In order to achieve a decisive victory, the player needs to capture all the objectives on or before their required turn, eliminate all Japanese forces, all while limiting their own casualties. It’s easy to see that some of these objectives are in opposition to the others. Taking the objectives on time demands speed. Speed can mean casualties. It’s very easy to limit casualties by proceeding methodically only to find that time has run out before the last Japanese holdouts can be reached.
The player has a number of additional obstacles to face in their pursuit of victory. Neutralizing level 3 fortifications can be a daunting task, and doubly dangerous if occupied by some of the stronger, 4-step Japanese units. Finite support points and armor units naturally limit the number of safe attacks that can be made in each turn. And finally, combat can quickly increase fatigue in front-line units to the point where they are combat-ineffective, especially against entrenched Japanese units.
Dealing With Fatigue
Marine units accrue fatigue during most combat actions. You will find that via opportunity fire, combat, and night attacks that a unit in contact can gain enough fatigue in a single turn to negatively effect their combat performance. It will be necessary to rotate units in contact frequently if you want to maximize your chances of inflicting casualties on the enemy. Having units to rotate necessarily means you cannot attack with all available units. If you ignore this, you will quickly find yourself with an exhausted division with no offensive capability. Pacing is crucial to success.
Minimizing Casualties
Most marine casualties will be inflicted during Japanese artillery, opportunity fire, and combat actions. Casualties due to artillery and direct combat are not easily avoided, but you can avoid opportunity fire. Careful planning of the movement of marine units can deny Japanese units opportunity fire chances. This can be especially important when dealing with strong Japanese units.
Adding support to units moving into (or out of) contact is another good way to limit casualties. Even if you only avoid 1 step of casualties a turn, over the course of the game that’s over 30 victory points. It may be the difference between victory and defeat.
HQs and Command and Control
Command and control is vital for a marine division. Without it you will not be able to attack or receive replacements that turn. Fortunately, maintaining command and control is not terribly difficult. However, you may find things get sticky when trying to exploit a breakthrough in a defensive line. Be careful when moving your HQs that you do not expose them unnecessarily to opportunity fire. A disrupted HQ is an excellent way to waste an entire turn for a division.
Using Armor
Cracking the defensive lines and strongpoints with their level 2 and 3 fortifications can be a tough challenge. Every advantage is needed. The combat bonuses provided by armor are vital. It’s best to decide on your attacks for the turn, move your infantry into contact, then move armor directly behind the front line in places where they can support the most units.
While you may conduct attacks directly with armor units this is not recommended. On their own, armor units attack strength is relatively low and they are much better used as supporting units for infantry attacks.
Replacements
It will quickly become obvious that the supply of replacements is more of a trickle than a steady stream. There simply will not be enough replacements to make good the losses in marine units. Once you realize this, the question becomes: How will you allocate your replacements?
It should also be clear quite early that some marine divisions have more punch than others. The 5th Marine units are the strongest in the game when at full strength. That difference in attack strength can have a significant impact on results, especially when attacking Japanese units in level 2 or 3 fortifications.
As commander of the marine forces on the island, you may have to make a tough call and reserve your replacements for the units most likely to make a difference during the long, hard fighting ahead.
General Strategy
The landing beaches for the marine divisions follow the historical plan. The 5th Marine Division lands on the left end of the beaches, near Mount Suribachi. The 4th Marine Division lands to the right.
The objective schedule means that there is little time to waste upon landing. You have to move quickly and overwhelmingly, on the first airfield. Ignore other considerations until the capture of the airfield is assured.
After that point, Mount Suribachi is the next obvious target. Its capture also carries the bonus of reducing Japanese artillery fire. The 5th Marine Division, which also represents your strongest units, is positioned perfectly to carry out the task of clearing the objective. 4th Marine can clear the remaining strongpoints around the airfield or attempt to pierce the first defensive line, but the focus should be on Mount Suribachi.
By the time Mount Suribachi is taken, the 3rd Marine Division should have landed their initial wave. Now is the time to work on piercing the first defensive line and taking the second airfield. Focusing effort between the divisions while avoiding unnecessary exposure to flanking fire is the best tactic, while making plentiful use of support and armor. Rotate fatigued units frequently while also using support to protect moving units from Japanese opportunity fire. Once replacements become available, use them carefully to maintain the strength of your strongest division.
Things just get more difficult when approaching the second defensive line. Both General Kuribayashi’s redoubt in the north and Tachiiwa Point in the south are nightmares of mutually supporting level 3 fortifications and bunkers. Replacements will be winding down to a thin trickle by this point, so the focus should be on preserving and protecting combat strength in the 5th Marine Division. The other divisions, which will likely be reduced to masses of 2-step unit,s may still be helpful attacking less strongly held positions or reducing the final last-ditch resistance by weakened Japanese defenders. At this point, the battle becomes a test of endurance.
Good luck.
