In this scenario an outnumbered Marine force must hold a river/creek (scenario is bad at defining which) line against a determined Japanese assault. Victory is based on whether the Japanese can get five units across a specific line of hexes. While the Japanese can end-run the landward side of the line, they must come back into the Marine rear to count for victory. Fog of war is brutal, forcing rolls with a plus one after each side receives a single activation. With only seventeen turns that is going to put real time pressure on the Japanese.

The Marines set up along the creek, placing a couple spare units to reinforce some spots on the line and a couple ready to extend the line into the jungle. The Japanese set up to the seaward side of the midpoint (by scenario definition) with two strong assault stacks, two large hidden stacks, and several smaller stacks ready to hit the Marine line.

The Japanese immediately begin shifting to the landward end of the line as the defenses on the coast and reinforced hexes in the middle are not appealing to assault. The Marines can only make minor shifts as the hidden units discourage stripping the end of the line. But the hidden units are moving towards the same end of the line, intending to hit the entire right flank, pin them down, end run through the jungle with hidden units while pressing through their assault zone.

The Japanese move into contact, and the Marine opfire is disastrous. No effect on the Japanese. The Japanese follow with three assaults against the extreme right, but their hidden units are all revealed. The Marines now know the entire effort is against their right, and begin shifting troops as fast as possible. As quickly as they can reach the back line of the flank the Japanese are pouring through and assaulting. The Marine Lt Col’s stack is ripping through Japanese units, but in the other four assault hexes the Japanese are gaining the upper hand. The only advantage the Marines have is the new assault hexes are still outside the victory area, and the Japanese units are being tied down due to the Banzai rule. The fact that two of the three original assault hexes are still holding and receiving reinforcements further ties up the Japanese.

Some Marines try to flank the Japanese by crossing the creek on the left flank. These tie down some more Japanese, but the impact is minimal. The real action is still along the river, and the extended flank. Several of these locations are jungle, which help the Marines, but Japanese assaults are ugly and the battle is continuing to shift to the Japanese favor. The Japanese expend twelve turns before realizing they haven’t reached the victory area and time is running out. They make a massive push, trying to beat the FoW assisted clock ticks.

Finally one stack of three breaks its assault hex, while the Japanese commander leads the two unengaged HMG units across the stream, and the Japanese get five units into the victory zone on turn 15. The Marines survive just long enough to prevent any more Japanese from entering the zone, but are unable to engage the Japanese already in their rear. In the end the Japanese have five units in the Marine rear, and have inflicted 20 step losses on the Marines, while suffering 14 step losses of their own. A brutal, bloody battle that came down to the wire.

I did not expect much from this scenario. It seemed and easy Japanese push against a thin Marine line. In reality it was a great slugfest where maneuver was critical for both sides. A few changed rolls could have easily shifted the results in either direction, as the Marine line was much sturdier than I expected. The Banzai rule prevents a Japanese overrun, the jungles slowed Japanese movement long enough to allow the Marines to shift, and the FoW special rules made the clock a huge pressurizing factor. Really pleased with this scenario, although I expect the Japanese do have a slight favor. This one gets a 4!