[Kurile islands] Soviet landing on Shumshu - August 18, 1945

Manchzurkaya Strategicheskaya Nastupatelnaya Operaciya - The last battle.
Pacific Theater By: jdrommel - Last update: 05/08/2015
Axis Player: Allied Player:
x4 x10 x6 x10
    first You play first


There are problems with this scenario: it cannot be set-up using the standard terrain tiles of Memoir '44 and the selected extensions. There are too many terrains of one or more types. Please contact the author.

Historical Background:
On the 8th of August 1945, Soviet Union declared war to Japan, breaking the neutrality pact signed on 13th April 1941. One of the Soviet goal was the occupation of the Kurile Islands. On the 18th of August in the morning, a Soviet naval infantry battalion landed on the north beach of Shumshu Island, south of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Japanese soldiers were surprised and thought first that they were attacked by US soldiers, but soon they joined their bunkers and trenches and resisted fiercely to the invaders, inflicting heavy losses to the Soviet troops. Japanese 11th tank regiment, under the command of Colonel Ikeda, made several counter-attacks. Without any tanks, Soviet soldiers had to fight against Japanese tanks only with grenades and some anti-tank guns. In spite of heavy losses, Soviet troops stayed in control of the the beach-head and on the 19th of August, Japanese troops of Shumshu surrendered.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.

Briefing:
Axis player [Japan] : 4 command cards.
Allied player [Soviet Union] : 6 command cards, you move first.

Conditions of Victory:
10 medals.
The main hex of the airfield is a temporary medal objective for the Allied player.
The 4 hills hex of Cape Kokutan and those of Cape Kotomaru form each a Temporary Majority Medal Objective worth 1 Medal for whoever controls each Cape.
So the Axis player begins the game with two medals in his victory path.

Special Rules:
- Use "Japanese Imperial Army" rules (Nation 3).
- Special Weapon Asset rules (SWAs 4 - Special Weapon Assets>1942) are in effect for units equipped with Anti-Tank Weapons (SWAs 5) or Machine-guns (SWAs 7).
- Use "Specialized units" rules (Troops 2) to the 6 Soviet elite infantry units.
- Use "Destroyer" rules (Troops 12) and "Landing Crafts" rules (Troops 15).
- Use " Field Bunkers" rules (Terrains 22), and "Trenches" rules (Terrains 51).
- Air rules are optional : If used, each player begins the game with one "Air Sortie" card. Axis player has one aircraft (Mitsubishi A6M Zéro) on the airfield.

Scenario Bibliography:
- Wikipedia - Battle of Shumshu.
Remember, see the pictures of Japanese tanks lying on Shumshu island.

Warning:
Please note that this scenario was not approved by Richard Borg or Days of Wonder, so you have to check yourself about playability, potential gaming issues, etc.

Set-up Order
1
2
8
4
3
18
4
2
3
2
3