Shoestring Ridge PTO (id:#65570)
Damulaan, Leyte, The Philippines
1944-11-24 (3 others)
Designer: Pat Jonke
Starter kit scenario?: Deluxe scenario?:
Balance:
JapaneseAmerican
Overview:
Following the American invasion of Leyte, the Japanese 16th Army had fallen back into the mountains. The American X Corps was given the task of taking Ormoc, keystone of the Japanese position, with the 32nd Infantry Regiment ordered to lead the advance by seizing the coastal vilJage of Damulaan. It accomplished this with ease, but after several days began receiving reports that a large Japanese force was moving toward the town. Fearful that the regiment would be surrounded if it concentrated in one location, the commander of its parent 7th Infantry Division ordered that only one battalion supported by artillery was to hold the point of the advance-the ridge separating the Palanas and Bucan rivers. The GI's called it "Shoestring Ridge" -due not to any peculiarity of terrain but to the meager forces holding this vital piece of ground. On November 23rd the Japanese began a series of intense night assaults along the ridge, and by the evening of the 24th the defenders' situation was becoming desperate.Attacker: Japanese (13th Independent Infantry Regiment)
Defender: American (Companies K and L, 3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment)
7.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: American Night: Yes| Unit Counts: |
| Squads: A:17.0 D:12.0 |
| AFVs: A:0 |
| AFVs: D:0 |
| Guns: A:0 Type 89 Heavy Grenade-Launcher x 4 D:1 M3A1 37mm AT Gun |
| Misc Rules: | PTO Terrain (G.1), DJ(2.2), Exc: Woods are Kunai, Hammada is OG, Crags are Palm Trees. Huts. Night. |
| Map Board(s): |
| Overlays: | NONE |
Errata (source)
Players wanting to play this game/Request a match:
Scenario info
Last Played:
| Date | Reporter | Opponent | Bal. | Result | Time | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-29 | (A) Tripp Killin | vs | Phil Watkins | Japanese win (VASL Log) | 8 hrs | The American setup was good, and the NVR increased to 7, so movement was difficult for the Japanese. But this one came down to a confrontation between the Japanses 10-1 kill stack and the American 9-2 kill stack. The American 9-2 broke on his first NMC, and then couldn't rally. The Japanese just started slithering by. Once the Americans failed to rally again in their Turn 5, it seemed all but over, so the Amis conceded. We're still learning the Chapter G rules, and it is difficult to prevent a Japanese attack avoiding your troops for an Exit VP condition when you can't use normal routing at night to have a fallback defense. I think that's the key to an American victory in this. That's the draw of this scenario: can you handle the awful terrain and fortifications at night when everything is so challenging. I can't imagine not playing this on VASL. Japanese fire attacks were woeful, but their MCs and TCs were solid, and their CC was outstanding. There just were too few Amis left. | |
| 2021-11-11 | (A) Simon Staniforth | vs | Japanese win | Can’t imagine not playing this on VASL and even then a couple of hours a session was plenty enough time to play this complex Night scenario. Despite only 2 SMOKE shots in total from the 4 mortars before depleting everything out, the IJA troops were able to infiltrate through / around the wire on the West side to exit with time to spare and taking 2 captured MMG with them. US dice were not with them in this playing - moral proved fragile, the Hero managed to malf then X out his 0.5cal after only a few shots and the final insult the OBA drifts from its pre reg hex and drops the FFE right on the radio operator. Got to tick a night banzai charge off the bucket list |
View all or balance report
| Action | Date |
|---|---|
| ubertripp Added a playing | 2026-09-29 01:18:11 |
| Pte Parts Linked the scenario to ROAR | 2024-07-18 05:37:15 |
| hoxson1 Linked the scenario to ROAR | 2021-11-23 23:49:41 |
| Simonstan Added a playing | 2021-11-12 18:28:10 |
| Hutch Modified the overview | 2021-10-26 09:46:48 |
| File | Description | User | Views |
|---|---|---|---|
| (night jap-usa.png) | Image | hoxson1 | 1532 |
| VASL Log file (ASL 061 Shoestring Ridge Complete Log.vlog) | VASL Game Log | ubertripp | 7 |
| (shoestring map.png) | Map Image | hoxson1 | 1577 |
| Description | Uploaded by |
|---|
| Title | Author | Date |
|---|
| Description | Uploaded by |
|---|
Quick Map View
Location
Not found
Images
| Statistics: | ||
| Avg Rating: 6.50 | Votes: 2 | Views: | 0 |
| To-Play list count: | 0 | |
| Estimated Play time: | 8.5 hours | |
| Recorded Games: | 2 | |
| Archive recorded plays: | ||
| Japanese | 2 | |
| American | 0 | |
| Drawn: | 0 | |
| ROAR Data: (as of today) Shoestring Ridge [Confirmed] |
| [A] American | 32 |
| [D] Japanese | 25 |