Game Palembang 1942

Sumatra February 1942. Had this one on the tabletop for a long time and finally finished it the other night. The Japanese objectives were the oil refinery at Pladju, the township Palembang and the airfield a few kilometers north at Pangkalenbenteng. They had 9 turns to capture any two out of the three, any other result was a draw. Special rules were used to include the various aircraft efforts made on the day. 

Elements of the South Sumatra Garrison defending, included x1 regular battalion x2 territorial battalions, several armoured cars and a Bty of field artillery. The British units were AA guns and personnel 6 Heavy AA Regt. The Japanese were represented by units from the 229th and 230th Infantry Regiments 

Palembang in the lower left corner

The Royal Dutch Shell refining complex

The airfield

Harbour area

This is the first of the Japanese attacks on a village northwest of Palembang. The area was defended by a Dutch territorial battalion

Japanese paratroopers encounter part of the refinery's defenses while crossing open ground

Two platoons of RAF infantry out at the airfields

The armoured car platoon nearly accounts for a company of para

Back at the village the Japanese started to gain ground, although the first attacking battalion suffered about 2/3 casualties, and weren't good for much for the rest of the game

A couple of turns later Japanese aircraft arrive. The combination of air, armour and infantry was too much for the Dutch and two badly beaten up companies were forced to abandon their positions

Dutch aircraft also arrived that turn and attacked a company of paratroopers moving against the airfield

The first of the river assault begins with the fighter rolled for that turn choosing to fly top-cover in case the Dutch also got the dice needed for aircraft

The local police chief rounds up about 50 constables and heads out to the refinery, few of the Dutch reserves were mobile so reinforcing anywhere took time

Japanese bomber hits the AA position at the southern end of the airfield, while regrouped para of the 2nd Parachate Regt advance on the perimeter

Hudson from 225 Bomber Grp hits the Japanese very hard

Reinforced by light armour sent from the airfield the Dutch withdrawal becomes more organised. The Vickers light tank is by Frontline

Survivors from the village battle regroup and forma roadblock at the junction between the airfield and Palembang

Back at the refinery. Dutch regulars proved more than a match for the paratroopers

But the Japanese were now being reinforced from the river

The Japanese rolled aircraft support almost every turn

This is the Dutch artillery position being bombed, they had been providing fairly consistent fire support to the village area before this attack

The roadblock area lost its armoured support to anti-tank rifle fire from the para HQ unit

Things started to get busy for the Dutch out at the airfield 

RAF platoons reinforcing Dutch regulars 

A second attack on the Dutch artillery position is unsuccessful, the bomber being shot down by a combination of 40mm and AALMG fire 

The roadblock position is smashed by fresh units. The Japanese figures are by Matchbox, the Dutch HaT Romanians 

Good results for the refinery Bofors unit with several Japanese platoons wiped out

Reduced Japanese platoons guard the roadblock while the bulk of their forces continue to press toward the airfield and Palembang

Finally the Dutch get a break when Hurricanes from 226 Fighter Grp arrive to strafe the Japanese between the roadblock and the airfield

More Japanese reinforcements moving up through the village area. Trucks here are by Hasegawa

Late in the game, the refinery gets pasted

But Dutch aircraft arrive 

The roadblock position changes hands again despite attacks by Japanese aircraft

Japanese air power was the difference everywhere 

Fighting around the inner airfield positions. The Dutch regulars are Caesar French with HaT Romanian head-swaps, Japanese are by Strelets

"Freeze Sucker!" Colonial constabulary mixing it up with para on the verge of taking over the refinery complex.

Not a bad game, though the map proved to be a bit out of scale in terms of distance between objectives. In the event the Japanese captured none.