Allies at start forces set up in the town on Board 20. Axis set up in Castle with the 81mm dug in in hex 0505 next to castle. On turn one the Axis advance out of the castle with a Gren platoon and a 8-0-1 Capt. to hex 0602 on Board 30 as a delaying force. At noon both reinforcement groups arrive as the lead companies make contact. By 12:30 the Allies finally get next to the castle and both sides trade shots until the Allies are fully committed as the Hmg and mortar units were lagging behind due to the muddy conditions. If not for the forced march rule (See Avalanche Web site) they would have been even further behind. In the mean time the Axis were having their own problems getting their reinforcements to come up. By 1:15 the Allied attack was bogging down. Two platoon on the U.S. right routed away from the castle wall and on the U.S. left the axis platoon in the woods was still holding on preventing the Allies from creating a multihex fire group adjacent to the castle. There was a further exchange of fire as the U.S. attempted to reorganize. The Axis platoon in the woods was finally eliminated by a combined arms assault with the M4, Hmg and Inf led by a 9-1-1 Captain. Now that the pesky gren platoon was gone the Americans could now conduct a coordinated assault on the castle proper which they did in short order taking the "courtyard" (entrenchment). The axis lost 3 steps in this action. It was not enough though for the Americans. The scenario ended with the castle proper contested in assault. AXIS VICTORY. This was a really neat scenario that went right down to the last die roll. Adding the forced march rule added a new dynamic that only added to the uncertainty, especially when combined with the mud rule. The variable reinforcement for both sides is also a nice feature.