Chocos in the Sun is a kill-the-enemy and take-the-towns scenario with some unusual features. The Japanese are backed up against the sea and will resist to the last. The Australians have numbers, but their big advantages are the Frog flamethrower tanks and their 25-pounder artillery.

The Japanese set up forward with most of their force, including their best anti-tank guns, in and around the woods and town closest to the Australians. They kept a small force in the smaller town farther back, covered by the smaller anti-tank guns.

The Australians entered on turn one, spread out in line for a coordinated advance. They kept the tanks behind the infantry and in cover until the anti-tank guns could be spotted and dealt with. The 25-pounders immediately unlimbered, since they could cover the entire field from their entry hexes.

The infantry moved up and set up firing lines against the Japanese troops as the Australian artillery and aircraft went after the anti-tank guns. Neither side made much impact at first. The Japanese firepower was just too low to do much, and the Australians couldn't demoralize the fanatical Japanese, only kill them. The Australians came out slightly ahead in the firefights, inflicting some losses but suffering a few in return.

Once the Japanese anti-tank guns were out of action, The Australian tanks moved up and the assaults began. The Japanese never gave up, but they couldn't withstand the assaults by the flamethrowers, engineers and machine guns of the Aussies. The Australians slowly ground them down and wiped out the entire force holding the town.

The Australians cleared the first town, but it took until the final turn. The Japanese held the second town, but lost the towns next to the sea to Australian forces that bypassed the second town and made it to the empty villages. They had been held by some artillery and a platoon of infantry, but the Australian 25-pounders managed to clear them out and the diggers just walked in.

The result was a Major Australian Victory. The Australians held seven out of nine town hexes and inflicted almost twice as many casualties as the Japanese.

The Japanese could have improved their chances by setting up all of their anti-tank guns forward and further slowing the approach of the tanks. As it was, the Australian aircraft took out the guns dug-in by the second town before the Australians made it past the first town.

I enjoyed this scenario. In my opinion it plays better solo than shared, since there isn't much for the Japanese to do once they set up. (There is no transport for the Japanese anti-tank guns and artillery.) The outcome wasn't really in doubt for the final one-third of the game, but there was a lot of tension as to whether the Australians would be able to clear the first town. From my experience, it seems to heavily favor the Australians and would probably rate a '2' if balance is important to you.