My very first PG scenario ever, as a solo (and this was the earlier edition of Airborne; at the time, this was Scenario 1.)

The 105mm was quickly taken out, and as the paratroopers used the cover of hedgerows to advance, they were gradually able to put some serious firepower on the towns. IIRC (it was a long time ago) the last town was actually taken before the tanks even showed - they were superfluous as things turned out. An easy first-time win, and a fun, quick scenario.

NOTE: For a long time, I played the morale rules wrong, with units just needing to roll their morale or less to recover, not less than their morale. This is reflected in some of the commentaries.

Deployment

The Germans set up the 105mm, GREN and LT (8-0-1) in 0707. I opt for the higher protection of the woods over the first fire of being dug in. The wagon, 81mm and a LT (10-1-0) set up in 0803 while the GREN, reduced HMG and CAPT (9-1-1) set up dug in 0704. My basic thought is that there won’t be a lot of German movement. I do want to shift the GREN and HMG to 0705 and have them dig in there, as they will have better fields of fire. I will send the wagon towards the 105mm. If I can repulse the first American attack, I’ll load it up and take it somewhere safer.

The Americans set up a PARA and CAPT (9-1-1) in 0608 and a PARA, CAPT (9-1-0) and LT (9-0-1) in 0509. I’m going to send 1 PARA through the woods to attack the 105mm while the other moves towards town. The reinforcements will help with the 105mm if the need arises, or will head up the road to the town.

First hour

On the first turn, one company of Americans advances into the woods adjacent to the 105mm, surviving opportunity fire unscathed, while the others moving into 0507 are not as lucky, with the CAPT being demoralized and the PARA being disrupted. The 105mm gets off a shot at the weakened stack and misses, as does the 81mm. The wagon moves towards the 105mm and the GREN and HMG move to 0705 and prepare to dig in.

Turn 2 sees the CAPT return to disrupted and the PARA rally. The GREN fires and misses (why I didn’t fire the 105mm, I do not know) and the PARA in the woods assaults the 105’s position, and succeed in disrupting the German LT, however he recovers before the turn is over. The assault continues on turn 3 with neither side gaining an advantage. On Turn 4 the assaulting PARA is demoralized, while the one not involved in the assault works around the town. The Germans attempt to knock out the demoralized PARA and free up the 105mm, only to fail. A GREN Platoon moves into town, leaving the dug-in HMG to guard the approaches.

Second hour

The CAPT in the assault hex rallies the PARA to disrupted, however the Germans assault them again and demoralize them again. 2 new PARA and a 1st LT (9-1-0) advance onto the board, heading to help out the assault on the 105mm. On Turn 6, the Germans grab the initiative and have a great chance to hurt the demoralized PARA. The Assault produces an M result, however the PARA’s refuse to break and on their own impulse really back to Disrupted. The assault reinforcements are delayed when mortar fire disrupts one of the PARA units.

On Turn 7, the Germans assault, hoping to demoralize or damage the disrupted unit, but are unsuccessful and the PARA finally rallies back to normal. While the disrupted PARA in 0507 rallies, the other platoon and a 1st LT head to 0606 to aid the assault. On Turn 8 the reinforced PARAs finally get to the 9 column (the same as the Germans) and succeed in disrupting the LT and the 105mm. The GREN hang tough, though. A lucky mortar shot gets an M2 on the units in 0506, and the Americans pass all the morale checks.

Third hour

The assault against the artillery position continues, with the PARA finally managing to take out the battery and demoralize the LT. Another platoon of PARA arrives with an excellent 1st LT (10-1-1). The Americans prepare to assault the town in 0604, but accurate fire from the Germans disrupts a platoon and demoralizes the 1st LT. The Germans have also reinforced the town with the reduced HMG platoon.

On Turn 10, the assault continues, and gets bloodier. The Germans produce a 1, reducing a PARA platoon, disrupting the CAPT and the full strength PARA and demoralizing the reduced PARA. However, the Germans don’t escape unscathed, with the GREN and LT both being demoralized. The Germans attempt to rally, however the leader fails and flees. The GREN recovers to disrupted status. Outside of 0604, both units recover. That’s a short lived victory, though, as the Germans pour fire into 0505 and get an X, reducing one PARA platoon, demoralizing the survivors and disrupting the 1st LT.

Turn 11 sees the Americans withdraw from adjacent to the town, recognizing they are too weak to take it. However things go from bad to worse on turn 12, as accurate fire from the town produces an M2 and the demoralized reduced PARA platoon is eliminated, for a total of 3 American step losses, preventing an American victory. However, if the Americans can take both towns and lose no more steps, they can still salvage a draw.

Fourth and fifth hours

The German GREN platoon that was guarding the 105mm attempts to disengage and gets demoralized for its troubles. The PARA pounce on him and cause a step loss. On turn 14, the reduced platoon fails to rally and the free shot from the PARAs as they flee the assault finish them off. Back at the town, the Germans hear troops moving up from the beaches, and send the HMG platoon to 0803 to bolster the defense. PARAs fire at it as it crosses the clear terrain in 0704 and roll a 12 for an M2, however the HMG rolls a 4 on its morale check and barely passes.

American reinforcements arrive on turn 15, and the HMG in 0803 manages to demoralize the army HMG platoon as it heads towards 0604. Still, the INF platoon and the Shermans move into position.

The assault on 0604 begins on turn 16, with the Americans getting to the 13 column and the Germans on the 9. The Germans miss completely, while the Americans get an M2….and the Germans hang tough. Meanwhile, the other Americans set up for an assault on the town in 0803. Turn 17 sees the assault on 0604 gain ground, as the GREN is reduced at the cost of some disrupted Shermans. The HMG fires at the advancing PARAs, not slowing them down, and then has to defend against an attack by an INF platoon. The fight is a tough one, with the Americans getting an M1 and the Germans an M2, however the only effect is a demoralized 2nd LT. Finally, on turn 18, the Americans clear out 0604 and continue the assault on 0803, destroying the mortar and disrupting the other Germans except for on LT. The Americans take it on the chin, too, with the INF and a PARA platoon demoralized, and the other PARA platoon disrupted, as is the 1st LT.

The game is over in a German victory, as they held onto 0803.

Final Thoughts

This turned out to be a pretty balanced scenario. Overall, I think the die rolls favored the Germans a bit, although the Americans had their share of luck. Had the GREN retreating from the 105mm position not been demoralized by the free shot from the PARA and been able to reinforce 0803, I doubt the Americans could have taken either town. At the same time, the Germans had a few lucky opportunity fire shots that slowed up important assaults. I think I approached 0604 too quickly, and those casualties really erased any chance for an American victory.

Played this one via e-mail against my old high school buddy. We use a spreadsheet to record our moves and send them back and forth. It seems to work pretty well as long as you have somewhere to keep your game set up (or use VASSAL) and don't mind your game proceeding at a more liesurely pace. As for the scenario itself, He was the Americans and I the dreaded Huns. His initial attack on my 105 knocked it out, but he then struggled with assaults against my units in the two towns. He eventually took one of the towns, but couldn't take the other. The result was a draw. A fun little scenario.

Played this one via e-mail against my old high school buddy. We use a spreadsheet to record our moves and send them back and forth. It seems to work pretty well as long as you have somewhere to keep your game set up (or use VASSAL) and don't mind your game proceeding at a more liesurely pace. As for the scenario itself, He was the Americans and I the dreaded Huns. His initial attack on my 105 knocked it out, but he then struggled with assaults against my units in the two towns. He eventually took one of the towns, but couldn't take the other. The result was a draw. A fun little scenario.

Some years after my initial play, I tried this one again via PBEM, my opponent an old high school pal who now lives many states away. As the Amis, I quickly took the 105mm out. However, this time the towns proved a tougher nut to crack, and in the end I couldn't quite do it. But I was still satisfied that the job of the boys landing on Utah was at least made a little safer...

This seems to be the most played scenario on PG-HQ. I won't add a detailed AAR as there are others. From my notes, have the Germans providing some very tough defensive fire from behind the hedgerows and the Americans taking the battery after some heavy losses. The M4 was key to reducing some of the dug in HMG units so the paratroops could get to the battery. German leaders were very effective in rallying disrupted and demoralized units making it hard for the Americans to keep the German units reduced before assaults. In general this was a good scenario, balanced and historical.

After reading both Joshua's and Genesteeler's AARs on their play of this 18 turn scenario, I decided to try something different. It ended up being very bloody and very costly for the Airborne troops.

German Set-up: Lt. 9-1-0/Grenadier are positioned in the woods at 0707. The 105 I positioned dug-in right behind them at 0706. The Capt., a very good one, 10-1-1/Grenadier/1/2 strength HMG are 0704 for a quick response team. The other Lt., a 9-1-0, is positioned with the Mortar and dug-in at 0804. Wagon is at 0703 for a quick pullout of the 105.

American Set-up: An excellent Capt. (P)10-2-1/Para landed at 0709 with the remaining Capt.(P)9-1-1/2nd Lt.(P)8-1-1/Para landing at 0709.

Obejectives: Silence the 105, control towns at 0604 and 0803 and lose fewer than 3 steps.

Reinforcements: Paratroopers get 3 waves of reinforcements on turns 5, 9 & 15.

Turn 1 has the West Point Capt.(P) 10-1-1 leading his Para's east to 0708. The German Lt. 9-1-0 and his Grenadiers open up with opportunity fire #1, getting an M result and disrupting the Para's. The other group of Para's with their Capt. and 2nd Lt. move to 0607 and duck under the 2nd opportunity fire. Mortar and 105 are ineffective. German Capt. 10-1-1 gets his Grenadiers and HMG and moves to 0606. Wagon moves to 105. (I decided to leave the towns undefended at this time to have the maximum amount of troops in the field to try and stop the Airborne invasion before they could consolidate their forces.

Turn 2 and both 105 and mortar are ineffective. Para unit recovers while the German Capt. fires on the Para's and their two officers. Under the massive fire the Para's lose a platoon and disrupts their Capt. The Capt. recovers while the 2nd Lt. and the 1/2 strength Para's fire back, getting an M result but achieving no result.

Turns 3 - 7 has heavy fire fights in the woods with another 2 step losses to the Para's and the Grenadiers suffering their first after the West Point Capt. assaults into 0707. 105 has limbered/loaded and moved to 0904 where it set-up beside the mortar and their Lt. 9-1-1 for a combined fire value of 24. The Para-less officers pass their Lone Leader rolls and move to 0608. The West Point Capt. also suffered a demoralization as do the now 1/2 strength Grenadiers, which failed their recovery and started to head for town before recovering to disrupted once they were away from the fighting. German Capt. was also disrupted but recovered rapidly. (As the fighting in the woods continued, the first reinforcements landed in hex 0510 and are able to march boldly down the road and capture the defenseless northern town at 0604. The Mortar/105 combine to fire on town, getting an M1 result, which all Para units pass.

Turn 8 has the West Point Capt. becoming demoralized again after losing another 1/2 a platoon, but is able to pass his Lone Leader roll. The unfired upon Para's and their two officers take the Southern town from behind and are in an ideal position to silence both the 105 and mortar.

Turn 9 has the 2nd wave of Para reinforcements dropping down in Hex 0510. The 105/Mortar fire on the Southern Town-Demoralizing the Capt. and Disrupting the 1st Lt. The 105 receives fire from the Para's but passes the M result.

Turns 10-11 has major bombardment damage to the Para's in the Southern Town and morale checks for everyone. An assault occurs in 0706 with 1st Lt. 10-1-1 and the 2nd wave Para unit attack the German Lt. 9-1-0 and the HMG with no results. The Para's are soon to be overwhelmed when the German Capt. 10-1-1 and a full strength and the recovered 1/2 strength Grenadiers join in.

Turns 12-14 has assault going back and forth with morale checks, disruptions, demoralization and recoveries for both sides until the West Point Capt. takes over command and manages to get another Para unit eliminated. Glory Hound! Para's are finally able to assault the 105 with both Para units and both officers, both sides receiving an Morale check. Para's pass while the 105 suffers a demoralization. Mortar unit fires on that assault hex thinking the 105 will soon be lost anyway. 105 passes morale check. Capt. Bad Luck assaults for the final time and gets his remaining Para unit wiped out, but of course passes his Lone Leader check. (I misplayed the mortar attack on the 105 Hex, giving a +3 column shift for both sides instead of +2 only for the Para's)

Turn 15 has a major U.S. Army reinforcement coming up from the beach. The victorious German Capt. and the 1/2 strength Grenadier race back to the Northern Town while the Disrupted Grenadiers recover on their own. 105 finally falls into American hands. American off-board artillery makes some noise for the first time and fires on Lt. 9-1-0 and his HMG, demoralizing the Lt.

Turn 16 has the fully recovered Grenadiers sneaking back into the now undefended Southern Town with the HMG reinforcing the Northern Town. Mortar fires into the former 105 Hex and gets a disruption on the 2nd Lt. Capt (P)9-1-1 and Para's assault into the Southern Town - getting another Para step lost and demoralizing the Capt., who missed death by 1.

Turns 17-18 has Americans assaulting into both towns but only getting disruptions and demoralizing the 1/2 strength HMG, which had to flee on turn 18. (Also forgot to use off-board artillery on turn 17)

Conclusion: A major win with the Germans coming out way on top with only 2 step losses to 7 and retaining control of both towns. I think by having the Germans go out and meet the Troopers head-on created more opportunities for assaults and step losses, rather than have them stay in static positions, which of course could have went either way.

Play: solo Time: ~1 hour

My second scenario in a day (can't remember the last time THAT could be said) was also my second AirI scenario.

Initial Deployment

As the Germans, I decided to man the artillery position to the end, and only contest the first town as a fallback option. The second town would be where I made my final stand.

As the Americans, I wanted to eliminate that artillery ASAP and leave myself plenty of time to wear down the town defenses.

Opening Moves

My Americans rushed the 105mm position as planned, and on Turn 5 entered into assault without bothering to soften the Germans up first. It turned out to be one hell of an ass-kicking.

German Side: 2 x LT, GREN, 105MM

American Side: CAPT, 2nd LT, 2 x PARA

1. Turn 5 - Germans defend on the 13 column and roll 1 for no result (Scheiße!)
2. Turn 5 - Americans attack on the 13 column and roll 6 for 1 steploss
3. Turn 5 - GREN takes the steploss, both the GREN and 105MM become demoralized, one LT becomes disrupted
4. Turn 6 - American reinforcement rushes down the road to assist the assault.
5. Turn 6 - The GREN fails to rally and flees the assault for the safety of the first town.
6. Turn 6 - The 105MM fails to rally and is eliminated! One German LT is captured! The other flees to the first town.

So, essentially, at the end of Turn 6 I had steamrolled the first objective and inflicted 2 steplosses and a leader loss on the Germans. Things were looking up!

The Price of Impatience

Emboldened by the ease with which the guns had been dispatched, the Americans bravely surged forwards towards the first town - which was occupied by only a 1-10-0 LT and the GREN which had fled the earlier assault and had now recovered.

Without pausing to use some of their now massive firepower (4 full platoons + combat modifiers on every officer) the Americans charged headlong into assault.

And stayed there doing nothing for 7 goddamn turns!

Finally, at Turn 14 the Americans bailed on the assault and got away clean, then turned and brought the house down on the Germans from just outside the town. By the end of Turn 15 the first town was cleared and only the final town remained, occupied by a motley crüe of reduced German platoons and some very terrified horses.

BUT I had wasted my time advantage by rushing into the town assault, and would now have to get lucky to snag the final objective before time expired...

End Game

The final American reinforcements arrived on Turn 15 but despite being totally surrounded and under assault for the final 2 turns, the Germans stayed alive until God sounded his arbitrary time limit horn and everyone laid down their arms and had tea.

Final Result: Draw.

Shad's Thoughts

I think this is a VERY good solo scenario. I read the 2 other scenario AARs posted here before writing mine (though after playing it) and was really surprised with their results. My play was plenty bloody, with the Germans taking 5 steplosses and the Americans 2. It would have been more if the Americans had been able to assault a little more efficiently. As it stands, if you want something to play in an hour or less, I think this is a pleasant scenario to choose. Not a good scenario for face-to-face because the German player has little to do other than hunker down and dodge bullets. 4 / 5

This is the second scenario we have played. I was in command of the American forces. My thought process was to systematically capture and take objectives. I ordered all troops to assault the closest town. Luckily for us we discovered one of our primary objectives the big gun.

The assault started uneventful both sides firing a lot not doing a lot of damage. The Germans quickly reinforced the assault with an infantry platoon. It was at this point the tides turned for the Germans. Some well placed fire in the town resulted in the Germans losing their gun and taking 2 step losses. By turn 6 we had control of the town and the Germans and their remaining officer in the town fled back.

Continuing the attack and knowing reinforcements would be coming I split the forces in two groups. All groups moved into position and commenced direct fire to soften up the opposition. My troops assaulted the dug in units which led to a long drawn out assault of not much happening. The rest of my troops direct fired into the town we had to capture trying to maintain suppressing fire hoping to get a few lucky shots off.

Just as reinforcements arrived off the map the dug in German units fled to reinforce the town. We pounded the town with 105s, tanks and small arms fire but the town stood strong. I began the assault but it was to late. There wasn't enough time or firepower to crack the towns defenses and so the game ended in a draw.

This being my first time to assault I had to learn the rules the hard way. I thought I could surround the city and assault with 5-7 units... Silly me... Only 3 units can assault at a time. So even though I had the city surrounded with a lot of units only 3 could assault at one time. Knowing that afterwards I would have assaulted much sooner. Another thing I didn't realize is that tanks and infantry can jointly assault an objective. It would have been nice to know I could have rolled into that town with the M4. Lessons learned and stored for next time.

A quick and small scenario for a Sunday afternoon. The Germans set up the 105mm and INF platoon in the hedgerow beside the town. They set up the 1/2 HMG and other platoon nbeside 0803. The Americans set up beside the swamp.

The Americans activate first and move past the hedgerows conatining the 105mm. The Germans opportunity fire with no effect. The German 1/2 HMG and INF platoons decide to close with the Americans and protect the 105MM battery.

The next turn the Americans activate first again, and pile in the hex beside the 105mm and INF. Fire from the German 105mm and INF platoon is ineffective. However, fire from the 1/2 HMG and INF results in a 1X against the Americans. During the casualty phase, the Americans also lose a CAPT in that stack.

So, with now only a 1/2 INF and one full strength INF platoon, The American decides to retreat temporarily and await the reinforcements. Fire from the Germans is ineffective.

American reinforcements arrive (2 INF platoons), and the Americans decide to swing around the 105mm battery and attack from the SW. Fire from the battery is ineffective, and the German 1/2 HMG and INF begin to move to the south to reinforce the battery.

The Americans fire first and get a 1X result of the battery eliminating it. Seeing this, the Germans retreat the 1/2 HMG and INF platoon into the town at 0604.

Several turns pass with no effective fire. The Americans receive another reinforcement of 1 INF platoon. They now form a fire team against the germans in 0604. German point blank fire results in only a M check which the American pass. The next turn sees American initiative and a point blank combined fire attack against the Germans in 0604. The American roll a 2 resulting in a 2X reult. The Germans are now down to a 1/2 strength INF platoon and an 81mm.

The Americans own both towns and have the heavy reinforcemnts yet to arrive. American victory!

The Germans have to hold the town hexes and the 105 battery. The Germans chose to hold one town and the battery. This worked out pretty well, even after the battery was destroyed, as the remaining infantry held out in the battery hex until turn 17. The town hex (803j held out until turn 16. The other town hex was taken without a fight. US victory.

Before playing this one, I re-read the US Army AAR for this engagement, and found knocking off those German guns to be a bit tougher than it was in real life, which made for an exciting play, won on the final turn for the Americans.

This was a game that could have ended up in so many ways due to even plan and dice rolls towards the end of the game. The US side was plagued by a set of unlucky rolls in the early turns that saw it suffering 2 step losses early on that hampered its ability to gamble with an assault attack until the final turns of the game. Lucky, the US was able to take out the major artillery unit by mid game and that allowed them to get in close to the town hexes for the final push to take the two town hex objectives (hex 0604 and 0803). In closing in towards the end of the game the US took a 3rd step loss and was quite gun shy to assault the two town hexes even though they were able to bring to bear substantial odds in their favor. The chance of losing one additional step loss for the US kept the attacks as DF close range for a few game turns trying to dislodge the GER defenders in the towns. In the end, it came down to the last turn and the US gained 2 initiatives over the GER defenders and decided to "roll the proverbial dice" and assault both of the town hex objectives to go for the win. Win or lose, they were going for it. Luckily for the US player, the odds were in their favor, and they rolled some pretty good results and dislodged both town hexes w/o suffering any step losses of their own. In fact, it went down to the last die roll of the game to dislodge the last GER unit in one of the town hex objectives for the US Win. Overall, a very fun game for the US side.... even if their win was due to a bit of good fortune with the last turn's die rolls!!!!

Game played face-to-face

Is this meant to be the same battle as depicted in 'Band Of Brothers' when they take out the battery of guns ? If so, this went far different to the one in the TV Series.

The Germans were initially able to be aggressive. Spotting the Paras in the hedgerows after the Airborne let off some small arms fire, the 105 battery managed to disrupt some of the Americans. With this, the German infantry and HMG's attacked and assaulted the lightweight US forces inflicting 25 casualties.

When reinforcements arrived an hour later, the paras tried to take the attack to the Germans but again were rebuffed with losses. Eventually, yet more reinforcements meant that from a posotion of offence, the Germans now had to pull back and defend the two villages. Their reduced HMG platoon was also overrun after accquiting itself well in close-assault but was finally and inevitably over-powered. The 105's were shoved onto the backs of wagons and off they went. Due to losses of some 75 men, the Americans were in no position to win this small engagement, but they now tried to take the German win away by attacking the two villages. By doing this, the US troops also had to be mindful not to take any more losses which would have earned an instant victory for the Germans.

The attack on the villages involved an outflanking attempt backed up by the arrival of US Army reinforcements pushing up from Utah beach from the east. Sadly for the Americans, the 105's that had now embedded themselves in one of the villages along with the mortar platoon fought furiously against 3 x Paratroop platoons trying to oust them. In the other village, the remaining 2 German platoons were holding off enemy units in a firefight. Despite desperate attempts by the Americans in the last 45 minutes, no headway could be made and the German-held towns stayed that way as did the possession of their 105's, albeit under heavy assault at game end. The Airborne had left 75 casualties at Holdy, the Germans just 15 of their machine-gunners.

This was a very very neat small scenario and I'd definately recommend this as a time-filler if any face-to-face meet ended sooner than expected beforehand.

Good little battle this. A steady stream of American troops have to take out a gun battery and take a couple of villages without losing more than three steps. I as the American commander made a signifcant error and advanced on turn 1 in an effort to destroy the battery straight away. Firing over open sights and rushing troops to support the defence the Germans disruted the para,s and drove them away with some losses. The first reinforcments arrived to be met by MG fire from a nearby village, the Germand Player and advanced and was adjacent to the entry hexes. Eventually US forces recovered and advanced thru the village and towards the objectives but in doing so had suffered enough losses that victory was now out of sight, however could a draw be salavged? No it could not!!But it was quite tense towards the end as I assaulted town where Vince had repostioned his artillery and morter batteries. I simply ran out of time. However I am sure that had I waited formy first reinforcements and then advanced this game is winnable for the US

The Allies approached the strongpoints with caution. They both turned out to be unoccupied. This allowed the Allies time to dash across open ground to grab victory hex 0412. Unfortunatly for the Axis they failed their first THREE activation checks! This forced the Axis units to attack across the causway now that the Allies had posession of the victory hex. Despite having to approach the Allied position over the causway the Axis managed to get adjecent with no step losses, one disruption and no demorializaitons. At first opportunity they assaulted. Unfortunetly for the Axis they could not wait for the disrupted platoon of Gren to recover. They had to assault a soon as possible because the Allied reenforcement platoon had just apppeared and would be up in one turn. The Axis lost one engineer step in the assault. It and the HMG were disrupted. The allies came through with only one reduced platoon being demoralized. The Allies quickly replaced this unit with the fresh Para platoon the had just arrived on the scene in the previous turn. The Allies chose not to counter assault because it was too risky. They had achieved a drawn position against all odds and decided to let the Axis try to pry them out of the village. The Axis tried to do this over the next several turns. They came close to having several Allied units route out of the village but the Allies always passed their morale checks. Only once did the Axis assaults produce a step loss and the Allies passed their morale checks and there was no further effect. On the other hand the Axis lost an additional step in the village fighting, and were never able to bring their full strength to bear on the village. In the end both sides still had units contesting the village hex and the Axis had lost only 2 steps. Draw. This scenario turned topsy turvy when the Axis failed to occupy 0412 because of non activation. Had at least one strongpoint been active it would likly have been enough to slow the Allied advance. In that case the Allies would have been on the outside looking in versus a superior force. So neither side got what it wanted. But both sides got what it needed. Which was avoiding a loss.

This game was played Double-blind. We agreed that German grenadiers could not deploy adjacent OP's (pickets) until the Americans were sighted. For other quirkiness, refer to our rules rewrite. The only pertinent issues would be weapon unit trans portion, and perhaps, mortar usage. I had the German side.

My team (names & personality added after the game):

• Capt. Hans, a solid officer at 9-1-1
• Lt. Becker, not very likeable, but brave and smart at 10-1-0
• Lt. Schroder, obviously an SS reject at 6-0-0

I placed the 105 howitzer (btw it's not “the battery”) limbered, Lt. Becker, and the GREN in 0605 dug in. The rest of the force starts in the 0803 town (mortar is limbered). I have an OP on 105mm/GREN stack. There is an enemy OP in 0509.

The game opens with my moving the wagon to pickup the 105mm, which I move into the town. The HMG & 2nd GREN cover them from 0705. Mean while a paratrooper appears in 0607. We start a gun fight while the mortar and howitzer setup in town. GREN #2 moves in to cover them., the HMG joins GREN #1 and digs in. The PARA in 0705 is firing with 7 DF points, I name that assisting leader Doug, later known as “Super Doug”.

About when the how/mortar group gets into action, the PARA repositions themselves. American reinforcements arrive and the OP starts moving behind the woods. I name the leader with the supposed group Charlie. They move up to the 0803 town, then rush the artillery. Breaking into the town, the PARA's have effectively shut-down the artillery, but they have lost a step doing it. my mortar is also disrupted in the assault. Capt. Hans grimly determines to hold out, and primes the 105. Lt. Schroder stays also, but is not in a good shape as his commander.

Gren #1 moves into the town. The HMG tries to cover the mortar, which has retreated into 0505. Subsequent assaults by the PARA's kill the HMG, but Lt. Becker manages get the disrupted mortar out. The Yanks will spend several turns chasing them through the hedgerows before giving up.

Capt. Hans manages to hold on and inflicts another step loss on the miscreants after his gun and kills Lt. Charlie. Then the “Ivy” Division shows up, pressing against the town. An artillery strike in the town, quite surprisingly, does more damage to the paratroopers there than to me. Fortunately for me, the tank is not stacked with any infantry and is forced to enter the assault hex alone. I take shot with the 105mm, which misses. So now with a tank and disrupted paratroops, I get another shot next turn, which connects. That makes my 4 steps, but the assaults have taken their toll.

We play the last turn with “Super” Doug, a couple credible lieutenants, a PARA, an INF, and a HMG vs my GREN's (one reduced, disrupted). I win the initiative, and rally my disrupted GREN. The next assault kills 2 steps. I do a very gamey thing, taking the first step off the full strength GREN, and killing the other, because he hadn't activated. The now reduced GREN becomes demoralized. Another artillery strike in the town misses me and disrupts the U.S. HMG. I've held the town on a gamey technicality.

What I learned of his team:

• Doug: Parachute captain, had a CF of 2 and a MF of 1
• Charlie: Parachute 2nd lieutenant determined to be 9-0-1
• Bob: Parachute 1st lieutenant, no other information
• Larry: Parachute 2nd lieutenant determined to be 8-1-0
• Fred: 2nd lieutenant of the 4th Infantry has moral of 10 and a CF of 1

We found the scenario to be very luck dependent and with few options. Otherwise it was fairly well balanced. Next the Soviet expats.

A few platoons of paratroopers attempted to silence an artillery piece and take control of two towns from a few meager German infantry platoons. One town was taken by the Americans midway through the game and they held it-the other was continually assaulted but the Germans could not be dislodged by the lightly-armed paratroops. The US Infantry arrived a few turns from the finish but the paratroops had done so little damage to the German defenders even the additional troops and tanks couldn't get the job done. The Germans suffered 3 step losses as well as losing two of their three leaders including their Captain... but they were able to prevent the Americans from owning both towns, thus the game ended in a draw.

10:00am

Elements of US Airborne Divisions land near Holdy, SW of Utah Beach. There is a German 105mm Battery nearby.

Southeast of the battery are two small towns, codenamed north-town and south-town.

The US Airborne begin to advance on the battery, but are spotted! The battery begins to fire on their position and one platoon is disrupted.

The whistle of 81mm mortars also begin to fill the air. The US Platoons retreat behind hedgerows and begin to encircle the battery to the north and south.

11:00am

Two more Paratroop platoons arrive, and head SE towards south-town.

12:00pm

Another Paratroop platoon arrives in the west and begins to advance on the battery from the north.

The earlier platoons are now in position to strike as they spot the 81mm. They are dug-in just NE of South-Town.

Three platoons begin laying down fire against the German HMG Section deeply entrenched in South-town.

The northern platoon, which has now completely encircled the Germans advances toward the 81mm Mortars from the northeast with the goal to eliminate them in close combat.

12:30pm

The battle to advance toward south-town is against heavy resistance from German HMG and Artillery Bombardments. One platoon is completely demoralized and begins to flee as the other two platoons enter the town to assault the German HMGs.

1:30pm

Two US infantry platoons arrive supported by a HMG platoon and some M4 tanks. The M4s begin shelling North-town supported by the HMG while the infantry moves towards the entrenched 81mm mortars.

2:00pm

Large assaults are taking place in South-town and the 81mm Mortar position, but no ground is gained. One US Airborne platoon takes heavy casualties and one section is lost.

Meanwhile a US airborne platoon closes in for close assault on the 105mm Battery supported by German Grenadiers.

2:15pm

Fighting in South-town is fierce, as the entrenched German HMG cuts down another section of Airborne.

2:30pm

There are now assaults at all objectives, but none are successful. High command calls the US troops to retreat and regroup for another assault another day.

German Victory.

Aftermath

Sigh. What a bloodless battle. Not a single German casualty and only two step losses to the US. I really find the hedgerow map restrictive and the low counter density of these Introductory Scenarios to be not very stimulating. Hope you didn’t fall asleep!

The Germans were not smart with their unit placement. The US were able to use the hedgerows to move their units under cover. The US took the German gun and two towns with Assaults. It was all over by Turn 12.

American paras had a surfeit of high competence leaders. German artillery quickly fell to close assault (Remembered first fire for defending behind hedgerows and dug in). Germans did manage to create an close combat in woods in middle of map, holding American troops in that area until additional paratroop replacements arrived. Americans swept through first town hex without opposition, and seized second town hex in assault. Americans only suffered one step loss in process. Difficult to see how Germans win this one even with benefit of terrain. Ended game with demoralized Germans fleeing from second town hex, prior to arrival of 4th Infantry reinforcements. German mortar provides little more than harassing fire causing the occasional disruption. Feel that Germans would need additional units to balance scenario, as aggressive high morale American paratroops are difficult to even slow down. Terrain may actually provide advantage to American troops who have plenty of covered approaches to German positions.