Ok, this one would take some doing, since we don't have a map, (I have drawn a concept "theater" map encompassing all of New Britain and New Ireland, parts of New Guinea, the northern end of Bougainville and the surrounding smaller islands. The map is drawn roughly to 1:1 scale based on a 512x512 terrain).
Fortress Rabaul
November, 1943...
After more than a year of bloody fighting the Americans have succeeded in driving up the Solomon Islands and have landed on Bouganville. Although Japanese resistance on the island continues, the American leadership has set their sights on the next phase in their battle plan: The elimination of Rabaul.
By August 1943 it was decided that attempting to seize the island would be too costly, so instead the Allied command in the Pacific decided that the ports and airfields on Rabaul are to be pounded into rubble, and the heavy defenses of the island be bypassed in favor of easier and faster objectives elsewhere.
Substantial damage to Japanese supply efforts had already been inflicted upon the Japanese at the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, and the new generation of American fleet carriers are in the Pacific. Meanwhile, the Japanese carrier fleet has suffered heavy damage from the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, and they have no flattops still operating in the South Pacific. Most of their carrier fleet has been sunk, and the big Zuikaku and Shokaku have been withdrawn for repairs following damage received during the campaigns of 1942 and 1943. Striking from bases throughout New Guinea and the the Solomons, the pilots of the US Army Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps are poised to deliver a knock-out blow, and render one of the last major Japanese strongholds in the South Pacific a useless ruin.
United States:
F6F Hellcat (from carriers only)
F4U-1A Corsair (from Bougainville bases only)
FM-2 Wildcat (from carriers only)
P-38J Lightning
P-40E Warhawk
P-39Q Airacobra
SBD Dauntless
TBM Avenger
B-24J
B-25H (limited numbers)
PT Boat
Japanese to be drawn from:
A6M2 Zero
A6M5 Zero
Ki-61 "Tony"
Ki-84 "Frank" (limited numbers)
N1K2-J "George" (limited numbers)
Ki-67 "Peggy" (limited numbers)
D3A "Val"
B5N "Kate"
Objectives:
The obvious American objective is the reduction of the port and airfields of Rabaul. Additional targets (particularly for the B-25H and PT boats) are Japanese convoys (task groups of DDs and CAs only). They must also defend their carriers and land bases from Japanese counter-attack. The Japanese must defend Rabaul at all costs. They must also strike at the American carriers supporting the assault, and American bases in New Guinea and on Bouganville.
Possible Optional Mission for the Allies:
"Black Sheep One"
Among the Allied forces assaulting Rabaul are the pilots of VMF-214, the legendary Black Sheep, led by Greg "Gramps" Boyington on his race to break the USMC victory record. The Allied commander may choose one Corsair pilot to represent Boyington. Any victories he scores earns an additional points bonus. However if he is shot down by the Japanese the Axis receives a point bonus.
