Well, crazy stuff happened in turn 5. Things started off with four NK divisions on the southwest side of the peninsula. Two NK divisions were skulking around the outskirts of Kumchon, which was held by an ROK division and reinforced by a nearby US Army regiment. Northwest along that road lay Taejon with another NK division. Two US Marine divisions newly landed in Hannae were further to the west.
The NK player placed their depot along the road, midway between Taejon and Kumchon, hoping this would help keep the units defending Taejon from being overrun by Marines while simultaneously supporting the attack on Kumchon.
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| Sorry, map is rotated. North is to the right, etc. |
The UN threw a 2 point depot in Kunsan, a fortified and strongly held position along the west coast near where the Marines had landed in the previous turn. Another 1 point depot was placed in Pusan to support the considerable numbers of US troops that had just broken out of the perimeter.
The supply rolls were terrible for both sides and each depot was placed on a restricted commitment level, which meant that attacks in the primary range (10 MP hexes or less from unit to depot) were halved. So it seemed at first that this might stall the UN push towards the north this turn as it would require considerable force to hit out at the North Koreans as they tried to delay and defend against the American units on the counterattack.
Unfortunately, the North Korean player's stupid placement of its 3 point supply depot along the road between Kumchon and Taejon left it completely vulnerable to the Marines, who quickly moved in and attacked the undefended depot with the help of armor and air support. The depot was destroyed and now the North Koreans were now defending at 1/4 strength. Oh boy did the UN go to town.
The North Koreans managed to pull back many of their units, completely withdrawing from the outskirts of Kumchon and abandoning their attack. They also gave up the newly captured city of Taejon (quickly occupied and held by a division of UN-friendly Nationalist Chinese that had just arrived in turn 4) as they raced units back towards Seoul. It was too late, however, and the UN player quickly moved up an army regiment into Seoul proper while another regiment of Marines from around Kunsan took off north and tried to reinforce the gain. On the east side of the coast, the UN player moved up a division of Americans just south of the 38th parallel and completely eliminated a North Korean division.
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| End of Turn 5, Action Phase 1 |
By the end of action phase 1 of Game Turn 5, the UN had made some major gains in the south, even managing to capture Seoul while getting one division right up near the border with North Korea.
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| Seoul recaptured by Americans! |
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| Taejon recaptured as North Koreans flee north towards Seoul. |
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| A single US division moving along the east coast pushes up against the border with North Korea |
Next up! The attempted liberation of North Korea! Let's see if we can't save this place from 60 years worth of overfed leaders with bad haircuts!
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