NOTE: For a long time, I played the morale rules wrong, with units just needing to roll their morale or less to recover, not less than their morale. This is reflected in some of the commentaries.

Deployment

The German guns were destroyed, which realistically gives them little hope of victory in the scenario short of destroying 2 PARA steps. Without knowing the American line of advance, I put one GREN in each town, with the LT (9-0-1) in 0803, the CAPT (8-0-0) in 0704 and the SGT (8-1-0) in 0604.

The Americans split into two groups, one with one PARA, the 1st LT (9-1-1) in 0808 and the other with 2 full strength PARA and the reduced strength PARA, the LT COL (10-0-1) and the 2nd LT (8-1-0) in 0709. Even with the gun emplacement destroyed, I’m assuming that the Americans have to go through 0410 and 0509 to remove German control, so I’ll send the reduced platoon and the 2nd LT to do that while the others advance towards the towns.

Turns 1 -3

The Americans advance on the Germans, who aren’t able to see them through the hedges and just sit around having breakfast. The reduced platoon converts 0410 and 0509 to American control and then goes to join the main force. So far, this is a snooze-fest.

Turns 4 - 8

On turn 4, the Americans move to 0804. The grenadiers in the town take opportunity fire shots on the 11 column. The first shot misses, however, the second is snake eyes for an X results, killing off a step of paratroopers and killing LT COL Cassidy! I guess he won’t be leaving on turn 10! The Americans hold morale and on turn 5, the enraged paratroopers exchange fire with the town and manage to demoralize both the grenadiers and their lieutenant. Grabbing the initiative on turn 6, the Americans assault the town and survive the first fire of the demoralized grenadiers despite a 6 (M) results. They assault back with 13 firepower points and a net 1 shift in their favor (+1 for leader, +1 for higher morale, +1 for all enemy units demoralized and -2 for the town) to put them on the 18 column. A 6 is rolled for a 2 result, eliminating the grenadier and sending the leader scurrying for safety. While the reduced platoon digs in, the German grenadiers in 0604 fire on 0803 and get an M result, but all of the Americans stand firm. Over the next 2 turns, the two towns exchange in effective fire.

Turns 9 – End of game

The firefight continues through turn 11, with the Americans not yet willing to face the opportunity fire from the town and the Germans not going anywhere. With the early conquest of 0803, it appears that time is on the Americans side. Finally on turn 12, the reduced paratroopers force an M result on 0604 (on their 2nd straight 11) and the grenadiers become demoralized. The paratroopers in 0803 rush to assault while the grenadiers recover to disrupted. The assault begins on turn 13. The Americans have 13 firepower points and one positive shift for a leader and 2 negative shifts for the town. The Germans have 4 firepower points and 1 shift for the leader putting them on the 5 column. The Americans force an M1 and the Germans an M. The German captain is disrupted and the sergeant is demoralized, however the grenadiers stay at disrupted and the Americans all pass their morale checks. The Germans get a big break on turn 14 and grab the initiative (rolling a 4+2 = 6 while the Americans have a 1+4 =5) and are able to recover morale before the Americans assault again. Now both sides are on the 9 column. For the next 2 turns, the assaults continue with a few units disrupted on each side. The Germans use their activation to recover from morale hits inflicted in the assaults.

On turn 16, the Americans rest to recover their troops, so they can spend the last hour clearing the town. However, on turn 17 the Germans get the initiative again and get all units to full morale before the American attack begins. For the next 4 turns, the Americans and Germans trade close range fire, however neither side is able to dislodge the other. The game ends with the grenadiers still holding on in the town and a draw result.

Final Thoughts

This was a pretty dull scenario, and playing time, not taking notes, probably didn’t exceed ½ hour. The early loss of the LT COL hurt the Americans as it took away their tactical flexibility, and at the same time, taking hex 0803 on the first turn of assault might have countered that. The game really turned when the Germans grabbed the initiative on turn 14 and were able to recover from disruption before the Americans assaulted again. With an 8 morale and a 1 leader, it was difficult to put a permanent morale hurt on the Germans, even with an M2 result, and the Americans could never roll that 6 they needed on the 9 column to inflict a step loss. It could have gone either way and the Americans used up their luck early. Had the gun emplacement been in place, this would have been a much more difficult scenario for the Americans. With the need to take this out, the Germans would have had plenty of time to defend one town with both grenadier platoons and the Americans probably couldn’t have won. As is, this is a tough scenario for both sides to win. And it was also mostly just rolling one assault over and over with no maneuver, so it really isn’t one to which I’m likely to return.