In this scenario the Japanese are presented with four possible objectives, three geographical and one casualty related, and the level of victory or defeat is based on how many they achieve. Three is a major victory down to zero being a major defeat. The casualty objective is inflict more than received, and is generally pretty easy for Japanese troops, although the Australians finally have 8/8 morale, which makes the task a little more difficult. Geographically, the map is presented the short direction, with the east and west hills being two objectives, while control of the majority of the short trail hexes forms the final potential objective. The normal long trail does not exist.

The Australians set up with detachments on each hill, and otherwise line both sides of the trail starting at their farthest forward set up location. The Japanese enter the north in two groups, one trying to take control of the trail, the other weaker force slowly slogging through the jungle to the eastern hill. Contact with the trail defenders comes quickly, and the Japanese start handing out casualties fairly quick, and receive a few themselves. The short time of the scenario, twenty turns, forces the Japanese to move fast. The group heading to the east hill is slowed further by a couple early fog of wars, and is under pressure to achieve their objective.

Trail fighting is ugly. Both sides are dishing it out, but the Australians are definitely getting the worst of the deal. The detachment on the west hill must maintain position for some time since the Japanese can easily turn in that direction. The Aussie center bends, but does not break. The Japanese are largely tied up in assaults, and the Australians try to gain advantage by gobbling up some lost trail hexes. While this works short term, eventually Japanese troops polish off Australians defenders and hunt down the trail-grabbing force.

Attempts to take the east hill turn to complete failure. The Aussies cause too much damage to the Japanese during approach, and the remaining force is partially siphoned off to help attack the Australian center. The small force remaining is mauled as it approaches the hilltop and is too small to take the majority of hill hexes. The survivors retreat back down and push the gap between the trail defenders and hilltop defenders. The Japanese on the north end of the trail fight also begin a move on the west hill. This combined action forces the Australian detachment to come down the hill and engage the approaching Japanese. The fresh troops cause hell for the Japanese, but earlier Australian losses are too large to shake off. A wild melee develops along the trail between the hills, and fighting reaches a peak of intensity.

As the scenario ends, the Australians hold both hills, but the Japanese have inflicted 37 steps to only 18 received. The trail is a mess of bodies, and at first glance I am convinced the Australians control more hexes. A close count, which I had to repeat twice to be sure, showed ten trail hexes Japanese, nine Australian, and one under contention. By the margin of one hex the Japanese manage a second objective, and pull off a minor victory. One turn more or one turn less probably would have left the Australians with more hexes, but the Japanese take control at exactly the right time.

This was a great scenario. A good presentation of objectives that allowed offensive flexibility and forced defensive coverage. Both sides had to adapt to changing conditions while not throwing away the original battle plan. And the game decided not by a single die roll, but rather by a single objective hex. And the game was not hampered by too short or too long of a number of turns. Definitely expect this to be one of the best of this book! A well-earned rating of 5.

Getting back to the trail after being away for a few weeks, I set up the Australians in 3 groups, each centered around an LTC with the Colonel and 2 infantry platoons holding the heights on the big hill mass, 2 groups on that mass and one on the smaller hill mass. Japanese have to achieve a selection of objectives, so I lined them up and entered with the LTC in the middle with chain of command spreading out left and right from there, so the majority would move on a single activation, leaving 2 LTs with infantry to pick up additional activations to keep up untill some part of the line made contact. The Australians had pushed one Cpt with an Infantry and an HMG out as a tripwire, to sound an alarm when contact was made. The intent was to get a shot off and then fall back, but the Japanese got the initiative on the following turn and the forward element became engaged in assault. It did have a secondary effect of splitting the Japanese force up, and for several turns, the Japanese forgot about capturing trail hexes, one of the 4 objectives, to try to get flankers out right and left to try to take both hill masses from the outside, where defences had least expected an attack. The western hill mass became a bit of a quagmire for the Japanese as they became locked in assault and traded losses where the Australians were better able to accept losses. The eastern groups managed better and assaulted all along the hill and pushed a flanking force around to try to take as many of the 80meter hill tops as possible while the Australian troops were nailed in place with asaults. Because of the combination of jungle and often firing or assaulting up hill, the Japanese advantages didnt help much, but superior morale leaders were a contributing factor to the end results. The first Japanese casualties also ended in the loss of the Japanese LTC, but his loss went unnoticed as the majors picked up and moved on. Once things became more bogged down in assault, one Japanese major made the best of things and wandered casually along the trail, taking the entire length of it from the crossroads to the south edge, so that the whole thing was up for the Japanese victory. In the last few turns, as Japanese losses finally started to mount and some Australian units became available, an Australian Captain with a good force of infantry moved south on the trail taking back most of the southern half. Another Australian force was able to reclaim all the 80m hexes and most of the 60 as well. It came down to the final shots, the final turn and the final count for the Japanese to pull out a minor victory, mostly due to the large numbers of australian casualties and the slight advantage in trail hexes held. Great game.