*This is a very quick, tense scenario with only a two hex visibility. The Japanese have to act fast as it’s a one way suicide mission with only ten turns. Just to clarify the Americans cannot setup on the fields but as they wouldn’t be dug-in on the runways but they can be setup adjacent to the airfield dug-in or anywhere else on the map. I wasn’t sure if the setup instruction were clear enough. The Americans can’t cover all the entry points to the airfield but the line of fire can. The Japanese have a very high morale for half step units, as it’s a one way mission for the Emperor!

*The Japanese ended up having a pretty good glider landing and only one unit started disrupted. I think with Glider Landings, the Leaders should be able to land with the units as one roll per unit, unlike the Para-drops where leaders & units roll separately, thus scattered even more.

*The battle closed fast with the Japanese breaking through in a couple areas and the U.S. Marines & Army shifting from their dug-out hexes into assault hexes on the airfields. The Japanese did loss one unit on the approach but in the assault hexes, they get three column shifts: one for higher morale, one for having a leader & one for being of Japanese nationality. So they have a chance!

*The Japanese are able to destroy some American units but the Americans have twice as many and the assault combat wears both sides down. The Japanese are able to blow one airfield area, so one wreck counter is placed, they fail on their second dice roll attempt however. The game time runs out with two Japanese units left in a disrupted state & so leaders and not enough time to try to blowup two more hexes of airfields. The Americans have a victory in this game, as the Japanese needed to blow three hexes with dice rolls of 5-6. The rules do not allow Japanese units in assault hexes to attempt blowing airfields, but maybe I should have but it was closer then I thought it would be, just one more turn or a couple more successful dice rolls. Certainly fun to try!

The Allies set up dug in around the airfield with the 40mm and an Inf. Platoon and a 10-1-0 Capt. in hex 0304. The Axis scheduled the landing for 2200 and it arrived on time, but not where intended. The assembly point was the 0607 runway hex. Only about half of the Axis units ended up on airfield hexes. Lucky for them that most got down in good shape.

The Allies instantly assaulted where it could. This eliminated one Axis step right off the bat. The Allies also had another Axis step tied up if assault right on a runway hex. On their activation the Axis moved two steps unto runway hexes braving point blank Allied opportunity fire and surviving.

On the next turn the Axis got the the initiative and tried to damage the airfield in those two hexes and failed both rolls. Another assault by the Allies then eliminated another step of the Axis PSMG. Now all remaining Axis steps were tied up in assault combat. They survive the assault and on their next turn withdraw from the assault hex and survive again!

The Allies could not follow up right away because so many units were disrupted. This gave the Axis another shot at the runway hexes but they failed again to do any damage. (They needed a 5 or 6 to succeed.) This would be their last chance. On the Allied next activation one Axis step was eliminated in assault and the other by point blank direct fire. Allied victory.

This was a really fun little scenario. I like the all or nothing aspect of the Axis position. That makes them very dangerous. I also was not sure if the Axis could move AND destroy a runway hex on the same activation. I played it as if they had to start their turn on the hex. If I'm wrong someone please advise. It would make the Axis job much easier.

As others have reported, this is an unbalanced, high-casualty, infantry fracas that seems predestined for a US win. A frustrating effort for two former-Armor officers.

In spite of my skilled opponent's best efforts, the Japanese side was stymied at every turn, and lost their senior leader very early in the process. Another US win in the Pacific Theater. For more detail, by better authors, Please see the other AARs that have been posted for this game.

I give this dog a solid 3 in shared play, and recommend it for SOLO play only