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Ae2 DL2o3DG
United States
Fort Wayne
Indiana
Four Time Stanley Cup Champion
Seven Time Norris Trophy Winner
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This is an AAR from a game that Bill and I played via VASSAL over the course of a couple weeks last January. It was originally posted elsewhere as an ongoing report. Korea: The Forgotten War is my favorite OCS game and this scenario in particular makes a great OCS introduction for a new player.
Enter the Dragon
This is a thumbnail of the overall situation after the UN half of the December 1st turn. All of the rivers and lakes are frozen and the UN has only been able to unleash its air power on one of the three turns so far. Russian "honchos" from MIG Alley also make any UN air missions within range (15 hexes of the border) a risky endeavor.
North of P'yongyang (one of the Communist's objectives) a mixed force of US, ROK, and UN troops have been getting hammered pretty well by the Chinese. The Chinese divisions, while not overly powerful, are very big and tough, and had very little trouble blasting through the weak spots in the line held by ROK infantry regiments during the initial turn. The situation is now a little better for the UN side as the 1st Cavalry division has moved up to block some of the holes and the overwhelming firepower of the US artillery has been unleashed (all of the DG markers are on communists units, which will slow their advance for a bit).
Things are going much better in the area around the Chosin Reservoir as the 1st Marines and elements of the 3rd and 7th Infantry divisions slowly give ground, falling back towards Hungnam.
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We're now halfway through the December 12th turn and here's the situation:
The Chinese have smashed through the ROK units that were holding the right flank of the UN line and pushed south towards P'yongyang (two hexes south of this picture). The remaining US units have slowly started to fall back, while stopping long enough to unleash some very effective artillery barrages. Air power has been close to non-existent and supplies are starting to get a little low. The left, however, has been holding steady!!
Very little progress for the Chinese near the Chosin, as the Marines are really tough to dig out. The 77th Chinese ID got hung out a little when ordered to cut the supply lines south of the reservoir.
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Almost done with the December 15th turn and after a double turn by the Communists, the UN forces are falling back quick to P'yongyang:
The Chinese have been finding the weakest parts of the UN lines and hitting them hard turn after turn. This time around they were able to split the gap at Sunchon (19.32 on the map, just north of the 38th/2nd regiment) forcing a quick pull back of almost all of the UN forces that were sitting just south of the Ch'ongch'on river. The red arrow marks 15th/3rd regiment, which has seen a bit of a pounding, but may prove to be a pain in the ass to the Chinese in the upcoming turn.
South of the Chosin reservoir, the Marines and elements of the 7th ID have pulled back a bit to screen the port of Hungnam. With the US forces cleared from the area just south of the reservoir, the Chinese supply situation is greatly improved.
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Half way through the last turn (December 22nd) the game was called a UN victory, as the communists were unable to achieve either of the two objectives needed to ensure victory.
North of P'yongyang, the 115 Chinese ID was able to blast a hole in the UN line, destroying a Commonwealth infantry regiment and forcing the Turkish brigade to break and run. As you can see from the image below, the UN is in a pretty tough spot here, and would've lost P'yongyang had this game gone on any longer. During a play of this during a real campaign game, I would have had the UN drop back a little quicker to ensure that they would not get encircled, which would have been a real possibility here had the Chinese had another turn or two.
The UN troops are holding strong in the Chosin area, with the 32nd/7th Regiment actually advancing north along the Songch'on River in order to prevent the Chinese from flanking the line (forcing the Chinese to either come through them or North through the mountains to get around). The bad news for the UN, however, is the 89th Chinese ID! He has friends following behind, and the 73 tank battalion wouldn't be able to hold them for very long, forcing the nice line of Marine and 7th Division regiments to fall back towards Hungnam or be cut off.
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