Major Issues
Elder Member
Walt and I played Your Turn Now, where he commanded the less than heroic military police defending Cebu City in the Philippines.
They are 336s, as apparently their main duties consist of breaking up cockfights and intervening in disputes between prostitutes and their clients regarding what a fair fee is.
You probably paid too much.
Urban board, but still PTO rules. There are 4 known set DCs in road hexes. These will go off automatically on certain turns, creating potholes and rubble. This will be good training for the demolition experts, as they can be guaranteed jobs after the war working for the Philadelphia Streets Department.
The Japanese get points for clearing the set DCs before they go ‘boom’. Both sides get CVPs.
Walt has been paranoid lately about playing scenarios that had missing errata. The link is down on the MMP site. The only thing I could find was a Perry Sez, that the artwork for the Filipino LMGs is incorrect, as it shows 2 PP instead of 1 PP.
Walt actually found errata in Journal #7 – if the DC does go ‘boom’, the Filipinos get the points. This is a HUGE difference.
If any knows of a link with collected MMP errata, I would appreciate it if you would pass it on.
Actually, errata from other companies, also. I have the Romanowski list, but it stops in 2005.
The Japanese are all 347s, which are not exactly fear-inspiring troops, and are not Stealthy. On the other hand. the Filipino 336s are Lax, so there is still a potential Ambush advantage for the Japanese.
Walt had dummy stacks near the board edge, plus a couple 126 HSs, all of which vanished quickly. By SSR, prisoners do not count double, so I quickly invoked No Quarter, punishing the police for not enthusiastically supporting their role in the Co-Prosperity Sphere.
The Police had two HIP squads. Walt had them stacked together with his only MMG and a LMG, along with his 9-1, Lt. Pachao. But their potential effect was diminished somewhat by Walt revealing them to take a shot that was blocked by the corner of a building.
The first set DC goes ‘Kaboom!’, showering market stalls and stray dogs with hunks of cobblestones. It’s hard for the Japanese to clear these, even though the locations are known. The first one goes off the beginning of turn 3, which means to have a chance to clear it, the Japanese have to get into the hex on their turn 2, and then have one clearance attempt before it explodes.
If it explodes, everyone in the hex takes a NMC, which isn’t as devastating as a regular set DC going off. Still, with 7 morale, it could ruin your day.
The Japanese have one knee mortar, which I used to good effect early to place smoke to get across a street and into CC. The two remaining 336 squads in the block say, “Later, dudes”, and AM into some palm trees. The mortar pelts them with tiny rounds, and both Pin. The following turn, the mortar gets a CH on the hex, which does nothing, then a regular hit, which also does nothing. So I sez, “What the heck, I’ll drop the acq and fire my rifles.” And then roll a 4 on the mighty mighty 3 flat column, and both squads break. Of such deeds are ASL legends made…
For most of the game, the Filipinos had a CVP lead. A squad of mine would get gunned down, then I would bump off a 126 HS in CC, or surround and eliminate some brokies. I did clear one DC, with a 10-1 and three squads. But the next turn, they took a NMC, and the captain rolls an 11 and fatally wounds.
The following turn, my 9-1 and two squads are hiding behind the stout walls of Imelda’s House Of Shoes, when Walt’s Power Stack rolls snakes on a 7+1. When the bullets stop flying, the 9-1 is dead, and all that remains is a broken HS and broken conscript HS.
My 8-0 took a bullet in the leg early, but he is now my only remaining leader.
Walt’s 6+1, having finally caught up with a pile of broken 126 HSs, fails to rally any of them, surprising no one. Walt never rallied anyone the entire game. The 6+1 then redeems himself by singlehandedly (he had lost one hand battling Indonesian pirates) taking out a squad in CC. Though, during the fight, he lost his other hand. And also his head. Which kinda was a turning point in his life.
End game involves putting a WP round on top of the Kill Stack, while closing in from everywhere on the remaining units for CC or to force Eliminated For Failure To Rout. One interesting twist – the Japanese only get points for clearing the DC if they control the hex at the end of the game. Control of potholes is a big part of the Japanese strategy in the Far East. And the Filipinos do get the last move. So if Walt wins the CC with his Kill Stack, he could potentially take back control of the rubble hex. I am heroically defending it with a wounded 7+1 and a 126 conscript HS…
The remaining broken Filipinos are killed off. The Kill Stack goes down in a HtH 1:2 minus 1, with my three striped 237s. His return 1:1 minus 1 misses everybody. So, that close, the game is a Japanese victory. I had gotten 31 CVPs, plus another 5 for the unexploded DC. Walt had gotten 15 CVPs, plus another 17 for exploded DCs. So, if he had taken out my three squads in the last Mutually Assured Destruction CC, he would have won.
It wasn’t until I was doing a final tally of points at the end of the game that I realized that Walt had cheated himself, by not taking a 227 crew that was in his OB.
We weren’t quite sure if we played the Filipinos correctly. The rules say that they can’t get any worse, so we played it that if they broke and ELRed, they went to two HSs. Maybe this is wrong – maybe they are supposed to Disrupt. Since NONE of them ever came back, the only real effect was that they were able to rout, and I had to chase them to kill them.
This would be a good scenario for anyone relatively new to PTO rules. It’s all infantry, there’s some light jungle and bamboo, but otherwise it’s basically ETO terrain.
It’s kinda nice playing a scenario with less than monster units. Everyone goes for those with IS-2s and 838s with flamethrowers. 336s vs. 347s isn’t glamorous, but both sides have to work harder instead of just seeing who can roll better on the 24 column.
Not that I object to monster weapons, especially if I am the one with them. Next AAR – My Turn Now, which pits 658s with FTs and a 10-2 leader and four King Tigers against the Filipino Police Department…
No stray dogs were harmed during the playing of this scenario.
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