Chesty's Turn

The Marines, anxious to take the fight to the Japanese, mounted an ambitious plan to surround and destroy the majority of the Japanese forces at the mouth of the Matanikau River. A three-pronged attack, each prong depending on the others succeeding, was devised. When the first attack to take the …

1942-10-24

HS12

The Marines, anxious to take the fight to the Japanese, mounted an ambitious plan to surround and destroy the majority of the Japanese forces at the mouth of the Matanikau River. A three-pronged attack, each prong depending on the others succeeding, was devised. When the first attack to take the river crossing points failed, messages to cancel the remainder of the offensive were never received and the remaining elements of the offensive soon went from the hunters to the hunted. Could Marine Corps legend Chesty Puller extract his men from this sticky situation?..

Lunga Ridge, Guadalcanal

The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly United States Marine Corps) ground forces. It took place from 12–14 September 1942, on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and was the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives during the Guadalcanal campaign. In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an attack by the Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade, under the command of Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which was captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. Kawaguchi's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces from the island. Underestimating the strength of Allied forces on Guadalcanal—about 12,000—Kawaguchi's 6,000 soldiers conducted several nighttime frontal assaults on the U.S. defenses. The main Japanese assault occurred around Lunga ridge south of Henderson Field, manned by troops from several U.S. Marine Corps units, primarily troops from the 1st Raider and 1st Parachute Battalions under U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson. Although the Marine defenses were almost overrun, Kawaguchi's attack was ultimately defeated, with heavy losses for the Japanese.

Japanese

American

Scenario Type = Standard