Historical Background:
On 15 June, the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions landed on the island of Saipan, supported by naval bombardment. However, Japanese resistance on shore was intense, and the first day’s objective was not reached until D+3. Despite fanatic Japanese opposition and some desperate fighting, the Marines captured Aslito airfield on 18 June.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.
Briefing:
Axis player [Japan]: Take 6 command cards.
Allied player [US Marines]: Take 6 command cards.
You move first.
Conditions of Victory:
7 medals.
The center of the airfield is a temporary medal objective for allied forces.
Special Rules:
Imperial Japanese army and US Marines command rules are in effect.
Place a badge on the allied combat engineers and on the allied flame-thrower tanks.
Special Weapon Assets Late War rules are in effect for Japanese units equipped with machine-guns and for unit equipped with mortars.
The destroyer can move only one hex.
Scenario link
I wanted to test my campaign so I started with the first scenario: Saipan Landings.
In the first game, I played as the Axis, and my opponent took the Allies. The Allies started with an Air Power, weakening one Axis artillery unit. However, the Axis then attacked the Allies’ troops in the ocean and, with VERY LUCKY dice rolls, scored 2 medals.
The Allies responded by playing Behind Enemy Lines and destroyed one Axis artillery unit. The Axis then eliminated one more Allied unit, but the Allies took 2 medals with a Their Finest Hour.
The Axis managed to score one more medal, but the Allies had another lucky dice roll and took a medal as well. Finally, the Axis launched an Attack in the Center and took the winning medal.
End Photo: (6-4)
For the second game, we switched sides and began the landing. The Allies started the landing from the first turn, but they had poor dice rolls, while the Axis had very lucky dice rolls. As a result, the score was tied at 3-3.
However, the Axis continued to score more medals with more lucky dice rolls and ultimately won the game with a score of 6-3.
End Photo:
Conclusion: In the original scenario, the conditions of victory were set to 6 medals. However, after the Allies lost both games, I decided to increase the condition of victory from 6 to 7 medals.
If you’ve played this scenario, feel free to share your experience!