Type 97 Chi-Ha Medium Tank

The 9th Armored Regiment of the 1st Tank Division was reassigned to the 31st Army in April 1944 and sent to Saipan where it was effectively annihilated and not reorganized. Commanded by Colonel Tadashi Goshima, the unit consisted of 31 Type 97 Medium Tanks (modeled below), 4 Type 97-Improved Medium Tanks and 12 Type 95 Light Tanks.

Just after midnight on June 16, 1944 the Japanese forces made a large counterattack against the US 6th Marine Regiment on the beachhead near Charan Kanoa and were soundly repulsed due to inexperience in mounting tactical armored engagements. The Marines were able to concentrate their firepower on the assault and were augmented by naval gunfire.

Saipan Map Progress Report

Creating an accurate map of any historical territory that is usable by the game engine can be a challenge, but team member Jim Carravallah has pulled out all of the stops on this effort by creating a faithful representation of Saipan Island for the PACOPS modification. Although this is still a work in progress effort by Jim, it is far enough along to provide a sneak peak to the community:

Great work Jim!!

Larger image available here.

Force List Progress

Work began this morning creating battle specific force lists for the United States Marines, focusing first on V Marine Amphibious Corps HQ, the 2nd Marine Division and in particular the 6th and 8th Marine Infantry Regiments that landed on Green and Red Beaches on D Day June 15th, 1944. These forces came ashore to the north of Afetna Point and the 23rd and 28th regiments landing further south.

Fortunately a great deal of the ground work for the Marines (1944 version) had already been accomplished when I created the I Marine Amphibious Corps HQ previously (which serves as the backbone of the current Marine Corps 2.0 mod). Additional work needs to be done as some of the sources I have referenced seem to have minor conflicts in data.

Type 89 Grenade Discharger

Known as the “knee mortar” by Allied forces in the Pacific Theater, this light mortar weapons system was capable of firing multiple munitions from 50mm HE to smoke and incendiaries. It entered service in 1929 as a replacement to the Type 10 unit and was operated by a crew of three soldiers. The Type 89 was able to attain a rate of fire of approximately 25 rounds per minute.

The version used for PACOPS will be based on the 5cm leGrW 36, and the ammunition will be cloned from the 5cm GrW HE ammunition with adjustments to some parameters. These weapons will be added to the existing Japanese basic infantry company establishment, and may at a later date also be added to a newly created mortar section or other units that had organic light mortar.

PACOPS Type 38 Arisaka Rifle

The Type 38 rifle was designed by Colonel Arisaka Nariakira and first saw combat action in Japan’s war with Russia in 1905. Influenced by the German Mauser design, over three million weapons were built in several variations. The 6.5X50 mm cartridge was perceived to be weaker than other available at the time so the Japanese Army moved towards the Type 99 rifle with its more powerful 7.7X58 mm cartridge.

The Type 38 I am currently modeling in the game is the “standard issue” 1.280 mm (50.4 in) version, however this might change with additional research into Japanese combat formations, especially when it gets down to the creation of specific force lists for actual battle. At this length it was the longest rifle of the war primarily due to Japan’s emphasis on bayonet training at the time.

Trial by Fire

The 21st Marine Infantry Regiment is making an amphibious assault across the Lower Rhine in an attempt to secure three key highway objectives. They land on the north bank of the “Island” approximately 1 km from their first objective and are screened on the south bank by the 1st Battalion 9th Marine Infantry Regiment (supporting 3rd Division HQ elements).

The three landing battalions arrive a day ahead of their regimental HQ and support units which must come from far west of the area of operations due to their heavy supply trucks and other vehicles requiring roadways. Ammunition can become scarce during this time so it is important to utilize the landing force quickly and decisively to avoid being pinned down on the “beach”.

PACOPS Type 99 Arisaka Rifle

The Type 99 rifle was meant as a replacement to the Type 38 and was based on the German Mauser design. It is considered one of the strongest military bolt action rifles ever produced, but late war models were made of lower quality materials and fabricated through rushed production resulting in weapons that were noticeably inferior to their original model.

Produced at nine different locations and in four variants, over three million rifles were built between 1939 and the end of the war. The weapon weighed 3.7kg, was 44 inches long and had a barrel length of 25.87 inches. It fired a 7.7X58mm Arisaka cartridge at a muzzle velocity of 730 m/s and had a five round internal box magazine with a stripper clip.