Korean War: Pusan Perimeter, scenario #18: The Battle For Ch’onan

I have been so busy lately designing more games that I needed to take a break from that to play another scenario. I picked this one, as it fit the bill for what I wanted today; a quick playing (about two hours), one map, small to medium counter count and another interesting battle from the Korean War. The North Koreans enter from the north of the map and the Americans defend the town hex/hexes. The victor is whoever controls it. Originally I thought there would be only one town hex on this map by the river but after production there in another one at one end of the map. Not a big deal as it gives a couple of variations of play. I chose to defend only the town hex in the middle of the map by the river as to defend both would stretch the small American force too much anyway and the middle town hex was the design intent originally.

The NKPA entered from the north but with a force this size and tough terrain to maneuver in, they entered in three locations, as not to bunch up and also to converge with as much force as possible on the town hex/victory objective. The T-34/85s force drove down the middle along the road but waited for their Infantry to catch up before they attacked the American forces dug-in around Ch’onan. The Americans used their dug-in status and terrain as much as possible to their advantage, as with 18 turns the NKPA really can’t mess around too much, other than to gather all their force, to try an attack all at once in force, as I learned my lessons previous scenarios not to attack piecemeal if possible.

It took a while and I sweated it out as the NKPA player but finally after 17 turns the North Koreans controlled Ch’onan with one turn to spare! The lower American morale helped the NKPA player gain the upper hand but a few different dice rolls either way, and who knows who would have won?

This scenario brings a mixed NKPA force of Infantry, SMGs and 3 steps of T-34s making their way to the town about 3/4 of the length of the board. US Army hold the town and the area around it. After reading the designers AAR, I ignored the town on the north of the board. 2 Infantry, the Col, the SGT and one of the bazooka teams set up in the town. I set up a ring of defenders 2 hexes out and 2 apart, dug in except for an HMG, an INF and a good LT in the woods south west of the town where he could fire at anything coming from the west of the town. Everyone else set up, with the other bazooka with the Captain and 2 Infantry dug in to block the bridge coming from the western road, while the rest of the infantry with leaders were dug in two hexes north of the town. The NKPA tanks with a single SMG tank rider and a SGT moved quickly down the western road, thinking to set up a good spot where they could DF on the town for a turn or two while the rest of the NKPA infantry moved down from both western and central roads. The Army COL and a bazooka team moved out intent on an ambush of the tanks, but when he saw the tank riders, he stepped back and joined the dug in troops, anticipating a potential armor assault on that hex. Seeing the bazooka team move back into the dug in area, the NKPA tanks decided to chase, and immediately assaulted, the riders jumping off in the assault hex. 3 steps of tanks and 2 of SMGs with the SGT were also a tempting target, and although the bazookas failed turn after turn to hit anything, infantry assault getting first fire for being dug in did a good job, eliminaing one tank step, demoralizing the single step unit and the SMGs, even killing the SGT. NKPA working their way south down the central road were able to assault the eastern-most US troops and after a couple of turns, managed to eliminate that defense force, but not without loss. The NKPA Major was killed, but nobody seemed to notice - all the other leaders passed their morale check and the Captain took over with no loss of time. The second step of T-34s were lost in assault to the west at about the same time the Major was lost. The third step failed morale checks and fled back into the hills while infantry fought in 3 assaults. NKPA won two central assaults and the way was open to attack the town, but the troops in town and those in the woods southwest of town made a killing ground out of the hexes around the town. With the return of the single T-34 step, the NKPA managed to start their assault on the town, with both sides managing to replace losses and keep up the pressure, the other bazooka team and the Col being lost in the process, but the last step of t-34s also died and the NKPA had a worse time with morale than the Army did in the final turns. With only 1 step and leader left, the NKPA lost another assault, while the only other NKPA leader left was at least 2 moves away where he was trying to regroup with another assault force that failed morale checks for 4 turns. In the end, the US continued to contest the town with enough strength left to hold it longer in the face of greatly reduced NKPA pressure. US win. Another one that wasn't finished until that last turn. Lots of leader losses in this one, both sides decapitated and picking up the pieces. Great game.