*I actually took the time to pull out the Black SS counters for this one. The Demoralized Markers really blend into to them, so you have to be careful. After playing the previous scenario, I wanted to see what would happen in this one as well. But unlike the previous scenario, the two sides only start a few hexes apart, the Germans have the faster Panther tanks compared to the Tiger II’s of the previous battle and the American have one less battery of VT Fuse artillery.

*The two sides started facing each other dug-in at very close range. The Germans rolled high for their first activation and in the next two turns, took out all of the American armor. The luck or un-luck of the dice! The Germans had some halftracks in this scenario but not enough for all the ground units. The American setup too many of their few units defending the town hexes and most of the German motorized/mechanized & armor units could just skirt off the board by flanking the town, as the Germans could score more point exiting units then trying to take the town and they already had a ton of points for eliminated American armor. Most of the German foot units paid a heavy price to that VT fuse artillery but the German had about 60 points compared to the Americans 20 points. So it was a Major German Victory.

*This played out much different then scenario #29, which I feel is a better scenario, but then again, my American setup wasn’t the best for this scenario #30 and neither was my initial dice rolls.

Played June 2nd

Author	t1M0t8yk (United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany
Participants	unknown
Play Date	2015-09-08
Language	English
Scenario	WiSo030

This is a solid scenario that could potentially earn a higher rating from me. It depends if my initial impression is mistaken. At this point I think the U.S. is over-matched. I don't mind unbalanced scenarios if you can adjust the victory conditions simply by requiring one side to complete its task in fewer turns. This scenario seems to require changes to the order of battle, too.

Mike and I played using the Efficient Move & Fire optional rule, which I really like. I expect that impacts play balance, although I haven't decided if it's pro-U.S. or pro-German. Mike advanced slowly, since the snow slowed him down. My VT-fused artillery was quite effective against infantry advancing in the open, but I was unable to solve the German armor advantage. I "skulked" a bit before he closed range (i.e., Fire & Move to recover Limiting Terrain concealment). However, this is both one shot instead of two per unit, and with a -1. So I didn't really start firing (two shots per unit) until the German armor closed range.

Unfortunately, I had landed only one shot. Then the remaining German armor opened up and it was a shooting gallery for Mike. Soon the American armor was decimated. Mike advanced into the town and it was no longer interesting so I conceded.

A sign of a good game is that afterwards I'm thinking about alternate strategies. I may have pulled the trigger on my armor a little too late. Certainly I left my halftracks too vulnerable - I set them up Dug In in front of the town with no Limiting Terrain, and the German armored cars picked them off one-by-one. Perhaps using the American OBA to target German tanks would help. While generally ineffective, if you take enough OBA shots you will eventually disrupt a tank brigade or two. That might be just enough to give the American tanks a chance.

I'll definitely revisit this scenario some other time, but my expectation is the Germans will retain the advantage even when my play is much more polished.

The Ardennes offensive has crested and is on the wane, but there is plenty of fight left in the Germans. On January 4, 1945, powerful elements of the 12th SS “Hitler Jugend” division are on the attack against a smaller detachment of the US 6th Armored in and around Mageret, Belgium. It is a one-mapper, and but 15 turns; both sides get VP for destroying enemy units and holding town hexes, plus the Germans (who start close to the north board edge) get points for exiting south. And if the enemy can be kept without anyone on the north-south road at game’s end, VP are available as well. (With the Germans being “Hitler Jugend,” I decided to use the Black SS counters in this one – gotta break them out every so often.)

The US sets up first, with their limited AFV strength dispersed among the hexes of the large town (representing Mageret itself), stacked with infantry in anticipation of assault combat. One INF and 1 leader set up in the one-hex satellite town on the end of the northern ridge (to aid in spotting for Bombardment of Germans behind the ridge), the M3’s/ mortars/57mm ATG in reserve in the woods to the south, and the M18 Hellcat platoon in a path of light woods in the northwest quadrant, in “shoot and scoot” position. The Germans place all of their tanks – 3 Panther and 2 PZ-IVH platoons – together on their own right, directly confronting the M18’s. Mortars (3 81mm in one hex and one 120mm in another) set up dug in behind the ridge, the 75/41 ATG dug in on the ridge itself, and most of the infantry dug in on the ridge (two groups in DF range of the 1-hex town) and behind it. Two GREN and two ENG are loaded on SPW251’s, also behind the ridge, ready to move once the main battlefield is a little more survivable for the thinly-armored vehicles. The SK234/2 armored cars set up close to the one-hex town also.

The Americans win the first initiative, allowing the M18 to take an opening shot at a Panther and then disappear into the light woods hex behind it. Unfortunately, the shot misses, and on Turn 2 the Germans activate first (having moved the Panthers within 3 of the Hellcat’s new hex) and take out the M18’s. From the edge of Mageret, the M36 platoon and two Sherman units – an M4 and M4/76 – trade insults with the relentlessly advancing German armor. Despite the protection of the town (and at first of distance), the disparity in armor protection proves fatal. Save for one shot by the M4/76 that drops a step of PZ-IVH the US armor whiffs, and by the end of turn 4 the rest of the American AFV’s (except for one M4 platoon on the opposite side of town, as yet out of LOS of the ongoing armor battle) are gone. So, too, is the small outpost in the ridgetop town; hit by DF from infantry and the SK234’s, OBA and mortars, it is not until the vehicles move in for an assault that both INF and leader are demoralized and flee. In return the American OBA – only 1 x 18 and 1 x 24, but with the VT fuse – demoralize a couple of GREN and the ATG (which is then abandoned when it fails to recover – at least it took out an M36 step first), and reduce one GREN.

The clearing of the ridge-top town does allow the remaining M4 to target the SK234’s, still spotted since combat occurred in that hex. Despite the distance and protection of the town, in Turns 5-6 (0915-0930) the M4 destroys three of the four steps; the 4th is disrupted and disappears behind the ridge, to recover and await the neutralization of these last Shermans. Meanwhile the German tanks advance and enter a couple of the hexes of Mageret, and by the end of the 1000 turn have destroyed several M3 halftrack platoons and chased away (through demoralization) a couple of US INF/ENG units. But as the German foot units advance through the snow and ice, the second hour of battle sees a heavy toll taken on them by VT-fused OBA and some direct fire (including the M16 “Meat Chopper” halftrack stacked with a regular M3, positioned with LOS to approaching infantry but out of the LOS of German tanks.) On the 1000 turn, one of the Panther platoons, which had circled around to within spotting range of the last M4 unit, blasts the remaining Shermans out of existence. Things seem to be starting to tilt back the Germans’ way – but, with only 7 turns left, the US still holds 3 hexes of Mageret, blocks the north-south road, and is only down 17-15 in step loss VP’s.

And the carnage continues. To what extent the Germans have taken town hexes, they’ve done it with point blank tank fire. Finally, in the third hour of combat some scattered infantry (mostly reduced) manage to reach Mageret, allowing some combined-arms assaults. Of the three town hexes still held by the US when this part of the sequence begins, by game’s end one has been taken by the Germans, one (unable to be entered by armor due to three wrecks present, and thus continually targeted by point-blank DF from two Panther platoons instead) winds up with a demoralized leader and demoralized half-squad, and the final one – a leader, reduced ENG, and reduced HMG – has the defenders in good order. Meanwhile, as the halftrack-borne infantry moves around the town to secure the southern exit, the remaining US reserves – two halftrack units and the 57mm ATG – get into the action. The ATG actually drops the last SK234 step before the halftracks arrive, then misses its shot at one of them. Dismounting, the German infantry calls down bombardment on the defenders, demoralizing the ATG (which is then eliminated when it fails to recover) and assaulting the halftracks, eventually removing them from the scene. (However, a second group of infantry that dismounts at the same time is devastated by American OBA, losing all 4 steps over two turns.) The Germans exit three halftracks on the final turn; one PZ-IVH platoon heads that direction, but due to the snow and ice they don’t quite make the exit.

Due to the town hexes occupied by both sides, neither side gets the 10 VP bonus for keeping the main road clear of the enemy. The Germans hold 6 town hexes, the US two (one of those by demoralized units – but they were previously good order, and no Germans have been there.) The Germans exited 3 steps, so in the non-casualty VP’s the Germans lead 15-4. On to the step losses…

GERMAN: 4 SK234/2, 1 75/41 ATG, 1 PZIVH, 11 GREN, 3 HMG, 4 ENG. Plus two leaders.

US: 9 M3, 1 57mm ATG, 2 M16, 2 M18, 2 M36, 2 M4/76, 4 M4, 5 INF, 1 HMG, 1 ENG. No leaders.

With the tank steps counting as double, this gives the Germans a big bulge (no pun intended) in “casualty” VP’s, 39 to 24. Thus the final tally is Germans 54-28, a Major win, if a Pyrrhic one.

Overall, the scenario didn’t seem nearly as imbalanced as the final score, although had it not been for the VT-fused OBA (the Germans lost 55% of their infantry strength, the vast majority of that to the big guns) this would probably have been a rollover. Granted, it could have been a little closer with a bit more US luck on AT fire. Still, a very interesting scenario.