Disclosure, I am the Designer and feel all my scenarios fall into the range of 4-5, 90-100% or I wouldn’t have created them, so take my ratings with a grain of salt! The only reason any are a 4, is because they are more difficult to make from design to development.

Saipan, scenario nine: Dying on O-1 Ridge

This was interesting in the fact that I setup all four Japanese entrenchments adjacent to each other on the hill hexes with more open terrain as a wall of iron. The Marines had to figure out how to attack this defensive position but divided into two groups one with a platoon of Sherman tanks. But this piece-meal attack was a total failure where the American actually took more casualties then the Japanese for the first time in my logged Saipan play and also logged the Marines first defeat. The Japanese won this one and like in real life, this position will have to be taken another day.

The Axis set up on the western 40 meter ridge with three entrenchments and another in 0405. The 81mm is set up dug in at the eastern 40 mm hill.

The Marines assaulted the western 40mm ridge. Right off the bat they got a tremendous advantage when, on first contact, both Axis 75/88 batteries were knocked out by direct fire. The Allies instantly assaulted and gained two trenches. Then on a special event (my personal favorite piece of chrome)the Allied victory conditions were reduced to capturing only one trench. Thus putting the Allies in a winning position by just 45 min (three turns) in.

Over the course of the next several turns the Axis attempted some counter assaults. Despite the Axis assault column modifier bonus, all these attacks were beaten off with loss. We called it off at 16:45 as the Axis had no chance on regaining their lost entrenchments.

I give this a 4 even though it turned out kinda lopsided. It would be unlikely that any replay would eliminate BOTH 75/88 Batteries, in one turn no less. Setting up, the cardboard Marines got a bloody noses just looking at the 75/88 counters. Truly, on the tactical level, there is no replacement for firepower.

This interesting small scenario was just the thing for a quiet afternoon at the office. Japanese get 5 infantry, 2 HMGs, 1 81mm mortar, 2 25mm AA guns and 2 75/88 guns to hold 4 entrenchments and the hill around hex 0505 on board 83 for 12 turns. In hindsight, I probably set up too close and without considering that the Marines setup allowed them to come from just about anywhere, not just from the south. I set up entrenchments in 0402, 0403, 0503 and 0602, offering mutual support with the guns and HMGs, placing a 25mm AA gun and HMG in the 0402 and 0403 hexes, with the 75/88s in each of the other two with the mortar in the northwest hex. I placed two stacks, two units each with a leader, infantry to the south but north of the 40m ridge so that they could assault or defend in assault anything coming up over the hill, with the 5th infantry with a sergeant in a position to react to attacks in the heavy jungle to the northwest of the entrenchments. The Marines used the standard 10-3 infantry units for this game, and I started out a force around the Major, a Cpt and a good (11-1-1) LT, with the LT getting an infantry, the flame unit and the pioneer as an entrenchment assault force and keeping him behind the Major and Captain, who each had an infantry and a weapon unit. The M-4 was set up in the heavy jungle road hex two hexes east of the hill where he could move north and engage Japanese infantry if the initiative went right, and the last 3 leaders centered on the last Captain and 2 LTs were set up in the jungle southeast of the hill, the Cpt with one infantry and the 60mm mortars, the 2 LTs each with 2 Infantry. Initiative and fire dice favored the Marines from the start. The US Major and Captain fired into the eastern-most entrenchment and killed one step, demoralizing the rest, leaving the door open for the assault unit, and the M-4 and infantry moved forward one hex and absorbed an exchange of Japanese adjacent hex fire without damage before shooting back and killing one step and demoralizing the rest of the stack of Japanese infantry, finishing them off in the next turn. The Marine assault force took the first entrenchment hex in it's stride, and took a turn of ineffectual fire from the adjacent entrenchment hexes, while the Major and Captain brought their troops up to support in an arc closing from the north. The Major was able to fire into the next entrenchment hex and weaken it for the next assault while the Captain assaulted the hex with the mortar and 75/88, taking that hex in 2 turns while the Marine assault element took the next entrenchment hex, killing the Japanese Captain for a decapitation that had no effect on surviving Japanese leaders. The Japanese force to the southwest moved back trying to prevent the taking of the northwest entrenchment but were a turn too late in getting there, and took adjacent hex fire from the Marines, killing one step and demoralizing the other platoon. Marine firepower was good with killing Japanese leaders, and most died or were captured as the troops they lead died. In the end, the 4 entrenchments were in Marine hands, the single step of Japanese infantry that hadn't fled was killed along with it's leader, and the last full Japanese infantry platoon managed to rally on the edge of the board, where without a leader, it had no chance of reentering combat. All this in 6 turns. On the 7th turn, the Marines rested. Really one-sided results but I think it was more my setup and the luck of the dice than the scenario. I look forward to playing this face-to-face sometime.

En este escenario una fuerza americana de marines, compuesta por tres compañías y el apoyo de una sección de tanques M4, debe atacar unas posiciones atrincheradas japonesas defendidas por dos compañías de infantería, apoyadas por cuatro baterías de artillería antiaérea (dos de 25mm y dos de 75/88).

La batalla tiene lugar en pleno día. La moral de ambos bandos es exactamente la misma (8/7). Los japoneses se despliegan en la colina de 20 y 40 metros al norte del campo de batalla, concentrados en torno a cuatro posiciones atrincheradas situadas en las colinas de 40 metros. Tres de estas posiciones son adyacentes la cuarta algo separada y aislada de las demás. Ambos bandos carecen de artillería fuera del mapa, por lo que el único apoyo que recibe la infantería procede de una sección de morteros por cada bando (en el caso de los americanos de los pequeños morteros de 60mm). Los americanos se despliegan en tres grupos, de dimensiones aproximadamente iguales, al noreste, este y sur de la colina.

Los americanos avanzan concéntricamente hacia las posiciones enemigas, que responden con fuego de oportunidad y de morteros. Los americanos sufren alguna desorganización e incluso desmoralización, a pesar de la elevada calidad de sus líderes. Los combates aumentan en intensidad conforme los atacantes se aproximan a las trincheras japonesas al sur de la colina. Los americanos sufren las primeras bajas (la sección de FLM es aniquilada en el primer asalto), pero continuan metódicamente los asaltos. Los japoneses, aislados en esta posición, no pueden recibir refuerzos y al final son aniquilados a pesar de su fanática resistencia.

El cerco se estrecha sobre las otras tres posiciones atrincheradas japonesas. Poco después cae una segunda posición. Los japoneses, desesperados, lanzan una carga banzai sobre la posición recién perdida. La lucha es desesperada y los japoneses son aniquilados. No obstante los americanos han sufrido bajas sensibles, pero ya tienen una segunda posición sólidamente en sus manos, con lo que han conseguido su condición de victoria. Al poco tiempo los japoneses pierden una tercera posición y se ven sin fuerzas para realizar contraataques coordinados y eficaces, por lo que se retiran los escasos supervivientes.

Victoria americana en el turno 12. Bajas: americanos 5 steps, japoneses 16 steps.

Creo que la victoria japonesa en este escenario es muy difícil. Tal vez lo más acertado sea desplegar sus cuatro posiciones atrincheradas adyacentes, de manera que puedan reforzarse unas a otras y beneficiarse del bonificador moral de los líderes, para lo que deberían evitar cavar las trincheras en hexes de jungla.

In this scenario, the Americans ringed the hill, with the machine guns and Shermans on the right and other Marines all around., For the Japanese, I set 2 guns on each hill, with HMGs supporting one of them. In retrospect, I should have put the one with the better AT factor where the Shermans were more likely to be. I was using the 4th edition jungle rules, which are different than those printed in the scenario book. As such, the Marines spent a whole lot of time wandering around the jungle trying to find the top of the hill. The Japanese took pot shots at them whenever possible, and eventually the Marines slowly made it to the hill in force, although their engineers were reduced and a lieutenant killed along the way. The HMGs were able to keep one of the entrenchments disrupted part of the time. With a maximum of 2 negative column shifts, a 24 shot is still powerful.

The assaults started off slowly, with the Japanese holding their own. The Shermans rolled up to point blank range on one entrenchment and because that one contained the Japanese gun with the 1 AT factor, it was pretty safe there. Intense HMG fire from the 2 platoons plus the ones in the hulls of the Shermans chased off the gun crews. And then in an assault on the other entrenchment, both sides rolled 12! 5 step losses, and the Japanese were cleared out of that one. This was on trn 12. The flamethrowers and other troops rushed over towards the 2nd entrenchment, arriving on turn 14 (the hex between the 2 entrenchments had been cleared out when the Japanese rolled terrible morale rolls and all ran away from an assault. On Turn 14, the last Japanese were cleared out of the 2nd entrenchment, and the US got the narrowest of victories.

There's not a lot for the Japanese to do here after set-up. They probably won't move much, and they won't assault, so they just take some direct fire shots. The Marines fight the terrain as much as they fight the Japanese. As a solo exercise it was interesting and nail biting. As a 2 player game, I would only rate it a 2 or 3.