I played the Americans, my face-to-face opponent the Germans. The game ended in a draw with both sides having more than enough step-losses for a minor victory. We played with the "accept-no-substitutes" winter map

I began by setting up mainly in the tree lines at 0607/0707 and across the road around 1008. My mortars and a few infantry were back around the heavy woods in 0413 and across the road in 1014. My 3-inch gun was over near 1008, and my HMGs were in the 0607/0707 groups. the 0707 and 1008 groups started off entrenched and the rest dug in.

The Germans entered the board, got their mortars set up and running, and made their way through the large section of light woods toward my 0607/0707 position. Because of LOS blockages and the dawn SSR spotting limitations, the Germans never got to take advantage of those huge, early artillery barrages.

The bulk of the fight consisted of the Germans advancing through the light woods to engage my 0607/0707 positions in melee combat. As the melee tilted in favor of one side, the other scrambled to try and get more units into the mix. Artillery proved to be immensely important. As the Allies, I tended to use my artillery to prevent the Germans from ever getting a solid force together to overwhelm those 0607/0707 positions. I lucked out with my reinforcement roll and got the additional units on my second try.

In the end, those 0607/0707 positions held despite some close calls. We both made last round moves to control the road. I saved my artillery until after the Germans made that move in one last attempt to demoralize those units and steal away the Major Victory. Sure the Hollywood ending involves a swooning orchestra as those last shots break those German platoons off the road, but reality involved me totally whiffing the rolls and missing.

Looking back, I wish I had grouped my mortars together to deliver a greater punch. I thought I would be covering more area by splitting them up, but I only covered more area with ineffective fire. I also don't know what keeping a few infantry units back accomplished given how things played out, but they managed to get into the mix as melee reinforcements, so they weren't wasted. My opponent really outdid himself as far as bell-curve probability goes, bringing an astounding amount of 6, 7, and 8 totals on his dice rolls.

Overall a really fun time. We used the optional fog of war rules that really changed how a few turns played out.