On Friday January 30, 2004, I played a game of this against Steve Bucey at a CABS meeting. I played the UN, he played the Communist aggressor, and we ended in a marginal UN victory. This series of photos is from our game. Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

Turn 1, after the initial invasion, some ROK forces hold strong, others try to position to hold Seoul against the onslaught. The unit just south of the 38th Parallel was the beneficiary of a 6 at 10-1 on the meeting engagement table. Many curse words from Steve.

Turn 2, the defense of Seoul holds on as the NKPA tries to dislodge the elements in the city  itself. The ROK's position on the Rail Lines threatens to restrict any advance dependant on supply. The NKPA is poised to pounce but has suffered some early setbacks. Note that any UN forces turned to face the bottom of the picture are receiving Air Drop supply.

End of Turn 2, the forces in Seoul build up strong to hold the Rail Line. Note that though the ROK units in Seoul are trapped, they are hard for the NKPA to dislodge since they can only take 2 regiments of losses a turn. The US forces are starting to arrive, taking up positions to cut off advances further south.

Turn 3, the UN forces work to steady the line, but the ROK in Seoul has a limited lifespan ahead of it. In Seoul proper, the units are still 'in supply' since Seoul starts the game as a supply source until captured.

UN forces start building up. The ROK units in Seoul see the end coming soon. The defensive position starts to build some depth just in case losses at the front cause gaps to develop. The completely rough hexes have no zones of control in them, so infiltration can become easy for the NKPA if they can work into position to envelop forward units.

On Turn 5, the NKPA has cleaned out Seoul and is busily performing a political correction to those leaders who remained behind. But the advance fails to completely engulf the UN defenses, leaving a few gaps which can be used for withdrawal.

By the end of Turn 5, the UN forces have regrouped at a new defensive position just out of easy reach of the concentration of NKPA troops. Also with the arrival of more non-Korean UN forces, any losses the communist troops take now are at greater risk when attacking. Notice the depth of the defenses is directly on the Rail Lines. The units on the far east coast for the NKPA are out of supply. The UN forces are striving to set up blocking positions to prevent easy advances without exposing the entire UN army to attack at once.

By the end of Turn 6, the UN can form a solid line to stop the infiltration tactics, and prevent easy advances towards Pusan. But wait, look at the west coast. The NKPA recon regiments are almost around the UN left flank. This doesn't look like much of a threat, but is it? Both units are within 2 hexes of a secured rail line so they are in supply. But with all this advancing, the UN forces look a lot stronger than the NKPA expected to face at this point.

On Turn 7, with the UN supplement of almost 3 US divisions in the line, and solid ROK Divisions shoring up without too much trouble, the NKPA pulls back to ensure a secure position themselves. To prevent easy UN advances and counterattacks, Steve has placed a few of his Supply Units forward in the line. These units may be weak, but they still can hold up what could be a sweeping advance by the UN if one was to start now. Remember those two recon regiments? Well they zipped down towards Pusan, almost but not quite reaching it. They are just barely unable to reach. Of course this puts the entire UN force ashore out of supply but fails to capture Pusan.

The marines and other troops clear away those pesky recon units with valor (the recon regiments were also out of supply and halved, which helped). The UN starts pressing forward a bit, but with a struggle. Those supply units provide a speed bump that gives pause.

After a bit of jockeying around, the UN begins to advance. The supply units holding in spots causing the greatest grief, since they occupy important road paths north. But the build up is noticeable and the NKPA is in careful measured retreat, avoiding any headlong chaos that might benefit the UN counter attack.

By the end of turn 10, the UN forces have taken a number of losses in the counter attack that simply could be better avoided with a bit more care. A die roll of doom at 5-1 odds takes away 2 regiments from the ROK division on the east coast that was trying to clear the impeding supply unit. With the depletion of UN forces, the advance may be slowed. None the less, the UN amphibious assault has Inch'on set as a target. Note the Amph unit, loaded with a division of US troops, headed up the West Coast.

The invasion failed, and here on turns 11 & 12, the first efforts of the 187 Air Landing Combat Regiment shows it's immediate impact. The position on the Rail Line cuts supply for any units not within 2 hexes of a supply unit. The UN advance merely needs to push up to relieve them. The advantage of the two Naval Gun units is to increase the paratrooper's defense from a mere 10 in rough, to 22. The NKPA decides it is better to abandon Seoul to avoid the risk of losing the entire army.

By the end of turn 13, the 187th is on it's way to recuperate in Seoul, and the UN forces have merely followed the withdrawing NKPA elements. The amph on the coast is now a supply unit in effect for the unexpected advance of the forward UN forces. The NKPA strives to set positions on the river and in the mountains to slow the advance, but is clearly unwilling to sacrifice any further forces to the UN attacks.

At the end of turn 14, the defense drops back again to avoid the sacrifice of any further troops to the doubled losses incurred against non-Korean UN forces. The advance pushes towards the north, failing to force the NKPA back rapidly from the panhandle. I admit my eyes were on P'yongyang for the 'Strategic' victory. That proved to be unreachable anyway. The 'tactical' level of victory calls for the UN to clear all Communist forces from south of the 38th Parallel. Steve starts in play a plan to keep something in the Panhandle area.

At the end of the NKPA turn 15, there are strong points positioned along the routes north, but now the UN forces are poised for substantive attacks. And next turn the 187th airborne unit can drop again. So just in case, the units in the panhandle have a pair of supply units in place to protect supply to the forward positions.

On turn 16, the UN has dropped the paratroopers, and killed off one of the supply units, then moved to cut off additional support to the troops on the front. This proves to be problematic, because Steve in a wiley maneuver pulls that supply unit back to the mouth of the small one hex peninsula to block it, and infiltrates a remaining NKPA division down into the one hex peninsula to deny the 'tactical' victory. Even if the supply unit is wiped out, nothing will reach the division to do any damage to it.