This Scenario presents both Players with a situation that is pretty much cut and dried. The U.S. Player should launch his attack and never let up the pressure. The Japanese Player should give ground as grudgingly as possible, but at the same time, should be careful to not waste units. The only counterattack situation he should find himself in is one in which he can surround a U.S. unit (usually the U.S. battalions are the only units against which the Japanese can be assured a kill). The U.S. Player should exit at least two units off the north map edge as quickly as possible; the Japanese Player should delay this action for as long as he can, and should consider the sacrifice of one battalion of the 16th Division to hold the U.S. units off, as these U.S. units may well end up behind the Japanese position late in the Scenario. The correct Japanese tactic in play testing turned out to be a constant interdiction of the road net. The U.S. units are pretty much immobile without the use of the roads and trails. The Japanese should remember that his reinforcements in this Scenario are significant, and should not just use them to counterattack; as with all Japanese units they are much more valuable on the defense.
This is a slugfest in the classic sense. The U.S. Player has the problem of passing through a nearly solid wall of strong Japanese units which are entrenched in rough terrain. The Japanese units have the burden of being strategically cut off from significant reinforcement. Careful use of the forces at hand is a must. The U.S. Player should not ignore the possibility of making a move in force around the south flank of the Japanese units to cut them off. The Japanese Player in this case should take advantage of his interior lines of roads and trails to stop the Americans wherever they attempt to push through the main range of mountains. It is in this Scenario that a certain time distortion takes place - a period of eight days is telescoped into two Game-Turns - this was the period of heaviest storms and operations were severely curtailed on both sides. A daring Japanese strategy for this Scenario would entail detaching a significant force to debauch into Leyte Valley to attempt to cut off the over-extended U.S. forces on the shores of Carigara Bay. This can only be accomplished by keeping the U.S. Player off-balance as to where this counter-offensive will take place and attempting to achieve a significant superiority in one area. Remember that U.S. units which cannot trace a Line of Communications are as good as dead.
This Scenario is a nightmare of delaying actions for the Japanese Player. He will find himself surrounded in more than one situation. This is the U.S. Player's chance to use maneuver to beat the Japanese. Once the 77th Division is landed, try to keep it from being pinned down and use it to maneuver into the Japanese units' rear areas to cut them off at critical junctures in the game. Using this strategy, it is also possible to stop the Japanese reinforcements from ever getting involved in the serious action of this Scenario. The key for the U.S. Player here is the destruction of Japanese combat units and cutting off all possible Lines of Communications to the western map edge. Care should be taken that no U.S. units are hampered by the Air Assault Battalion. It should be dealt with quickly and efficiently; no more U.S. units than are absolutely necessary should be used in dealing with the unit.