After many abortive attempts to push the Japanese back from the west bank of the Matanikau, a large-scale effort was launched. Well south of the river's mouth, three groups would cross and push northwards toward Point Cruz, trapping the Japanese between them and the river. The eastern-most prong was made by the Whaling Group, led by the Marine's patrolling guru, Lt. Col. Whaling, and his hand-picked detachment of Scout-Snipers. The enemy put out a screen to help the balance of their forces evacuate.
I think the Japanese have a bit of a rough job here, as they need to protect a lot of ground with very few units. The good news for them is that the terrain can be quite challenging for the Americans to traverse. Enough units are required in the east to prevent an easy dash through the hill onto the trail (probably half their force), while the rest need to be in the west to create a wall of bodies. Our game looked like a walkover at first, as the Americans came on heavy west, and I think Joe overallocated to the east, but the Japs were able to reposition the bulk of their eastern defenders to the west just in time to try and make a goal line stand. I was able to sneak off 3 HS on Turn 5, but it would really come down to a crucial CC in Z1 to determine if I had an easy victory or would have a tough time fighting my way off. When mutual destruction cleared the hex, easy victory it was with a final tally of at least 26VP. It's really a shame the scenarios in this pack are mostly so small and blah, as the map is rather interesting (if not a bit hard to decipher the crestlines).
