3rd Platoon, Able Company Marines OOB: Each infantry symbol above represents one fire team: 1x BAR - GUTS 9 1x Carbine - GUTS 8 2x M1 - GUTS 8 Each Marine MG Section: 1x .30 LMG (air cooled) - GUTS 9 Communist Chinese - three companies: Squad OOB 10x SMG - GUTS 8 5x pistol - GUTS 8 The Marines set up within the box to the west and get the first turn to move out along the line of withdrawal. The Chinese player can place up to five squads in pursuit of the Marines on turn two in the arrow labelled '2'. On turn 4, the remaining squads are placed in the '4' arrow. Marine objective is to reach the Battalion rally point at the river crossing. At that point, significant firepower can be brought to bear to cover the final withdrawal. A close in look of 1/1's withdrawal from Horseshoe Ridge. Able Company brought up the rear and 3rd Platoon was key in opening the withdrawal route. The first scenario (MAP inside Back Cover) uses Mark Hannam's rules from the previous pages and the popular GUTS (EDNA) system. 3rd Platoon's Fighting Withdrawal for Take the High Ground Korean War rules Objective: Get as many Marines as possible to the Rally Point. Map: Inside back cover. Units: The Marines have the remainder of third platoon. The combat equivalent is approximately 6 fire teams and two sections of light machine guns. The Communist Chinese Forces (CCF) have about 3 companies worth of attckers (in the first wave). I've separated these into 2 squad platoons of approx. 15 men each. It might even be best to put all 30 figures into a single platoon as the Chinese used the human wave attack during Horseshoe Ridge. There were separations between units at the company level, but these were only a few yards. For mangeability, simply use 15-man squads. And treat them as a single entity for the GUTS rolls. 3rd Platoon, Able Company OOB: Each infantry symbol represents one fire team: 1x BAR - GUTS 9 1x Carbine - GUTS 8 2x M1 - GUTS 8 Each Marine MG Section: 1x .30 LMG (air cooled) - GUTS 9 Communist Chinese - three companies 2 squads per company Squad OOB 10x SMG - GUTS 8 5x pistol - GUTS 8 Combat: In order to keep things manageable, there won't be any off-board artillery or mortars. This scenario will only be played with small arms and light machine gun fire. Close in combat will also probably take place. The Marines were much better in man to man melee, but the Chinese had numbers. When one fell, there was another to step into his place. Each Marine starts with a full load of ammo. For BAR gunners, this is 13 clips. The GUTS rolls take this into account as you increasingly lose GUTS numbers as combat continues. Terrain: On the map inside the back cover, you can see the terrain and contour lines. Each contour line represents 30 feet of elevation. The hills are all heavily wooded. Movement in the hills is 1/2 GUTS for the Marines and no effect for the Chinese. They attacked on the run so they moved quickly, however, they are greatly reduced in the accuracy of their fire. Weapons ranges are halved as well. Notes: Make sure you have both BAR and LMG cones established as the CCF can outmove the range of the guns and pre-established arcs of fire will save you. Bounding overwatch is the only method that can help the Marines reach safety. On a sad note, during this battle, the Marines were unable to get their dead and wounded out. Consequently that is not one of the objectives. If the first wave of Chinese is defeated, there is a second wave about the same size, then a third. Staying and fighting is not an option as the Marines were running out of ammunition and there would be no resupply. 1/1 Holds the Flank for Piquet POA, modified for the Korean War Objective: Delay the CCF advance to Hwachon. Map: Pg 32. Units: (numbers in front are those units portrayed on the table, numbers in parens following represent number of stands for that unit) (for the CCF, the smallest maneuver unit was the Regiment, that's why there there are 8-stand regiments vice separate battalions) U.S Marines 1st Marine Division CO (MajGen O.P. Smith) 1 Division Support Unit (1) 1st Marine Regt CO - LtCol Banning 1 Regt Support Unit (1) 3 Marine Battalions (4 each) 5th Marine Regt CO 1 Regt Support Unit (1) 3 Marine Battalions (4 each) 7th Marine Regt CO 1 Regt Support Unit (1) 3 Marine Battalions (4 each) Other Units: Mixed Tank Bn (2) - LtCol Holly Evans (consider M47 Pattons as Heavy Tanks) Attached off-board artillery Close Air Support Chinese Volunteer Army (or Communist Chinese Forces - CCF) 40th CCF Army 120th Division CO 1 Division Support Unit (1) 358th Regt CO 358th Regt Support Unit (1) 358th Regt (8) 359th Regt CO 359th Regt Support Unit (1) 359th Regt (8) 360th Regt CO 360th Regt Support Unit (1) 360th Regt (8) Other Units Attached off-board artillery Terrain: The terrain is mostly type III, with some type IV. vehicles can only be on roads, but the roads were of such poor quality, that armor moves on Armor Move in Difficult Terrain cards - there are no Armor Move in Open cards for this scenario. Notes: Don't forget Brilliant Leader or Command Indecision of those cards are rolled for in the Leader Quality roll. Insert Major Morale check after the appropriate losses according the Morale rules. As long as the CCF Regiment remains as a single regiment, it only costs one impetus point to move all 8 stands. The CCF can move down the roads (see page 32&33 for the map) at will. The Marines will be penalized a down 1 on their defense roll if they are not in established defense positions when they make contact with the CCF. Sequence Deck Makeup: Adjacent Command Check USx1, CCFx1 Armor Move in Difficult Terrain USx1 Armor Target Acquisition/Reload USx1 Close Assault USx2, CCFx2 Deploy USx1, CCFx1 Heroic Moment USx2 Hunker Down CCFx1 Infantry in Difficult Terrain USx3, CCFx3 Infantry in Open USx1, CCFx1 Infantry Target Acquisition/Reload USx3, CCFx2 Mechanical Check USx1 Officer Check USx1, CCFx2 Radio Contact Attempt USx2, CCFx1 Suppressed Infantry Move USx1, CCFx1 Barrage Hits! USx1, CCFx1 (after Radio Contact is successful, this card goes in the deck on the next turn) Dig In CCFx1 Fighter-Bomber Attack USx1 (after Radio Contact is successful, this card goes in the deck on the next turn) Human Wave Attack! CCFx1 (placed in the deck of the CCF after a turn terminated by doubles) Victory Conditions: The Marines are vastly outnumbered and their entire mission is to delay the CCF for as long as possible. They can also achieve victory by inflicting as many casualties as possible, while losing few of their number. Complete Marine Victory - CCF Routed Off the board Tactical Marine Victory - At least 8 stands of CCF destroyed/routed while losing only 3 stands. The Marines must also maintain a clear avenue off the board (must control the souther part of Hwy 5 and not be denied the use of Hwy 56 if units are still north of the Hwy) Tactical CCF Victory - Destroy/rout 4 Marine stands while forcing the Marines from their original positions at contact. Complete CCF Victory - Destroy/rout 4 Marine stands, lose only 4 stands, and occupy all of Hwy 56. Everything else is a draw. All terrain elevations above the road is Type III (difficult). The roads are Open for Infantry only. Because of the poor quality of the roads, even the roads are considered difficult for tanks. ARMY Leader Roll Unity Quality Roll Difficulty Dice Opp.Fires Sapper Terrain IV Armour Reliability Other Chinese Communist Forces May 1951-53 -3 NC 3 D6 D8 D6 D6 ROK Army 1950 -4 -2 2 D4 D6 D6 D4 US Marine Corps +4 +3 5 D10 D8 D10 D10 ROK Army 1951-53 -3 -1 3 D6 D6 D8 D6 Related Ron Broward's Story: Part I (G15) Ron Broward's Story: Part II (G16) Take The High Ground: Korean War Rules Battle for Horseshoe Ridge: Scenarios Back to The Gauntlet No. 16 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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