On to the tenth battle of the Kokoda campaign. It’s actually the eleventh scenario, but we are currently skipping Scenario 19, the mother of all Kokoda scenarios. In this scenario the Japanese are defending along the stream from an Australian attack aimed at capturing villages and moving up the trail on the more northern map. The Australians have about a 25% advantage in units, about a 50% advantage in steps, and more than a 75% advantage in firepower. They gain one point per Japanese step lost, one for each step on the trail on the northern board, and three points for each village, and they start with three villages. The Japanese get two points per village, one per Australian step loss, and ten if fewer than ten Aussie steps are on the trail. About a third of the Japanese units start out with a step loss. On paper it looks good for the Aussies, but how does it play out?

The Japanese form a line basically one hex north along the stream, every other hex. The machine gun units are in the central Japanese village ready to shift to a trail defense wherever needed. The Aussies build a large force at the southeast and southwest trail areas, keeping several units along the central portion to guard the villages and act as a reserve. The Aussies advance along the trail on both sides. Japanese opfire manages to disrupt key Australian units, which slows but does not stop the advance.

In the southeast the Japanese assault in hexes 0613 and 0614, blocking the trail. Both sides tear into each other, and both keep rolling in reinforcements. Losses are about equal, but Australian morale suffers considerably and units keep rolling back to the village to recover. The advance slows to a standstill. The grinder keeps on, until finally the Australians crack the position in 0614 on the trail. Hex 0613 never falls, but a big hit by the Aussies on the trail knocks out a step and demoralizes the defenders. One unit recovers, the other fails and the unit and officer flee. The next assault demoralizes the defender, but also demoralizes all three attacking units. The defender flees, and the Australians own the trail. Reinforcements from the center try to follow up and move towards 0911. The Japanese defend the hex with the HMGs, and flank the village to block the advance towards the north board trail. The game ends with no villages captured or trail hexes occupied by the southeast force.

In the southwest the Australians make a huge push, and clear the crossing very fast with some slowdown due to opfire. They make assaults on some Japanese in the jungle, which does not go particularly well, and the Japanese are happy to inflict an occasional loss on defense while tying down the Australians units. The Australians manage to reach the village at 1104, but the draw of reinforcements to the southeast frees a couple of stacks of Japanese to aid in the defense, to include the powerhouse stack of two Inf supported by a Lt with a combat modifier. This stack wreaks havoc on the Australians in assault hexes, shredding unit after unit and even killing the 10-1-2 Aussie Lt. They also kill the ranking Aussie leader, leaving the advance stunned in place, increasing the devastation from the Japanese forces. The southwest advance is pulverized, and the Japanese never lose the village or allow Australian units to move around them and get on the trail.

The Aussies managed to inflict significant casualties on the Japanese, who felt each one given their starting condition. But the Japanese nearly doubled the step count on the Australians, especially in the combat against the southwest force. No villages changed hands, and no Australians reached the trail. Had the reinforcements gone to the southwest vs the southeast things may have looked very different. The Japanese would have had to choose between defending villages vs defending the trail, and the Aussies would probably have managed to rack up more points. But the southeast approach took too long and went through too many defensive locations. The defense was thin, but the Aussies couldn’t get around the defenders and get to the trail. A concerted effort in the southwest may have yielded fruit, but the initial push ran out of forces before hammering through.

End score for the scenario, Japanese 37, Australians 20.

Rated this scenario as a 3. I expected an Australian rout of the Japanese, and was surprised with the tenacity of the Japanese defense. Rolling was hot and cold for both players, and usually in unison (both roll 1s or 6s on an assault, trading many steps). In the end the Australian advance was just too slow. Assault hexes along the trail slowed down the advance on both ends of the map, and the reinforcements went to the slow but better manned side. A different approach could easily lead to different results. The Japanese cracked but did not break. At times the scenario dragged for the Japanese player as his small force had little to do while the Aussies kept moving and recovering.

Campaign score: Japanese 331, Australians 72.