This scenario has Japanese troops dug in on the larger hill mass, with Marines working their way north and engaging them. Marines have to eliminate the single step of Japanese tanks dug in within 2 hexes of the hill top, Japanese have to prevent that or take out more than 2 steps of Marines. 16 turns turned out to be enough, as the Marines moved towards the hill mass surrounding it from 3 sides as they worked their way up. The Japanese were set up, dug in where only in light jungle or taking advantage of the heavy jungle. I placed the Service platoon and an Infantry platoon on the highest level with the Japanese sergeant, two HMGs two hexes south and on the end of the saddle where he could look down on anything attempting to close to assault range, and the tank between them in the lighter jungle hex. The 2 Japanese infantry remaining formed a quick reaction force with a good LT, ready to strike and hopefully assault anything trying to flank the tanks from the eastern slope and use their Japanese Infantry column shift. As the Marines finally moved adjacent on 3 sides to the southernmost defended hill hex, the 2 HMGs fired and rolled a 7. The Marines called in their one turn of off board arty, and disrupted or demoralized both HMGs, preparing them for an assault using the flame unit to give the Marines first fire in assault. This proved successful and there went the forward defense causing no Marine losses and leaving them in a good position to start an assault on the tank. As the Marines stopped next to the tank, the Japanese reaction force moved forward down the trail, stopping adjacent, where the Marines cut them in half and demoralized their leader. A second turn of close range fire finished off the Japanese infantry and caused the LT to flee. A Marine force from the eastern slope assaulted the tanks and again destroyed them without loss. As the game was in the 13th turn, I decided to live dangerously and play it out to the bitter end even though the US had achieved their victory. Marines moved forward and formed a 2-hex fire group, causing some damage on the hill top in hopes of a successful assault. While they were doing this, the Flame unit moved forward and joined one group, ready for their assault. On the final turn, the Marines assaulted without loss, causing the both defending platoons to take a step loss, demoralizing the Service platoon. The Japanese final action was to take a morale check, where the service platoon fled and the Infantry regrouped to disrupted status. Game over, US victory. Had it gone on one more turn, I have no doubt that the Marines would have finished taking the hilltop since they almost assuredly would maintain their 30+ column assault against a single step Japanese infantry platoon. Great game.

Disclosure, I am the Designer and feel all my scenarios fall into the range of 4-5, 90-100% or I wouldn’t have created them, so take my ratings with a grain of salt! The only reason any are a 4, is because they are more difficult to make from design to development.

Saipan, scenario nineteen: Exploring Hill 790

A fun scenario where all the Marine have to do is eliminate a step of dug-in Type 95s defended by a small mix of Infantry units. The problem is, the Japanese must have moved those tanks up the highest trail to the highest point on the hill and in area where it could be dug-in and surrounded by Infantry units.

The Marines moved up this mountain trail until they ran into some defending Japanese Infantry and had to pull some of their Marines unit trailing off the trail to try and flank this road block but in the worst terrain. The attack soon became very disorganized and losses mounted beyond three steps without taking out that Japanese tank unit. The Japanese win this scenario even if it is only for a day.

The Axis set up on the South slope of Hill 790 with the HMG in the village at 0610. The Allies advanced in a pincer movement directed at the Axis flanks. The Eastern most pincer bogged down. They became demoralized when just two hexes from the dug in armored platoon. On the West flank the Axis were unable to pull out of the village before being assaulted. This Axis force lost three steps starting a cascade effect all along the Axis position as the Marines rolled up the Axis line. By 11:30 the Axis had been wiped out.

This scenario could use a reworking to help balance it out. Playing solo I purposely set the units up in position to have them engage pretty quickly. A crafty Axis player would set their hidden units well away from the Allied starting point. This could naturally delay any Allied attack till 10:30 or so, maybe later depending on the Axis setup. This would not leave hardly any time to find & eliminate the Axis dug in tank platoon. I gave this a 3. Despite the faulty setup restrictions it was fun to play. It is a nice little infantry scenario. Question on the setup. Can the Axis tank platoon set up in the Jungle? Remember the rule about AFVs entering jungle hexes? They have to roll for step loss. Does the Japanese players have to as well if they set up in a jungle hex? Just wondering.