Panzer Grenadier Battles on November 21st:
Desert Rats #16 - The Panzers Pull Back Desert Rats #19 - The Panzers Return
Desert Rats #17 - The Tomb Of Sidi Rezegh Jungle Fighting #7 - Line Of Departure
Desert Rats #18 - A Pibroch's Skirl South Africa's War #5 - Irish Eyes
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To the Poha
Jungle Fighting #32
(Defender) Japan vs United States (Attacker)
Formations Involved
Japan 2nd "Courageous" Infantry Division
United States 147th "Gypsies of the Pacific" Infantry Regiment
United States 6th Marine Regiment
United States Marine Corps
Display
Balance:



Overall balance chart for JuFi032
Total
Side 1 3
Draw 0
Side 2 0
Overall Rating, 3 votes
5
4
3
2
1
2.67
Scenario Rank: --- of 940
Parent Game Jungle Fighting
Historicity Historical
Date 1943-01-23
Start Time 07:45
Turn Count 17
Visibility Day
Counters 115
Net Morale 0
Net Initiative 3
Maps 1: Guad-ME
Layout Dimensions 84 x 55 cm
33 x 22 in
Play Bounty 159
AAR Bounty 165
Total Plays 3
Total AARs 2
Battle Types
Inflict Enemy Casualties
Rear Guard
Conditions
Naval Bombardment
Off-board Artillery
Scenario Requirements & Playability
Battle of the Bulge Counters
Guadalcanal Maps + Counters
Jungle Fighting Base Game
Introduction

The American attack continued on the 23rd as the 27th Regiment's advance inland gained momentum and threatened to surround the Japanese defenders along the coast. Unknown to the Americans, the Japanese had resolved to evacuate the island on the 16th, but had been fighting hard to prevent the Americans from overrunning the many weakened defenders as they drew back on Cape Esperance.

Conclusion

The Japanese were again driven west beyond the Poha River (off the map edge) except for a large force surrounded near the coast by the 6th Marines and the 27th Infantry. The back of the Japanese defense was broken and only the pocketed force remained to prevent an American drive on Cape Esperance.

Additional Notes

Elsenborn Ridge or Cassino '44 may be used for the U.S. Army units.


Display Order of Battle

Japan Order of Battle
Imperial Japanese Army
United States Order of Battle
Army
Marine Corps
Navy
  • Misc

Display Errata (1)

1 Errata Item
Scen 32

There is not enough space for the Americans to fully set up within the confines of the in play zone. I allowed them to set up partially OOB after fully stacking the in play areas, only allowing those units OOB to walk in bounds by a direct route.

(triangular_cube on 2023 Feb 24)

Display AARs (2)

Close, But Not Quite
Author rerathbun
Method Solo
Victor Japan
Play Date 2013-05-07
Language English
Scenario JuFi032

When I first looked at this one, I almost picked another scenario. The Americans have to fight their way through heavy jungle and then accomplish victory conditions that seem nearly impossible. But, it fit the time and space I had and I decided to give it a try.

It took some time to get the Americans through the jungle. They have a large force and with the jungle rules they could often activate only one stack at a time. Several times Fog-of-War rolls stopped them from activating a good portion of the force.

Once they got through the jungle to the Japanese, they had to make it past Japanese Opportunity Fire to assault them. The Japanese set up in the jungle with clear hexes in front of them for maximum protection and fields of fire.

At the half-way point in the scenario, the Americans had lost three steps of infantry in the approach. When the 8-0-1 Marine Captain rolled 12 on a recovery roll and deserted, I figured one more turn and I'd be writing up an AAR for an unbalanced scenario rated '2.'

By then, though, the Americans were adjacent to the Japanese all along the line. They assaulted and American firepower quickly evened things up. They quickly reduced and then eliminated platoon after platoon of Japanese defenders. In the end, the Americans did not lose another step (although it was pretty close at times), and the game came down almost to the final turn.

One and one-half Japanese platoons held on in a single assault hex for a surprisingly close win.

This one is probably best played solo, since there is not much for the Japanese to do once they set up. It's still pretty tough for the Americans, but with patience and good planning they should be able to make it close, and can certainly win with just a little luck.

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Jungle Fighting #32
Author triangular_cube
Method Solo
Victor Japan
Play Date 2023-02-24
Language English
Scenario JuFi032

This is going to be a very tough go for the Americans, as they have to essentially boardwipe the Japanese with a short turn count and limiting casualties. Its probably basically impossible but not to my standard to get a "1" so its a very low "2".

I suspect the American setup info is wrong, in that they do not have space to fully set up, and they are quite a distance from the Japanese. So much so that they will spend a third of their turns just crossing the map to engage the Japanese. They do so without much trouble, maximizing the open/grass terrain to get in more activations while moving forward against FOW.

The Japanese intended to limit the impact of the road, and American DD (although these are fairly useless in actuality) while also increasing their chances of causing casualties against the weaker Army morale by setting up densely in the south. The USMC in the north does speed along the road and swing south while the Army has a more direct route to contact.

Battle ensues once the Americans break the jungle line, but there are just simply too many Japanese and not enough time. Japan wins easily. Probably aided by a broken setup instruction.

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