Battle: In the pre-dawn hours of June 6, 1944, units from the 82nd Airborne Division were tasked with securing the bridge over the Merderet River at LaFiere. The drop disbursed troops on both sides of the river, and they were trying to regroup in the darkness. Around 0400, German units from the 1058th Infantry Regiment spotted and exchanged fire with American units, who retreated until they could gather others. By 0500, the Americans had gathered at Cauquigny, but by 0530 German reinforcements moved in from both the west and north including a StuG IIIG platoon moving along the Rue de Moulin toward the town. A major confrontation occurred in the town and along the road SE of town, while the Germans had most of the surrounding area in their control limiting American reinforcement. By the time an American 57mm platoon arrived and weakened the StuG unit, a German S.35 platoon had arrived to take its place in the assault. The US continued to try to reinforce the beleaguered units in Cauquigny and were helped when one the the 57mm units eliminated the S.35 platoon about three hours later. The Americans eventually had to retreat to LaFiere, but the causeway wasn’t cleared for a German response until 1015. As the Germans advanced, they took heavy fire from the remaining US troops, and they lost the remainder of the StuG IIIG platoon to another 57mm attack. This pattern continued, as every German advance was met with heavy fire, although the Germans had finally taken out the American 57mm platoons. The Germans then entered LaFiere at 1400 hours and house-to-house fighting took place around the Manor for almost two hours until the Americans finally took total control of the town. They then moved a few hundred meters west from the town to secure the causeway entrance. At that point, both sides stood down.

Analysis: This is a 55-turn scenario supposes that allows reinforcement by both sides, although the Germans have a decided advantage in terms of both FP and number if they can hit their die rolls related to reinforcement addition. In this playthrough, they definitely did, as most of their units were in play by Turn 12, which came up rather quickly since there were 9 FOW rolls in the first 12 turns. This put the Germans in an extraordinarily strong position since full daylight visibility came up the next turn, and they had plenty with which to fire. With primary objective for either side being control of the bridge, the Germans can use their numerical superiority to push the Americans back. However, once the Americans coalesce and hold LaFiere, further advancement is difficult due to all the swampland that needs to be crossed by the attacker. In this playthrough the Americans left a small force (2 INF and the Brig. Gen.) on the dam up north to both prevent a pincer attack by the Germans and force them to advance through the wetlands. They eventually needed to move south and strengthen the town defenses with 15-20 turns remaining. The Germans ended up losing 40 steps to the Americans 19, and they did not control hex 0411, which was still being contested, so the match ended up as a draw. If the American position can be established in the town just west of the bridge, and they can hold the area to the east toward the bridge, they can win. But this is a tough chore if the German units build up quickly. The town adjacent to the bridge (LaFiere) is a powerful defensive position as attackers have to cross the wetlands to attack it.