Turn 14
Two JP fighters jump 5th "Hickam" Sqdn and leave it badly mauled. Both sides take roughly the same amount of damage but the JP are able to split it between two units (Figure 1).
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| Figure 1 - Air combat |
A substantial JP force now threatens the Porac/Floridablanca blocking force. At least two units in the area receive replacements for their casualties. Both XPH/A Coy and USMC/B Coy are attacked and suffer casualties (Figure 2).
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| Figure 2 - JP repairs |
The enemy South of Porac is now in too good a shape to be profitably attacked, casualties are replaced and trenches are reinforced as well as possible (Figure 3).
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| Figure 3 - Floridablanca |
Over at Guagua the situation is not so dire but there's a serious risk developing. Two infantry units (one a Heavy) are close enough to Minalin that they can attack XPH/C Coy, possibly induce its retreat and in the subsequent advance take the Secondary VP. X/A Coy moves into the river to assist 1/A Coy in dealing with the threat (this action will be reported in Figure 5). Over at Calumpit a Type 97 Chi-Ha tank attacked Bunker B4 inflicting and taking minor damage. Bunker B4 returns fire and causes additional casualties. No. 1 IC has been ready to blow the Calumpit bridge for quite some time. There's no need to do it yet (Figure 4).
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| Figure 4 - Guagua |
1/A and X/A Coys provide flanking support to each other against the JP Infantry on the river. 1/A Coy has the better odds for the initial attack and inflicts very heavy casualties on the enemy (top left row). X/A Coy can now concentrate its fire on fewer targets and inflicts much more casualties (middle left row). Eng/C Coy joins the fray but is unable to destroy the enemy unit (bottom left row). Slightly North 1/B Coy attacks the Ha-Go on the river and inflicts two points of damage (Figure 5).
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| Figure 5 - Guagua |
Figure 6 is a pivotal moment in my playing of this mission. 5th "Hickam" Sqdn is so badly damaged that it has become somewhat of a liability. It may land at Floridablanca airfield or it may try to run away and hope the JP fighters lose interest. I just saved the game at this point and tried both. Landing at the airfield resulted on all the enemy aircraft beelining there and destroying the unit on the ground. I played Turn 15 to the end and saved that outcome as G(ame)1. Then I reloaded Turn 14 and flew 5th "Hickam" as far South as it could go. The A6M2 is thus out of the equation as it has 10-movement to the P40's 11-movement. The Ki-43 Hayabusa could still reach and there's another one somewhere that might be in range. If the Ki-43 had followed through and shot down 5th "Hickam" I would have proceeded with the campaign as per Game 1. It didn't and what you'll see next is Game 1B. I might be stretching the mulligans a bit thin here, you decide. It's not that the P40 Warhawk is so valuable that I can't part with it, I won't ever use it again in its current configuration. It is rather the sentimental value of the core unit that fought bravely at Pearl Harbor and whose history I want to carry on when I upgrade it to a much more useful piece of equipment further on. Reforming a dead P40 to then upgrade it would only set me down at most $80 and at the time frame when that would happen I most likely would be well able to afford it.
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| Figure 6 - 5th "Hickam" Sqdn |
Turn 15
There is now one JP artillery that can fire on the Porac/Floridablanca blocking force. Only the hapless XPH/A Coy is in range and the artillery was tasked to fire after the infantry had attacked (Figure 7).
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| Figure 7 - JP Artillery |
At Calumpit Bunker B4 was once again attacked by the Chi-Ha tank. It is so damaged that return fire is ineffective. No. 1 IC will not blow up the bridge (saving me $10) because this is the last turn and the Japanese have run out of time. The secondary objective is in hand (Figure 8).
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| Figure 8 - Calumpit |
At Porac/Floridablanca 5th "Hickam" Bty (I'm starting to realize that my naming convention can be a bit confusing) takes advantage of a Ki-43 Hayabusa straying into range to take a final parting shot and earn some experience. So does Sgt McNeil taking a potshot at an hapless JP Infantry. USMC/B Coy realizes the futility of attacking enemy armor and opts to replenish its strength (Figure 9). This position is irretrievably compromised and I'm very thankful that the mission ends now, I wouldn't want to have to extricate my units. The only outcome would be grief, damage and even the loss of a unit or two.
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| Figure 9 - Floridablanca |
At Guagua X/A Coy took a serious beating and is barely alive. A, B and C Coys 1st Btn U.S. Army take the opportunity to earn some experience with the promise of no casualties in return to hit a JP Engineer and Ha-Go tank. The image is a bit deceptive in that the tank is shown still on the river and still at 3-strength. That was the situation after 1/B Coy's attack (the Ha-Go had 5-strength). With 1/A Coy's attack the Ha-Go dropped to 2-strength and retreated into the fog of war (Figure 10). 1/A Coy's attack from a river tile is taking advantage of this being the last turn otherwise I would never have entertained it, the fate of X/A Coy illustrates the vulnerability of such a position quite clearly.
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| Figure 10 - Guagua |
Also a product of final-turn-itis is the last attack of 5th "Hickam" Sqdn (Figure 11).
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| Figure 11 - Final-turn-itis air combat |
This concludes my report on the mission events. Analysis and evaluation to follow.
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Comments on this post are disabled. That's just for ease of management. They will be enabled in the last post for each mission.
