With the clearing of Aradura Spur, the sixty-four day Battle of Kohima was over. However the siege at Imphal continued, and it was up to the weary men of 33 Corps to reopen the Manipur Road. Major General Miyazaki was given the task of delaying the British torrent. Miyazaki gathered seven hundred of the 31st Division remnants; starving and brutally short of any supplies, Miyazaki Force remained in front of the British column coming down the Manipur Road, blowing bridges and setting small traps while constructing fortifications in some villages. One such village was Viswema. Lead elements were ambushed before the village. After several days of rain, thhe 2nd Division amassed its firepower for a final push.
With such a weak defensive force, I had a tough time deciding on the proper setup for my Japanese. At first I played almost everybody back, then almost everybody forward, until I finally settled on something in between. I do think the Japanese need to strongly contest the ford crossing, so I ended up with a kill stack up front, but hidden from most British opening fire. Heavy rain started almost immediately, dropping once back to light, but soon enough back to heavy. Unfortunately, like many LVs (my least favorite SSR in ASL), we often forgot about it. Considering many Brits ended up pinned and overall a Turn too late, this very well may have been a game-changing oversight. My northern defense, which I thought would be the first to crack, held strong throughout the game. The Brits then made a push through the southern kunai, but soon ran into one of my guns, which knocked out a tank. Another tank MALF'd its MA and, despite my opponent's admirable attempts to fix it, never came back online. My conscripts did a quality job of coming up with some big stops when needed, while the Brits oftentimes failed some crucial MCs/PTCs. Things were not without a price however, and by the middle of Turn 4 all Japanese leaders were dead. In the end I was able to form a wall of bodies in front of the last two huts to preserve the victory by the skin of my teeth. Very fun PTO scenario.
2017-07-02
(D) jon smith
vs
british
In progress
brits attacked on jap right but heavy from the jap MMg teams guided the brits back into the middle. The jungle in centre over stream became hot with losses on both sides and the brits forced there way through.. with this clear the tanks rolled in... and found the 2 jap pill boxes HIP in the kunai ... with the 75* guns causing havoc on the brit infantry the brits just ran out of time and troops to stop the japs holding the huts and pushing each flank with small squads of jap inf.... good scenario.. recommended even if it doesn't allow a lot of manoeuvre. Lots for the japs to think about on deployment.. lots for brits to worry about when they attack!
2017-07-02
(D) jon smith
vs
Japanese win
2013-11-21
(A) X von Marwitz
vs
Daniel Takai
British win
Played this as the British. With the first weather roll, the rain turned heavy and stayed so until the end. I am still not sure if that's good or bad for the attacker. Some of the Japanese setup was illegal as some entrechments were HIP in an area where they were not allowed to do so but we simply left them anyway. The pillboxes were set up in huts but we just moved them one hex to the back. Well, the first obstacle for the British is to overcome the area around S6. It is very hard to dig out the Japanese from there. At least some units should be in that area to delay the deployment of the British. Underestimating the Japanese TH-Heroes, I lost one tank there while despatching two other THHs with some effort. The Japanese had set up significant forces to contain the British setting up south of the stream. Their ploy worked well for quite some time. Some British were able to flank the Japanese via the S8 stream. Because the Japanese had not significantly fortified the S6 area and deciced to fall back, eventually, the British could deploy after being harrassed by mortar and MG-fire. With the British in position at long last, they began to whittle down the Japanese. I lost another tank who failed a Hut Collapse PTC, consequently went CE, got shot, and rolled Boxcars. Two of those three key units out. The last one situated on overwatch in R2 immobed with boxcars when going for 1 MP ESP to T3. By the end of turn 4, British prospects looked bad as there was much ground to cover. In turn 5 the tide turned. The Japanese were a little audacious with CC and paid for it, though often taking some British down with them. Besides that, they were whittled down seriously, so after the RPh of turn 6 the Japanese conceded. More fun to play for the British than Japanese I think. This sceanrio offers much to think for the Japanese on how to set up, which is interesting.