Author |
thomaso827
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Method |
Solo |
Victor |
Japan |
Play Date |
2015-07-31 |
Language |
English |
Scenario |
NiSi001
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First shot at this new (for me) module. The Dutch are holding an airfield on board 18 (town hex in the east side of the board) against about a battalion strength SNLF Airborne drop, supported by a 37mm AT gun that arrived in a floatplane using the lake in the middle of the board, along with a leader. The Dutch have a single entrenchment that has to be set up adjacent to the airfield. Using the impartial leader selection here on the site, the Japanese got great leaders and the Dutch got mostly poor, with one pretty good LT. The good Dutch LT I set up in the entrenchment with an INF and an HMG, the armored car started on the airfield hex, and I spread out the rest along the south edge of the central jungle hexes, with one last INF and an LT in the central jungle hex to move and reinforce any trouble spots. The Japanese AT gun started trading ineffective fire with the Dutch in the southwest hex of the jungle after the Dutch revealed themselves there first. The Japanese airborne drop arrived on turn 3, and with a lot of 1s rolled, there ended up being the Japanese commander and an Ensign along with 4 platoons stacked in the Assembly Point hex, so I displaced one platoon and the Ensign into another hex per stacking rules. The rest of the force scattered all over the place, but in the end, more than half ended up in the drop zone or within a hex or two of it. One platoon went off the board but succeeded in coming in on turn 6, and a scattered leader was within 3 hexes of that edge to lead the unit towards the action. The Japanese succeeded in assaulting the southwestern and south central jungle hexes quickly, while first blood drawn was against the armored car when it ventured around too close to the AT gun. The remaining AC step failed its morale check, and spent the next few turns running away. The Japanese managed a lot of kill shots, with a handful of single INF steps fleeing while Dutch leaders died in place. In the 11th turn, the Japanese commander leading 2 HMG and 1 INF succeeded in taking the airfield in assault while another Japanese stack with a good LT and 2 INF assaulted the entrenched Dutch in the adjacent hex. On the final turn, the Dutch armored car made an attempt to get back to the airfield, hoping at least to prevent a Japanese capture of it by contesting ownership in that last turn, but the Japanese destroyed the AC unit in the assault, and the Dutch in the entrenchment were stuck trading ineffective blows with another stack of Japanese troops and were unable to try for an attack to retake and hold the airfield. In the end, Japanese win, 16 points to 6 for a Major Victory. Great game. Gave this one high marks because there was that slim chance of the Dutch at least contesting the field to drive down the Japanese victory points right to the end.
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