Taking Heads PTO (id:#60821)
See Also: Taking Heads by Multi-Man Publishing
Along the Magalang Road south of Concepcion, Luzon, Philippine Islands 1942-01-01 ()
Designer: Gary Fortenberry
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
JapaneseAmerican
50.282485875706%

Overview:

During the retreat of the North Luzon Force to Bataan in the last days of 1941, two recently mobilized reserve divisions of the Philippine Army took up temporary defensive positions astride the Concepcion-Magalang Road along the so-called D-5 Line. The 21st Infantry Division held the western flank, while the 11th Infantry Division held the road and the eastern flank. Their orders were to repel any attacks until the night of January 1st-2nd, then resume their withdrawal southward. In the afternoon of New Year’s Day, a Japanese force struck the 11th Division’s left flank along the road in an attempt to rout the defenders by a coup de main.
Attacker: Japanese (Kanno Detachment of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Formosa Regiment and 9th Infantry Regiment)
Defender: American (2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment (PA), and 1st Field Artillery Group (Provisional))  
6.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:16.0 D:12.0
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:2
M3 GMC x 2

Guns: A:0
Type 89 Heavy Grenade-Launcher x 3
Type 97 20mm Automatic Gun
D:1
M3A1 37mm AT Gun

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: PTO (G.1), LJ (G2.1) Exc: Bridge DOES exist on elevated road). Water obstacles: Dry
Overlays: NONE
Errata (source)
Clarification: the bridge on the elevated road still exists.G. Fortenberry via GameSquad.
Players wanting to play this game/Request a match:

Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2026-01-04(A) Vic Lauterbach vs JM Japanese winI got the Japanese in this early PTO clash and pushed forward fast on both flanks looking for Banzai charge targets. I got two chances with plenty of HtH CC. I went for CVP and building control and ignored the extra VP for clearing the road. Two mutual elimination CC results early cost me my 10-1, a 447, a HS and a crew, but Jim's 2 ELR force melted under fire and I won the last three CCs to seal the win. Jim: Vic enveloped the village and squeezed my shrinking force. The GMCs scored some hits but both got stunned and one destroyed in CC, then high CC DRs doomed my defense. In the end, I was down to just three 447s and the heroic 9-1 (plus two broken MMC and the broken 7-0). Vic had 23 CVP to my 17 and held all but one of the non-hut building locations for 24 VP and a solid win. This one was fun but the GIs need the balance.
2025-11-19(A) Rick Galli vs Jeff Taylor Japanese win
2025-03-15(A) Kermit Mullins vs Nathan Wegener American win3 hrsRound 3 of 2025 - KC March Madness Tournament.
2025-03-15(D) nathan wegener vs Kermit Mullins American win4 hrsHMG and 9-1 anchored the center and was able to thin the Jap forces before they reached the woods line. The M3 SPG got some nice hits and the Japanese attack did not quite have enough left to get enough buildings. .
2025-03-15(A) Rob Schmitt vs Kevin Bradshaw American winRound 3 of 2025 - KC March Madness Tournament. Very enjoyable game. I was Japanese attacker vs Philippine army defender. I was able to methodically work my way into the center of town and the victory location hexes, but taking causalities along the way. His MMG and HMG in multistory stone buildings were brutal on my advancing Japanese. I was able to eliminate one halftrack with the ATR and another by double stun to force a recall. I had 6 of the 13 victory locations at the end. I did not have enough troops left to press any further in Turn 7. Once done counting the CVPs at the end of the game, the Philippine army had just a couple more than the Japanese.
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dieneuner25 Uploaded an Image2026-02-06 01:55:36
dieneuner25 Added a playing2026-02-06 01:54:29
hussar04 Added a playing2025-11-20 05:13:38
dmareske Added a playing2025-03-17 19:39:16
Robert7721 Added a playing2025-03-17 14:00:37
FileDescriptionUserViews
(T3J4.jpg)After Action Reportleozhu2001
(Setup.jpg)After Action Reportleozhu1935
VASL Scenario Setup (AP-59 Taking Heads v667.vsav)VASL SetupTuruk932
(!jap-usa.png)Imagehoxson11639
(concepcion loc.png)Imagehoxson11572
M3 GMC with five man crew (m3 gmc 75mm.png)Imagehoxson11565
Situation at game end (AP59 end of Japanese APh GT7.JPG)Imagedieneuner2512
The correct map setup (AP59 Taking Heads.png)Map Imagehipsu1846
(AP059 Taking Heads Scenario Archive.jpg)Map Imagevon Marwitz1594
DescriptionUploaded by
TitleAuthorDate
The river is a level -1 valley (view)hipsu2014-04-02 18:38:51
The Stream (view)CloseAssaultPete2024-09-07 12:51:39

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M3 GMC with five man crew
Situation at game end
 
Statistics:
Avg Rating: 6.98Votes: 61
Views: 9326
To-Play list count: 7
Estimated Play time: 4.8 hours
Recorded Games: 53
Archive recorded plays:
Japanese29
American24
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
Taking Heads [Confirmed]
[A] Japanese 60
[D] American 64
All Rights Reserved. (c)2022 Dave Ramsey.