As the march to VE floats across the Pacific, the Marines are set to attack Palau ~

Avery Abernethy, 12 February 2017

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The Palau campaign was one of the most controversial in the Pacific. The US Marines took heavy casualties. The strategic need for capturing Palau has been questioned.  The Japanese changed their tactics on Palau and did not use wild Banzai charges. Palau also has a very high set of hills which allowed observation of US troops on the island. The Japanese also have quite a bit of armor although they lack air support.

Next Target Palau

Mission Goals

D-Day Palau

D-Day Angaur

Palau Heavy Resistance

Palau Turn 3

Anguar Turn 3

Palau Turn 5

Angaur Turn 5

Finally off Palau Beach

Bad Tactics on Angaur

Palau turn 7 – Airforce Arrives

Palau Turn 9

Palau Reinforcements finally are earned

I botched this scenario. You must clear Angaur, a smaller island West of Palau of all Japanese defenders. My tactics on Angaur were bad. The initial Angaur landings were unopposed. My forces quickly moved inland. Instead of clearing the Southern end of the island which lacks good defensive terrain, I stupidly split my forces into three parts. I should have taken this island in 10-12 turns.

Palau was horrible. The Japanese fought the initial beachhead with most of their forces. It took six turns to secure the airfield and allow air support. I did not take a second Palau objective which is critical to earning substantial reinforcements until turn 10. The Japanese had superior forces on Palau and an all-out attack might have annihilated the Marine landing. As it was, the constant waves of Japanese attackers slowed the Palau campaign to a crawl.

How did the rest of the mission unfold?  See you tomorrow –

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