Author	battlecarrysabot (United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	United States
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2025-04-21
Language	English
Scenario	ElsR005

The initial setup for the scenario included the German forces aligned along the east-west road on the eastern half of Board 25, leading with a combined arms SS force riding in trucks and a German Heer force on foot. The Americans begin hidden to the German forces are in the middle of deploying forces east of the town on Board 24. Both sides seek to seize the east-west road, secure the towns on Board 24, and avoid step losses.

The opening third of the operation sees the Americas rush forward and establish a hasty defense arrayed north-south on the major ridgeline, light woods to the north and town to the south, leaving only a few Platoons and the 2 3-inch guns to garrison the town. The Germans rapid advance and begin identifying American positions, shuttling their entire force using the trucks and advancing on the American positions. The Americans cannot dig-in on the ridgeline, and the Germans push the Americans back along the road to just west of the ridgeline, where the Americans barely finishing digging in and begin exchanging heavy direct fire point blank with the Germans. German scouts identify one of the American M4 Platoons, and StuGIIIG eliminates it completely. The Germans begin spreading out their forces, capturing the town to the south and applying maximum pressure on the Americans along the road.

The middle third of the game began with an American counterattack from the northern light woods into the German flank. The Germans whittle down the advancing Americans, and continue to attrite the Americans along the road, forcing the Americans back another 200 meters. In the south, the American Infantry attempt to retake the single town hex. The American infantrymen destroy a StuGIIIG Platoon in close AT fire, but the Germans continue to hold the town hex stubbornly. German scouts penetrate the American line to the south, identifying a 3-inch gun to the south of the town, which the Germans promptly dispatch with a precision artillery strike. In the center the Americans are a standstill with the Germans, but the Germans retain the center of the ridgeline and still have a firepower advantage over the Americans. The American local counterattack begins to see success, pushing the Germans back and forcing the German local reserve to commit. The middle third ends as the Panthers arrive and the Germans begin to prepare their final push.

The final third of the scenario featured the Americans identifying the German Panther reserve, triggering a general withdrawal of American forces from the ridgeline back to the town to consolidate and continue the defense. The Americans rolls extremely luckily in the final turns, eliminating a Jagdpanzer IV and Panther steps in close assault, and scraping by to retake the southern town hex. Remaining M4s bug out and establish a hasty defense along the wooded ridgeline to the west of the main town. The Americans leave about a Infantry Company forward to delay with smoke support as the Germans commit their final infantry and armor Platoons to break through. The game ends as the German attack just runs out of steam and the Americans retain the main town.

Conclusion: American Major Victory (82 VP to 46 VP)