This was a game played cross-Atlantic over Skype and my first against Matt.W. What a gentleman !! It was a one session game and is a small scenario that looked very interesting when picked by Matt. A force of GI's, that will be reinforced need to capture Schloss Frenzerburg. This is defended by a company of troops from the German 12th Wild Buffaloes Infantry Div (a Div I always put up a strong fight for). They also expect reinforcements, but merely a company of 2nd grade paratroopers (in name only, not quality). The table looks set for a fascinating encounter. However, things went against expectations. Leader selection by Alan Sawyer as the neutral between the two of us selected some real dross for the Americans but included a morale '2' for the Germans

At 1045 hours, Coy.K were north of the castle that was protected by a river. They had decided against approaching from the south side of the river and instead were determined to act out a feint to draw the company of German troops from the 12th Wild Buffaloes eastwards with them and away from the castle.. This was due to the expected arrival of promised US reinforcements between 1100-1130 hours. However, rather than buttoning themselves up in the castle, the Germans had posted a grenadier and HMG platoon on the banks of the river that was also blocking the road that the attack had been expected to come from. As company K headed east, fire from these German positions cut down a step of the inexperienced led GI’s. Now under serious and unexpected heavy fire, the Coy.K advance was beginning to chew on some horrible casualties. Half of the whole company had been cut down within an hour and there was not a sign of the reinforcements. Casualties continued to be absorbed as the uncannily accurate fire from the MG's, backed up by useful artillery support from a distant battery had demoralized the whole of the feint and effectively ended their part in the battle. Their lack of charismatic leaders had proved a decisive issue. The Americans returned fire via OBA, mortars and distant HMG’s but with very little effect. This was mainly due to the experienced officer commanding the Germans here who made sure their good order remained intact.

As this one-sided duel developed and the Germans continued to demonstrate the fact that Schloss Frenzerburg was being defended by sharpshooters, reinforcements of their own had arrived in the guise of the newly minted 2nd grade Luftwaffe Fallschirrmjager. These busied themselves in digging in around the edge of the schloss to effectively create a second tier of defence.

The US reinforcements arrived between 1245-1300 hours. This was over an hour or more late and almost a pointless exercise given the muddy conditions. But, if the schloss was to be taken, then these reinforcements would need to do it on their own. Advancing eastwards towards Frenzerburg south of the river, they used the main road. The commanding officer in the schloss spotted a whole company of the GI’s grouped together with some engineers priming flame-throwers. He wasted no time in calling down artillery at them. The Americans withstood this relatively light barrage well, with just one platoon disrupted, but their advance continued through the mud. A lone M4 platoon raced ahead to try and engage the defenders usefully, but his fire was proving pretty ineffective.

About 1345 hours, the US reinforcements had reached the foot of the hill of Schloss Frenzerburg. So the attack could get within assaulting range, the GI’s moved forward and met with fearful results. Two thirds of the men in the three platoons were sliced down by HMG fire from the castle and the dug-outs and the flame-throwers were stopped in their tracks also. That was the end of the battle as a total of 8 US infantry steps had been lost without any discernable casualties put onto the enemy. They were also two rows of defences away from the castle-keep and with only a short time remaining, the US troops gave up the ghost and pulled away from the area. Losses: US 8 INF steps, German 0 steps. German victory.

Now I try to make a point of never claiming my opponent was lucky and I will not begin here. However, my fire was frightening !! Whenever required, X results were turning up and mowing down the US 90-dayers in droves. I WAS lucky with fire today and even managed to 'call' correct numbers to assist Matt's troops fail morale checks.... eerie ! When the game started, Matt's dice roller was not working. I am SOOOooooo glad he logged into mine ! There is no way he would have believed the run of dice results had I merely called them to him without him viewing it for himself. Honour preserved :-) Also funny was the fact that had those results come against Alan, Wayne or I we would probably have been cursing. Matt just laughed heartily (in disbelief presumably). However, to defend my honour further, I guess you have to have your troops in the right place to take advantage. Thats my answer and I'm sticking to it :-)

I enjoyed the scenario (funnily enough) but it did NOT follow the expected flow I had imagined beforehand. I had expected an end of game last dice roll of the game tussle for the castle. My sharpshooters prevented anything like that. But I still give it a friendly '3'.