On to the ninth battle of the Kokoda campaign. It’s actually the tenth scenario, but we are currently skipping Scenario 19, the mother of all Kokoda scenarios. We’ll cycle back to that one when we can find a long play opportunity.

In this scenario the Japanese have an entire seven units (5 Inf, 2 Eng) to defend all six villages against nine Australian Inf and three HMGs. The Australians have a significant advantage in units and firepower, but the Japanese get to use hidden movement rules. Points are awarded for steps inflicted (one) and villages controlled (two for Japanese and three for Australians).

During setup I placed an Lt, Inf, and Eng in the villages at 0409 and 0414, a reserve of an Lt and 2 Inf in the village at 1007, and the Capt (with combat bonus) and an Inf in 0616. I left the village at 0507 empty as the terrain provided too many spotting opportunities during approach. I figured my opponent would come in against the pair of villages at 1007 and 0409, or split some force off to go after 0414. The reserve had the duty of backing up a collapse of the two defended villages, plugging holes if the Aussies come cross country, or protecting the approach to the northern villages if the Aussies come up the western trail loop. The Capt is placed to sweep behind and recapture villages if the Aussies leave them unoccupied.

The setup works better than I hoped. The entire force comes after the village at 0414, so the 0409 force is a blocker, the Capt has the option of backing up to the eastern trail loop, and the reserve is well placed for any option. The Aussies come up on 0414 and spot the Japanese. After some futile fire in each direction the Aussies come in on the assault. The Aussies eventually lose three steps before both Japanese units demoralize. The Eng recovers, the Inf flees with the Lt in tow, the Aussies eventually manage to kill of the Eng with no more casualties, and the fleeing Japanese eventually recover and re-hide, but take no more active part in the scenario.

The Australians now split, some going towards 0409, the rest up the trail to capture the village at 0911. At 0409 the Australians never spotted the Japanese despite making an extra effort and even firing on the village. They walked into the village and triggered a tremendous ambush, which only managed to score an M2 result. Normally my opponent rolls miracle morale checks, but today they were abysmal. The results of the M2 launched a series of morale failures, Japanese counterassaults, and Australian combat failures. In the end, the Japanese wiped out everything the Aussies had with no steps lost. Ironically if a demoralized unit had managed to move away from the combat and reached 0507 the Australians would have captured a second village, but lonely demoralized units managed to recover before being re-assaulted.

Meanwhile the Japanese Capt had moved his Inf onto the trail at 0814. The Australians, feeling time pressure, had taken to risking fast movement along the trail hexes. The Japanese position was chosen assuming the Aussies at the front of the force would move the full three hexes. They did, and the ambush, aided by the fast movement, was devastating. The Japanese force eventually inflicted four steps and cleared the hex. They then ran towards 0911, the reserve in 0911 hid in the jungle adjacent to the trail and village, and the Australians pursued. The Japanese managed to re-hide, and the Australians approached quickly but stopped short of the village. The Japanese in the village were spotted, but not the reserve, which assaulted the Australians on the trail. The Aussies lost two steps to the Japanese one, but more importantly they were effectively locked in combat for the couple of remaining turns. Even exiting part of the force would have been insufficient to then approach and assault the village, so we agreed to pass the last turn. The Australians finished with one village captured and three steps inflicted, while the Japanese hung on to five villages and inflicted 20 steps.

End score for the scenario, Japanese 30, Australians 6.

Rated this scenario as a 3. I was actually surprised the Japanese were able to defend so well with so few troops. Two things could have changed the outcome drastically, however. Better Australian morale rolls, and coming up the trail to the village at 0507 at the start. I was lucky to set up a defense that was tailor made for the Australian entry, and bad morale conditions made the Aussies very vulnerable in assault combats. I think had these two events not both played out I would have been very desperate to hold with so little force. The battle at 0414 showed how the Australians could gain VPs very quick. After the ambush in 0409 I thought I was in for the same failure. But the bad morale checks for the Australian player and the failure of reinforcements to swing the battle combined to rescue me. Had 0409 fallen, so would have gone 0507 plus more Japanese steps lost, and I would have had little left to defend the remaining three villages. I got lucky, and I think this scenario could become frustrating for the Japanese without some luck.

Campaign score: Japanese 294, Australians 52.