This scenario will almost always come down to a single roll. If the Americans win the initiative on Turn 3, the Germans will have to assault to get into the town. If the Germans win the initiative on Turn 3, you can have a battle as the Germans will occupy several of the ungarrisoned hexes of the town.

The Americans start with a recon platoon in the town. The Germans start out in a large body to the south of the town. American reinforcements arrive on the first turn and some of the mechanized forces (an M4 and an M3) can get into the town to support the recon platoon on that first turn. The remainder of the American forces will rush down the road to get to town.

At the end of the second turn the Germans will be closing in on the town and the American forces will be on the northern outskirts of town.

Then comes the all important Turn 3 initiative roll. In my case it went to the Americans for one activation. The arriving troops fanned out throughout the town and kept the Germans from plowing in. The Shermans were particularly effective in Opportunity Fire and then received infantry support to avoid being assaulted at a disadvantage.

The Germans were able to enter two town hexes but were unable to establish a strong presence. At the end of Turn 6 the score was US 22 Germans 0. With losses mounting and no firm hold anywhere (and being substantially outnumbered at that point) the Germans called off the attack. There simply was no hope of improving the situation.

I give this one a "2". If the Germans had been able to enter the town on Turn 3 I think this might have ranked somewhat better. While I dislike the knife edge nature of the single die roll it certainly gave me a strong impression of what it means to lose the race to a key objective.