Battle: In early morning hours of June 7, 1944, units from the American 2/501 Airborne Regiment approached the village of Vierville, where they encountered elements of both the German 91st Airlanding and 709th Infantry Divisions. By 0730, the Americans had already taken casualties south of Vierville and were pushed back east to cover their mortar position. At 1100, the Germans were reinforced by additional artillery in town, and infantry/HMG platoons moved east on the north flank. The Americans were reinforced at 1200 and began to push the Germans back west toward town, with the HMG platoon forced out of the central woods under heavy fire. More American units arrived on the scene at 1530, and Vierville was surrounded on both flanks and to the east by 1645. The Americans then cut off the road west from the area and took control of the town by 1715, trapping the renaming German units west of Vierville. By 1745, all German units were neutralized, and the leaders were taken prisoner.

Analysis: This is a 46-turn scenario that involves hex control for an American win, or both hex control and enemy step loss for a German victory. My first impression was to score this scenario fairly low, as things start off very slowly due to both limited number of units and firepower. This continues for about half the game until reinforcements begin to arrive and create some tactical options. The situation creates tension as the Germans strive to hold off the surging American forces, and the outcome remains in doubt until late in the game. The best strategy for the Germans is defensive, holding the towns or dug-in, until they are reinforced and can establish good defensive positions further east of the town hexes. For the US, if a strong position can be established behind the hedgerows or in the woods within range of the town, this provides a good setup for the large reinforcement group that arrives on Turn 37. In this playthrough, the Americans held the north central woods when the large reinforcement group arrived, and this allowed them to move west quickly and overrun the German positions resulting in a win. At game end, the US had only lost 5 steps to the German 15 and controlled both objective hexes. All German combat units had been eliminated.