You Think YOU'RE Having A Rough Day

[Tuomo]

From a game of Fury on the Logging Trail, JR Tracy vs Joe Arthur, on the VASL server now:

 

[Sparafucil3]

When it is man-v-terrain, never let the IJA have LOS to one of your units. It's free MPs. -- jim

 

[Actionjick]

When it is man-v-terrain, never let the IJA have LOS to one of your units. It's free MPs. -- jim

Jim my brain is a little fuzzy today, could you explain the man-v-terrain portion of your observation. I think I understand but not entirely sure. Thanks.

 

[boylermaker]

Jim my brain is a little fuzzy today, could you explain the man-v-terrain portion of your observation. I think I understand but not entirely sure. Thanks.

Lots of PTO scenarios are "attacker must cover this much ground that is 4MF/6MF/8MF/all MF while the defender dicks around and does nothing". When this is the case, banzai is a great tool for the Japanese because they can move 8 MF, without CXing, and then advance. Since the American player often doesn't plan on doing any fighting anyway (you're just posting up by the one path so that the Japanese can't use it), it's a good idea for the American player not to be visible, and thus take this valuable ground-covering tool out of the Japanese arsenal.

Dunno if that applies to this scenario, but it's pretty common in the PTO in general.

 

[Sparafucil3]

Jim my brain is a little fuzzy today, could you explain the man-v-terrain portion of your observation. I think I understand but not entirely sure. Thanks.

What @boylermaker said. All of that looks to be light jungle. Now, instead of moving at most 4 forward hexes (CX move + APh), these units will move 5 (Banzai + APh). -- jim

 

[Actionjick]

What @boylermaker said. All of that looks to be light jungle. Now, instead of moving at most 4 forward hexes (CX move + APh), these units will move 5 (Banzai + APh). -- jim

Thanks!

 

[Ganjulama]

From a game of Fury on the Logging Trail, JR Tracy vs Joe Arthur, on the VASL server now:
View attachment 17772

 

[von Marwitz]

When it is man-v-terrain, never let the IJA have LOS to one of your units. It's free MPs. -- jim

And the Banzai Charge provides the added free service of 'de-CX'ing' anyone involved. Which is, of course, also free MP's of sorts.

von Marwitz

 

[pwashington]

Would be interested in the "after" picture.

 

[von Marwitz]

Would be interested in the "after" picture.

This was the laptop on which that VASL game ran after the completion of the Banzai Charge...

von Marwitz

 

[JoeArthur]

OK - it sort of hurts that JR is lining up to do it all again

 

[Old Noob]

von Maritz: Truly, that is the definition of 'flaming mess'!

 

[M.Koch]

Who were the lucky guys finding the wire and AP-mines the hard way?

 

[Vic Provost]

What @boylermaker said. All of that looks to be light jungle. Now, instead of moving at most 4 forward hexes (CX move + APh), these units will move 5 (Banzai + APh). -- jim

Interior Jungle hexes are Dense Jungle as per SSR #1:

#1 - EC are Wet with No Wind at start. PTO Terrain (G1) is in effect, including Light Jungle (G2) [EXC: any Jungle hexes completely sur-rounded by Jungle hexsides are considered Dense Jungle (EX- L8 and M8 are Dense Jungle, L3 and M3 are not]. Kindling is NA.

So a Banzai Charge through Dense Jungle might end up with some units straying, though the extra movement often helps. That damn trail was the scene of much nasty fighting, the dense jungle in much of the surrounding terrain made it such an important feature to fight over, the only easy way to get around in some stretches, which is why it is cited in the VCs, Vic.

 

[JoeArthur]

So a Banzai Charge through Dense Jungle might end up with some units straying,

That Vic is exactly what happened. They go lax, easier to stray and one unit did stray doing a Banzai in the wrong direction. I told JR that was the only way I could win against him

Many thanks for a fun scenario

 

[bendizoid]

View attachment 17773

• Jack Burton : When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."

 

[JoeArthur]

Above is the situation at the end of the Banzai charge and the advances. It was a "Recon by Banzai" move. J.R. kept his kill stacks / good units out of it and the Banzai consisted of a lot of half squads and 2nd line squads. He lost a lot of concealement and one 8-0 and second line squad that went into a bore sighted MMG hex and I rolled a three

It went to the final two close combats where I failed to kill the Japanese that had Banzai charged into my units containing SW to make them non-good order for a win.

Well played JR - fun game. I'm glad he won because we played the dense jungle wrong and his 10-1 kill stack strayed twice which was an error. The hex he strayed in had one hexside clear of jungle so not dense. It had a big effect on the game.

In total J.R. did about five or six Banzai charges

You now know what to expect if you play PTO with him...............

 

[J. R. Tracy]

That was a barn-burner! Joe had a terrific defense and played a near-flawless game. The IJA must achieve three of five possible objectives - score 16 CVP; exit 6 CVP off or adjacent to the trail; control all three trenches; control the pillbox; and/or make sure there were no good order personnel manning SWs or ordnance adjacent to the trail.

I had the trenches in hand and scored scads of CVP, but the tyranny of the pillbox control rules put that objective out of reach despite a horde of Japanese troops milling about the immediate vicinity. Instead I had to either exit or take out the ordnance and SWs. Joe helped me out by 12ing out the pack howitzer, but I needed a Banzai and a lot of luck for the win. Banzai-induced FPFs broke half squads manning an MMG and a mortar - the latter was key because it allowed me to advance into CC with an otherwise unreachable MMG HS.

I had to win (or not lose) two CCs at the end. The advancing Banzai unit was ambushed in the MMG hex but Joe couldn't withdraw because he had to remain adjacent to the trail - he needed an eight to kill my squad outright but was betrayed with a nine, merely reducing my squad. I then needed to kill the last mortar HS or survive its attack - my attack missed but Joe missed his own in return. He had a well-deserved 72% chance for a win with that ambush CC, but the gods did not smile upon him. I enjoyed several good games this tournament but this was head and shoulders above the rest.

I'll give this one a full write-up in the near future - Joe's setup really was a thing of beauty and deserves some discussion.


The final mad dash

 

[J. R. Tracy]

Who were the lucky guys finding the wire and AP-mines the hard way?

One HS found a minefield hex and with the wire identified the location of the other was obvious and therefore avoided. Picking my way through the wire was difficult with a lot of fives - I considered including units on the wire in what was to be a one-hex Banzai (with half squads and a leader) but feared that would the time I rolled a '1'; that would've seen some of my best troops running head on into a 9-1/149/HMG/667/547 stack.

 

[Vic Provost]

Awesome AAR and that damn dense jungle is such a problem, this is a scenario where crazy stuff happening seemed to be the norm, dueling DCs and even a berserk 1/2 squad with a flamethrower were some of the more entertaining things that happened to me when putting this one together. Residual fire was often key in chipping away at the Japanese. Hold your breath at the end and roll low!

Enjoy everyone! Vic.