Secret Weapons offers more than just playing with monster tanks and proto-helicopters. APL has put together some very interesting what-if scenarios that look fun in their own right. The one that caught my eye was #8, Red Dragons. It assumes the invasion of Japan went forward, and now elements of the invading 1st US Cavalry Division are holding on to a town and facing a fierce counterattack from a mixed Japanese force. In fact, the only "secret weapons" are some helicopters on both sides that have zero firepower, but can spot for artillery. It uses US pieces and a board from Elsenborn Ridge, and Japanese pieces from Guadalcanal. One thing I like about this scenario is that it finally gives you a chance to move some Japanaese units around in a non-jungle environment; hey, there are even 2 platoons of tanks!

Some more interesting things about this scenario: initiative levels cannot be reduced (Japan 5, US 4); the US player gets no VPs for eliminating Japanese units, only for occupying town hexes; and the real zinger: the Japanese player gets 1 VP for each of his leaders eliminated while in an assault hex!

It's a short (12 turns), one board scenario, that pits US firepower (3 x 18, 1 x 24 OBA, 2 105 mm guns with bombardment factors of 18 each ) against fanatical Japanese attackers (20 INF, 5 HMG, and some tank with 9/8 morale and lots of leaders ).

End of turn 2

The Japanese enter from the west in 2 groups -- the larger will swing through the light woods to the south and assault the main town, which has 7 hexes (2 VPs each). A smaller force will attack the lone town hex on the hill in the north, and then support the main attack by coming in from the NE. A tank platoon accompanies each group. The goal is to withstand US fire and contest every possible town hex ASAP.

The US had to decide whether or not to defend the hill town hex. Putting 2 units in it would probably end up giving the Japanese players 4 VPs (1 per step lost). However, defending it would also force the Japanese player to spend time taking it, and time is very short (12 turns total). In the end, the US player put an INF, HMG and SGT in there, knowing their main job was to delay. The fog of war roll may be their best ally.

On turn 1, the US player pounded the stack of the southern force that contained the Japanese COL, who was chain activating other leaders. OBA, air support and on-board 105 mm guns finally took their toll, and disrupted the COL and an INF. Fire in the north was ineffective and both Japanese forces swept forward. On turn 2, the Japanese player moved his northern forces up next to the hill town, surviving point blank defending fire. However a 40 mm gun in the main town rolled snake eyes in his attack, reducing an INF, and then demoralizing both the INF and HMG in the stack (hex to NE of town).

In the south, the COL decided to hold and recover units in his hex and adjacent, but astonishingly he failed his roll despite his 10 morale. The INF also failed his roll. So the US player has managed to delay things a bit.

Most town defender hexes are now spotted, so the 32 factors of Japanese OBA, plus the two mortar units that just set up behind the northern hill, can begin to soften up the defenses.

End of turn 4

At the end of turn 4, I'm starting to get the sense that Japanese fanaticism will win out against American firepower.

Turn 3 saw the Japanese assault the hill town hex, but not before the US player rolled a 3 on a 60 factor bombardment, and then a 2 on point-blank (i.e, 2 column shift right) 16 factor direct fire shot. In an instant, 5 Japanese steps were evaporated, but when the smoke cleared the Japanese troops kept moving into the town. Another Japanese step was lost in the assault, but the US player had his INF demoralized. I was surprised when I added up the modifiers; the Japanese player ended up with a +1 column shift even attacking into a town (+3 for tank present, leader and being Japanese, -2 for town). They didn't get the additional +1 for higher morale (9 vs 8 because a reduced unit was in the hex, and his morale was 8. In the south, most of the units positioned themselves for a charge toward the town in turn 4; two stacks did make it up next to a town hex. US fire from the large town managed to disrupt a stack in the center.

On turn 4, the battle in the hill town raged back and forth, with another Japanese step lost, and the American INF recovered from demoralization. I had hoped to use bazookas against the tank unit, but the rules say you make that roll only when attacking in assault (this seems odd; wouldn't defenders use them too?). The Japanese have a stack of disrupted units next to the hill town; when they regain order, they will reinforce as needed. US fire also disrupted one of the stacks adjacent to the large town (2 batteries of 105s firing down their barrels, as directed by a Lt Col). But the other stack advanced into a hex with a gun, meaning its bombardment factors are for now out of action. Meanwhile, the rest of the Japanese force moved up, and next turn it will be crucial to see who gets initiative. If one side or the other gets 2 or 3 initial activations, that could be a decisive.

The Japanese have lost 9 steps so far but show no signs of slowing down. Once they get into the large town, their assault/morale advantages could tip the balance in their favor.

End of turn 6

The Japanese losses are mounting - 13 steps and 2 leaders (1 in assault so a VP!) by the end of turn 6. The US has lost a HMG platoon and a 105 mm battery.

The Japanese assaults in the hill town have finally worn the US defenders down - there's only a SGT and a demoralized, half platoon of INF left. If the Japanese get initiative next turn, that should be it.

Things have been tougher for the Japanese over at the large town. Effective defensive fire kept disrupting leaders before they could get their troops into the town. Also, one assault in the northern part went horribly wrong; a defending 40 mm gun (DF of 8) and an HMG (DF of 10) rolled a 6, wiping out 2 steps and killing the Japanese leader in the ensuing leader loss roll (thanks for the reminder Kirk!). The US player let the remaining 2 reduced Japanese INF sit there, forcing the Japanese player to either assault at low odds or move a leader into get them out of the hex.

The assault in the center went better, eliminating the 105 mm gun. But the US player moved a reserve platoon of INF back into the hex, and awaits the next assault.

The attacks in the south got nowhere due to disruptions.

I may have been hasty in giving fanaticism an advantage over firepower. This one may go down to the wire.

One thing that has hurt the Japanese has been the lack of good leaders. It was a mistake to hold back the COL for recovery. In fact, several of the leaders have lower morale than the troops they lead (7s and 8s vs 9).

This look like it might be a close run thing. Though the Japanese get morale bonuses in assault, the US defender does not endure the -2 town penalty, and with DF ratings of 6 and 10 they pack a wallop.

End of turn 8

At the end of turn 8, the VP totals are Japan: 4 (3 US steps and 1 leader died in an assault), US: 6 (3 town hexes). There are 5 town hexes still contested. Each one of those will be crucial in these final 4 turns.

On turn 7, the Japanese advanced into the SE town hex, and the battle in the hill town continued with no resolution. The Japanese player has begun to round up disrupted and demoralized stragglers as he will need every unit and every leader for the final push. The US player continues to disrupt stacks with OBA and DF, and is content to sit back in assault hexes and let the Japanese player attack.

On turn 8, the US player manages to roll a couple of 6s defending against assaults, and the best the Japanese player can muster is a 4. 2 more steps lost. The demoralized US defenders in the hill town are now in good order; but they are only 1 step, so a single good Japanese assault roll and they are gone. The Japanese do manage to inflict some losses on a main US stack in the center-west of the big town; if they gain initiative next turn, they hopefully can exploit this.

The US player is starting to realize that he will need to be more aggressive in these final turns. If the Japanese contest 1 more town hex, the VPs shift to 6:4 in Japan's favor, He will need to expel the Japanese from some hexes to claim the VPs outright.

End of turn 9 US concedes

Well, the Japanese dice finally got hot. After some more inconclusive back and forth fighting on turn 8, turn 9 opened with the Japanese player getting an activation. He used it to activate a COL outside a contested town hex, who shuttled in two fresh INF platoons to join the tank platoon, and scored a 2 against the US defenders after getting a net +2 column shift. The gun and 1 reduced INF step were eliminated, and the surviving, demoralized INF step vanished after failing his M2 morale check. Then, the hill town attackers rolled a 6 and finally eliminated the last of the defenders in that hex. The US player managed to kill another step, but at this point the VP total was 14 for Japan (4 for 2 town hexes, 10 for killed US steps), and 6 for US (3 town hexes). Looking at the map, I couldn't see any way for the US player to win back many town hexes; indeed that COL-led uber-stack looked ready to take at least 1 if not 2 more hexes. Even if the US player managed to contest some more town hexes, he could not overcome the 10 VPs for lost units. So the US player conceded.

Post-mortem

Given that I did not play the Japanese very well, that the US player early on had some very hot dice, and that despite all this the Japanese player won on turn 9, I have to conclude the Japanese player is heavily favored in this one. I wonder if it would be a more even contest if the Japanese forces had morale of 8/7, instead of 9/8. This scenario has further convinced me that I will shy away from scenarios with superman troops (morale of 9 or higher). Morale checks are at the heart of the PG system, and morale levels that high, combined with leader modifiers, essentially take that part of the system out of play. So I'll give this one only a strong 2.

It’s been played before but I had to try it. I’ll make this a short AAR; the Japanese won a Major Victory! There are just too many Japanese Infantry, Helicopters, Tanks & off-board artillery at a 9/8 morale for the Americans to hold on to enough town hexes to win this. The Americans don’t even get points for eliminated Japanese units while the Japanese get both points for eliminated American units, town hexes controlled and Japanese Leaders who die in combat. I doubt, unless the Americans had some very good dice rolls with their off & on board artillery for multiply turns, they could win a minor victory. The High point in this scenario for the Americans was taking out a Japanese Helicopter with a P47 airplane. Again, a Major Japanese Victory! Hey, it was fun to try it at least.