NOTE on the AAR. After playing this twice, I'm of the opinion that this scenario is a small tactical puzzle for the Australians, best played solo. If you want to solve it yourself, don't read the AAR until you've played the scenario.

Was short on time, so picked this small scenario.

Australians set up in a village close to the east end of a single long board, with reinforcements coming from the West end. Japanese set up on the East, North and South edges on trails. The North and South groups are between the Aussies and their objective, which is to escape off the West end.

On the first turn, the Aussies make a break for the West edge, with their reinforcements moving to the trail crossroads to attempt to hold the road open. The Japanese pursue, with the North and South groups heading for the crossroads to block their escape.

Everyone reaches the crossroads at pretty much the same time. The Australians are in the crossroads and the two trail hexes east of it. The Japanese get the initiative and start assaults against the Australians. Once the Australians are locked up in assaults, the scenario is pretty much over. The Aussies hold out longer than I thought they would, but eventually the Japanese eliminate most of the Australians with only two step losses in return. Only one (demoralized) Australian platoon escapes.

This one looks pretty tough for the Australians to win without some luck. Fortunately, it's a very quick-playing scenario, so it's easy to reset and try different strategies. Next time I'll try heading into the jungle with the Aussies to see if they can escape that way. I'll also try pulling most of the Aussies out of the assault hexes as soon as possible, leaving a single rearguard platoon to prevent free shots.