In this scenario, the Australians must climb the hills and find/destroy the Japanese troops while capturing the hills. The Japanese basically need to try and hold the hills while pounding the Australians. The Japanese start with two platoons on the smaller hill and four on the larger hill. The Australians start on the beach.

It takes a few turns for the Aussies to move from the beach to the hills. The Japanese are hidden, so the slow crawl comes right up to the hilltops where the Australians intend to unload into the hexes before moving in. The Australians do get lucky and spot a platoon on the smaller hill, placing the Japanese at an immediate disadvantage. The Australians will just sit there and pound the hex with mortars and close-in direct fire. So the Japanese do the only logical thing and assault the Australians. This pulls the Japanese off the hill, so the Australians will capture those two hexes, but lose several steps in the process. By the end of the scenario the Japanese lose one platoon, and the other is demoralized and running, but not before ripping several steps of Australians.

On the large hill, prep fire does disrupt one Japanese platoon, but then the Aussies step into the ambushes. Much destruction against the Australians. The battle comes down to the Australians trying to move in enough forces to make up for losses in the two assault hexes. The more central hex succeeds in the end, pinning Japanese troops and even inflicting a step loss, but suffering steps in the process. The Australians are eventually strong enough to hold the hex, and the hex ends as contested. The flank hex is much less successful, and ends up costing the Australians four step losses before the Japanese wipe out the hex and once again become a mobile force. Disruption ends up keeping one platoon in place where it scores a point for owning the hex, but the other becomes the bane of Australia, recapturing hexes until getting involved in another assault. The assault hex remains contested at scenario end, but the route there does ensure another hex is still Japanese controlled at the end.

In the end, the Japanese hold three hexes and inflict nine step losses on the Australians, while the Australians control five hexes and inflict four steps against the Japanese, for a final score of 12-9, a Japanese minor victory.

This was a decent scenario where at various times it seemed obvious where it was going to go, but then changed direction. The Japanese certainly have a combat advantage, and hammered the Australians. But the Australians have the advantage of better points from geographical objectives. The Australian mortar crews were very frustrated. They brought fire down very accurately, scoring multiple M1 and M2 hits. But the Japanese shrugged off those hits like the shells were never even falling, even their demoralized unit. Had the Japanese morale not held so well against the Australian arty it might have shifted the final dynamics. I wouldn’t say this scenario is a barn-burner, but it is a decent smaller scenario.