Another round of Guadalcanal where a cross river flanking maneuver by the Marines caught a Japanese battalion between blazing guns and the beach. In the real battle the Japanese were killed almost to a man (one plus 12 wounded captured, all the rest killed) with relatively light American casualties, and the Japanese command started to realize their tactics may not be the best.

In our game the Japanese and about half the Marines set up on opposite sides of the river out of range. These Americans could not move unless assaulted by the Japanese (yeah, right), and the Japanese could not move for the first hour. The remainder of the Americans set up south of the Japanese positions, and were effectively the hammer. The Marines moved north against the Japanese positions, spreading out to wrap around the Japanese flanks. While the American tanks could not navigate the jungle and remained out of the action, the Marine infantry carried a large number of machine guns, slowing down the main advance. Quicker and lighter forces moved further east to head off any Japanese retreats. The Japanese stayed in their defensive positions waiting to strike. Finally, an overanxious Japanese soldier broke cover and charged the Marine attackers. The trap now ruined, the hidden Japanese opened fire at the head of the Marine line. Poor fire discipline and an early trigger of the trap meant nearly no impact to the Marine advance. Lt Col Jones paused only long enough to call a rain of fire down on the Japanese position from the regimental artillery positions. The Japanese faltered, and the Marine line moved to envelop the Japanese flank. Combat was constant for the next few hours as Marine artillery would break the Japanese in their positions, then infantry would assault. Two Japanese platoons broke and ran, but the rest continued to fire ineffectively as the Marine net closed.

As the entire Japanese left flank collapsed, Lt Col Jones redirected fire into the Japanese center. The assault was slow, but the Japanese were falling at a steady rate, a rate much higher than the Marines. Noticing a commanding figure in the center, Lt Col Jones called the strength of Marine artillery directly down on Maj Ichiki's position. The effect was devastating. All three units with Maj Ichiki disintegrated. The attack could not have been more effective if the Americans had had maps of the Japanese defensive positions. By the time the shelling stopped, not a Japanese soldier was left standing except Maj Ichiki. Three Marine platoons charged the broken center, now defended by the lone Major. Showing outstanding bravery (to the point of foolhardiness), the Major stood with pistol in one hand and saber in the other. Meeting the charge of 150 Marines, the Major died instantly as gunfire poured into a body held aloft only by the force of rounds slamming into him.

Both shocked by the death of their commander, and awed by his bravery, the Japanese right, or the survivors as they were known at that point, poured effective fire into the Marine line. Capt Sakura, now in command, deftly directed the fire of the remaining troops into the Marine line. The Marines faltered. While casualties were minimal, the ferocity of the fire prevented the Marines from closing.

In addition, the two platoons who had broken and ran now also turned to hold their positions along the beach. Those who fled east faced a small Marine force, and a gun battle raged for some 45 minutes until they were silenced. Those who had run west unfortunately ran into range of the Marines holding the river line. Their fate was much quicker.

Eventually the Marines recovered from Capt Sakura's expertly directed fire. The advance continued. Soon all the Japanese who were formerly known as the right flank fell to Marine gunfire and assault with the exception of Capt Sakura. Known as one of the bravest men in the Japanese army, the Marines found him alone on the beach, the shock of the loss of all his troops so heavy on him he could not even commit his final act in support of the Emperor. The only man of the entire battalion to be captured whole.

Observations: The Marines won this one handily, again. No Japanese survived (except the Capt we declared to surrender), and the Marines lost no steps. The hidden rules were of minimal value as all three were stacked together, so once one was found there was no chance Marines were going to wander into the hex unready.

Japanese players did not assault, again. They loved their foxholes. The Japanese player kept them in position through the entire game, never leaving to assault adjacent Marines. I still stand by my opinion that if the Japanese do not assault they will lose. Even if they could not easily inflict step losses (and make the Marine job of eliminating them easier), just the threat would have slowed down the Marine advance. Instead the Marines fired to disrupt, then walked up and assaulted. Even if the Japanese were not disrupted, the Marines went ahead with powerful assaults because there seemed to be little threat. If the Japanese had assaulted once or twice and caused some casualties, the Marines would have had to spend more time at range to ensure the Japanese troops were disrupted before approaching.

Arty was once again telling. Marine artillery caused significant disruption to Japanese troops. The fact that the Japanese failed to slow the Marine advance meant that the Marines could drop artillery and then stroll up and assault. The Marines wisely never dropped artillery when adjacent.

The Japanese should have also broken cover with a couple units to disperse. Marine C2 kept the entire mobile force close enough to activate the entire force with one activation until a company had to break away to chase down one Japanese platoon that had broken and ran, then recovered. Meant Fog of War rules were a joke, since the Marines only needed two activations per turn, the first for arty and the second to activate their entire force. The key for the Japanese is to delay the Marines. Engage and assault with some units, then run the rest to the far edge of the map and dig in. The Marines are too powerful to face head to head. Force them to split up or engage the groups separately. This scenario requires the Japanese player to be a master at delay tactics, ‘cause your troops are going to die. The only other choice is assault with everything and hope to cause 5 Marine step losses.