NT - Guadalcanal Grand Campaign – Turn 2: Battle of Cactus Air Force

Eric Lew: for this campaign – the storyline, execution and outcome are purely based on IJN players’ point of view with inputs from the GM (YS Oon) and all players in the IJN faction (Hyiktsay and Chor Ghee). This is in no way a representation of actual historical battle that had taken place.

“Cactus Air Force refers to the ensemble of Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal from August 1942 until December 1942 during the early stages of the Guadalcanal Campaign, particularly those operating from Henderson Field. After December, the official name of the unit became Commander, Aircraft, Solomons (AirSols), but Cactus Air Force was still used frequently to refer to the organization. The term "Cactus" comes from the Allied code name for the island. In April 1943 the organization was re-designated as AirSols.

On August 20, Marine pilots from Marine Aircraft Group 23 with eighteen F4F Wildcat fighter planes of VMF-223 led by Major John L. Smith, and a dozen SBD Dauntless dive bombers of VMSB-232 led by Lt. Colonel Richard Mangrum, flying from the escort aircraft carrier USS Long Island, landed at Henderson Field, and these warplanes were conducting combat missions on the next day. They were joined on August 22, by the U.S. Army's 67th Pursuit Squadron, under Major Dale Brannon, with five Army P-400s and on August 24 by eleven SBD dive bombers that came from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise because they were unable to land on their own carrier, with battle damage sustained during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. At the end of August, these warplanes were joined by nineteen more Wildcats from VMF-224 under Major Robert E. Galer, and twelve more SBD dive bombers from VMSB-231, also part of the Marine Air Group 23. This varied assortment of Army, Marine, and Navy pilots and warplanes was the beginnings of the Cactus Air Force.”

Snippet from Wikipedia

On August 20, 1942, the IJN received signal intercepts that a large vessel with slow screws are approaching the area nearby of Guadalcanal – among a corridor of waters leading towards the Island. Admiral Eric Lew took upon himself to patrol the location and with the blessing of Divine Wind, seek and destroy any approaching enemy warships. With a vast corridor of waters to cover, multiple taskforces were formed – codename Nippon Kaigun, to patrol the area and report in any USN warships within the proximity to the signal received.

Come noon that day, Task Force Nippon Kaigun 2 managed to detect approximately 12 warships and among them a light aircraft carrier heading towards Guadalcanal. Without much hesitation, the patrol taskforces converge to meet the enemy – supported by air cover from IJN carriers.

On top of the heavy cruiser Kinugasa, Admiral Eric Lew heads out with its fleet, telling the boys victory will be near – the Empire’s long awaited victory is fore coming.

IJN Order of Battle: Nippon Kaigun 1 Nippon Kaigun 2 Nippon Kaigun 3

Battle Cruiser Hiei Destroyer Tokitsukaze Light Cruiser Nagara Destroyer Urakaze Heavy Cruiser Kinugasa Destroyer Yukikaze Destroyer Yuzuki

House rules: We are using our own tested and proven spot & detection rules. Warships were grouped together and “blinded” (represented by paper) on the table. Only the faction’s players and GM knows what consist in the blinds – the other faction will have to spot them.

“Admiral, all available bombers are en-route to the enemy location. May Divine Wind bring glory to the Empire, BANZAI!!” – Fleet Carrier Zuikaku

Pre-turn air sorties saw both sides engaged in a tough naval strike. With the IJN Zeroes still much intact, managed to gain air superiority and destroyed all of USN combat air patrols, paving a clear way for IJN’s bombers to do its strike.

“Payload delivered, a confirm hit. I repeat, a confirm hit. Enemy flattop is sinking” – IJN dive bomber.

Various IJN bombers managed to find its mark and confirm the sinking of USN light carrier and the heavy cruiser Indianapolis.

“Admiral, this is Captain Tokitsuke Anhoi, the enemy planes had managed to hit our side hull and it’s taking too much water. I had ordered abandon ship” – On board battle cruiser Hiei.

On the USN side, their bombers too were able to attack IJN fleet with minimal combat air patrols and landed a critical blow – destroying the battle cruiser Hiei and light cruiser Nagara. Besides that, heavy cruiser Kinugasa was also suffering critical damages, thankfully still being afloat.

“Enemy surface vessels spotted, 3 clicks away” - DD Yuzuki

With the smokes cleared from the air strikes, both fleets soon engaged. IJN deployed its fleet into 2 groups – a group consists of heavily damaged heavy cruiser Kinugasa while the other being the bait force.

“Admiral, it’s been great working under your command. May you continue to lead us to glory. We are going in!! - DD Tokitsukaze

By turn 7, IJN bait group consist of DD Yuzuki and DD Tokitsukaze managed to reach the right flank of USN warships. No sooner, both ships were sunk at that turn, before they managed to deal several hits and sank USN DD MacDonough.

“Breaking away from formation to engage the enemy” – DD Yukikaze

In turn 8, DD Yukikaze and DD Urakaze broke away from formation and engaged in a kamikaze run – rewarded by a torpedo hit and subsequent sinking of USN light cruiser San Juan.

 

Came turn 9, the battle was over with heavy cruiser Kinugasa managed to retreat from the battle surface. Admiral Eric Lew’s fleet was at the losing end of this battle. 7 IJN warships headed out to engage the USN warships, only 1 survived.

Back in Rabaul –

Standing at the port in full military attire, Admiral Eric Lew salutes the badly damaged Kinugasa as she heads towards the setting sun, en-route to Kawasaki naval port for major repairs.

Kinugasa, named after Mount Kinugasa, had served the IJN all her life and seen many battle since its completion in 1927. Since 1940, she had served Admiral Eric Lew well, from the time when he assumed command of her – from Pearl Harbor till now, Guadalcanal.

Sailing towards the horizon ever slowly, Admiral Eric Lew stood unmoved and uninterrupted at the port, as he bade farewell not only to her but to the sailors that lost their lives in the prior battle. A gesture of final salutation - knowing that the importance of every single IJN warship, every single asset, every single sailor and their embodiment will determine the Empire’s future – a future slipping away from the victory that it sought.

NT - Guadalcanal Grand Campaign – Turn 2: Battle of the Matanikau

Eric Lew: for this campaign – the storyline, execution and outcome are purely based on IJN players’ point of view with inputs from the GM (YS Oon) and all players in the IJN faction (Hyiktsay and Chor Ghee). This is in no way a representation of actual historical battle that had taken place.

“On 7 August 1942, Allied forces landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida Islands in the Solomon Islands. The landings on the islands were meant to deny their use by the Japanese as bases for threatening the supply routes between the U.S. and Australia, and to secure the islands as starting points for a campaign with the eventual goal of isolating the major Japanese base at Rabaul while also supporting the Allied New Guinea campaign. The landings initiated the six-month-long Guadalcanal campaign.

Taking the Japanese by surprise, by nightfall on 8 August, the 11,000 Allied troops, under the command of Lieutenant General Alexander Vandegrift and mainly consisting of United States Marine Corps units, had secured Tulagi and nearby small islands, as well as an airfield under construction at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal. The airfield was later named Henderson Field by Allied forces. The Allied aircraft that subsequently operated out of the airfield became known as the "Cactus Air Force" (CAF) after the Allied codename for Guadalcanal. To protect the airfield, the U.S. Marines established a perimeter defense around Lunga Point.

In response to the Allied landings on Guadalcanal, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters assigned the Imperial Japanese Army's 17th Army, a corps-sized command based at Rabaul and under the command of Lieutenant-General Harukichi Hyakutake, with the task of retaking Guadalcanal from Allied forces. Beginning on 19 August, various units of the 17th Army began to arrive on Guadalcanal with the goal of driving Allied forces from the island.”

Snippet from Wikipedia

Come 19 August 1942, the IJN were notified an important information that the US Marines are launching a major offensive against Imperial Japanese Army’s (IJA) position west of the Matanikau river. If they were to breach through, the western flank would be exposed. To prevent this, IJN had to secure a local superiority in the area and to shell Allied positions.

Lead by Admiral Chor Ghee, forming 2 separate taskforce (Task Force 1 and Task Force 3) consisting of 7 warships with its flagship, battle cruiser Kirishima – Sailed out to Japanese control section of the Guadalcanal Island and arriving past midnight. The taskforces were flanked by Admiral Hyiktsay’s task force – codenamed Tulagi, consisting of 2 warships, on intercept mission around Allied occupied naval base northeast of Guadalcanal.

0500 hours, while patrolling the waters around IJA occupied Guadalcanal Island, flashes of light can be seen from the distance on the starboard side of Kirishima. The light cruiser Yubari (part of Task Force 3) while patrolling the same waters were able to positively identify it to be USN warships totaling approximately 5 warships.

No sooner, Admiral Hyiktsay’s Tulagi Task Force radioed in and reports roughly 10 USN warships, with a possibility of a battleship, were also spotted on patrol on their western side position. Without much deliberation, Admiral Hyiktsay ordered its Tulagi Task Force to converge with Admiral Chor Ghee’s taskforces.

On a separate location, Admiral Hyiktsay’s 2 other taskforces – Shodo 1 and Shodo 2 – on an airfield strike mission to supplement an attack on Henderson Field, had to be called off and to reinforce Admiral Chor Ghee’s position, concluding that by achieving local naval superiority in and around the area would be crucial to accomplish the Empire’s objectives.

By 0555 hours, the combined IJN fleet of Admiral Chor Ghee and Admiral Hyiktsay sailed out to meet the USN warships, knowing in mind at least 1 battleship would be present and having virtually no IJN or IJA air cover.

IJN Order of Battle: Task Force 1 Task Force 3 Tulagi Task Force Shodo 1 Shodo 2

Battle Cruiser Kirishima Heavy Cruiser Chikuma Destroyer Asagumo Destroyer Yugure Destoryer Makigumo Light Cruiser Yubari Destroyer Shigure Light Cruiser Tenryu Destoryer Uranami Battle Cruiser Kongo Destroyer Shirayuki Heavy Cruiser Kako Destoryer Shikinami

For this battle and at the result of a dice roll off, IJN would be the attacker with dawn battle chosen – whereby at battle turn 2 will be day. House rules: We are using our own tested and proven spot & detection rules. Warships were grouped together and “blinded” (represented by paper) on the table. Only the faction’s players and GM knows what consist in the blinds – the other faction will have to spot them.

“Admiral Chor Ghee, this is Captain Wasabi Nabe on-board I-21. We had received your orders and will be engaging the enemy. Rest assured, we will do our best to sink the battleship” – coded transcript.

Pre-turn submarine strike on battleship Washington scored a direct hit and caused fire.

With the sight of the rising sun on the horizon, cannon fire soon erupted – none hitting their mark with close and near misses on both sides.

“Scramble the smoke screen, all ships to maintain distance. Admiral Chor Ghee, our fleet are converging, maintain port” – Admiral Hyiktsay

Both Hyiktsay and Chor Ghee pulled a maneuver to combine both of their fleet together with hopes that their warships able to launch their recon planes to shoot thru the smokes being layered by the destroyers.

“Admiral Hyiktsay!! Admiral-sama!!” – Shouts from midshipman right after a thunderous shot rip apart battle cruiser Kongo’s bridge.

At turn 6, the undetected battleship South Dakota revealed itself and open fire at battle cruiser Kongo – dealing a bridge critical hit. The situation begin to shift in favor on the USN side, as the IJN soon realized that they were not dealing with a battleship but 2 battleships.

“That’s for Admiral Hyiktsay!!” – yelled out by the gunner manning the Kongo’s main armarment.

Despite the bridge damage, Kongo still managed to find its mark on battleship South Dakota and causing it to be on fire.

“My fellow admirals, please sound the retreat and pull away soonest possible” – Admiral Eric Lew upon receiving battle updates of Kongo’s fate.

Regaining control and heeding the advice, Admiral Hyiktsay ordered his fleet to pull away. Unaware of the capability of Kongo to be able to leave the battle, Admiral Chor Ghee steered his battle cruiser Kirishima to shadow the IJN exit.

“Admiral Chor Gee, we are unable to go any faster, we are taking too much water coupled with the fact we are also having a fire on-board” – Reports from battle cruiser Kirishima

In a twist of events, turn 7 proved fatal for Kirishima as it was shot by various USN warships causing fire and double flooding. Admiral Chor Ghee decision to shadow the retreating Kongo and not heeding retreat advice was costly.

“We found him along with several others. The raft at starboard” – On-board Light Cruiser Tenryu

It would take a further 2 turns for Kirishima to succumb from the numerous USN damage coupled with its speed reduced to a mere 1 inch per turn. By that time, no other IJN warships were left in play and none of its destroyers were present to provide smokescreen cover.

As it turns out, IJN were not able to achieve naval superiority in the area. Blinded by its own smoke screen and undermining the capability of the enemy had cost the IJN an unrecoverable lost. The family shame that brought upon with the lost of Kirishima would haunt Admiral Chor Ghee as he returns to Rabaul.

Although IJN can still rejoice as there were no other warships were destroyed, however it’s also can be said the same on the USN side. Despite the shots from IJN, none of USN warships were sunk.

The victory that sought by the Empire is yet to come.

NT - Guadalcanal Grand Campaign – Turn 1

Eric Lew: For this campaign – the storyline, execution and outcome are purely based on IJN point of view with inputs from the GM (YS Oon) and all players in the IJN faction (Hyiktsay and Chor Ghee).

A rather calm sea for the approaching summer of 1942 and from the horizon, 3 IJN Task Forces; TF 4, TF 5 and TF 6, comprising of 20 warships in total and among them the escort carrier Ryujo and Zuiho, cruising towards the Guadalcanal Island.

Lead by Admiral Eric Lew, on top of the heavy cruiser Maya, with Admiral Hyiktsay acting as the second command on board the battle cruiser Kongo. Their mission for such force was to assess the situation and seeking out any American warships within the proximity of the Island.

Days prior to sending the Task Forces out, Admiral Hyiktsay and Admiral Eric Lew of the IJN, deliberated on the amount of warships required for such patrol. Their decision was not an easy choice to make; with the occupation of the eastern part of the Island by American forces and with limited supplies and materials dampened their approach.

Campaign rules – IJN have diminishing materials and to represent that, the IJN faction begins play with approximately a third of the USN starting material points.

IJN warships participating in the battle

IJN Order of Battle: Task Force 5 Task Force 6

Carrier Escort Ryujo Carrier Escort Zuiho Destroyer Shikinami Destroyer Shirayuki Destroyer Uranami Heavy Cruiers Maya (flagship) Heavy Cruiser Kinugasa Destroyer Tokisukaze Destroyer Urakaze Destroyer Yukikaze Destoryer Isokaze

By Noon on that faithful day, USN warships were spotted within the horizon – on the same body of water with TF 5; a task force consisting of IJN carriers, an invaluable asset.

Admiral Eric Lew – “All ships turn port with haste. Protect those carriers”. With its heavy cruiser Maya as the flagship, TF 6 head towards TF 5 and combined both groups to take on the USN.

House rules: We are using our own tested and proven spot & detection rules. Warships were grouped together and “blinded” (represented by paper) on the table. Only the faction’s players and GM knows what consist in the blinds – the other faction will have to spot them.

L-R: Ian and Hyiktsay

Come evening that day, USN with aerial support scored first blood and dealing a crucial blow to IJN forces - the sinking of Ryujo by vast amount of bombers. IJN warships scrambled their all available anti-air guns to no avail. The sight of the sinking Ryujo was just too much to bear. Thankfully, no other IJN warships were damaged from the aerial attacks.

Pre-turn air strike saw the destruction of CVE Ryujo having taken 3 shots coming from USN torpedo bombers.

Destroyers deploying smoke screen

Upon detection of the USN warships; a midshipman rushes to the bridge and yell out – “2 American battleship spotted Admiral!! Awaiting your orders.” Upon hearing the updates, Admiral Eric Lew, responded – “Boys, this is not our battle. Inform the destroyers to lay smokes screens. Withdraw all ships.”

Little did the IJN Admirals knew, the USN sent a considerable show of force – consisting 2 of their available battle ships – the North Carolina and South Dakota Class.

IJN withdrawal

As the Task Forces withdraw, the USN continued their chase combined with relentless gun fire. The only plus point for the IJN side, none of the USN shells hit their mark. As dusk settles in, IJN manages a total withdrawal and hence giving the USN their 1^st taste of victory.