KoCa022 
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The End of the Trail Scenario 2: Return to Oivi, Day Two Kokoda Campaign #23 |
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| (Attacker) Australia | vs | Japan (Defender) |
| Formations Involved | ||
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| Australia |  |
16th Infantry Brigade |
| Japan |  |
41st Infantry Regiment |
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| Overall Rating, 4 votes |
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3
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| Scenario Rank: --- of 940 |
| Parent Game | Kokoda Campaign |
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| Historicity | Historical |
| Date | 1942-11-09 |
| Start Time | 08:00 |
| Turn Count | 24 |
| Visibility | Day |
| Counters | 75 |
| Net Morale | 0 |
| Net Initiative | 0 |
| Maps | 1: 35 |
| Layout Dimensions | 43 x 28 cm 17 x 11 in |
| Play Bounty | 158 |
| AAR Bounty | 165 |
| Total Plays | 3 |
| Total AARs | 2 |
| Battle Types |
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| Hill Control |
| Inflict Enemy Casualties |
| Urban Assault |
| Conditions |
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| Hidden Units |
| Scenario Requirements & Playability | |
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| Kokoda Campaign | Base Game |
| Introduction |
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On the second day of battle the 16th Brigade would launch a frontal attack on the Japanese positions on the heights. A torrential overnight rain had allowed the Japanese to prepare new fields of fire and infiltrate sharpshooters close to the Australian lines. Even so, the 7th Division command staff had high expectations: while the attack was designed as a pinning attack, Vasey would not be disappointed with a clear breakthrough. |
| Conclusion |
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Although the Australians had concentrated for their attack, they were limited to several small breakthroughs which were pushed back by Japanese counterattacks. The 25th Brigade was also running into strong resistance on the trail to Gorari, but the 16th's 2/1 Battalion managed the day's only success, capturing a small Japanese supply depot and a number of barrels of pickled plums. |
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| Army |
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| Imperial Japanese Army |
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| Return to Oivi, D2 |
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This is a tough scenario for the Aussies, they have a higher force pool but morale, initiative and initiative step loss are equal for both sides while the Japanese are defending in favorable terrain. To complicate matters jungle disorientation rules are in effect, on the bright side the Aussies do get to start hidden and use hidden movement. The Japanese deployed their strongest units to defend the three village hexes which are worth 3 VP each while setting up their remaining forces on the 60m ridge to defend it since each hex if controlled is worth 1 VP. The Aussies sent a force down the trail to probe the village defenses, once engaged it was deemed better to turn the remaining hidden platoons south to see if they could make it up the ridge thru the jungle than to try outflanking the village. The other half of the Aussie force took the south branch of the trail to attack the ridge from the west. The Japanese made the mistake (me) of setting up adjacent to the trail near the south edge of the map and the Japanese defenders did not spot the Aussies forces that moved adjacent to them until they launched their assaults. The two Japanese infantry companies on this flank were able to hold out for several turns but soon were eliminated or forced to retreat thus opening up the ridge to the Australians. Surprisingly the Australian’s won a minor victory with their edge in step losses offsetting the Japanese control of the village and even more amazing was the Aussies controlling the majority of ridge hexes, in this scenario jungle disorientation had the unintended consequence of aiding the capture of the ridge by the Aussies as they wandered around lost in the jungle looking for the enemy. The Aussies took this battle with a little luck from the disorientation gods. |
| 0 Comments |
| Push Them Back, Mate! | ||||||||||||||
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This was a, 5-session, 24-turn, difficult-to-manage & bloody one that featured the ably-led, well-positioned, Japanese under Reconquista, in battle with my hard-as-nails, advancing Australians. We used the FOW, excess initiative, consolidation, hidden units & smoke/illum optional rules. Both sides drew middling sets of leaders and jungle disorientation caused considerable havoc for the attacking Diggers. As others have experienced, both sides went almost straight into assault mode in a see-saw fight for the 3-hex village, while a number of costly, adjacent-hex firefights broke out on the Japanese-held ridge. Unexpectedly, the Emperor's soldiers were not able to hold the village and lost too many leaders and personnel in the bargain for an Aussie victory. There were 8 FOW-shortened game turns, in all, that helped the defending Japanese far more than it should have. The senior Japanese leader was eliminated leading a counter attack that displayed very good promise, until he threw a 12 morale recovery roll, which took the steam out of the Knights of Bushido. This was a relatively balanced, but rather gamey one, that was fun to play with a challenging opponent. IMHO, it is suitable for both SOLO and SHARED play, |
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