Take It Back PTO (id:#63916)
(ASL Starter Kit #4 ID: S65)   [next]   [previous]
West of Lunga Ridge, Guadalcanal 1942-09-13 ()
Designer: Adaptation by Perry Cocke
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
American (USMC)Japanese
43.589743589744%

Overview:

Colonel Edson had set up the 1st Paramarine Battalion on the east side of Lunga Ridge while he deployed his 1st Raider Battalion to the west. On the night of 12 September, leading elements of Major General Kiyotaki Kawaguchi's 35th Infantry Brigade attacked the Raiders, overrunning a platoon, forcing C Company back to the ridge, and bending the Raiders' front line from its east-west alignment to a north-south one. The next morning, two companies of Raiders were ordered to retake the lost positions in a daylight attack.
Attacker: American (USMC) (Companies A and D, 1st Raider Battalion and Company A, 1st Paramarine Battalion)
Defender: Japanese (3rd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment)  
4.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:14.0 D:8.0
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:0 D:0

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: PTO, LJ, interior jungle hexes are Dense Jungle. Kunai is Jungle.
Map Board(s): o
Overlays: NONE
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentResultComments
2022-10-25(A) Jack Wilson vs Ken Walsh American (USMC) winMy second time playing this as the Americans in as many days. Even though it was Ken's first time with a PTO skirmish, he graciously allowed me to have the balance. IMO, the Americans need it to have a 50-50 chance.

Slow, but steady, plodding through the jungle meant I began T5 with only one VC hex (of four) in control. The extra turn provided by the balance allowed me to capture the last three on the last turn, two of which came in CC.

Fun game. I definitely benefitted from some timely DRs down the stretch.

IMO, the keys to victory (or the hope thereof) for each side is:
American: overwhelm concealed units with many PB multi-hex FG where possible in the dense jungle and push hard and expect casualties.

Japanese: contest the three closest VC hexes, but don't get sucked into protracted battle. Conserve forces for defending the last two VC in the NE corner.
2022-10-19(A) Jack Wilson vs Craig Renier Japanese winFirst time playing a PTO scenario. Quite impressed by the Japanese capability to step reduce instead of breaking in most MC situations. Craig used concealment and skulking masterfully so that I was not able to chisel a crack in his line.

Couple that with my halting advance and reaching those last two VC hexes in the NE corner was only possible by a last-turn-run-the-gauntlet gambit. Not surprisingly, the Americans came up short.

Fun scenario. I would play it again with the Americans but take the balance.
2022-10-19(D) Craig Renier vs Jack Wilson Japanese winThe Americans entered somewhat cautiously, but still suffered from Japanese DFF which were consistently low rolls. The Japanese executed a slow tactical withdrawal denying the Americans the ability to bring their superior firepower to bear. The Americans entered CC in two hexes, losing a full squad, 3 HSs and an 8-0 leader to a Japanese MMC and 2 HSs. The American Paramarines shifted their axis of attack, which cost another expensive turn. In the end, the Americans simply ran out of time.
2022-01-05(A) Alberto Pomar vs César Moreno Japanese win
2021-09-15(D) Mark Hatfield vs Phil Japanese winPhil was pretty conservative at the beginning of the scenario, advancing concealed into LOS. I took only mortar shots IIRC, while the bulk of my forces skulked or did a tactical retreat as warranted. I also sprung my HIP trap, which was a frontal placement, and put a hurt on one of his stacks. I was able to stay concealed with a lot my stuff and fall back tactically, and he failed his PMC at the end of turn 3. Don't blame him - I still had the bulk of my force and Japanese don't rout - he just didn't have enough near enough time.
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ActionDate
Jwil2020 Added a playing2022-10-25 02:50:48
Jwil2020 Added a playing2022-10-19 22:30:02
Heloanjin Added a playing2022-10-19 15:59:58
Bongiovanni Added a playing2022-10-10 12:38:58
Faded 8-1 Rated the scenario2022-05-17 11:15:53
FileDescriptionUserViews
(us inf man jungle.png)Imagehoxson1419
(usmc-jap.png)Imagehoxson1408
VASL Log file (SK - S65 - Take It Back (MGT v Socks).vlog)VASL Game LogThompsonmg(MGT)148
(take it back map.png)Map Imagehoxson1416
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 7.47Votes: 30
Views: 3423
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 2.5 hours
Recorded Games: 20
Archive recorded plays:
American (USMC)7
Japanese13
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of November 2021)
Take It Back [Confirmed]
[A] Japanese 10
[D] American 9
All Rights Reserved. (c)2022 Dave Ramsey.