Play: solo Time: ~1 hour

My second scenario in a day (can't remember the last time THAT could be said) was also my second AirI scenario.

Initial Deployment

As the Germans, I decided to man the artillery position to the end, and only contest the first town as a fallback option. The second town would be where I made my final stand.

As the Americans, I wanted to eliminate that artillery ASAP and leave myself plenty of time to wear down the town defenses.

Opening Moves

My Americans rushed the 105mm position as planned, and on Turn 5 entered into assault without bothering to soften the Germans up first. It turned out to be one hell of an ass-kicking.

German Side: 2 x LT, GREN, 105MM

American Side: CAPT, 2nd LT, 2 x PARA

1. Turn 5 - Germans defend on the 13 column and roll 1 for no result (Scheiße!)
2. Turn 5 - Americans attack on the 13 column and roll 6 for 1 steploss
3. Turn 5 - GREN takes the steploss, both the GREN and 105MM become demoralized, one LT becomes disrupted
4. Turn 6 - American reinforcement rushes down the road to assist the assault.
5. Turn 6 - The GREN fails to rally and flees the assault for the safety of the first town.
6. Turn 6 - The 105MM fails to rally and is eliminated! One German LT is captured! The other flees to the first town.

So, essentially, at the end of Turn 6 I had steamrolled the first objective and inflicted 2 steplosses and a leader loss on the Germans. Things were looking up!

The Price of Impatience

Emboldened by the ease with which the guns had been dispatched, the Americans bravely surged forwards towards the first town - which was occupied by only a 1-10-0 LT and the GREN which had fled the earlier assault and had now recovered.

Without pausing to use some of their now massive firepower (4 full platoons + combat modifiers on every officer) the Americans charged headlong into assault.

And stayed there doing nothing for 7 goddamn turns!

Finally, at Turn 14 the Americans bailed on the assault and got away clean, then turned and brought the house down on the Germans from just outside the town. By the end of Turn 15 the first town was cleared and only the final town remained, occupied by a motley crüe of reduced German platoons and some very terrified horses.

BUT I had wasted my time advantage by rushing into the town assault, and would now have to get lucky to snag the final objective before time expired...

End Game

The final American reinforcements arrived on Turn 15 but despite being totally surrounded and under assault for the final 2 turns, the Germans stayed alive until God sounded his arbitrary time limit horn and everyone laid down their arms and had tea.

Final Result: Draw.

Shad's Thoughts

I think this is a VERY good solo scenario. I read the 2 other scenario AARs posted here before writing mine (though after playing it) and was really surprised with their results. My play was plenty bloody, with the Germans taking 5 steplosses and the Americans 2. It would have been more if the Americans had been able to assault a little more efficiently. As it stands, if you want something to play in an hour or less, I think this is a pleasant scenario to choose. Not a good scenario for face-to-face because the German player has little to do other than hunker down and dodge bullets. 4 / 5