This is a large cavalry meeting engagement where each side is trying to control the two east-west roads.

Since I was playing solo and not trying to 'win,' I decided not to use the 'gamey' tactic of sending single units to 'hold' sections of the road without support. Each side would try to drive the other back rather than just running around them.

Both sides spread out and raced for the center of the field to get control of as much road as possible. They met pretty much in the middle. Since the Scenario Conclusion mentions that the Lighthorsemen were being used to "bar the road to Canberra," I kept them on the defensive as the Japanese attacked.

Since the Japanese did not have the leadership to win a firefight (very few Combat Bonuses among the Japanese officers), they used their off-board artillery to soften up the Aussies and charged. The charge was largely broken up by Opportunity Fire, but a goodly number of the Japanese horsemen got through.

Once the cavalry mingled in assaults, it settled down to a long slogging match and neither side could really push the other back. Casualties mounted on both sides.

As the cavalrymen mixed it up, the Japanese Ho-Ni's chased the Australian armored cars. The Australians had no anti-tank capability at all (unless you count off-board artillery), so the armored cars could not afford to get tied down in assisting assaults where the slower Ho-Ni's could track them down and pick them off. The Ho-Ni's kept the armored cars on the move and prevented them from supporting the cavalry.

In the end, neither side was able to move the other back. The battle ended where it began, in the middle of the board with both sides blocking the other from advancing. They were pretty evenly matched.

With each side holding the same amount of road, the scenario came down to casualties. Due mostly to the Japanese losses to Opportunity Fire, and some good die-rolling with the Australian off-board artillery, the Lighthorsemen were able to get the win.

Minor Australian victory

Despite it's being evenly matched, I ranked this as a '3.' Due to the number of units and the large field of play, I wound up with lots of groups spread out over a large area. Even with Fog of War, each turn took a long time to complete. It seemed like a lot of work for not much movement on the field. Perhaps if I'd kept the cavalry more mobile instead of tied up in assaults I'd have enjoyed it more. If you like cavalry and large scenarios, (and can handle cavalry better than I do) you'll probably enjoy this one very much.