A friend and I have decided to attempt the Kokoda Trail campaign game. I saw it has been tried before on this site, but not completed. We are not using personalized leaders, so I suspect it may be hard to overcome the point differential to manage more than a draw. But the campaign opportunity is too much to pass up. As I rate scenarios, the ratings will be based on the scenario as a stand alone scenario, not part of the campaign. I’m not sure if early scenarios benefit one side with the intent to gain a point lead, with later scenarios designed to close that gap, so I need to consider each as a stand alone.

In the first scenario, both sides rushed for the crossroads, with the Japanese coming in from all three directions. My opponent does not fall for the weak engineer unit bait, but smartly goes for the escape. I win initiative on turn two, take the intersection, and shrug off the opfire. All the forces form around the intersection (except my engineer group, who needs another turn), and on turn three the assaults begin. The Japanese charge into Aussie positions, and get the worst of the deal. Every officer (except the Lt with the engineers) demoralize, and the Japanese take two step losses. The Aussies also take two losses, and are in better shape, and are technically winning. The Japanese captain even deserts. But then Aussie rolls become more average, as do Japanese rolls, and things go bad for the Aussies. Broken units cannot manage to escape the onslaught. The Aussie captain and one step survives the massacre, and the Japanese take no more losses. Even that one cannot reach the edge of the board, though. Final score and campaign status, Japanese: 10, Australians: 2.

I rate this scenario as a 1 because from a win lose perspective there is no need to set up the game. You skip turn one, roll for initiative on turn two (don’t forget to add 1 to the Japanese roll), and whomever is higher wins. Seriously, this scenario is a joke. I’ve seen other AARs that discuss it as an interesting tactical puzzle for the Aussies. It’s interesting like the shiny object you see on the ground, but when you walk over to it, it turns out to be a pull tab. Once you seen it, it isn’t interesting. Could the Aussies have scored higher? Yes, by playing for points rather than the win. If the Aussies had grabbed the intersection first (and moved one hex beyond to block the Japanese side entries), then the Japanese have no real hope of stopping the three units racing across the board. Just roll two dice, add 1 to the Japanese, and pretend you played the scenario.