At 1200 hours on November 26, 1942, units from the 190th Panzer Battalion attempted to break through the Allied lines in the Tine Valley that were being manned by Combat Command B of the 1st Armored Division, part of a group designated as “Blade Force” by Lt. Gen. Kenneth A.N. Anderson. The Panzer III & IV units moved south on both flanks, spotting M3 Stuart light tanks and exchanging fire. While the Stuarts attempted to catch the Panzers in a crossfire situation, it became clear that the Panzers simply had too much firepower and the Stuarts too little armor. Within the first 90 minutes of the battle, four Stuart platoons had been decimated with two platoons falling to a lone PzIVH platoon. The Americans had a bright spot when a Stuart platoon managed to blow up a truck carrying the German Cpt. von Rhein and the accompanying HMG platoon; however, Lt. Scheinhorst assumed command without a hitch. Stuart platoons continued to be brewed up with seven lost by 1400 hours, along with a T30 platoon falling to the PzIVH unit. A German convoy started to move south with coverage from the Panzers, and it moved down the valley unharmed until exiting at 1530 hours. The battle concluded at 1545 hours with ten Stuart platoons having been lost, while only two Panzer III platoons suffered reduction in force. This was a major victory for the Germans.

This scenario seems a very difficult one for the Americans to win, which mirrors the actual dilemma faced by the light tanks of the US in Operation Torch. The Stuarts only fire with “2” AT fire, and thus need a roll of “12” to score hits on the Panzers, while the Panzer IV, with an AT power of “6” only needs to roll a 5 or better to score a hit on the Stuarts with their “1” armor factor. Both crossfire and assault approaches were attempted to compromise the Panzers, but with very limited success as the Stuarts can be disrupted or destroyed by opp fire as they move toward the Panzers. They also do not have the range of the Panzers, so the latter can sit back and fire with impunity on the Stuarts. Ten of the 11 Stuart platoons ended up destroyed, and the remaining unit, which was the only unit on the board after all the German units had exited, was demoralized. The US also only managed to get the initiative on 3 of the 16 turns, with the Germans having multiple action segments on some turns. This was a major German victory, with the Germans scoring 46 VP’s to the Americans 6, and only 4 steps lost to the Americans 24 steps lost.