My first PG scenario was Edson’s Ridge, The First Night. I didn’t care much for the scenario, but I really loved the PG system, so I charged ever forward while figuring I would never bother with Edson’s Ridge, The Second Night. With PG-HQ awarding ribbons, I decided I eventually want the Guad ribbon so I need to go ahead and play The Second Night.

I am not a fan of random moving, and the corresponding frustration was my issue with the first scenario. Five people playing a game where you randomly determine whether you will actually have combat during a wargame is frustrating. This scenario is a reprise, although the center Japanese force is at the lower end of the clear area which helps immensely. The scenario is also longer and larger, as the Marines have enough units to form a full defensive line.

The Japanese left is always very careful not to move so far forward as to release the reserves prior to turn 25. They contact the Marine line, and eventually break it, forcing the Marines to fall back to a second line. The left never manages to re-establish contact with the Marines, but Marine casualties were significant, and the Marines probably should have pulled back sooner.

The center waits until darkness can cover their shift towards the right through the clear areas. The Japanese right takes a long time to reach the Marine line, but as contact is made the center force joins in. The Marines manage to shake up the Japanese pretty well for a while, but eventually the assaults go in and break the line. This end of the Marine line is close to the board edge to begin with, so Japanese forces can move towards the edge based on the fact that contact with the enemy removes the disorientation. And the Japanese decide to forgo additional assaults and use the combination of pinned and broken Marine units to maneuver sufficient steps off the board. By the time Marine reinforcements arrive it is already too late to prevent a Japanese victory.

In the end, the Japanese win via inflicted step losses on turn 27, and keep going to exit sufficient steps on turn 32. The Marines lose 15 steps vs 17 for the Japanese. While there was less frustration due to disorientation this time, I still was not particularly excited about the scenario itself. An uncoordinated assault against a relatively static defense line is not where this system shines. Better than The First Night, but still only a 2.