Closing the Net PTO (id:#56232)
Multi-Man Publishing (ASL Action Pack # 2 ID: AP10)   [next]   [previous]
Designer: Bill Sisler
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
American (USMC)Japanese
50%

Overview:

With the Army’s 25th Division at its side, the 2nd Marine Division began the drive to clear Guadalcanal of its last defenders. An armor-supported drive along the coast failed to break through, while the 8th Marines encountered heavy resistance along the slopes of Hills 83 and 84 and the 6th Marines pushed north to flank the defenders. Sensing the fragility of his position, General Maruyama ordered his troops to withdraw. Could the dug-in Japanese retire in good order without getting caught in the Marine net?
Attacker: American (USMC) (2nd Marine Division: 1st Battalion, 8th Regiment/2nd Battalion, 6th Regiment)
Defender: Japanese (4th and 16th Infantry Regiments, Sendai Division)  
8.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:21.0 D:22.0
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:0
M2 60mm Mortar
D:1
Type 92 70mm INF Gun
Type 89 Heavy Grenade-Launcher x 3

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: PTO (G.1), LJ (G2.1), Orchards: Shellholes.
Overlays: Hi2 X26 Wd3
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2024-07-28(D) Ian Morris vs Ian Ainsworth American (USMC) winPoor choices in the setup and a false appreciation of what my opponent needed to do to win left me chasing the game throughout.
2022-06-09(D) Douglas Leslie vs Marc Hanna Japanese winJapanese started with HIP half squads deployed in the board 39 jungle. One US squad was taken out by the pillbox HMG position in game turn one. In turn two, two US squads moved into a position close to the Japanese lines and within two hexes of two HIP stealthy HS. One US squad opted for voluntary break rather than chance CC with a concealed Japanese unit and was eliminated when one of the HIP HS dropped concealment to cut off its rout path. The second squad was ambushed and eliminated in CC. At this point, the US conceded and we decided to replay the scenario and swap sides.
2022-06-09(A) Douglas Leslie vs Marc Hanna American (USMC) winThis was our second playing of the scenario and ended quickly when the 10-2 directed HMG went on a ROF tear which wiped out the starting Japanese pillbox position on turn 2 with a series of deadly 3 up one shots (!) assisted by twocasualty MCs, one of which accounted for the 9-1. At this point, my opponent conceded as he felt that there was little that could now be done to prevent my troops from charging to the victory point area almost unopposed.
2022-01-16(D) Shane Pask vs Japanese winAmericans opted to start with group B on board in the hope of approaching the HMG pillbox from the rear and taking it out. However, I have discovered previously how vulnerable a pillbox is to CC when approached from the rear so set a highly successful trap on the path for him. In the end the 10-2 and HMG did more damage from the front. I could not resist CC though and these usually went poorly - I did not achieve ambush once. My snipers also slept through most of the scenario. In the end I won by maintaining concealment and slowly backing away from the marines. At game end I had 50% more VP in the victory area and only 2 HS had exited the map.
2019-11-24(D) Ulric Schwela vs Sebastiano Caltabiano Japanese winWe played until turn 5 of 8.5 when the American threw the towel in, following two disastrous turns of bad luck that made the end goal most implausible. The Japanese defence had two pillboxes including the two MMG and a 9-1 in the victory area, as well as the gun, for a last ditch defence and free points in the right place, but they didn't come into play as we stopped early. The rest of the Japanese infantry was spread out thinly into a skirmish line, with the goal of slowing and harrying the attacker rather than holding fast. A few HIP units were set up to either trap American brokies or ambush in CC, along the most likely avenues of attack. One was spectacularly effective as it caught a 668 and the 10-2 when they both broke unexpectedly. The American attack was three-pronged, splitting the southern forces; in hindsight a single massed amoeba of Marine firepower would perhaps have worked better at forcing their way through the jungle. The Marines often failed low-odds Japanese FP attacks, while what should have been devastating Marine FP attacks often fell flat. In the end it came down to forcing the issue in CC, and while plenty of Japanese were eliminated, the American couldn't afford to lose squad for squad, and they faced a CVP hill to climb without even having reached the victory area. The most enjoyable part for the Japanese player here was the setting up of surprises, and the constant game of cat and mouse in the jungle.
View all or balance report
ActionDate
Hutch Modified the misc. rules2024-09-29 12:17:01
Hutch Modified the misc. rules2024-09-29 11:36:28
Hutch Modified the unit counts2024-09-29 11:33:58
Hutch Modified the Defender's Guns2024-09-29 11:33:58
Gamer72 Added a playing2024-09-28 20:10:08
FileDescriptionUserViews
VASL Scenario Setup (AP-10 Closing the Net v667.vsav)VASL SetupTuruk251
(usmc-jap.png)Imagehoxson11021
(guadalcanal marines river.png)Imagehoxson11111
(AP010 Closing The Net v642 Scenario Archive.jpg)Map Imagevon Marwitz1045
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 7.00Votes: 11
Views: 7896
To-Play list count: 5
Estimated Play time: 8.6 hours
Recorded Games: 8
Archive recorded plays:
American (USMC)4
Japanese4
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
Closing the Net
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[A] Japanese 24
[D] American 25
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