Author	treadasaurusrex (Japan)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	Tambu
Play Date	2023-07-20
Language	English
Scenario	Guad021

This was an extended, 8-session jungle shoot-em up with the gracious, well-read & clever, Tambu, leading the fearsome and heavily-armed US Marines on Guadalcanal. I played the slightly weaker, but highly-motivated, Japanese side in this intense scenario. We started our play-through on 7 June and finished this morning. I will outline the highlights of this DRAWN battle, as other, more articulate writers, have provided greater detail. We used the FOW (beginning on turn 8), consolidation, excess initiative and smoke/illum optional rules. The US side drew an excellent set of leaders, the Japanese set were middling, and they suffered a leader decapitation in the fierce fighting. We ended up in a draw, although this relatively-balanced encounter could have gone either way.

The dug-in, but very-thinly spread Marines, have to hold a relatively exposed line of positions covering the better part of two ridges. The Japanese are attacking at night and were in immediate contact in what became a brutal set of adjacent-hex firefights and close assaults. Having many leaders is always a distinct advantage in PG scenarios, and many were killed on both sides. The sky-high Japanese morale, and close combat advantage was pushed to the absolute limit. This ultimately proved to be a mistake, as all the Japanese reserves were too quickly committed to the fight in the hope of eliminating as many of the Marine's HMG and supporting-hex units as possible. Lines were broken repeatedly and the combination of fast Marine counter attacks, imaginative use of available reserves, and many lousy Japanese combat 7-die rolls meant that the Americans mostly held their own for the first 10, or so turns. OBA effectiveness was highly variable throughout this play-through, but Japanese morale recoveries were notable in the bulk of cases. Gaps on the eastern ridge were exploited by the Emperor's soldiers, and lots of infiltrations occurred as the fight became more widespread.

The US Commander was wounded and forced to flee during game turn 14 as the bulk of the fight switch to the approaches of the western ridge, as casualties on both sides mounted rapidly, and the US positions become more isolated in the great wash of advancing Japanes platoons. However, Japanese momentum rapidly dwindled as leader & step losses mounted, and their advantage in numbers diminished quickly. Not being able to stop the Banzai attacks in close assaults cost the Japanese dearly as the game went on. With the coming of daylight, US OBA became lethal in "danger close" artillery fire missions. Whole, pinned platoons are repeated eliminated in the Emperor's service by accurate artillery & mortar fire. The Japanese force is seriously flagging by the end of game turn 19 as they lose their 16th & 17th step that turn.

This play-through was exciting, but there was little scope for maneuver and it played like Verdun in 1916, but with jungle growth. All in all, a most intense and hard-fought scenario. This one was very hard for either side to claim as a clear victory and it favors the Japanese side. This is balanced by the urge for the Sons of Nippon to push their luck too far. In truth, the Japanese player must try to display restraint, to allow for proper exploitation of the yawning gaps that he or she will create in the US lines in the early going. I fell into this trap, as I see others have. Multiple probes is the way to go, with sufficient reserves close-by to take advantage of combat-related opportunities that will arise.

I give this one a generous rating of 4, mostly due to the fun of playing with a resolute, resourceful and respectful opponent. This scenario is recommended for SHARED and SOLO play.