Panzer Grenadier Headquarters - Library: An Army at Dawn 2nd Ed #30

Panzer Grenadier Battles on October 24th:
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Djebel Semmama An Army at Dawn 2nd Ed #30
(Attacker) Germany	vs	United States (Defender)

Formations Involved
United States		1st "Old Ironsides" Armored Division

	Total
Side 1	0
Draw	0
Side 2	1

Overall Rating, 1 vote
5 4 3 2 1 3
Scenario Rank: --- of 1094

Parent Game	An Army at Dawn 2nd Ed
Historicity	Historical
Date	1943-02-19
Start Time	09:30
Turn Count	12
Visibility	Day
Counters	52
Net Morale	1
Net Initiative	1
Maps	1: 76
Layout Dimensions	43 x 28 cm 17 x 11 in
Play Bounty	159
AAR Bounty	168
Total Plays	1
Total AARs	1
Duplicates	AAAD030

Battle Types
Hill Control
Inflict Enemy Casualties

Conditions
Off-board Artillery
Smoke

Scenario Requirements & Playability
An Army at Dawn 2nd Ed	Base Game

Introduction
The Italian supreme command had not yet accepted Rommel's plan to attack in northern Tunisia when the field marshal sent his troops forward. Rommel considered that every iteration of the plan included an attack at Kasserine, and Commando Supremo had indicated that an attack would be approved. Kasserine Pass offered serious advantages to the defender but it lay close by the forward German positions and appeared not too well guarded. Before contesting the pass itself Djebel Semmama needed to be subdued. At 0930 the Americans saw the Germans step off toward their perch.

Introduction

The Italian supreme command had not yet accepted Rommel's plan to attack in northern Tunisia when the field marshal sent his troops forward. Rommel considered that every iteration of the plan included an attack at Kasserine, and Commando Supremo had indicated that an attack would be approved. Kasserine Pass offered serious advantages to the defender but it lay close by the forward German positions and appeared not too well guarded. Before contesting the pass itself Djebel Semmama needed to be subdued. At 0930 the Americans saw the Germans step off toward their perch.

Conclusion
The German infantry managed to wrestle most of the eastern slope from the Americans of Task Force Stark. However, a tenacious defense of the rest of the hilltop kept the Americans on the summit at the end of the day. Stark certainly could have used the troops, tanks and artillery thrown away by Fredendall’s foolish deployment at Feriana two days previously.

Additional Notes
Update of 1st edition scenario 30.

Display Relevant AFV Rules

AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle
Vulnerable to results on the Assault Combat Chart (7.25, 7.63, ACC), and may be attacked by Anti-Tank fire (11.2, DFT). Anti-Tank fire only affects the individual unit fired upon (7.62, 11.0). AFV's are activated by tank leaders (3.2, 3.3, 5.42, 6.8). They may also be activated as part of an initial activating stack, but if activated in this way would need a tank leader in order to carry out combat movement. AFV's do not block Direct Fire (10.1). Full-strength AFV's with "armor efficiency" may make two anti-tank (AT) fire attacks per turn (either in their action segment or during opportunity fire) if they have AT fire values of 0 or more (11.2). Each unit with an AT fire value of 2 or more may fire at targets at a distance of between 100% and 150% of its printed AT range. It does so at half its AT fire value. (11.3) Efficient and non-efficient AFV's may conduct two opportunity fires per turn if using direct fire (7.44, 7.64). Units with both Direct and AT Fire values may use either type of fire in the same turn as their opportunity fire, but not both (7.22, 13.0). Units which can take opportunity fire twice per turn do not have to target the same unit both times (13.0). Demoralized AFV's are not required to flee from units that do not have AT fire values (14.3). Place a Wreck marker when an AFV is eliminated in a bridge or town hex (16.3). AFV's do not benefit from Entrenchments (16.42). AFV's may Dig In (16.2). Closed-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables. Do not take step losses from Direct or Bombardment Fire. If X or #X result on Fire Table, make M morale check instead (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT). Closed-top AFV's: Provide the +1 modifier on the Assault Table when combined with infantry. (Modifier only applies to Germans in all scenarios; Soviet Guards in scenarios taking place after 1942; Polish, US and Commonwealth in scenarios taking place after 1943.) (ACC) Tank: all are closed-top and provide the +1 Assault bonus, when applicable

AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle

Vulnerable to results on the Assault Combat Chart (7.25, 7.63, ACC), and may be attacked by Anti-Tank fire (11.2, DFT). Anti-Tank fire only affects the individual unit fired upon (7.62, 11.0).
AFV's are activated by tank leaders (3.2, 3.3, 5.42, 6.8). They may also be activated as part of an initial activating stack, but if activated in this way would need a tank leader in order to carry out combat movement.
AFV's do not block Direct Fire (10.1).
Full-strength AFV's with "armor efficiency" may make two anti-tank (AT) fire attacks per turn (either in their action segment or during opportunity fire) if they have AT fire values of 0 or more (11.2).
Each unit with an AT fire value of 2 or more may fire at targets at a distance of between 100% and 150% of its printed AT range. It does so at half its AT fire value. (11.3)
Efficient and non-efficient AFV's may conduct two opportunity fires per turn if using direct fire (7.44, 7.64). Units with both Direct and AT Fire values may use either type of fire in the same turn as their opportunity fire, but not both (7.22, 13.0). Units which can take opportunity fire twice per turn do not have to target the same unit both times (13.0).
Demoralized AFV's are not required to flee from units that do not have AT fire values (14.3).
Place a Wreck marker when an AFV is eliminated in a bridge or town hex (16.3).
AFV's do not benefit from Entrenchments (16.42).
AFV's may Dig In (16.2).
Closed-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables. Do not take step losses from Direct or Bombardment Fire. If X or #X result on Fire Table, make M morale check instead (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT).
Closed-top AFV's: Provide the +1 modifier on the Assault Table when combined with infantry. (Modifier only applies to Germans in all scenarios; Soviet Guards in scenarios taking place after 1942; Polish, US and Commonwealth in scenarios taking place after 1943.) (ACC)
Tank: all are closed-top and provide the +1 Assault bonus, when applicable

Display Order of Battle

Germany Order of Battle

Heer
Foot Leader Mechanized Motorized Towed

Heer

Foot

Leader

Mechanized

Motorized

Towed

United States Order of Battle

Army
Foot Leader Motorized Towed

Army

Foot

Leader

Motorized

Towed

Display Errata (2)

2 Errata Items
	The reduced direct fire value of the Heer HMG became 5-5 starting with Fall of France. (plloyd1010 on 2015 Jul 31)
	The morale and combat modifiers of German Sergeant #1614 should be "0", not "8". (Shad on 2010 Dec 15)

Display AARs (1)

Roadblock en route to Kasserine

Author	wleonard1
Method	Solo
Victor	United States
Play Date	2025-03-06
Language	English
Scenario	AAD2030

The superficial view of the battle of Kasserine Pass is a badly led and inexperienced US Army fleeing from German panzers. One of the things I enjoy about the Panzer Grenadier games is that they give you a chance to test those preconceptions. This scenario is the first in the Kasserine Pass battle game. A German battlegroup with morale and leadership advantages is trying to knock a 1st Armored Division task force off of a 60m high Djebel. American strategy is to dig in and hold on; that makes this a solitaire-friendly scenario. It's a short scenario, and the Germans enter the board only six hexes away from the top of the hill, so the German commander eschews subtlety and goes right up the hill before the American off-board artillery can do too much damage. The heart of the battle is a series of assaults pitting German morale, leadership and numerical advantage against dug-in US units with a height advantage. It's a brutal slugfest with rapidly dropping initiative for both sides; the Germans eventually win 2 of the 4 assaults on the dug-in American line, but at a high cost - twice as many German as American steps lost. Germans control slightly more than half of the hill hexes, but they needed more than that.

Lessons learned? When you find yourself bogged down in assaults, you always wonder if you should have done more preparatory direct fire and bombardments before initiating the assault, The tradeoff is exposing yourself to artillery and bombardment from OBA before you even get into the assault. On the American side, with only a few leaders, managing them carefully is important . Make sure one leader is always not involved in assaults and in a good position to spot for onboard and offboard artillery, otherwise you get really tired of all those friendly fire rolls when you call down artillery into an assault hex.

Testing my preconceptions? Like the historical result, the position on Djebel Sammama is a tough nut for the Germans to crack. Americans fought tenaciously in defense.

Most Valuable Player? The US infantry platoon dug in on the top of the hill who survived ten turns of assault combat.

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