This small 12-turn scenario is a bit surprising in that a relatively small Japanese force might hold out just long enough to prevent a US win. Japanese have 2 infantry, 2 Service, an HMG, a 20mm AA gun and a 120/10 AA gun defending an airfield in hex 0614 on board 83 against 8 Infantry, 2 HMGs and an Engineer platoon that enter from the west. Japanese set up with the 120/10 in the southern town hex, the 20mm in the southern heavy jungle 20m hill hex, the 2 infantry in 0414 in the light woods and dug in, the HMG in 0616 light jungle and dug in, and the 2 Service in 0716 light jungle and dug in. Japanese meet the requirement of starting within 2 hexes of the airfield in 0614 this way and use existing terrain pretty well. The terrain to the west of the map is pretty good for getting in pretty close before being spotted, and the US Captain lead a force of infantry, engineers and HMGs east along the road trying to flank the big gun in town while remaining troops moved onto the 20m hill, the Sgt leading an element all the way to the 40m hill in order to call arty down on the Japanese guns. The Sergeant's move left him in spotting range of the 20mm AA gun, which took the weak shot and rolled a morale check, which the Sergeant and one infantry platoon failed going to disrupted. The Captain and his stack, hoping to gain a first initiative next turn, got a bit too close to the big guns and also became disrupted along with one of this platoons. I pushed the US troops pretty hard, ignoring the risk of losing 3 steps and giving the game to the Japanese. This scenario doesn't take much to lose, so better I not think about that and just do as much damage to the enemy as possible. The Japanese infantry decided to try to attack and assault the US troops stalled on the 40m hill, but their luck failed as the US got the next initiative, and the good order troops fired down the hill while an LT brought in 2 more Infantry from the western flank and first demoralized and then eliminated the Japanese infantry force without loss. Without the Japanese infantry, the defenders are hurting, but all they have to do is inflict 3 steps of casualties and have somebody undemoralized still within 2 hexes of the airfield at the end. The 20mm AA gun is destroyed by a well-aimed OBA shot, and the big gun in town is wiped out in assault by another stack of US troops after firing and missing at their adjacent light jungle location, and the US Captain and his disrupted troops move into the other town hex to regroup. Down to the Service and HMG platoons to the south of the airfield, the Japanese pass or take long shots as the US troops maneuver to flank them from west and east. The Japanese Major, having survived and evaded when the heavy guns were destroyed, moves in with the Service troops hoping his 10 morale will help bolster their defense. But in a few more turns, the HMG has been wiped out taking a single step from a US HMG, and the two Service platoons have become demoralized, fled their dug-in position, and then been destroyed in an assault right on the south edge of the board. US win, 12 Japanese steps to 1 US. Great little game that wrapped up for me in 10 turns. Any of those Japanese forces might have held on in assault a bit longer and caused a Japanese win so I give it a 4.

A pretty straight forward little scenario, in 12 turns the US Army must control the airfield and surrounding hexes per the scenario while not losing more than three steps. The problem was, the Japanese won the majority of the initiative rolls. Then the big 120mm gun stack with a SER unit and a Leader with a combat modifier hit a stack of US Infantry taking out two steps but the 120mm gun was taken out another turn later but after that the Americans lost another step. So the pressure the rest of the game was really tense not to lose another step and still control the victory objectives! It was very close until the very end but the American controlled the area for a victory.

The goal of the US in the sceanrio is to clear the Japanese troops from the vicinity of an airfield. The Japanese will have some dug in troops and may also inhabit a town (mine did). The Japanese also have a nasty direct fire weapon which will need to be spotted and taken out.

The scenario is, as many of the Saipan scenarios are, short. This creates a sense of urgency which can result in the US player coming into the battle without attempting anything other than just running the Japanese down. This is a mistake. It is very important to have the option for a routing Japanese unit to leave the immediate vicinity of the airfield. In my case I used an old football sweep where the majority of my force ran around the Japanese left wing.

I used a smaller force to pin the Japanese in the front and as those forces slowly ground down the Japanese picket line the heavier force got to the airfield and then attacked north and west out of the airfield to clear the area. Even then victory was only obtained on the last turn as the Japanese gun was very effective in both Opportunity Fire and assault.

It is hard to get these smaller scenarios to be varied enough to be enjoyable and I expect that some will miss the makr, but I haven't found one yet. I give it a "4". It is good solo but may not be fun for the Japanese player as they will probably set up and then roll fire dice, and nothing else.

I set up the Japanese defending with the infantry and SER platoons forward and west with the HMG and a SER platoon in the town. The two AA guns were to the south and east behind the airfield.

The Americans came up the trail using the hill and jungle to mask their move into attack position. Their main effort was at the town with a supporting attack to clear the west side of the hill. After clearing these two objectives they would attack south to clear everything else out.

The attack jumped off with success as the SER platoons broke and ran. But the Japanese regular infantry and HMG held fast and it took a good deal of time for the US to clear them out or send them running. The US faced the prospect of a quick assault to take out the two AA guns as the SER platoons rallied to come to their AA guns' aid. The first gun crew broke and ran while one of the SER platoons took up a position to be within two hexes of the airfield. In the last turn, the Americans had to clear out or demoralize the 20mm gun and one SER platoon. The SER platoon demoralized under intense fire but the 20mm held out. the US infantry assaulted and needed a 5 or 6 to eliminate it or force a morale check and hope for a demoralization result. They rolled a 2 for a M1 check which the Japanese leader rolling disruption but the gun crew passes on 5! The Japanese win on desperate morale check.

This is a nice fast little scenario that surprisingly, went down to the last dice roll.

The Axis set up with the 120/70 & a platoon of Inf and a 9-0-1 Lt. in hex 0713, dug in. Also dug in on the airfield hex another platoon of Inf the 20mm AA battery and a 9-1-0 Major. In addition there was another Axis position WEST of the road in hex 0514. The Allies enter from the west edge and attack that Axis position.

They were held up there until 09:30 in a see-saw battle of melee. The Allies lost 2 steps early on a snake-eyes roll by the Axis when the Allies were making their approach. This changes everything for the Allies as they now have to use extreme caution or chance exceeding the 3 step loss limit outlined in the scenario victory conditions.

Then the Allies loose another step on a 6 roll by the Axis on the 9 column on the Assault table. This cleared the Axis position west of the road in hex 0513, but the defending Axis Hmg escaped the melee hex disrupted. The Allies did manage to eliminate the Service platoon at least.

By now it was 10am & the Axis still had the 120/70 & a platoon of Inf with the 9-0-1 Lt. in hex 1713. The Axis Major was still on the Airfield hex with a service platoon dug in on 0605. With these dispositions the Allies had no chance to win in the two remaining turns. Allies retire.

This was a really good scenario. The Axis were extremely lucky early on, which effected the Allied effort. This scenario is definitely re playable. A tough nut to crack for the Allies. Tremendous firepower for the Allies.