On the night of December 22, 1942, the Coldstream Guards had captured most of the terrain on “Longstop Hill” At 0430 hours on the 23rd, they turned the hill over to the fresher, but greener, American troops from the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. However, German forces from numerous units, including the 69th Panzer Grenadiers, 10th Panzer Division had been gathering to retake the captured ground. At 0700 hours, they struck the surprised Americans in force on both flanks. The US had positioned mortar and 75mm artillery platoons directly west of the 60-meter hill, with a 37 AT gun & infantry units on the north flank and HMG & infantry units on the south. German infantry and HMG units advanced on both flanks, supported by a battery of mortar and 25-pounder artillery units just east of the southern 20- meter hill. The Germans continued to press forward, consolidating in the south and center, where a StuGIIIG platoon joined them. By 0800 hours, they had turned the south flank and converged on the central 60-meter hill. US OBA was relatively ineffective in contrast to the accuracy of the German OBA. By 0845, the combined tank and infantry group was assaulting the US troops on the high hill, and the hill was cleared of US forces by 0915. German troops then proceeded to clear much of the ridge, but a valiant stand over the course of almost two hours by the US mortar platoons, with limited infantry reinforcement, prevented them from complete control. The conflict ended at 1015 hours with the Germans holding most of the ridge and small clusters of US troops huddled below the north and south ridges.

This skirmish seems extremely difficult for the Americans to win. The Germans have superior firepower, morale, numbers and the opportunity to set up second, thereby insuring a solid strategy to assault the key ridge on Map 76. In addition, they have an initiative advantage that played out with them having first crack 12 of the 14 turns, often with multiple action segments. The German OBA, despite being less than half that of the Americans, was much more effective due to some great die results and the strong German morale. While it plays out with some historical accuracy, this scenario is very tough for the US player to maintain enough points to even get a draw. The final results of this contest were as follows (American/German): Steps lost, 17/4; 40-meter hill control, 1/24 hexes; 60-meter hill control, 0/5 hexes. This resulted in a point total of 56-5 for a Major German Victory.