Guadalcanal 1942 (ZaX [US] v Hellen [Japs])

[Hellen_slith]

I have not played this one before,
and it shows.

So far, I have gleaned from the briefing,
That Henderson Field is a hex to watch.

So far, I hold that point,
but I am losing more ships than I would like....

I have already lost two cruisers,
so I need to step up my anti-air
and find a way to get some Jap reinforcements ....

This is going to be tough slog, I can tell that ZaX is going to be giving me a royal beat down.

[Hellen_slith]

on turn 3 now, I lost another destroyer,

but I shot another horse!!

High Fives in the Trench, Saki for everyone!!

Japs take a slug of Saki every time they get a horse!

[Hellen_slith]

@ end of Japs turn 6,
I finally managed to get a few more reinforcements landed.

I think if US ran a blockade, it would be an easy US win in this one.

Might need some work to balance it a bit, maybe put more Japs on the island
from the get-go, instead of having to ferry them those few hexes every turn.

[Hellen_slith]

Japanese Navy is getting slaughtered in this one!

[Hellen_slith]

@Japs turn 22, there are simply no Japanese left on the main island.

Maybe 400 to 500 rifles left spread out among all the islands.

Only 4 destroyers remain in the area (which will sink if they move).

So, a Japanese surrender! A well earned victory by the US forces!

USN is really strong in this one. It was nearly impossible to sail reinforcements from their entry hex to a landing zone on the main island. Maybe if they were made to appear on the island somewhere, it might be a bit better for the Japanese forces.

[Menschenfresser]

End game comment:

Second time I've played this scenario. The first time was using TOAW3 (or possibly even COW if the scenario is that old). I recall it was a slog. I might have eked a draw. I recall our navies clashed once or twice. We both lost a lot and babied them the rest of the scenario.

The naval changes have imbalanced this one in favor of the US. About half way through the scenario, I tested the US-Japanese naval opening and could not find a way for the Japanese navy to dent the US navy no matter how each was deployed. The moment the US player realizes this, he/she can park a task force and stop all movement by sea. About half way through the US player has enough naval units to blockade the island.

The ground game would play well. It does over the first few turns. But most of the combat takes place right on the beaches so it is too easy to pair all ground attacks with massive naval bombardments and decimate the Japanese units.

Balancing the naval game is necessary. Also, I suggest changing it so that losing ships is worth points. I'm not sure if the Japanese navy had even a vague chance at Guadalcanal. If not, the points need tweaking so that the Japanese can lose the island and still win the scenario.