Author	plloyd1010 (United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	Shad (AAR)
Play Date	2024-12-06
Language	English
Scenario	AlWa005

The 7th Division was unprepared for operations in the Aleutians. Hence there is a cold weather rule that messes with them. Then there is the gooey ground (muskeg) and the hills are treacherous (arctic hills). All this combines to mean that any movement not on the one trail on the map is really, really slow. That trail is the American objective. That and causing Japanese casualties helps.

I slowly advance up the trail, that cold weather thing and I don't want to get surprised using strategic movent. I run into a Japanese roadblock about turn 5 or 6 (yeah, it took that long). The roadblock is covered by machine-guns from the hill nearby. I divide my force into 2 groups, one to form a fire-team against the roadblock, and the other to go up the hill. The mortars prepare for action.

The anti-block fire-team runs into trouble as part of it has to deploy in the muskeg. Between being shot at and miring in the muskeg it takes another 4 turns to get positioned. The hill team does do much better. Getting to hill takes 2-3 turns, another platoon gets disrupted in the muskeg, but they do get there.

Now I get some good luck. Japanese HMG fire mostly misses me. I get to start shooting back with mostly good-order units. The Japanese hold up well to morale checks, but the lucky X's I get clear the position. A helpful platoon, coming the HMG's support also gets blasted after a turns. The the trail team gets some luck rolls (it's a 30 point fire-team) and the roadblock falls apart.

As I start advancing again, it's turn 20 now, a second roadblock it further up the trail. To my opponent's credit, he isn't doing the gamey thing of jumping on both ends of the trail at the end of the game. The trouble is that by the time I can start engaging that roadblock it will be turn 28 or 29. The Japanese are unlikely to budge in 2 turns. So clearing the trail and the corridor beside it is not going to happen in time.

We call it a draw as I cannot fulfill my objective, but my opponent has lost far more steps that cam be made up for his victory. The game ends in a draw.