One of the things I try hard to do in solo play is to play both sides as though I'm playing face-to-face, and I could see somebody getting a bit testy with my solution to this scenario, but in reading and re-reading, I don't see anything wrong with taking to the relatively open board edge to get the Marine soft-skins and the troops they carry around the Japanese troops while the armor ties up the ranged weapons. After being bogged down with the Marine armor in a duel with an HMG and leader in a town hex, while a 75mm gun awaits a clear shot from the jungle on the hill to the west, it struck me that taking a little chance with a few op fire shots might be just the thing to do. And it worked. Between turns 6 and 12 there was just exactly enough movement left for the trucks and jeep to work their way around the east edge and bypass the worst of the traps laid out for them. The Japanese moved infantry and another HMG towards the east just in time to get one more op fire attempt, which also missed, and from there on, there was nothing to stop the wheel express. In the exchange with the 75mm on the hill, the Japanese took out the halftrack but was unable to scratch the Sherman. This game showed me two things. First, as the Japanese, it isn't as easy to set up and defend as it might first appear, especially if you don't assume everything is going to come up that road. Second, as the Marine, it might be a bit gamey, but there was nothing in my own old recon days to say the recon has to stick with the road when faced with lots of ambushes and roadblocks, especially when higher HQ demanded that the recon be conducted by a certain time, and it might be nice if most of us survived to achieve that goal. This could just as easily failed with better Japanese fire results. Three op fires failed to achieve anything more than a morale check, which the Marines had no problem passing. An interesting puzzle to solve.