to carry out combat movement.
  • AFV's do not block Direct Fire (10.1).
  • Full-strength AFV's with "armor efficiency" may make two anti-tank (AT) fire attacks per turn (either in their action segment or during opportunity fire) if they have AT fire values of 0 or more (11.2).
  • Each unit with an AT fire value of 2 or more may fire at targets at a distance of between 100% and 150% of its printed AT range. It does so at half its AT fire value. (11.3)
  • Efficient and non-efficient AFV's may conduct two opportunity fires per turn if using direct fire (7.44, 7.64). Units with both Direct and AT Fire values may use either type of fire in the same turn as their opportunity fire, but not both (7.22, 13.0). Units which can take opportunity fire twice per turn do not have to target the same unit both times (13.0).
  • Demoralized AFV's are not required to flee from units that do not have AT fire values (14.3).
  • Place a Wreck marker when an AFV is eliminated in a bridge or town hex (16.3).
  • AFV's do not benefit from Entrenchments (16.42).
  • AFV's may Dig In (16.2).
  • Closed-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables. Do not take step losses from Direct or Bombardment Fire. If X or #X result on Fire Table, make M morale check instead (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT).
  • Closed-top AFV's: Provide the +1 modifier on the Assault Table when combined with infantry. (Modifier only applies to Germans in all scenarios; Soviet Guards in scenarios taking place after 1942; Polish, US and Commonwealth in scenarios taking place after 1943.) (ACC)
  • Tank: all are closed-top and provide the +1 Assault bonus, when applicable

Display Order of Battle

Japan Order of Battle
Imperial Japanese Army
United States Order of Battle
Marine Corps
  • Mechanized

Display Errata (1)

1 Errata Item
Overall balance chart for 1466

The 8-3 Marine Infantry counter appears in most of the Saipan 1944 and Marianas 1944 scenarios, replacing the 10-3 DF valued Marine counters for those scenarios and is currently published in the most recent Saipan printing.

(JayTownsend on 2015 Dec 26)

Display AARs (1)

Saipan 2nd Edition, scenario #22: Combined Arms
Author JayTownsend
Method Solo
Victor United States
Play Date 2026-08-29
Language English
Scenario Sap2022

Saipan 2nd Edition, scenario #22: Combined Arms

In this scenario the Americans have a nice amount of armor support with four types as well, including the dreaded Satan-Stuart Flame throwing tanks. The Japanese do have some guns and anti-tank guns, so the Americans can’t just drive over them.

The Japanese decide to block the main road-trail north on their right flank, put some defensive works in the mountain and a small force blocking on their left flank. The Americans send most of their forces up the north-south trail that skirt the western edge of the map and run into trouble on the way and lost some armor steps and I begin to worry about the Marines 3 objectives but after some heavy fight along the trail and town hexes including one Entrenchment the casualties begin to right themselves. It is very nice to have two infantry flame units and two tank flame units in the same forces, to help with dug-in, entrenchments & cave embedded enemy units. The Japanese do have some off-map artillery, so things are not all roses.

At a certain point in the battle, the Americans could now exit 25 steps off the northern edge of the map and had a 2 to 1 advantage in casualty losses and could settle for a minor victory but Lt. Colonel Richard Rothwell decided the Marines needed that third victory objective as well, controlling at least three of the four Entrenchments & Caves, even at the rick of more casualties.

After some more heavy fighting in the hills, the Americans now had control of 3 out of 4 defensive works and decided that was enough, as they still retained a 2 to 1 advantage in casualties and all three victory objectives for a major victory. The Marines had the firepower for this scenario, in a Combined Arms assault.

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