Author	treadasaurusrex (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany
Participants	Tubac52
Play Date	2022-10-16
Language	Español
Scenario	IN44004

Sure wish that I knew why the PG "introductory" games like Invasion 1944, and The Kokoda Campaign must be the scenes of such miserable, difficult to maneuver-in, terrain. It would be much better to start players getting used to playing this fiddly, but interesting, game system, by making a scenario set along the lines of: An Army at Dawn, or "*1940: Fall of France," to be the introductory games.

Nevertheless, one the new & fearless PG-HQ players wanted to jump into Vassal shared play and try this rather awful "training" scenario. I played the defending German side and he played the attacking American force in this 4-session training exercise. We used the American spotter planes, consolidation, excess initiative, FOW and smoke optional rules in this play-through.

Wisely, this encounter began with a cautious US movement-to-contact through the bocage, One infantry company proceeded west through the hedgerows paralleling the road into St. Laurent, while the other and the support platoons deployed against the WN59 entrenchment.

As others have reported, the German Commander bet the farm on holding a single town hex with the best viewscape of then advancing American columns. As it turned out, this was the winning ticket.

The American attack on the WN59 strongpoint ended in a hotly-contested, 3-turn close assault before the HMG section was eliminated. The second infantry company bypassed the strongpoint and went on to repeatedly close assault the town's hard-fighting garrison. By the end of play, this attack had failed and excessive US demoralizations and step losses resulted in a clear German victory.