Author	treadasaurusrex (Japan)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	ACav
Play Date	2023-10-06
Language	English
Scenario	Guad018

This behemoth of a scenario was played over 8 sessions beginning in mid-september. Others have reported this one in great detail,so the will just be an outline AAR. I led the implacable Japanese side and ACav was the Marine commander in this slog of a scenario. Oddly, this gamey scenario provided lots of counters for both sides, that were never used, since to introduce additional Marines to the battle reduced the number of steps the Japanese need to inflict! The nightmarish FOW rule for this scenario resulted in a total of 14 FOW-shortened game turns of the 35 we played. This was a game of slow, but constant movement through some awful terrain to get units in place throughout. Overall casualties were surprisingly light for the first 10, or so turns. After that, the Japanese engulfed the advancing Marine elements in numerous close assaults. We made maximum use of Peter's digital assault hexes to keep track of the assaults. These fights were typically deadly and step loses piled up rapidly. As others have noted, if the Japanese can get the upper hand in close assault with minimal losses -- and have reserves close at hand -- it is hard for the Marines to wear them down. However, the dogged Marines eventually prevailed by the end of game turn 25, when the last of the initial Japanese positions east of the river had fallen. The hidden Japanese elements that suddenly appear and immediately assault take a serious toll, until Marine firepower is finally brought to bear in adjacent-hex firefights. Our play-through mirrored the historic results and the casualties were very high. The Marines lost 7 leaders and 32 steps. The Japanese lost 9 leaders and and 31 steps. US air support proved to be remarkably ineffective. These massive losses ensured that both sides achieved their victory conditions, resulting in a rather frustrating draw.

This scenario's victory conditions needs a rewrite as the size of the non-starting forces for each side are ridiculously huge. Marine reinforcements are not needed, and only make the Japanese victory conditions easier. The Japanese reinforcements are likewise, fairly useless, unless the Marines push much farther west. The victory conditions suffer from both sides needing to fight to the death over relatively-large, geographical objectives that overlaps the enemy's. It is simply impossible to completely clear that much area without huge casualties.

Yes, one has to eliminate everything your adversary has in play, and with this many units, the impossibility of clearing the area is compounded by the a relatively small casualty count needed for victory. I intended to give this slog a rating of 2, but I played a challenging & aggressive opponent who made the game fun, so I give it a generous 3.