Author	plloyd1010 (Japan)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Japan
Participants	Shad (AAR)
Play Date	2024-06-14
Language	English
Scenario	AlWa003

What could possibly happen? That depends on how close the guy with the gun is. The Japanese are basically knife fighters. (That's based on my 3 ways to use forces in PG and most other tactical games.) Considering setup restrictions and SSR's, I setup on the spur near where the Americans will need to exit. It isn't a very creative deployment, but it's solid. I am also concerned that other possible positions might allow the Americans to slip past me, then I would never catch them.

My opponent comes on the map and marches 10-11 turns to get to me. The Americans split into 2 groups, which per SSR, are functionally independent of each other until contact. I start shooting as soon as the Americans are close enough to see me. I also redeploy a couple platoons to form a trail-block a little further into the muskeg.

American artillery cause some damage, but my guys mostly hold up or recover. The Americans press up the hill toward that blocking force, and they also stop in front of my infantry in the muskeg. Since the Japanese are knife fighters (assault combat), they attack the Americans on the muskeg trail. The hill force is still dealing with the effects of artillery, so they just shoot. Then the Americans assault there with some initial success.

Both melees eventually resolve in my favor. A couple American steps, and a leader get past me. What is left though is stuck in from of me on the hill or dispersed in the muskeg. This will leave me with more than enough points to win.

This scenario is brittle, like most small scenarios. I was surprised by the assault on my hill position, as Americans are better gun fighters than knife fighters, but sometimes it works. American artillery, which light for the Americans, could be decisive. Japanese artillery is worthless. The U.S. side might be able to pull this out if they can avoid tangling with the Japanese.