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 one: Red Beach

Turns 1-2:

I finally setup scenario one today and have played two turns so far. As the Marines I hit the beaches in two general areas and have avoided that 75/88 Japanese gun so far, I have taken a few losses to the AFV/LVTs so far but not too bad considering they took out one step of Japanese Type 95s. A few units have hit the beach but haven't unloaded, the rest are about it land on turn three and the Japanese are spread too thin to defend the whole length of the beaches in any detail but still all that off board artillery will hit again on turn three and might roll better next time and the Marines only have a total of four hours to clear the beach area in detail. Part two when I have time, maybe Thursday!

My Japanese AT rolls have been pretty bad the first two turns, one was even a 2! I do have 3-4 steps of burning LVT/AFVs burning or sunk however, after two turns.

Turns three and four:

I got a few more turns in and I am going with the two flanking attacks on either side to create a pincer move as the Marines. I will be racing against the clock. The Marines have taken a few more casualties but the Japanese are really starting to take some losses as well. Nothing like have two Marine Infantry units with a DF values of 10 each plus two LVTs with 6 DF each and a leader with 1 DF for 33 DF point total and adjacent modifier to rock those Japanese defenses. Ok, let see if time and casualties permit? Bang off board artillery is keeping the Japanese in this thing!

Turns: 5-16

I played through the last 12 turns tonight and did come away after 16 turns with a close American victory. I used the stretched out Japanese lines and hit them on the south and north flanks avoiding the more heavily defended middle and brought my two Marines flanks to the middle in a huge pincer, crushing the Japanese in the middle. Believe it or not, from the beaches in, there was four hexes clear with only a few scatter Japanese mortars, leaders without units and a couple demoralized Infantry units and one 75mm gun poorly setup to help only a small area. The Americans lost 22 steps however and one or two more heavy artillery shots could have made it a draw but their luck held out.

Scenario one an American victory! It was tense the whole game and maybe I should have given the Americans 20 turns instead of 16 but I was trying to minor the real thing at PG scale, as since I won as the Americans maybe not?

I really enjoyed my first real play in Saipan, with the real maps and counters, I hope you guys will as well. Nice change of pace getting into the pacific with those beautiful maps to look at.

LVT 4 = APC LVT A1 & LVT A4= AFV

LVT 4 & LVT A4 are open top. LVT A1 is closed top.

LVT 4 = 1 step units. LVT A1 & LVT A4= 2 step units. LVT A1 & LVT A4 both have inherent leaders.

Ocean traveling LVT 4’s do not suffer leader decapitation while at sea, which would make no sense at all, as other landing-craft would still head for the landing beaches regardless if the Colonel in another craft was killed or not and most likely his death would be acknowledge for some time. LVT (A)'s should have been given an amphibious armor symbol.