This scenario was played as a team event by my gaming group. I act as moderator and facilitator for each game, and I do not participate directly as a player. My listing of “winning” is based on the PG HQ site cannot support a neutral role in AARs.

The town of Cheux effectively ceased to exist. The heavy bombardment and fighting in the morning destroyed anything that was standing, and the heavy rain turned what was left into a quagmire. The streets were nearly impassable due to mud and debris. Scouting reports showed the British need not worry about German resistance while moving through the wreckage, but fighting the conditions would slow the advance.

Of course, the entire advance would be slowed due to the rain. The countryside was also a slippery muddy mess. The British forces would struggle just to move forward across the terrain. The Hitler Youth took the rain in stride, bailing out their positions and grumbling much less than their adult British counterparts.

Thirteen thirty hours, time to launch the attack. The sounds of an entire army of British tanks coming to life rumbled across the lines. One thing for sure, the British had tanks. Lots of tanks. Many more tanks than the small amount of infantry could support. And the Germans had guns. Lots of guns…

The tanks on the British right immediately rode into the sights of the German defenders, and several burst into flames within minutes. The devastation of Cheux and poor visibility saved the center and left from similar fates, but eight tanks on the right were burning hulks. Two more would burn in the next 15 minutes, and five more in the next 15 minutes. The Germans would pay with two tanks of their own.

Forty five minutes into the battle the rain began to slacken. Visibility improved, and artillery batteries opened up on both sides. The Germans lost two batteries of 105mm from British counterbattery fire, and the German right began to buckle. British tanks began to emerge from Cheux, and the forward right/center German position, held by the 1/26 SS PG Battalion, came under pressure. The British launched a full offensive across the front, and the next 30 minutes became a nightmare on both sides of the battle.

Within 15 minutes half of the tanks of the 12 SS Panzer Regiment were destroyed, several ATG batteries wrecked, and German infantry suffered many casualties. During that time the British paid with several more tanks, and units on the extreme right assaulting German defenders were paying a heavy price (Eight steps of Brits, 12 steps of Germans, tanks counting double). Bu the following 15 minutes deflowered the attacking British. The loss of a Marder unit was paid back with massive British tank, APC, gun, mortar, and infantry casualties (19 Brit steps, tanks counting double). The British right was a wreck. The left had suffered some casualties, but was pushing forward around the 1/26 to press against the weakened 12 SS Arty Regiment. The British center and part of the left, however, were completely held up by the tenacious defense of the 1/26. Despite significant casualties these Hitler Youth were holding their ground against everything the Brits could throw at them. The British poured massive amounts of firepower against the 1/26 positions, but the line held. The defiance against that much firepower created an aura of invincibility of the 1/26. The Brits appeared to fear assaulting them. The fanatical defense of two officers at the very front, surrounded by the bodies of their men, firing their pistols and the dropped rifles of their men, caused entire armoured columns to steer around the position. The British center never managed to move forward, and the remaining tanks of the 12 SS Panzer Regiment, supported by German infantry, moved into Cheux behind the British tanks and began pummeling parts of the 8th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. And the hearty defense of the 1/26 slowed the British advance long enough for the Tigers of the 3rd Company, 101 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, to shift in support of the 12 SS Arty Regiment.

While the British managed to continue inflicting casualties on German defenders, the Germans were hitting back at double the rate. The advance of the British right was poised to overrun the 12 SS Arty Regiment, but the arrival of the Tigers placed that attack at high risk. The British center could not advance past the 1/26, and the 12 SS Pioneers and 15th Company of the 25th PG regiment were holding the central road and pushing between the British right and center. The British right, for the plastering it took, was actually starting to drive around the German flank and preparing for a rush to the bridges. But to do so the small number of tanks would first have to get past the well positioned 88mm guns of the 12 SS Flak battalion. No easy task with no infantry support.

The British commander could not stomach the losses already suffered, and had no heart to drive his men further into the maw of the German defense. The offensive teetered on the edge, and could fail as easy as succeed. Success or failure, the losses to the British would have wrecked the British units and taken them out of the order of battle for most of the war. The British withdrew, leaving the tank and corpse littered field to the Germans. The Germans achieved a major victory. Total tally Germans lost 26 steps, British 58 steps.

I rated this scenario a 4, and a strong 4 at that. The action was awesome. The map was a pleasure to play on. The lack of British infantry meant a reliance on armor against an entrenched force strong with ATG capability. This battle could have gone either way. The main detractor is the victory conditions. I really don’t see this going as a minor victory level for either side. This was obvious before the game even started. One side or the other would win by the major victory conditions. Really you could simplify the victory conditions by making the capture of one of the bridge hexes (or failure to do so) as the only victory condition. Good scenario placing disparate force structures against each other. A lot of fun.