First time with this new game, I went to the first scenario, Fold or Fight, with several companies of US infantry attacking a Tunisian (Vichy French allied) town, held by a similar number of infantry with about half the firepower of the US units but with a slight morale advantage, and a better leader draw for this game. Both sides have off board arty that, if fired at a single target hex, are equal at a 21 column. French not in the town may start dug in, while US troops are on the move and have no opportunity to begin dug in. With one stack of 2 infantry and an HMG lead by a good LT, and adjacent to that, a stack of all 3 US mortars with a poor Captain placed on the southern hill of the eastern board to give some overwatch and to call off board fire, I started the main force with the Major and a good LT, each with 2 Inf and an HMG, down the road onto he western board and just out of reach of French direct fire, and a northern force with the last US Captain and LT each with 2 units, the Captain having an infantry and the engineer and the LT having 2 infantry. My intent was to fire at the town with off board arty while the troops approached from north and east. French were set up with the French commander, 2 infantry and an HMG in the eastern town hex, a Captain with 3 infantry in the northern town hex and the single French mortar in the southern town hex, while a dug in unit of 2 infantry and an HMG were dug in on the southeastern hill on that board and another stack dug in with 2 infantry, the 45mm AT gun and it's transport on the north side of he hill beween the eastern hill and the town along he south side of the board. While the french couldnt put a lot of firepower on target with direct fire, they more than made up for it with luck on the off board arty, and it wasnt long before demoralized US units were seen fleeing back along the road. The US off board arty was pretty good, but having the additional 21 column of mortars that could usually see their own targets to raise that a column helped out too, and the forward French outpost soon lost both steps of one infantry unit and had the other demoralized. Over the course of 14 turns, the US tried unsuccessfully to assault the town and tried staying adjacent to rally and regroup to give it another try, but the French in the town became a bit overly brave and the commandant and his captain lead their stacks out to engage the smaller US stacks in assault. US suffered slightly more than the French, but both sides held on. With another stack of US troops aproaching, the French mortar unit moved forward to hold the eastern hex and held there for several turns until the LT and 2 infantry platoons moved from the hill to help hold the town hex. The assault in the one town hex continued to the very end while the assaults outside the town also stagnated, and at the end of 14 turns, neither side controlled the whole town. The US lost 8 steps, which would have helped the French get a major victory if they controlled all 3 hexes, but with the single hex contested, neither side won by the victory conditions. Great game.

Like many scenarios there is a setup mini game here; the French have a lot of latitude and so coming up with an optimal setup isn't easy, which is a plus. I enjoy the setup puzzles. Of course a fair amount of the French force will hunker in the town, but some French units might occupy the flanking hills, which forces the US to assault the hills or risk advancing up the middle in the open.

The US assault isn't easy with a morale of 7/5. In my game the US was able to clear a path over the hills and get close to the town, but the last bound over the open proved too much and most of the US force was demoralized or stopped.

One small US stack did assault one town hex on the last turn, which denied French control, resulting in a draw. That might be the best the US can do; 14 turns isn't a lot of time to clear and hold two town hexes needed, and there just isn't much support here. Probably I didn't use the US mortars effectively enough; I also drew poor US leaders, which didn't help. In order to take the town you need at least one leader, probably two, with a 1 or better morale modifier.

Very tense and studious scenario; good for beginners but also for a veteran who wants to really brush up on their approach.

On the morning of November 8, 1942, troops of the First Infantry Division, a.k.a. “The Big Red One”, landed at the beaches east of Oran as one arm of a pincer movement to capture that city. In moving west, they approached the small town of St. Cloud, where the Vichy French 16th Tunisian Infantry Regiment was stationed. The town was well protected with a strong force in the town itself, mortar & infantry platoons on the hills north of town, and an HMG on the hill southeast of town. At 1115 hours, troops from the 1st Battalion, 18th Regimental Combat Team moved towards the town on all three flanks from the east, with the greatest strength on the French right using the southern hill as a screen. By 1145, both sides had lost a mortar platoon to OBA. By 1215, US units had advanced to the east edge of St. Cloud, and to the hills both north and south of town, meeting heavy resistance on all fronts. However, the US was not able to actually enter the town until 1315, at which time Lt. Baker led his combined force of engineers, HMG and infantry in from the south. The French position north of town on the hill was well dug in and repelled an Allied assault causing significant casualties. By 1330, all US mortar platoons that had been positioned on the hills east of town were eliminated by OBA. Lt. Baker’s group was successful in eliminating all Vichy French from the south sector of St. Cloud, and was joined by Major Hextall in assaulting the northern sector. Here, they ran up against crack Vichy troops led by Commandant Talbot, who rallied the remnants of the Tunisian Infantry. The two adversaries continued to square off against one another, but fought to a draw with neither side being able to secure the town. The battle ended at 1430 with the French controlling the South and East sectors of St. Cloud, and the US holding the Northern one. This is a nice introductory scenario to An Army at Dawn. It involves the US troops attempting to seize and hold a well-fortified Vichy French village in one of the first Allied skirmishes of Operation Torch. The victory conditions involve either side having control of St. Cloud and loss of US five steps. Both of those are necessary for a French “major” victory, which was not achieved in this case; the US lost six steps to the French loss of five steps, but the US held one sector of St. Cloud at battle’s end. A French “minor” victory is achieved if they control St. Cloud at the end of play, but technically this was accomplished either. A US “minor” victory would have called for control of at least two hexes of St. Cloud, also not achieved. So, technically none of the victory conditions were met, resulting in a draw. Due to the limited time and morale, this is a difficult one for an American major victory, but a minor victory is certainly possible. In fact, a few different die rolls on assaults would have given that result in this case. Similarly, a French major victory would be difficult to achieve as there are so many US units that could assault the town late in the skirmish and remove French control. Although a small scenario, it offers some great strategic questions in terms of both the French setup and the US response to it. The French may choose to consolidate strength in St. Cloud and surrounding hexes, letting the US come to them, or as in this case, may spread their forces create fields of fire on the approaches.

Christmas brought An Army at Dawn and my first foray out of the Kokoda jungle.

I set the French up in the town with a platoon dug in on the nearby hill to provide flank protection. The US setup with a fire support base on a hill in range of the town (HMGs and mortars) and the infantry on the flank to use hills to mask their approach to the town but with the French flank (Ff) units to negotiate.

As I haven't played PG for a while I completely forgot both sides off map artillery support for the whole game!

Off we went with the US infantry carefully approaching the Ff to swamp them with DF then assault. This worked but took too long (too careful?) leaving only 4 or 5 turns to assault the town.

The US fire support was quite effective as was the two stack infantry fire group allowing the third stack to assault the first town hex. Time ran out with the French still holding 2 town hexes and contesting the third for a marginal win. Surprisingly the French had lost about 7 or 8 steps and the US only one so I think I will take more risks in future.

Thoroughly enjoyed this scenario and can't wait to try more.

This was the very first PG scenario I ever played, and I badly butchered the rules in the process. A few months later I went back and ran this one again. Luckily I took a few notes.

I set the French up in two formations, with the artillery and some infantry in the town and everyone else dug in on a line a few hexes east of town. The US has the mortars to the north, the main force in the center and a Captain leading a company to the south.

The American plan is conventional: Use the mortars to suppress French fire, flank the town from the south, and have the main assault follow the road in the middle of the map. The U.S. did fairly well early, demoralizing some French and unhinging their right flank. But then a couple infantry and a HMG, led by an quality LT, demoralize two HMGs and an INF, poleaxing the advance.

The GIs recover enough to continue the attack and take one town hex, but neither side achieved enough for a win. This is a great introductory scenario providing a case study in town assault with no tank support. I will have to come back to this one again.

The French set up in the town and on the right and left hills. I made a mistake in spreading them out too far. I should have beefed up the town defenders more. The French artillery started off quite well by disrupting several American platoons which necessitated holding a leader back to collect the strays.

The American Artillery was average in effectiveness. The real winners of this game was the American assault groups. They were unstoppable and had pushed out the French by mid game. The American plan was to push straight down the middle and get in close and use their superior firepower ( US platoon 6FP vs the French 3FP).

Author	goosebrown
Method	Solo
Victor	France
Play Date	2022-04-08
Language	English
Scenario	AAAD001

The 1st Battalion, 18th RCT, advanced on St. Cloud along the line of high ground south of the city with the mortars on the high ground in the center of the line. The French has deployed in St. Cloud and on the heights to either side with their mortars and about half their forces on the high ground to the north.

At first the American advance went well with the Americans advancing in the dead zone behind the hill south of St. Cloud. As the Americans crested the hill, a French HMG opened up and started the process of pecking at the morale of the Americans.

Over the next two hours, the roughly evenly matched forces fought each other as the Americans moved closer to St. Cloud. Throughout the battle the artillery of both sides caused progressively more demoralizations among the infantry units. By the third hour the Americans had sustained 4 steps of losses but had advanced to about 500 yards of St. Cloud where a firefight took place that whittled down both sides.

Although French morale was proving to be a growing problem with several steps and one leader retreating off the battlefield, they would not abandon the village. With morale and ammunition running low, the Americans pulled back to wait for re-enforcements.

The first blood in North Africa had been shed on both sides. The French were not going to collapse without a fight.

Author	treadasaurusrex (United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	United States
Participants	Daedalus
Play Date	2022-08-08
Language	English
Scenario	AAAD001

This was a 4-session play-through with the hard-fighting and daring, Daedalus, as the defending French Commander holding the town and several outlying hill top positions on Map 79. We used the optional smoke, excess initiative rules, and happily dispensed with the fog of war. I played the attacking American Commander of elements of the 1st Infantry Division (18th RCT).

In the first session (game turns 1-3) blood was first drawn by the Vichy French OBA, who destroyed a Mortar platoon that was attempting to dig in on an exposed position on the west-facing side of the southwesternmost hill on Map 78. The deliberate American movement-to-contact west took place in the SE quadrant of Map 79, where two French dug-in hilltop outposts were overwhelmed by a pair of successful close assaults. By the end of the 3rd turn, casualties included 2 American steps, and 4 French steps.

The 2nd session (game turns 4-8) featured the Americans setting up both left and right flank attacks on St. Cloud, in the face of significant French direct, OBA and opportunity fire. Green US units were repeatedly disrupted and demoralized the closer they came to both the east and west margins of St. Cloud, although US Mortars, OBA and long-range suppressive fires managed to seriously degrade the town’s defenders on the west and south hexes (respectively 79-041 79-0510). A defending infantry platoon and the French mortar outfit both succumbed to close assaults, and intense suppressive American DF on turn 7.

By the end of the 8th turn, step losses had mounted substantially to 3 for the American side, and 9 French steps. This session also featured a total of five 7-die combat rolls for the French. And surprisingly, none for the Americans. Instead, the fates took a hand against US morale recovery rolls, leading to additional step loses and severe demoralizations, characterized by panicked retreats to the southeast in the face of stout French fire.

The 3rd session (game turns 9-11) included two bitterly-contested, close assaults, one by the US left flank pincer, as the right flank pincer had been driven off by the French in the prior session. Substantial US suppressing fire and a few lucky OBA/mortar strikes softened & weakened the pugnacious French defenders. A final assault in the open area west of town eliminated the last French buffer position immediately adjacent to St. Cloud. At about the same time, a French smoke screen delivered south of St. Cloud helped cover a fresh American advance that resulted in a bloody close assault and the seizure of town hex 0512 in game turn 11. At the end of the 11th turn, step losses were to 3 for the Americans, and 17 French steps.

The final session (game turns 12-13) resulted in the liberation of St. Cloud by the American Task Force. By mutual agreement, we called a halt at the start of game turn 13 with the French Commander conceding an American major victory. At the end, step losses were to 3 for the Americans, and 18 French steps.

Author	wleonard1
Method	Solo
Victor	Draw
Play Date	2022-10-03
Language	English
Scenario	AAAD001

A US battalion tries to take a 3-hex town from a Vichy French Battalion. It's an infantry fight with a little artillery support for both sides, no armor or air support. The US Army has a long approach down the length of the board to reach the town of St. Cloud and assault the defenders, and with only 14 turns, subtle or indirect approaches are out of the question. France sets up mostly in the town, with two HMG outposts on the hills flanking the approach road, hoping that they can help the French artillery in disrupting the US approach.

The US enters, and starts a long march over clear terrain, taking occasional morale checks from the French artillery. Surprisingly, the US passes every morale check on the approach, and the US artillery disrupts or demoralizes both French HMG outposts. Just at the halfway point in the game, the lead US infantry elements come up adjacent to the town, and one infantry finally fails a morale check. The rest of the infantry piles into the town hexes for assaults, and both sides start rolling in the middle of the assault table, while the US support HMG's and mortars slowly lumber into range. The remaining elements of the French outposts finally do their job and slow down the approaching US HMG's, keeping them out of the assaults, but at the cost of several French step losses to US artillery.

On the last turn, a demoralized French infantry flees a town hex after failing to recover; assaults are still going on in the other two town hexes. Step losses are 10 for France and 1 for the US, but that still comes out to a draw.

Lessons learned: For France, it might be best to just pile everything into the town at the start. It would be nice to have those 8 factor French HMG's in the assault hexes to encourage the 3 factor infantry. For the US player, you need to find a way to get the slow HMG's and limbered mortars into action faster - may just have to see if they can stand up to the French artillery that will hit them if they march straight up the road.

Author	Chaco (United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	United States
Participants	Tubac52
Play Date	2022-10-06
Language	English
Scenario	AAAD001

This was a 3-session play through with Tubac52 commanding the stout French defense in the town of St. Cloud and surrounding hills. I led the attacking Americans of Terry de La Mesa Allen's Big Red One Infantry Division. The early turns were marked by accurate French artillery concentrations that caused confusion and several disruptions in the advancing American ranks.

After the 3rd turn, American OBA because much more effective and 1st Infantry probes overwhelmed the French in the hillside locations with DF. By the end of turn 6, the town was surrounded and the close assaults began. At the end of the 9th game turn, the town was in American hands.

An Army At Dawn, scenario One: Fold or Fight?

I find the Vichy French actions in WWII interesting and wanted to get some action in on North Africa, so this is the scenario I played tonight.

Both sides have weak morale, the French 7/6 and the green Americans 7/5 so it wasn’t easy attacking the St. Cloud town, even with the weaker French Infantry units. Both sides had some off-board artillery which really did play a factor at critical times for both sides.

I won’t go into any details as there has been a ton of AARs on this scenario already but the fighting was pretty heavy for these forces. The Americans lost 7 steps and a Leader and the French lost 6 steps and a Leader. The Americans only controlled one town hex and the French the other two, so neither side achieve a victory level, making this scenario a Draw. A few dice rolls either way and maybe one side or the other could have won. The American Infantry have stronger fire power but could not recover enough units with a 7/5 morale to do much.

A fun scenario to try once.

Author	Capt. Chaos (United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	treadasaurusrex
Play Date	2023-03-27
Language	English
Scenario	AAAD001

This was an introductory 5-session play-through with Capt. Chaos, boldly leading elements of the newly-landed, American 1st Infantry Division near Oran in Algeria. Treadasaurusrex led a defending Vichy French scratch force charged with defending the 3-hex town of St. Cloud. The US force was advancing from their initial landing site at Z Beach east of Oran as a portion of left flank wing of a double envelopment of the French port city. Most of the American soldiers were quite tired after the landing and their lengthy approach march to the vicinity of St. Cloud. We played with the consolidation, smoke/illum, and excess initiative optional rules. We ignored the FOW rule in this training encounter. In addition, we experimentally used the following three house rules: 1) Road Movement for Mechanized & Foot Units All FOOT & MECHANIZED units may move on roads at the rate of 1/2 a Movement Point (MP) per road hex, just like MOTORIZED units, 2) Standardized Movement for Mechanized Units All mechanized units may move through clear hexes at a movement cost of only 1 movement point (MP) per hex, instead of 1 1/2. Add one to this cost if moving up or down slopes hexes, and 3) Dug In Units are Automatically in Limiting Terrain in Desert Games Unless prohibited by special scenario rules, ALL units that are dug-in on hill, slope or wadi & gully hexes are considered to be in limiting terrain and are spotted ONLY if enemy units approach to within 3 hexes, or 4 hexes for reconnaissance units – unless they are marked with a spotted marker, see 8.22.

The initial session (game turns 1-2) featured as 2-pronged, north & south American movement-to-contact onto Map 79. The strong-side prong was in the north, led by the US Major, commanding the 1st Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment. This approach began spreading out as they moved west under covering fire provided by both the OBA and the centrally-located Mortar company. Some accurate Vichy Opfire managed to eliminate a single step of American Engineers during the 2nd game turn. In the south, the lead elements of the weakside approach began climbing the eastern face of the first of two 20-meter hills south of St. Cloud supported by long-range HMG and OBA fire. This prong rapidly moved in to decisive engagement range as the session ended. The second session (game turns 3-4) demonstrated American tactical resolve in the south when the left flank column closed to decisive range atop the larger of the two hills southeast of St. Cloud. In the north, the American right flank approach shifted to occupying the margins of both the 40-meter hill mass and the smaller 20-meter hill just north of St. Cloud. A pair of accurate artillery barrages by both sides hit the respective mortar positions, demoralizing the French position, and eliminating an American mortar platoon. At the end of this session, the US side had lost 2 steps, and more crucially, 2 leaders. So far, the French were unscathed . . . The third session (game turns 5-7) was a rather grim slog for the defending Vichy French force, who accumulated 6 step losses, as well as their first leader killed. This occurred in actions on both the north (strong side - attack) an the south (weak side - holding) flanks. The American fist was tightening around St. Cloud, with the right flank quickly closing to decisive range from the 20-meter hill just north of the town. Total steps lost are now, 6 for the French, and 3 for the Americans. The fourth session (game turns 8-12) was an exciting & costly shoot ‘em up as the Americans closed in on St. Cloud from the north and, during game turn 12, from the southeast. The US attack on the north margin of St. Cloud slowed a bit due to the combination of fierce defensive opfire and repeated adjacent-hex fire fights supported by long-range HMG suppressive fire on the hilltop. A combined total of NINE combat 7-die rolls were thrown, and the Americans lost an additional leader to heavy opfire and accurate French OBA. The southern prong of the American attack moved into a higher gear on turns 11 and 12 with when decisive engagement range was closed. By the end of the session there were 3, hotly-contested close assault hexes in action – one of which was in St Cloud. The updated step losses were: 13 for the Vichy French, and 7 for the Americans.

The fifth and final session (game turns 13-14 ) featured . . . .

To be continued...

This is a basic infantry attack on a town, nestled between hills. The French defenders have an infantry battalion with limited HMG, mortar, AT and OBA support. An American battalion is tasked with capturing the French town, and while numerically similar boast a 2-to-1 firepower advantage. However, French morale is marginally better, and their leadership is much better.

The French chose to base their defense on the hill masses north and south of town. Placing an infantry company supported by mortars and AT guns north of town, they placed a second company on the hills south of town, all dug in. The remaining company garrisoned the town. A direct American approach would be hit on both flanks and from the front.

The Americans chose to allocate 2 companies to sweep the southern hill mass while the remaining company pinned the northern French force. The hope was that the southern hills and the town could be taken in succession by the southern force, while the northern force prevented any reinforcements from filtering into town late in the battle.

This was a tough slog for the green Americans. Although they had a significant initiative advantage, they consistently lost the initiative to the French elan. While they suffered very few casualties, their low morale and poor leadership left them bogged down in the hills, even while inflicting significant casualties on the French. By mid-battle, the northern hill mass was completely clear and while French defense of the southern hills had collapsed, the Americans were in disarray. In the final turns, the heroic American major, the sole light in a dismal officer corps, continued his aggressive flanking assaults and pressed the attack on the town with an ad hoc company of infantry and engineers. At the same time, the American captain leading the northern force hit the opposite side of the town with a few platoons more. Unfortunately, both attacks were immediately repulsed by French artillery and direct fire before they could enter the town. Rather than add casualties for a lost cause, the major ordered all forces to fall back. A minor French victory.

I don't believe this is a scenario the Americans can win. While that might seem like poor scenario design, I actually consider it a pretty good one because it presents the reality of trying to lead an amateur army.

I set the French up defending in the town with a HMG with infantry platoon/leader on each hill to the north and south. On the SE hill I put a company forward to interdict an attempt by the US on that flank.

The US did attack the southern two hills in order to use them as cover but the forward French company delayed and broke the US up for a few turns. Finally getting the attack going again the US then easily cleared the southern hill but met with heavy and accurate small arms, HMG and indirect fires on the hill. These fire broke up the American attack and they withdrew to try again later. It was a major French Victory. Both sides lost seven steps.

I think I hit upon the optimum set up for the French, set some outlying units to the North and South of St Cloud, on the rise and use them primarily to "pick on" the US units as they attempt to take the town. If the US units come after those French units in the hills..... they are dug in and can take care of themselves, AND it takes effort from the primary, mission, i.e., taking the town!