The Allies planned to land on Bougainville, but wanted a diversion to distract the Japanese defenders into thinking the real invasion would come from a different location. The island of Choiseul was chosen as the diversion. The unit chosen for this job was the 2nd Parachute Battalion, 1st Marine Parachute Regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Krulak. This small force of about 650 men had the task of making the Japanese defenders think they were a much larger force. After landing on the 28th of October, Colonel Krulak decided to attack the village of Sangigai, even though his scouts had informed him it was defended by a larger garrison than first thought. The Colonel enlisted the aid of several local guides to lead his attack through the jungle. Krulak decided to do a double envelopment, personally leading a force around the town to the southern end with the main attack rushing in from the north.
Attacker: Japanese (Elements of the 6th Division, 17th Army)
Defender: American (USMC) (Elements of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, 1st Marine Parachute Regiment)
This scenario presents an interesting situation as it has a Japanese on-board force reinforced in Turn 1 attack an on-board Marine defender which is also reinforced in Turn 2 with his reinforcements entering on the same side as the Japanese. Then, there is a set of 3 Victory Conditions, of which 2 need to be fulfilled for a Japanese win. As usual with most Schwerpunkt scenarios, the time frame is quite tight. Probably this scenario needs several playings to really find out the best approach for the defender and counter-tactic for the attacker. I played the defending Marines and my plan was to hold the 3 hex temple and capture the second multi-hex building close to the entry edge of the reinforcements while keeping a token force in the third building. The Japanese tactic was to attack with the Schwerpunkt on the left flank of the Marines (towards the 3 hex building) and to block the Marine reinforcements upon entry while holding the building close to the entry edge. I felt that I could do little to prevent the Japanese from approaching the Marine position around the 3 hex building, so that the Japanese could get dangerously close before serious firing erupted. If in this case, the Japanese manage to overcome (most) of the Marine onboard-force, then they are in business. But if the Marines can break up this assault, then probably they will win as the Japanese don't have much time and cannot lose units en masse if they don't want to forfeit the exit-option. The Marines can possibly muster a 36FP FG lead by a 10-2 at ADJACENT range. But they will very likely have to redeploy their troops to react to whatever approach the Japanese will take. On the reinforcement board edge, the Japanese could opt to rush to reinforce the onboard force or to stay behind to tie down the Marine reinforcements. Or something in between. In our game, the Marine kept strong forces (including HIP) in the back, which could have made Marine entry quite miserably. But I was lucky to find the one hole in the Japanese defence that enabled me to quickly enter my reinforcements unscathed and to place them in position to overwhelm the building in that area. The Japanese must definitely make best use of his DC-Heroes to soak up Marine defensive fire in an attempt to overwhelm the allied defence. In our game, the Japanese player felt quite frustrated attempting to tackle the strong Marine Firepower up close. On the other hand, I felt quite anxious, that my defence in the 3 hex temple could be swarmed and overcome in Turn 2. Maybe the Japanese tarried a bit too long in the approach which allowed me to reinforce the area just in time. After this, the Marines were at an advantage and won the game. The Japanese player thought it was tough on the Axis. I think the scenario is difficult to grok: The "best" approach is not easy to determine for either side IMHO. If the attack "matches" the defense, then things might get tight. If they don't, then one side might have a definite advantage. Hard to tell.
2018-01-26
(D) Rich Weiley
vs
Dave Wallace
Japanese win
CANCON 2018 - Round one.
2016-01-14
(A) Simon Staniforth
vs
Japanese win
2015-10-09
(D) Richard Jenulis
vs
Hank Witchaar
American (USMC) win
ASLOK 2015 Hard fought mini that went late into the night.
