Pusan Perimeter, scenario #26: The Great Road Block

I have been wanting to play this one again, since I first designed it and to play it in its completed developed stage this time. I remember reading about it before I even designed it and thought what a great scenario it would make for the game. Well, it is finally back on my gaming table again!

Setting this up brings so many challenges and options for both sides but remember the victory conditions when setting this up, the North Koreans only get points for eliminated American steps and the Americans only get points for steps that start on map 94 and exit off the south edge of map 95 by the end of 30 turns. The Americans have their much larger initial force setup on map 94 and can dig-in but I choose to have them trucked or on foot with marching order to evacuate south and not risking having my artillery deployed, which might be a critical decision. I also didn’t want them all bunched up like historically so I set some units flanking right but with the terrain it will still be very difficult. I also had to have a rear guard to block the North Koreans from tearing of my column from the backside. The North Koreans have their larger force setup blocking on map 95 and they have to watch their rear as well from the small American reinforcements of mostly AA vehicles and light tanks that will arrive on turn 6 on the south side of map 95. With that the NKPA will setup a 45mm AT Gun and some Infantry to protect their south side. The other Group of North Koreans setup on map 92 and will be trying to break through the Americans rear guard but also will have to have some flanking units as not to bunch as the like Americans mentioned earlier but from the other side. So with so many groups to setup, it will be interesting to see if my strategies pay-off for either side.

The Americans have some interesting unit types, heavy in Infantry, heavy weapons, artillery and transportation units with a small relief column on turn six with M16s, M19s, M24s and a platoon of Infantry which will try to open a breakthrough corridor. The North Koreans have two forces trying to encircle and destroy the 19th Infantry Regiment. The NKPA forces consist of mostly Infantry types but also some 82mm Mortars, ATRs, 45mm AT Guns and off board Artillery to put a dent in the American vehicles.

At this point historically the Americans realized they were already flanked and their rear was totally cut-off so an orderly withdraw was underway with the hope they could breakthrough what they thought was just a minor blocking force. So my game beings at this point. Turn one starts off with combat right away! I think I am going to need to borrow some more demoralized and disrupted counters from another game to cover this engagement/scenario!

Progressing after a couple of turns, the NKPA dug-in their units in the south where the expected American reinforcement might come. Both sides have already lost a step and have numerous demoralized and disrupted units and the main road south is really jammed like in real life, so I am worry my truck convoy may get slaughtered as only the North Koreans have off-board artillery in this one.

A couple more turns later and the battlefield is still clogged in the middle for the Americans, so now they are shifting some units to their right flank. With morale equal in this scenario, at 7/6, it is pretty even in the few assault hexes going on at this time. The terrain in Korea is a killer just like in this scenario. I must remember that the Americans only get victory points for exiting units in this scenario and not to get tangled up in shootouts or assaults. The North Koreans should block this and kill steps to win. Unfortunately for the Americans and strange bad luck of the dice I have already lost two of my highest ranking leaders. Now back to the game.

Playing through the rest of the game report! By turn 6 the American were pretty well trapped in the North Korean pincer move other than a few units that flanked right but the American AA armor and light tank reinforcements entered to try and turn the tide in their favor. The M24 reduce step and M19 AA tank enter on the many road while the M16 halftrack, a platoon of Infantry and a Colonel enter east of the other group to try and help with the right flank. The NKPA 45mm AT Gun decided to fire on the M19 and rolled high enough to take out a step and didn’t target the M24 reduced step as it has a very low Direct Fire Values against Infantry units compared to the M19 and M16. The M16 was able to do a lot of damage to the North Korea Infantry before a ART got close enough to reduce a step followed by an Infantry assault to eliminate the other step, thus closing the Americans right flank again. The off-board NKPA artillery and on board mortars really took a toll one the American vehicle column and only a loaded jeep in this column escaped. After about only 20 turns with the battlefield looking more like a siege and with little chance of the victory situation changing, I put a stop to the battle. The American had exited 10 victory points/steps while the North Koreans eliminated 25 American steps and two leaders as well. The 16 eliminated NKPA steps and one leader do not count toward the victory conditions so the NKPA win a major victory with a 15 point differential.

Conclusion, the North Koreans played a very good game and strategy while the mistakes I made on the American side were many. I should never have panicked so early and had all my artillery and mortars loaded up on trucks and jeeps to begin the game but left them in fighting position to support their Infantry and heavy weapon units. They should have waited at least until the relief column enter the picture 6 turns later and then loaded up to move out. This would certainly have weaken the NKPA positions giving them a better escape chance and most like a minor victory but who knows? I’ll try that next time and hopefully never again lose a Colonel and Major so early in the game. This was a very interesting scenario to play!

I am the designer or I would have ranked this a 5 if not!