On the night of 4 March, several Dutch recon patrols left Babad and Kedoengpring for the city of Bodjonegora. Advancing along the main road and expecting opposition, the 1st Company of Infantry Division VIII found the outskirts of Baoerena unoccupied and consequently took up a defensive position along the city’s western perimeter. Suddenly, a fast moving Japanese tank column appeared on the road leading into the city. . .
Attacker: Japanese (48th Reconnaissance Regiment, Kitamura Detachment)
Defender: Dutch (Reinforced elements of 1st Company, Infantry Division VIII)
8.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:11.0 D:9.5
AFVs: A:6
Type 95 HA-GO x 4 Type 94 Tankette x 2
AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:0
Type 89 Heavy Grenade-Launcher x 2
D:1
Solothurn s/18-1100 x 2 81mm Brandt Medium MTR
Misc Rules:
PTO, LJ (Exc: roads exist). Irrigated Rice Paddies with Banks.
My Dutch tried setting up strong forward positions to take out some AFVs ... the MTR was doing a better job of harassing the attackers from further back. But forward positions were encircled & neutralized which then left the MTR in vulnerable position which was immediately captured & destroyed. Managed to hang on to VP Locations for 4 turns but got ground down by turn 7 for the loss.
2022-05-04
(D) Jeff B
vs
Scott Sherer
Japanese win
Sort of a hokey scenario. If the Dutch don't get lucky and destroy most of the tanks they probably won't have a chance. I was only able to destroy two and immobilize another before losing my anti-tank weaponry. Other than their mortar, they have very little long range fire to harass the approaching Japanese. The paddies are not nearly so daunting of an obstacle when you can freely run across the banks. I fell just a VP or two short of being able to guarantee a victory at the end of Turn 5, and possibly could've done so had I risked a few units or left a few of the back buildings unoccupied. I had stocked the compound with about 2/3 of my force, but in retrospect I should've just put everyone here and pushed my board-edge gun off ASAP. The VC is complicated though, so not having played it I didn't fully grok how it would play out. Despite my static defense this wasn't completely boring, but it was more of a learning experience than a fun play.
2022-05-04
(A) Scott Sherer
vs
Jeff B
Japanese win
I agree with Jeff...the Dutch must take out Japanese AFV's. I was pretty fortunate that several rounds bounced off the thin skin of my armor, and soon pretty much all the Dutch anti-armor capability was out of commission. I had planned on using the tanks as scouts and losing most if not all of them, so the fact that several AFV's made it into the compound area to run amok brought this one to a fairly quick. It was an interesting scenario in the fact that it looked like the Japanese had no chance, and then suddenly it flipped and they were in a commanding position. I probably had more fun that Jeff did as the attacker in this one, and it was a good learning experience with the paddy rules which are really not bad.
2021-07-10
(D) Shane Pask
vs
Japanese win
Started well (the Solothurn ATR is a good weapon) with one tankette breaking down turn 2 and 2 tanks falling to ATRs (one burning). Irrigated paddies add interest with one tank bogging 4 times! I advanced to 34-0 VP on turn 4 then things went south. Decided to evacuate on turn 7 after the Japs reached the compound. Final Tally 63 - 12 VP. Last two shots by Japs were snake eyes to rob me of 3 extra VP - still 1 VP short of victory!
2020-10-15
(D) John Gorkowski
vs
John Staddick
Dutch win
Asians armed with antiques battle across massive rice paddies in this awesome tribute to imperial war at the edge of empire. My Dutch-Javanese force defeated John Stadick’s Japanese (finally) by inflicting some losses and then slipping away at the end of turn five with 59 VP in my favor, four over the 55 required.
My set up had the 9-1 leading one anti-tank rifle team in the walled compound (43O7) and the 6+1 leading the other ATR team in the middle jungle patch (33O10) with a straight shot down the main road (T2-Z5) between the two board 43 patties. My mortar set up at the middle of the north board edge (43Q10) in the open with a sweeping view of most of the field. I had one hidden squad on the far side of the field in the palms at 33P4, just in case. The rest of the infantry, about seven squads with three LMGs, were in and around the board 43 walled compound.
The Japanese tanks came in around 43GG. Both Type 94s, the super small ones with lawn mower engines, darted to 33AA10 to bypass the jungle beside the paddies and access the board 33 road; John correctly suspected that the more direct 43T2-Z5 stretch was a death trap. Still, he sent two Type 95 HA GOs down the board 43 road. My mortar clocked the first one in 43AA5; the second stopped behind that wreckage. That was all the luck my mortar got. Over the next two game turns, it traded fire with Japanese tanks, scoring several hits, but no kills. One of the HA GOs then scored a critical hit to obliterate my tube and its crew!
On turn two, about half the Japanese infantry came on around 33GG5 and the other half around 43GG6. My HIP riflemen in 33P4 fired across 400 yards to hit a Japanese platoon running in the open at hex 33Z9, but rolled box cars to waste a good “two down two” shot! Soon after, one of those armed lawnmowers, a Type 94, broke and ELR-ed those Dutch “sharp shooters” with a two up one shot. Both 94s eventually cornered the broken 4-3-7 to kill him by failure to route. Somewhere in there, my jungle-based ATR in 33O10 fired wide at a hull down Type 94 in 33Q7.
By turn four, Japanese mortars were spewing smoke all over the 43T2-Z5 road. Then came a wind change that spread drifts over the paddy in the middle of board 43. The 9-1 and ATR team in the walled compound hit and killed a stationary Type 95 near the T2-Z5 road while the 6+1 and ATR team immobilized another. Dutch riflemen choked another two down two shot with more box cars, but others manning a light machine gun in 43O10 casualty reduced a Japanese squad sneaking through jungle on the north board edge.
Japanese troops rushed down the 43R3-M6 road, alongside the walled compound, on turn five as their tanks went ahead to circle behind the compound. But they were a turn too late. My troops were already shifting north covered by drifting smoke from Japanese mortars who had successfully targeted 43O6. My 6+1 earned a promotion (not really) by leading his ATR team back to 33L10 where they destroyed a Type 95 in 43L6, right alongside the compound.
On Dutch turn five, my compound force ran for the north edge at M, N, and O10. Japanese small arms fire pinned one 4-5-7, but ultimately, I exited six and half squads, the 9-1, and an 8-0. The Japanese had lost three tanks and two squads to the Dutch mortar, crew, and squad. But the Dutch scored big by holding six building locations (the walled compound) for five turns.
Some final thoughts on time and tanks. The way this scenario plays on time troubles both sides. The Dutch earn VP for holding buildings as the clock ticks, but they can’t afford to get stuck in grudge match; they have to run at the right moment. The Japanese want to close quickly, but if they move too fast, they risk excessive casualties. What to do? Love that early war armor! Those rickety battle wagons feel like wheeled coffins with squirt guns, but they are light enough to traverse rice paddies and can still sleaze freeze.
2017-11-01
(A) Michael Rodgers
vs
Joe Moro
Japanese win
It looked bad for the Japanese early when one ATR destroyed three tanks and the second ATR immobilized a fourth. Dutch high mark was a 52 VP lead at the end of turn 6. After that, the Japanese exited units and lots of prisoners to make a Dutch win impossible.
2016-08-01
(D) B-E Karlsson
vs
Japanese
Japanese win
2013-04-02
(A) Vic Lauterbach
vs
Not recorded
Draw
From old ASLAP notes. Played to learn rice paddy rules. Suspended after three turns completed. Not much action recorded.