Battle of Eniwetok – Marshall Islands Campaign (WW2) [EA28+]
Recommended Settings
Number of Bots: 100-120
Game Mode: Point Match or Battle
Game Length: Normal-Long (Point Match) or Normal (Battle)
Respawn Time: 20-40 Seconds
ADJUST BOT COUNT TO YOUR PREFERENCE!
Items Seen in Screenshots and Tested for this Map:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3429297294
Render distance decreaser by Hijong Park
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2796715882
More Visual Config by Aya
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2799415310
*Optional* Gameplay Improvement Mutators
Drowning Mutator by Panchuet: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3358930007
NoParachutes by FilterUnfiltered: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2913053239
Vehicle Burn Corpse Vanish by Aya:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972475835
Limit bot respawn by Gangrenas: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2923976190
Flight altitude changer by Hijong Park
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2819996034
Enewetak Atoll (formally Eniwetok) is a circular ring of islands in the Pacific Ocean, located at the north-western edge of the Marshall Islands.
Japan would invade Eniwetok in 1914, relinquishing the islands from the German Empire. In 1942, the atoll would begin to be built up in order to support operations throughout the Marshall and Caroline Islands. This included the construction of an airfield for refueling and ferrying aircraft.
After the fall of the Gilbert Islands, the Imperial Japanese Army would begin to bolster its number of troops garrisoned in the region. However, little time remained for Eniwetok to be further fortified before the American invasion in 1944, leaving it to be lightly defended.
Following the quick capture of Kwajalein Atoll, planning for the assault on Eniwetok immediately went underway. Though it was originally scheduled for May, American strategists would draft an invasion plan in less than two weeks. From February 17-18, the US Navy would attack a Japanese ship fleet stationed on nearby Truk Atoll, cutting off reinforcements to Eniwetok.
The battle would be spread out across three islands: Parry, Engebi, and Eniwetok. A pre-invasion bombardment would begin on February 17, as landing ships arrived offshore. The following day, Marines would make the first landings on Engebi.
Overall, much of the same experience was met during each landing. US Marines and Army troops would initially face little to no opposition on the beaches. Much of the Japanese defensive strategy was to wait in hidden gun pits and underground bunkers, while troops moved deeper inland. American forces would be frequently ambushed, as Japanese soldiers would pop up, fire, and quickly retreat into new firing positions. However, with the use of flamethrowers and demolition kits, many of these spider holes would be destroyed, and each island would be captured within a few days. By February 23, the last remnants of Japanese resistance would be defeated on Parry Island.
The Japanese Army would see roughly 3,380 of its 3,500 soldiers killed. 313 Americans were killed, with 879 wounded.
With the capture of Eniwetok and the Marshall Islands, the path towards the Marianas Islands had been opened. For Allied forces, they would begin mobilizing for the next stage in the Pacific War. On the other hand, Japan would hasten to fortify and defend its remaining territories, hoping to prevent the capture of vital air bases which could be used for the bombing of the Japanese mainland.
Hi folks!
After my last two projects, I wanted to scale things back a bit and cover a more obscure battle. In this case, I only learned about Enewetak Atoll after doing research into Kwajalein, and it brought me down a rabbit hole into this atoll’s history that I decided I wanted to cover for this series.
One fun(?) fact about this map’s development was that I could’ve had it done months ago had I not turned off the editor’s autosave feature and had the file completely corrupt on me and not load anymore! Granted, that first iteration of the map had some issues with its layout that I was ultimately able to fix when I remade it. But it was probably around 60-70% complete when it stopped working, and I can’t say it didn’t kill my motivation to work on this project for a couple of days
Never turn off autosaving, the biggest mistake of my life!
Anyways, this map gave me the opportunity to further mess around with designing trenches, pillboxes, and foxholes. Seriously, compared to other Pacific battles I’ve looked into, this is one of the strangest, yet most elaborate trench patterns I’ve seen.
I also discovered how to use the editor’s flatten tool, which I never knew how to use until recently. My god, does it help speed up development, especially in the creation of trenches.
The Battle of Eniwetok was actually three battles across three islands. But because the islands of Perry and Eniwetok look visually very similar, I didn’t feel they would be interesting to depict. I just wanted to mention this since you could argue this map should really be called “Battle of Enegbi Island” or something like that.
Overall, Eniwetok seems to be a forgotten battle. Like my Battle of Attu map, I hope that this map brings a bit more exposure to this part of history that should be remembered!
Oh, and the level editor got new assets! Granted, I do feel like the art style of the new stuff clashes with the pre-existing assets, but I’ll probably still find a way to use them on future maps.
Please enjoy! 🙂
