Blood Reef Tarawa CGIII (Setup)

SITREP

The Battle of Tarawa ran from November 20–23, 1943, when the U.S. 2nd Marine Division assaulted Betio Island in the Gilbert Islands. The Japanese had turned this tiny coral strip into a fortress of bunkers, trenches, and coastal guns under Admiral Keiji Shibasaki.

A misread tide left many landing craft hung up on the reef, forcing Marines to wade hundreds of yards under heavy fire. Despite strong naval and air bombardment, the first waves took severe casualties. Over three brutal days of close-quarters fighting—using flamethrowers, grenades, and tanks—the Marines inched across the island, cutting through pillboxes and strongpoints.

By the 23rd, Betio was secured. U.S. losses were high for such a small island, and nearly the entire Japanese garrison was killed. Tarawa proved the Pacific war’s amphibious assaults would be costly, and it pushed the U.S. to refine tactics, improve intelligence on tides and reefs, and expand use of amphibious tractors for future landings.

The Players

Neal – U.S. Marine Corps – Attackers:
2^nd Marine Division

Scott – Japanese – Defenders:
3^rd Special Base Force

It’s been a while since we’ve done any AAR content, and we’re about to embark on a Blood Reef Tarawa (BRT) CG, so we spent some time discussing our setups, rules, befuddling strategies, and general massiveness of this classic campaign game. Depending on how far we go, we plan on doing an AAR video for each CG date…but it might take a while.

The OBs for both sides are quite massive. The Marines have approximately 500 squad equivalents, ~120 leaders, 60 LVTs, and ~30 AFVs. The Japanese have a smaller force, but the island is a fortress of connected trenches, pillboxes, and bombproof bunkers. The Tarawa portion of the atoll is not that large, but the unit density for BRT is extremely high.

So look for AAR updates in the future. We can’t promise we’ll finish this CG, but we’re certainly going to give it a shot!!

GET TO THE CHOPPA…!!!

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