Played face-to-face against Matt W in 4 hours.

I read the scenario the day before our encounter and I could not figure out a good defensive plan. My German troops must cover a wide front to prevent a much larger American force from simply walking south of the road. Half my troops are low morale Luftwaffe (7/6 morale) and I don’t think I can afford to stack the 8 reduced unit because the American have lots of bombardment capable units in addition to strong OBA.

I decided to show two strong flanks and to hide most units in the center and in the town. The idea is to encourage the Americans to enter near the center so that I can collapse both flanks and hope it is enough to hold.

The problem is my east flank is held by the reduced Luftwaffe units and the Americans just moved them down with much superior firepower and assault capabilities. I think only 2 of the starting half platoons were alive at the end of turn 5. The remaining Americans entered at the center and I was able to bring the units on my left flank to slow their advances.

It was clear when my reinforcement arrived that counter-attacking on my right wing was just folly. Counter-attacking would leave the town vulnerable to the Americans and I needed the guns stationed there to keep an eye on their armor. The net result was the Americans were able to cross south of the road unopposed with many, many units.

All was not lost because I set myself two goals: hold the town and prevent a breakthrough h in the center. The battle for the center was very bloody and it did not help that friendly fire rained on both sides. Whoever was directing the German OBA should have been shot the fifth or sixth time they hit German troops but that is just my opinion. The American managed a small breakthrough on the last turn with 1 unit reaching the road and another crossing it. The town did hold because the Americans did not try to attack it after the first wave was disrupted and demoralized.

I don’t know the final score but it was certainly much more than the Americans needed for a major victory, not surprising as they were already in Major Victory range after 8 turns.

I rated this scenario a “2”. Despite being fun to play (the mini goals helped in that regard), I don’t see how the Germans can hope to win. I see is no reason for the Americans to attack the town when crossing the roads is far less riskier and more rewarding in terms of victory points. Maybe changing town hexes to be worth 3 points or forcing the Americans to exit the map would help balance this scenario.