Germans, leery of the artillery strength of the US Army, spread out across the eastern edge of the board and start their advance toward the two towns. The operational plan is to take Rocherath before heading on to Krinkelt. They advance through the woods, aiming to combine the forces as they reach the outskirts of Rocherath, subdue the US forces and advance on to Krinkelt.

The US, knowing the battle to be afoot, hunkered down in the towns. Units dug into the adjacent fields and woods and waited. They wouldn’t have to wait long. Soon, the German war machine approached. But what was readily apparent was that any advance on the towns would have to survive the punishing artillery raining down from behind. The farmers next spring wouldn’t have trouble tilling the land come spring.

The artillery kept the Germans in a constant state of disruption, thus not allowing the strong leadership to take advantage of the numerical superiority in attacking the town and nickel-and-diming the German forces all the while. Wave after wave broke upon the defensive positions. At 10:00, the SS was about done for, but a rumor of reinforcements supplied a much needed jolt to keep up the attack. Unfortunately, the reinforcements were slow arriving. They finally showed a bit after 11:00, not leaving much time to execute the plan. The Germans push into Rocherath, engaging the Americans in hand-to-hand combat, but the US stubbornness wouldn’t yield. Pushed to the breaking point on several occasions, luck broke the Americans way and they couldn't be pushed out of the town. As the German reinforcements pushed into town, reinforcements moved from Krinkelt to help stave off disaster. It was just enough to hold on.

Eventually, the SS tried one last desperate push, but it dissolved into nothingness. The attack had failed. Losses had been enormous (74 steps to 30). The Americans weren’t going to go away.

A very fun scenario! The off-board artillery really disrupted the planned German attack. The pre-plotting of artillery, even while playing solo, worked very well. About half of the rounds failed to land on occupied spots, which greatly diluted the massive numbers of shells raining down. Even though the Germans were soundly defeated, the issue was in doubt until late. A great little scenario and I highly recommend it!