Korean War: Counter-Attack, scenario #46: Flanked

When you set this scenario up you think no way can North Korean forces push U.S. Marines out of town for a victory but then you realize that they have about twice the force including a platoon of T34/85 tanks and the cover of night to move in close and the Marines are cut-off and have no artillery support so anything goes in this scenario.

The Americans setup in all the town hexes on both sides of the river with covering fire on the bridge hex. The North Koreans move on the map from the west and converge on three town hexes on the west side of the river from the high ground on the western side and the flat ground on the southern approach.

Both sides’ trade shots and the North Korean pull adjacent on all sides and trade more shots and the NKPA and Americans adjust the stacks hoping for better results but this also forces the Marines to use the 3.5in Bazooka Teams into some suicidal attacks against the North Korean T34/85s without any supporting Infantry. Results were one step of T34/85s for two steps of 3.5in Bazooka Teams an even trade by points, but I needed Infantry support next game I try that.

The North Koreans go for an all-out assault on all three town hexes on the west side of the river and roll some pretty good dice and were able to use the T34/85 reduced step to get an AFV modifier on one assault. The NKPA had more steps to filter back in to assaults as they became demoralized, as they are weaker than the Marines Infantry & HMG units.

Towards the end neither side was able to push the other side out of town, with the North Koreans controlling two town hexes for two points, the Marines two town hexes for four points and nobody controlling the bridge hex. Each side had also taken seven points of step loses. So the Americans had 11 points while the NKPA had 9 points, causing a Draw, as a side had to win by 3 or more points to achieve a victory and so on.

I few dice rolls either way on this scenario could have made a huge difference for either side. On the last turn I could have done a high risk attack to maybe make a difference in the scenario but decided not to as I doubt in real life a commander would have. A surprisingly close scenario.