Historical Background:
On the 19th of February 1945, after a long naval and air bombing, the 4th and 5th Marine Division landed unopposed on the long black sandy beach of Iwo Jima. But as soon as the Marines tried to exit the beach, they were pinned to the sand by a terrific fire made by numerous camouflaged Japanese positions and in particular from mount Suribachi which overlooked the landing beach. 27th Marine Regiment, landed on Red 2, advanced hardly to its objective, Motoyama airfield . Sergeant John Basilone of 1st Battalion, hero of the battle of Guadalcanal, led his young soldiers in the battle. He assaulted a Japanese bunker and destroyed it with a grenade, but near the airfield he was killed by a Japanese mortar shell. Iwo Jima was captured not before the 16th of March 1945 and was a blood bath : nearly 6 000 US Marines were killed and about 13 000 Japanese soldiers.

The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.

Briefing:
Axis player [Japan]
Take 5 Command cards.

Allied player [ US Marine Corps]
Take 5 Command cards.
You move first.

Conditions of Victory:
6 medals.

The 5 hexes of the airfield form a Temporary Majority Medal Objective worth 1 Medal for whoever controls the airfield.

Special Rules:
Use "Japanese Imperial Army" rules (Nations 3 - Japanese Imperial Army).

Use "US Marine Corps" rules (Nations 4 - US Marine Corps).

Special Weapon Asset rules (SWAs 4 - Special Weapon Assets) are in effect for the units equipped with mortars (SWAs 6 - Mortar Late War) or machine guns (SWAs 7 - Machine Gun Late War).

Use "Flame Thrower" rules for tanks units (Troops 13 - Flame Throwing Tanks).

The Axis player lays out the minefields (Terrains 29 - Minefields).

Scenario Bibliography:
- Magazine Troupes d'élite tome 5 - Iwo Jima, l'île sanglante.
- Historia Magazine n°407 (1974) - Iwo Jima.
- Biographie de John Basilone.