Battle Report: In the pre-dawn hours of August 21, 1942, units from Colonel Ichicki’s Detachment landed on the north shore of Guadalcanal and moved west toward the Ilu River. Shortly after 0200 hours, they engaged troops from the 2nd Marine Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment that were dug in along the west shore of the Ilu. The Colonel led a feint against the US right about 2 Km upstream, while the main thrust of the Japanese force moved west along the coast, crossed the Ilu and broke through the US lines at 0245 hours. By 0330, Ichicki and a single engineer platoon had moved through the jungle turning the US right flank. This was followed a half hour later by a major breakthrough on the US left flank that had been anchored on the coast; seven Japanese platoons rushed through the gap and threatened to roll up the entire US position. The Japanese maintained their position west of the river and, as dawn broke, a brief thunderstorm moved through. This compromised visibility; however, by 0600 hours, the rain subsided and a drenched Colonel Ichicki emerged from the swamp to join his troops that were 1.2 Km west of the river. Daybreak brought a Japanese victory.Analysis: This is a short 17-turn scenario that occurs with limited visibility throughout. It was played using 4th edition rules and accelerated fog-of-war with die rolls after each side had taken a single activation. Victory conditions require the Japanese to cross the river from east to west on the northern half of the map. The Japanese have the advantage of the cover of darkness and hidden units, and the scenario was played allowing for the “blindness” of both sides to enemy movements. Once the Japanese won a couple of assaults against the American front line, despite first fire from the dug-in Marines, a gap was opened that allowed Japanese penetration. There simply weren’t enough American units to maintain a long front and still pursue the Japanese immediately. Once the front was cleared, those Marines that weren’t pinned in assaults moved toward the Japanese in the western sector, but it was too little, too late. The Japanese ended the scenario with 5 platoons (4 INF, 1 ENG) across the river, along with 4 other units that were either reduced, disrupted or demoralized. There were also three more Japanese units in assaults that were on the west side. So, the Japanese scored a clear victory despite losing 15 steps to the Americans’ 10.