The paratroopers have just hit the ground. As dawn breaks, a small force of US paras attempts to grab the causeway and bridge over the Merderet river (hex 0412). Two strongholds protect the bridge while the remainder of the Axis troops are on the far side of the river.

The US Captain decides that the best action is to rush the stronghold before the Germans arrive. In a mad dash, the airborne charge to the city, intent on getting there before the enemy can reinforce it. They reach the city and prepare to assault. The Germans can be seen rushing across the causeway but can't reach the first pillbox before it falls. Unfortunately for the US, they do get close. A grenadier unit has rushed forward with some engineers and are on the outskirts of the town. The Germans station a HMG unit to keep the bridge nice and safe.

The Axis troops are afraid to storm the city hesitate, not wanting to take on a superior US force in the city. Mortars start falling on the airborne, but to no avail. The Airborne hope that the chutes they saw in the sky just before the attack will come to their aide, but for now, they know they can't wait! The Axis leader's hesitation was costly, for the paratroopers have only one goal and now and they immediately bullrush forward. Tens of minutes pass and the issue is finally settled. The Paratroopers have pushed out the Germans, but not without getting bloodied. They need to rest, but time is short... Unfortunately, time is too short...

Summary: This scenario only has 10 turns and the US has to get right at it if they hope to get the bridge. I never did get the reinforcements, which really hampered my ability to assault toward the end. The Germans ended up with 4 step losses to no US step losses, but kept the US from taking the bridge thus resulting in a draw. I bet that if the US had two turns to rest and recover, they could have gone against the bridge with a good chance to take it.

I also used this scenario to try out different opening moves. I tried sending a squad up the rails and to come at the mortar from behind. Unfortunately, it would have taken 5 turns to get there, and would have resulted in at best getting one step. That was just too much time to spend for such a small unit. And with only an 8 bombardment, the mortars really weren't much more than a nuisance. After trying several different opening moves, I realized that the best move was straight forward. Another thing that made a big difference here was having to actually take out the bunkers. They're randomly selected and I picked the two strongest bunkers. If the first bunker had been empty, then the first real fight would have been at the bridge. If the second had been empty, well... the outcome could have been much different!