Played ftf with Wayne Baumber. Every so often, as way of a change, Wayne and I decide to play a few 'small ones' in a day rather than our usual sizeable efforts. Today was such a day and on these days, we usually turn to Airborne at some stage. Having played up to scenario 4 in the past, it was the turn of number 5. A game punctuated by the inevitability of US Para attacks against weak defenders, also of long drawn out nothingness and then a surprisingly nail-biting finish.

The German company to hand was forced to position themselves very thinly with a platoon at each bridge and lock accompanied here and there by some machine gun squads. At 0530 hours, two companies of US Paratroopers advanced and reached the target lock at 0600. Within 15 minutes, this key-location was under US control after minimum German resistance. The American company then pressed onto the eastern bridge reaching it at 0800 hours and again secured this one within 15 minutes ? The Germans were being strangely meek.

It was time for drastic action by the remaining German platoon and its Leutnant. Still awaiting promised reinforcements, they alone pressed forward around the swamp area and counter-attacked the captured lock around 1000 hours. Braving defensive fire and taking on dug-out positions, this platoon held its own despite being outnumbered at times by 3-1. American assaults simply failed to gather any momentum and thus failed to demoralize and break this platoon. At 1045 hours, the promised reinforcements arrived, and although taking another hour to do so, they were able to reach the lock and make sure the objective lock was still contested at the end of the battle. From sure defeat, an unlikely draw had been salvaged by the last remaining pesky German platoon. Losses Germans 5 steps, Americans 1 step.

The scenario gives the German next to no choice of set-up and they unfortunately have to wait for the American Paras to come at them. After a poor performance at two of the locations, the battle appeared quite lost and went through quite a number of turns of nothingness. The game kicked to life in the last 10 turns of the 28 as the all or nothing battle at the lock was on a knife-edge as the solo German platoon held out against the 3 Para platoons. That piece of excitement ramped up the score for this one to a 2'2 rating.