After heavy rains on the morning of December 19, 1942, French units of both the Brigade Légère Mécanique and 2e Régiment de Tirailleurs Algériens were defending a front around the town of Pichon. At 1330 hours, a German reconnaissance group consisting of a Sk.231/8, Lt. Gross and two infantry platoons transported by truck moved west along the road toward the town. Pichon was held by two White AC platoons, HMG’s and infantry units. A 75mm gun and mortar battery was stationed in the woods south of town, two motorcycle units in the woods north of town, and two infantry platoons just west of the river bridge to the northwest. The concealed French 75mm unit eliminated the Sk.231/8, and German ground units responded by calling in OBA that eliminated the 75 mm gun. All German units were finally on the map by 1400 hours and steadily moved west toward the rocky ground south of town. Strong fire from the HMG’s and White AC’s in Pichon caused rampant disruption among the German troops, even causing them to lose their spirit to attack at approx. 1515 hours. However, one of the White AC’s had a mechanical breakdown, and the Germans had some time to recover. German OBA battered the west end of town, and the French troops by the bridge, seeing reinforcements coming down the road from the west, headed toward Pichon to help out. Over the next hour, a German Sk.233 eliminated one of the White cars in town, while the French reinforcements arrived and established a 75mm gun position in the northeast part of town. The French fire out of town was very accurate, keeping the Germans busy trying to rally their units, although one group broke through and began an assault in the west town around 1630 hours. As night fell, a French engineer platoon began laying mines along the southern perimeter of town, while the darkness gave the German troops a respite to recover. A French sniper was able to take out Capt. von Heimstaff, who was moving with his ground units toward the south edge of town; this allowed the engineers to continue their work, and the two MTC units moved to their area to provide support. In the closing hour of the battle, the Sk.233 closed on the town, but was hit by fire from the 75mm gun and eliminated by French infantry assault. The Germans had now surrounded the town, and they attempted to assault from all sides, overcoming the minefields and ultimately compromising French control of 3 of the town sectors while gaining control of the north central town. At that point, the French lost their spirit to attack, so the battle ended with the town in conflict. When all was added up, the Germans gained a minor victory.

This is a well-balanced scenario with clear objectives (town hex control & step elimination) and diverse units, coupled with the challenge of moving through mud across an entire map to get to the town. It seemed as though the French were in a strong position to gain victory at some level until night fell and the Germans had a chance to rally and regroup. However, going into the last turn, the French were still in good shape, as a group stood ready to assault the one town hex held by a single German infantry unit, and step elimination was even. Then two things happened to change the course: 1) a random event caused the French to lose their attack spirit, so no combat movement was allowed, which gave the Germans a tie on town hexes; 2) a remarkably accurate German OBA shot (“snake-eyes”) eliminated a French step, and turned what appeared to be a French victory into a minor German one. In the end, each side controlled one town hex, with three town hexes contested, and the French lost 9 steps to 8 lost by the Germans.