Martí Cabré
Terrassa
Catalonia
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This was a PBEM VASSAL game with
Txema Mainez
Pla de na Tesa
Illes Balears
played on July-December 2011.
Bungle in the jungle is a battle set on March 6th, 1942 in Payagyi, Burma. After the disaster at Sittang in February, the 7th Armoured Brigade was sent to the collapsing front. The Desert Rats were used efficiently as the Japanese lacked good anti-tank weapons, but on March 6th they were sent to a hot spot where the Japanese were prepared to meet them...
This is our setup:
Txema took the Japanese and I took the British. Txema deployed the AT guns (which could not be HIP) beyond the rice field and protecting the upper-right corner of the map, which is the British exit zone. He left some units guarding his right flank to delay the British advance.
I deployed the British force in order to strike hard against the Japanese right. My idea was to mop up this zone and the proceed against his lone AT in the center section, to avoid the three AT on his left which protected each other and created a killing field over the rice paddy.
Taking the Japanese right flank:
This picture shows the British attack on the Japanese right flank. My attack was fast and hard and managed to dislodge the defenders and kill them. Alas, a lone Japanese Tank-Hunter hero blew up one of my Stuart tanks, which had advanced beyond the protection of the infantry.
As you can see in the next two pictures, the Japanese player repositioned his infantry to cover the most direct approach, sensing that I was not going to traverse the rice paddies. There is a lone Japanese half squad lurking in the bamboo woods with a mortar. This tiny group of soldiers did not seem much a menace and I tried to bypass them and kill them with some reserve units, but I underestimated the capacity of the Japanese soldiers: they managed to destroy my carrier along with its radio so my artillery cover had gone.
The Japanese right flank is clear. All? No, a lone mortar will break havoc:
Now the mortar is silent but the British have lost the OBA:
Losing the OBA was a tough call as I intended to use it to lay smoke and cover my assault. Undaunted, the British regrouped and carried on the offensive. I detached an infantry section to advance through the Jungle paths in order to get flanking shots against the Japanese infantry covering the anti-tank gun. The main assault would be frontal with the mortars and tanks laying smoke.
The swamp creates a choke point:
More problems arose. As PTO newbies, we realized too late that the swamp hexes create bog conditions for tanks in most of its adjacent hexes. That would mean that the big swamp present in the center of the maps would create a narrow choke point for the advancing British units, as the tanks would have to roll for bog and the infantry could advance only one hex at a time.
My flanking force arrived at the outskirts of the jungle when the Japanese tank reinforcements appeared. They took some pot shots against the concealed British infantry and then tried for a frontal assault against my Stuarts. Yes, frontal against frontal. Lack of better ideas? We'll see.
Quagmire in the swamps. The British cannot pass:
The tank engagement evolved into a fierce close combat battle, with infantry, tanks and gun all firing against each other. The British laid a lot of smoke but it was worst for them as it penalized the fire against the anti-tank gun, which remained unscathed during all the firefight.
As British losses mounted I started counting CVP as sooner or later I would not be able to fulfill the victory conditions. The Japanese launched sections against the British stacks, then squads, then half squads and heroes, getting to the close combat and killing infantry and British tanks thanks to their good modifiers.
The narrow pass between swamp and pond became a killing ground with all the Japanese tanks destroyed along with dozens of its infantry, the British captain became a hero and advanced relentlessly against the Japanese anti-tank gun, which had to be destroyed in order for the Stuarts to pass... but that never happened and ultimately there were not enough British troops to fulfill the victory conditions, so I conceded the scenario to Txema, who had performed a brilliant defense.
Thanks for reading.
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Jim F
United Kingdom
Birmingham
West Midlands
HRC - His Royal Cheekiness, Rajah Babu
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Heroic failure. It's what we British specialise in. Thanks for the write up. Can't wait for Rising Sun to arrive through the door.
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Ashiefan wrote: Heroic failure. It's what we British specialise in.
Speak for yourself, fella 
OP - Nice report. Does AAR mean 'After Action Reivew'?
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Martí Cabré
Terrassa
Catalonia
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elgin_j wrote: Ashiefan wrote: Heroic failure. It's what we British specialise in. Speak for yourself, fella OP - Nice report. Does AAR mean 'After Action Reivew'?
No, After Action Review.
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Martí Cabré
Terrassa
Catalonia
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Ashiefan wrote:
Heroic failure. It's what we British specialise in. Thanks for the write up. Can't wait for Rising Sun to arrive through the door.
Thanks. This is my fifth scenario with the Japanese and I'm having tons of fun. I guess after all these years RS will be a blast.
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Jim F
United Kingdom
Birmingham
West Midlands
HRC - His Royal Cheekiness, Rajah Babu
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elgin_j wrote: Ashiefan wrote: Heroic failure. It's what we British specialise in. Speak for yourself, fella
Or just read a history book, me old china.
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Txema Mainez
Pla de na Tesa
Illes Balears
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Very Good AAR Martí!
Congratulations & Bon Nadal!
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It's just a ride
England
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
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elgin_j wrote: Ashiefan wrote: Heroic failure. It's what we British specialise in. Speak for yourself, fella OP - Nice report. Does AAR mean 'After Action Reivew'?
After Action Report.
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Morten Lund
Denmark
Århus
Denmark
Yes, Beware the Geek bringing gifts!
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"Quagmire in the Jungle"
Giggity!
Seriously, though: good read, well written 
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Chris Bryer
United States
Los Angeles
California
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Great write-up! I really hope to play some PTO in the future. Just learning the system so I think thats a ways off but I love the theater.
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Eoin Corrigan
Ireland
Dublin
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Great AAR.
A significant proportion of my ASL gaming in the last year has been PTO.
The new rules are mostly managable and there's a very different feel to PTO actions, compared to ETO scenarios.
Thanks for the AAR, which very much illustrates the difference between PTO and ETO.
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