Played Solo as the SoTM. I chose to play this as per the Rule Book and not as per SHAD’s tweaks. The German Para’s set up on board 12 North of the river in the town. The remainder set up on Board 11 mainly in the town but with the STUGS and accompanying PARA dug in on the first hill line. The US entered and leaving one ENG in reserve split Eat and West the idea being to put INF over the river early and threaten the German defenders in Martelange with encirclement. The first shells from the massive US OBDA fell on the town at 1030 but caused no casualties, however by 1100 the on board German 105mm guns had found the range of the Eastern river crossing and had caused the first US losses. An hour later the US artillery responded and started to cause losses to the German defenders who had to withdraw from the town edges to regroup. At 1145 the first US INF got across the river but without any support they would be very vulnerable to a counter attack. This was the end of my first session 30 mins later German artillery caused some ENG losses which disrupted the river crossing to the west, but on the eastern flank a further US INF platoon had hot across the river. From 1400 hours the Germans started to evacuate Martelange but lost another platoon to the overwhelming US artillery now also supported by M7 SPArt, however a lucky shot from the German on board 105’s destroyed the hastily erected eastern foot bridge and its accompanying ENG this would mean that is was very unlikely that the baily bridge could be built in time for the US Armour to play any major role in the forthcoming battle for Warnach. The US commander brought out the reserve ENG and ordered that all fire should be brought to bear on any German spotters seen in the hills around and Artillery spotters lurking in the ruins. By 1515 the German artillery stopped firing as all their spotters had been captured or killed, for the next four hours the US slowly fed his foot units over the two surviving bridges without any German harassing fire. This completed my second session and the last hour of play was mightily boring, just rolling for the US INF/HMG and 81 to cross the river. The Germans can do little out in the open as the US can rain artillery on any unit even a single leader so they stayed in the town and hills on board 11. By session end the majority of US foot units are over the river and advancing towards Warnach. As the US have so many leaders I have sent out 5 leaders to surround the town and call down artillery, it may be possible that the US INF/HMG with the artillery can take the town without armour support.

The US Commander had decided that with the Baily bridge far to the rear and with some ENG losses already that a foot only assault will have to suffice in the taking of Warnach. As night fell the US units slowly moved forward, and brave US forward artillery observers infiltrated towards the town. Sporadic artillery fire did cause some German losses but 6 US leaders were killed or captured during the long night as they tried to spot for the American big guns. As dawn rose the US forces were dug in to the west of the town ready for the attack on Warnach. This third session lasted 4 hours and it was mostly very uninteresting the only diversion being the US spotter v German grab squads or Artillery, for the loss of three German steps 6 US leaders were eliminated via various means. The US are now in position to launch the assault, the plan is to use firepower only in an attempt to whittle down the defenders, then advance into the town. IMHO this would be an awful scenario to play FTF the Germans are now hemmed into the town and have little to do except fire their 81’s and 105’s at the surrounding US forces. They are simply holding out for the end of the game and in effect have done so for last 30 odd turns! With still 58 turns to go. As daylight dawned, there began a tremendous artillery duel which ended with the main German artillery wiped out, but not before inflicting further losses on the surrounding US INF. At the same time a firefight between the German units in the suburbs of the town and dug in GI's raged with the Germans just getting the better of it. At 0730 the US commander realized there was no point in holding back the assault any further and the US troops charged the town, initially the assault was successful and a small toehold was gained in the town, however German armour moved into reinforce and the attack was blunted after 45 mins fighting it was evident that the US would not win this battle (12 steps now lost) but could they clear the town, short answer no. After a further hour of attempting to breach the German lines the attack was called off to await the building of the bridge which would mean the US tanks could assist with any further attacks. *Some scenario are not played even though have been in print for a while for a reason. This is a dire scenario and the only reason I have not marked it as a 1 is because I applaud the idea behind this scenario, a sort of mini campaign, however it is boring boring boring, specially for the German player who for most of the game watches the US try to cross the river lobbing one artillery shot every game turn. I tried to think out of the box and used my ENG to ferry INF/HMG across before the arrival of the bridge but this in fact led to losses which meant that said bridge would almost certainly not get built in time. I then tried a foot assault against the town but that failed. Four sessions of play, 18 hours of game time, 4 weeks since I began the game resulted in what was in many ways a real let down. As an exercise for a solo player who has plenty of time on his hands there is some merit in this scenario but as an enjoyable game forget it! *