The marines distributed their forces as best as possible to hold down a very long line on the west bank of the Ilu. The Japanese advance into a hail of bullets suffering a few losses but are able to keep the chain of command intact. Two units of Japanese INF are easily able to circle past the American lines early on but pause in the jungle by the border of the American lines to see how the main attack fares. The Japanese are unsuccessful in softening up the marine positions with DF so at 03:00/turn 5, the first Japanese assault is made on the southern flank. American first fire is ineffective and they lose a step of HMG. A half platoon of marines are sent in to reinforce the position but it is also soon eliminated but still, the remaining reduced marine HMG unit is able to hold out and hold the line for a while. The next assault on the American lines comes from the northern sandbar area at 03:45/turn 8, and again the American first fire is ineffective but this time the American position is taken and the Japs break through. Soon after this the Japanese INF units that had circled around the American southern flank move past the lines and there are now 4 of the 5 required units past the Ilu. At 04:15/turn 10, Colonel Ichicki, not to be outdone by his subordinates, leads an assault smack in the center of the line and once again, American first fire is ineffective. The central line is breached and the defenders along with an American Major are eliminated. The marines do what they can to eliminate the Japanese that have broken through their lines conducting assaults of their own and have limited success but too many Japanese have broken through. Desperate measures are taken by calling down OBA into the assault hexes but even that is not enough. Colonel Ichicki and some platoons continue to advance and mount another assault pinning American forces down and raising the spirits of his men and fulfilling his promise of smiting the Americans with a "mailed fist". By the time the sun had risen at 06:00/turn 17, 7 units had made it through the American lines and a Japanese victory was secured.

This was an intense battle and there were very few, if any, dull moments. The Americans had crap luck in defending against the assaults on their lines; three times in three different assaults with all their units in good order they failed to even so much as disrupt the attackers with their higher morale. The marines did what they could once the lines were breached and did manage to eliminate a lot of Japanese. The Japanese lost 19 steps and one leader; American losses were 8 steps and three leaders. In other plays perhaps the Americans may do better in defending against assaults with the first fire advantage for being dug-in and/or in jungle hexes but this time around they got rolled. Despite that this scenario may favor the Japanese a bit it still gets a solid "4" rating for it's intensity and I don't think scenarios should be rated by balance of play alone. This scenario has rekindled my interest in pursuing more Pacific theater PG games and scenarios and have decided that 'Kokoda Trail' is next on my PG supplement wish list. Just about every turn of this one was packed with action and could really feel the desperation of the American attempts to fend off the Japanese assault and also the thrill from the Japanese side of breaking through the American lines