Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 29th:
Spearhead Division #16 - Final Accounting
Hard on the Outside, Soft & Creamy Inside
Author plloyd1010 (United States)
Method Face to Face
Victor United States
Participants WightTiger
Play Date 2016-04-10
Language English
Scenario SiLi010

Pertinent house Rules: Fast mech, Hill modifier applies to equal elevations, Double-blind, Modification to victory conditions.

I probably would have given this scenario an extra point in the rating if the victory conditions were better thought out. As it is the Americans begin with a minor victory, and the Germans in an impossible position. In the end we decided to only count the hill & town hexes on Boards 23 & 31, with the Germans able to get spoiler hexes from Board 10. It seems to not have been quite enough.

The scenario is played in muddy conditions. The special rule it written in such a way that the American ground advantage, those wonderful HMGs, are left behind. For the Germans the problem is having enough troops a good initial defense, but not having any depth and little reserve, certainly not enough to last for 26 turns. The defending forces decided roughly into Heers on brd 31 and Luftwaffe on brd 23.

The American attack progressed along the 2 predictable axis, with a covering/opportunistic force in the corner of board 10. The attack onto brd 31 was reasonably well scouted, but the approach to brd 23 was through the woods, so no effective scouting. Fortunately for the Americans, they have good artillery, and the Germans have rather poor morale.

American infantry advanced on to brd 31 with the HMGs following about 3 turns behind. The infantry took heavy casualties during the advance and locked down the German defenders in the town near brd 10. A lot of mortar fire came from the larger town on brd 31. Once HMGs caught up the tide began to turn. Meanwhile, the brd 23 attack force ran in to trouble early on. Again as the American piled up, the Germans began crumbling, but not before savaging the Shermans.

The brd 31 hill fell to an American infantry company reasonably quickly. The town was surrounded and took very heavy fire. When softened up enough, one of my character leaders charged in with a good mixed force. Part of the covering force from brd 10s’s corner rushed the large town, but were driven back by the defenders and the still unseen mortars. The remaining Germans in the border town were driven into a corner and were ready to be harvested.

After initial failures, the Americans began to chew through the defenders. The attrition against the Germans became more lopsided as time went on. The Luftwaffe artillery (which seemed to be parked in the middle of the woods) tried to help. They score some success. In the end the Americans ground the paratroopers into oblivion. With no reserves or rear area protection, the M10 drove around the edge of the woods and snapped up victory hexes.

We called the game at turn 12. The Americans had broken into the open on brd 31. Brd 23 had almost no defense, and the M10 was loose in the rear. Future players should decide on victory conditions between Wayne Baumer's A Stroll in the woods...Not and what we did.

One of my leader characters almost earned a Combat Infantry badge for his actions, but was 2 points short on the net LPs for the scenario. He did however have enough LPs to purchase 2 more skills, which qualified him for the Expert Infantryman Badge.

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