Sherman Tanks Scenario 1: In the Mood

Background: The Germans hold some villages, the Americans are trying to throw them out. The GIs have air support but the Germans have the numbers and Panthers.

Setup: There are a couple small villages to the south, a larger town to the north, and fields and woods in between. I set up a couple companies of Grenadiers to cover the villages, hold the town with the HAmGs and an additional company of grenadiers, and set the 75mm ATs up to cover the open area south of town. The Panther and Hetzer set up in the middle of the map, behind the fields and woods.

Summary: The American infantry and halftracks head for the towns, while the armor tries swinging around to the left. The Panther heads them off, and thus begins a cat and mouse game between the tanks, as the Americans try and get a good attack position and the Germans use their interior positions to frustrate the US moves. This scenario has special weather rules, and initially the Yanks cannot get their air power onto the board. Through the first several turns it is slow going. The Americans clear a small village on their right but little else.

Using their speed, the M18s finally get a firing position on the Hetzer and the US wins the initiative to start the next turn, and they take out s step. The Panther and Hetzer exchange positions and the American armor is again pinned down, but now the infantry is starting to pick its way through the villages, and the German line is starting to creak. The M4/76s eventually knock out the Hetzer for good,and then American planes begin to show up. A P-47 takes out a Panther step, and now the M4/76s move in to risk a kill shot. They succeed on turn 13, and the Americans start to shake loose and head north.

At this point I made a careless error. The Sherman’s flanked the town and one platoon drove straight into the middle of town. Here there were three HMG platoons lead by a very effective sergeant. The assaulted the Sherman, rolled a two and took it out. This ended the only serious US attempt to take the main town. The Americans cleared the villages but were too disorganized to make the final assault.

At the end, the US had lost 22 steps and the Germans 21. Town control was nearly an even split. Final score 36-34 United States. A draw!

Analysis: This was a tough, violent battle with plenty of firepower on both sides. It’s all about the tanks; if the US can knock out the Hetzer and Panther their chances to win go up dramatically.