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Raid on Makin Atoll - Gilbert Islands Campaign (WW2) [EA28+]

Ghost Warriors…

Recommended Settings
Game Mode: Spec Ops
Number of Teammates: 10 or Less
Use Balance Slider to Increase # of Teammates!
Items Seen in Screenshots and Tested for this Map:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3420455297

Bugs

"Vehicle Patrols" have a chance of spawning stuck in the ground. This mainly happens to some vehicle mods. If this happens, change the vehicle used in the APC slot or select "None" to disable that slot entirely.

Performance Improvement Mutators

Render distance decreaser by Hijong Park
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2796715882
More Visual Config by Aya
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2799415310

*Optional* Gameplay Improvement Mutators
Vehicle Burn Corpse Vanish by Aya:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972475835
Drowning Mutator by Panchuet:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3358930007

Seeing the success of British Commandos conducting raids in Europe in the early 1940s, the United States would seek to establish its own special operations force for the Pacific Theatre. The goal of such a unit would be covert, hit-and-run attacks against small Japanese outposts, conducted primarily through amphibious assaults.

At the request of Major Evans F. Carlson, who had overseen guerilla warfare in China, President Franklin Roosevelt activated the Marine Raiders in February 1942. By August, the unit began seeing combat in the Solomon Islands at Guadalcanal and Tulagi. However, the Raiders would become famous after being assigned to raid the nearby Makin Atoll.

Located in the neighbouring Gilbert Islands, Makin had been under Japanese occupation since December 1941. It became home to a seaplane base, which was overseen by a force of less than 100 men. As the Solomon Islands Campaign went underway, the threat of a Japanese counterattack loomed. It was then decided that Makin Atoll would be raided to divert any reinforcements, with the additional objectives of destroying installations and taking prisoners.

In the early hours of August 17, 1942, the submarines Nautilus and Argonaut would ferry more than 200 men of the 2nd Raider Battalion to Makin. Arriving on inflatable boats, they would land unopposed and set up ambush positions. Eventually, the Marines would face sniper and machine gun fire, as well as two Banzai charges. As the day progressed, Japanese seaplanes would perform strafing runs on Makin and the Raiders would decide to retreat, leaving by the morning of August 18.

During the raid, 18 Marine Raiders would be killed, with 9 captured and later executed. Estimated numbers for Japanese casualties range from 40-80 killed, with 2 small boats, 2 seaplanes, a radio station, and a fuel dump destroyed.

Although the raid is considered a victory for American forces, its effect on the war is disputed. Overall, all three objectives were not fully met. Zero prisoners were captured and minimal damage was done to infrastructure. In addition, the raid would expose to the Japanese the vulnerability of their isolated bases, leading atolls in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands to be more heavily reinforced, which would prove detrimental for the US in subsequent campaigns.

Nevertheless, the raid would prove the viability of the Marine Raiders and would serve as a big morale boost in the early stages of the Pacific War.

Hiya!
After working on Tarawa, I originally planned on shifting focus slightly to cover other theatres of WWII. However, Makin Atoll kept appearing during my research for my previous project and it gave me the idea to try and make a map designed for the Spec-Ops gamemode. There are already a few Spec-Ops maps made with a World War 2 theme on the Workshop, mostly for North Africa, but there hasn't been one for the Pacific War. It also seemed like a good way to kill two birds with one stone and make a separate version depicting the 1943 invasion, so I prioritized making this map!

Overall, I added more cover to this version of the map to better reflect Spec-Ops's more infantry-focused nature. I also added/removed details to reflect the lower presence of personnel in 1942.

Anyways, get your gear ready, get moving, and enjoy this map! :)