In this scenario, the map is 3 boards long (which really stretched my table) with a a river running through it (no, its not in Montana) few towns on either side of river. There are no roads, although there are bridges across the river. Units can only cross at bridges or, in the case of the Peruvians, if their gunboat drops them off. This is a very small scenario. The Ecuadorans actually outnumber the Peruvians, however their units are spread across the 3 maps. The Peruvians have a few INF, an HMG and 3 MAR units in this one, along with the gunboat. I set up a weak defense in the town closest to where the Peruvians enter with stronger defense in the further towns. This may have been a mistake.

The Peruvians started with on MAR on the gunboat (with a leader) and the others advancing up the north bank, while the regular INF and HMG advanced up the south bank. By turn 4 they were ready to assault the 1st town, defended by 3 CARA and an INF. The MAR on the boat landed on the south bank to help them flank the town, and the gunboat went back to bring another one forward. In response, the Ecuadorans sent their lone CAV unit from the 2nd town to assist. Alas for the Ecuadorans, 1 hex fire from the MAR took a step off of the CAV and demoralized it on turn 5....IT NEVER RECOVERED FROM DEMORALIZATION! That's right, folks, 25 turns. Its morale was 5, down to 4 for DEM, back up to 5 for having a +1 morale leader with it. So, it had to roll a 4 or less to recover to DIS. Not easy, and still a 1 in 6 chance. And for 25 turns I could not do it! Needless to say, the CAV was a non-factor.

It took the Peruvians almost 3 hours to clear the 1st town and chase its lone survivors into the woods. Meanwhile, the Gunboat had landed more Marines near the 2nd town. I cleverly forgot to send a leader with them, so they weren't able to advance on the town, instead just hanging out on the riverbanks. Getting bold, the Ecuadorans sallied forth to wipe out this beachhead (river-head?). In retrospect, this, too was an error. The gunboat sailed back upriver and shot up one of the units and the Ecuadorans ran back to town with their tails between their legs...this lost unit would be important later.

By turn 17 (of 30), the 1st town was completely cleared, and the Peruvians were moving on the biggest town on the board. They had pretty much given up hope of getting the far towns. Meanwhile, some decent Ecuadoran troops were in these towns that could have been used in the front line fight. If I had stocked this town with CARA, they could have been defending the 1st town. Sure, the Peruvians could have sailed up river farther, and that's pretty slow.

The Marines were tasked with the initial assault on the big town. 2 of the 3 were disrupted on teh advance, and on turn 20, 1 was wiped out by Ecuadoran fire (snake-eyes) which caused the Peruvians to call off the pursuit of the survivors from the 1st town to send reinforcements to the attack on the 2nd town. If that Ecuadoran CAV had ever recovered, it could have run back and recaptured parts of the 1st town....but we all know how that turned out.

Over the next few turns the Peruvians moved on town #2 in force. Having the missing unit, lost in the earlier sally would have really helped the Ecuadorans. By turn 24, the Ecuadoran resistance in the town was collapsing and all of the Ecuadorans were fleeing...as was a 2nd unit of Peruvian Marines, who just didn't like the enemy having guns.

The game looked to be a lock for the Peruvians, however on turn 26, in the morale recovery phase, the Ecuadorans rolled 2 snake-eyes on DEM units, and suddenly had 3 platoons to try to retake the town. And in the woods near the 1st town, the CARA had finally rallied and (although reduced) were trying to cause trouble there. That adventure didn't go well, as the gunboat shot them up from long distance. On turn 28, the Ecuadorans reoccupied part of the 2nd town and on turn 29 more than 1/2 of it was under their control. However, they were unable to make more progress on turn 30, although they once again demoralized the Marines who had recovered and were trying to rejoin the fight.

In the final analysis, the Ecuadorans held 7 town hexes and had killed 2 steps of Peruvians for 16 points. The Peruvians held only 6 town hexes (12 points), but had killed 13 steps of Ecuadorans for a total of 25 points, a 9 point margin and an a Major Peruvian victory. That being said, a better Ecuadoran set-up, a recovery of the cavalry and no sallying forth could have made this much closer. This scenario moved fast, and although the Ecuadorans were fairly static, they did not feel helpless. A very enjoyable romp.

Now...on to Kursk!