A task force led by Colonel Alexander Stark was ordered forward to support the beleaguered French troops at Faid Pass. However, they moved slowly and bivouacked before reaching the pass on January 30, 1943. When they arrived on the morning of the 31st, the pass was already held by German troops that were well entrenched on both hills surrounding the main road. The US moved east towards the pass with most of the strength on the south flank, except for mortar placement on the northwest hilltop. By 0830 hours, fire was being exchanged on the south central hill. The Germans moved quickly to reinforce the sector, and a major combined arms skirmish occurred. The US units had difficulty taking control due to the continued bombardment by a mortar/88mm group on the north hilltop. The 88mm platoon was finally eliminated by OBA at 1230 hours, much too late to salvage the battle for the Americans. The Germans had a major victory by 1300 hours.

This scenario portrays the actual battle fairly well. The Americans have a decided advantage in numbers but lack the morale to sustain the attack. The 7/6 morale is a definite disadvantage, and the presence of the 88mm unit, if placed strategically on one of the 40m hills allows a strong command of the battlefield. In this case, the 88 was adjacent to a pair of mortars and commanded by an 11-1-2 Lt. Thus, the base morale of the units was 10 with the morale modifier, and they were extremely difficult to take out. Although the Germans have a limited number of units, their superior morale and the MM of their leaders provide real strength beyond the numbers. The US ended up with 14 VP’s to 32 for the Germans (step losses were 23 and 13 respectively) resulting in a major German victory.