Another epic 'Guadalcanal' scenario which challenged both my wits and endurance, lasting 95 of 108 turns before ending in a stalemate. The set-up and goals are similar to the preceding scenario: #18- "October on the Matanikau I" but with the objectives a little further west this time with the Japanese mostly situated on the other side of the Matanikau, desperately trying to hold on to that west bank area. Also, the Japanese have their SNLF and Army relief forces deployed a little closer to the main defenses this time but will still take quite a bit of time to get into the fray having to move through a lot of jungle and river hexes to make contact with marine forces. The main Japanese forces are also a bit more depleted in strength with more reduced units yet their morale is still strong apart from the SER units.

Again, like the previous engagement, both sides have two means of achieving their VCs; either hex control or inflicting enemy step losses. Of course to meet either side's geographical VCs will result in having to eliminate a lot of enemy steps so it will be a very long battle of attrition.

The first day of the battle begins in the afternoon (14:30) with only a few hours of daylight to work with. Once night falls both sides will be faced with units becoming disrupted after moving so it is urgent to keep reinforcing units on the move, fog of war permitting. On the first turn both sides were able to activate all of their units with an epic total of 49 activations between them which was a good start. Also on the first turn, American OBA (3x18) was able to eliminate a Japanese INF step straight away (The Americans have to eliminate 21 Japanese steps to win; the Japanese must eliminate 15 American steps). This time around the opposing sides are already in DF/spotting range of each other so losses begin to mount very quickly. Again, the marines have the edge with direct firepower while the Japanese are the masters of assault; but the Japanese are on the defense trying to hold the west bank and are stretched thin waiting to be reinforced so their losses are a lot higher than the marines.

At 19:15/turn 20, visibilty begins to decrease and the marines begin to settle and dig-in a strong line on the east bank of the Matanikau without too many casualties from opportunity fire. Some elements of scouts and raiders have managed to move far enough to open up a second front on the south flank and the Americans have established a very strong firing line going into the first night.

With both sides becoming disrupted from night movement the Japanese are really out of their element, not risking any assaults. This is not very characteristic of the Japanese who are renowned for night assaults but by October the tide had really begun to turn against them on Guadalcanal and this scenario (and the one before) demonstrates that quite well. The battle rages on through the night but remarkably in favor of the marines. The Americans are able keep their lines intact and extend them a few hexes across the Matanikau preventing the Japanese from keeping control of their geographical VCs. During the night the Americans only lose one further step while the Japanese perish in the masses. Right after sunrise on the second day American Naval and Marine air support begins to appear in strength for once and in notable strength; and at 06:45/turn 66, the Americans have reached their VCs by having eliminated 21 Japanese steps. Now there was only one thing left for the Japanese to do: assault, assault and assault. Holding onto territory is no longer of any importance, the Japanese can only fight for a draw and storm as many marine postions as possible with predictably high casualties. Then, at 07:45/turn 70, a random event changes the American orders requiring the Japanese to eliminate 17 American steps rather than just 15 steps, making the Japanese situation even more desperate. But the Americans too were faced with their own dilemma: how to last 38 more turns without losing 11 more steps? This was the same problem in the previous battle, how to hold on to victory without withdrawing too far and letting the Japanese retake their lost positions?

So wave after wave of Japanese assaults take place throughout the day while the Americans mostly remain static and hope for the best with first fire advantages from occupying jungle and/or river hexes. The American lines are broken through in many places and some elements of marines on the south flank are isolated and driven away further south and west, all the way to the Galloping Horse area of the map. In fact, one demoralized and fleeing scout unit has to move to a xx17 hex which releases the Japanese Army reserves of the 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment and a potential hornet's nest has been shaken. Though they had a long distance to travel to get into the action it did certainly turn the heat up. At a huge human cost the many Japanese assaults do begin to push American losses up and, unlike the previous battle, even the SNLF units begin to straggle into the now broken American lines. The map board is now a mess with units spread-out everywhere and there is a sea of disrupted/demoralized markers to compliment the chaos. However, despite reinforcements straggling into the fray the Japanese assaults are losing steam and manpower. It boils down to just having to eliminate one more american step to force a draw though so the Japanese use every dirty trick and make every human sacrifice possible to force a draw and not further shame their emperor. Turns began to pass at an agonizingly slow pace to the point of wanting to give up with the Japanese and let the Americans take the win but just one more American loss beckoned. By now every Japanese assault was a long shot but as long there was a sliver of hope left of surviving the American first-fire and getting an X result, they continued. And then it happened at 14:00/turn 95; an assault gets through attacking on the 9 column and a 6 is rolled -it was finally finished!

So this one was tough to rate; there were times, many times that I wanted to give it a "4" and it probably deserves that much but by the end of this grueling feat of endurance I felt quite drained so gave it a modest "3" rating in the end and felt like I deserved a medal for seeing it through. I can only imagine how frustrating this one would be in a face-to-face match without calling it quits and it would be a question of how bad do you want to win or save face with a draw? -depending on what side you are playing. Like the preceding scenario the Americans "won" first with inflicting enemy losses but the real challenge was how to hold onto that victory? Again, what I did like about the overall scheme was how it seemed to accurately portray the historical situation. It's October on Guadalcanal and the Japanese are down but not quite out; soon the Marines will be relieved by the Army for mop-up operations and Guadalcanal will be secured. Having played out most of the 'Guadalcanal' scenarios I am wanting more and being a stickler for completion intend to move on to 'Jungle Fighting' for the complete Guadalcanal experience, taking the good with the bad. Yes, there are a few stinkers in the game but the good scenarios are damned good.

A final note on the human cost for the Japanese to secure a draw before the conclusion of turn 95: 10 leaders ( 1 x CAP, 9 x LT and 1 x SGT), 30 INF, 4 ENG, 4 SER and 9 steps of HMG. American losses were: 1 x MAJ, 1 x CAP, 1 x LT, 9 MAR, 3 HMG, 2 SCOUT and 3 RAID steps; 47 Japanese steps to 17 American; and over 3 Japanese leaders eliminated for every American leader lost. One thing for certain is that there was no shortage of action with this one!