My 8th Airborne scenario in a row, and this took 3 weeks of play because I've been so busy at work, but it was well worth it. An outstanding scenario...

• Played: solo
• Time: 8~10 hours (more like 3~4 for a dedicated player though)
• Special Rules: Fog of War (3d6 16)

Background

I've been playing Airborne chronologically, and while the small unit engagements are nice for a quick fight, after 7 such scenarios - a few of which were pretty unbalanced - I was starting to eye the other games in my collection for some meatier fare. In that respect, Scenario 8 came along at just the right time. With 81 counters in play, tough objectives, and 52 turns at your disposal, there is a LOT of blood to be shed, and a lot of room for flexible planning.

Initial Deployment

The initial setup leaves little room for personal choice, a lot of (within one hex of...) stuff. And you'll find as the Americans that you start with so much hardware in the NE corner of the map that the first few turns are more about how not to trip over yourself than how to address the enemy positions.

To describe it broadly, the American main force enters from the far NE. A small but potent American detachment paradrops into the far SE. In between are lots and lots of Germans, especially once the reinforcing PzIVF2s show up.

Strategy

I read Trotsky's great AAR of the same scenario before I began play, and the primary lesson I took from it was patience. As the Americans you have 52 turns to work your way down one map. Furthermore, at the outset you do not enjoy an overwhelming force advantage. Because the Germans are spread about the map, you can bring much more fire to bear in one location, but you need to carefully and methodically work through the terrain and maximize each and every combat opportunity such that when it comes time to take the final objective - a bridge in a town on the other side of the wide swamp - you still have the strength to actually do it.

The secondary consideration is what to do with the isolated bunch of PARAs in the SE end of the map? I elected to have them hold in place and take a beating for as long as possible before withdrawing into the swamps. I felt that if they could draw attention down there it'd prevent Herr Shad from overcommitting to my main northern force.

In short:

1. patience at all times
2. move carefully
3. fight seldomly
4. but hit as hard as you possibly can when you do engage

Opening Moves

Turn 7 End - GSL: 7, ASL: 2

The south American force is holding out remarkably well against heavy attacks. The northernmost town has been taken with only minimal losses. The main American detachment is moving to surround and punish the second town when... German reinforcements arrive. They enter and immediately dash towards the southern detachment - which is now outnumbered and outgunned by at least 3 to 1. An extraction is probably in order...

Turn 8 End - GSL: 11, ASL: 3

A crushing American assault in the second town yields a rare 3X and the northern half of the battlefield is now in American hands. The southern detachment has run off screaming into the swamps, but managed to do so without losing a man. They'll take time to reorganize, but no strength was lost despite 8 turns of heavy enemy fire. Someone deserves a medal!

Turn 14 End - GSL: 13, ASL: 12

Thank god we're not the Soviets, someone would have been stood up against a wall and shot for the 9 steplosses against only 2 inflicted over 6 turns, complete loss of initiative, and destruction of all American armor...

The PzIVF2 platoon crossed the swamp bridge and moved to support the town guarding the northern end, the last German position on the north side of the swamp. General Shad, knowing he had +3 initiative at this point, sent his M4s and M5s into the open against the panzers. They managed about 10 shots between them, inflicting no visible damage, while the panzer gunners methodically destroyed both platoons with 4 hits in 4 volleys.

The PzIVF2 then retreated into the town to support the infantry already holed up. This 90 minutes of battle was an absolute disaster for the Americans.

Mid-game

Turn 22 End - GSL: 23, ASL: 14

The town on the north side of the swamp, protected by German infantry and the panzers, is finally taken. Better American leadership resulted in only 2 steplosses this time. Because of their proximity to the southern German force, many American units are getting pounded by artillery. No losses, but lots of disruption and confusion as the Americans try to organize their forces for the second half of the battle - how to get to that bridge across the swamps and blow it to pieces...

As the Americans faded back into the hedges to regroup out of sight of the German artillery spotters, the Germans could do nothing but watch and wait. Unit historians would later describe this as the Trojan Rabbit phase of the battle...

Regrouped, reassigned, and rallied, the Americans were soon ready to go after the real prize - blowing up the bridge.

Mid-game OOBs

Germany

• Major
• 3 x CAPT
• 4 x LT
• 5 x GREN
• Reduced GREN
• ENG
• HMG
• SdKfz 222
• Motorcycle
• 2 x 81mm
• 50mm

America

• COLONEL
• LT COL
• MAJOR
• 2 x CAPT
• 2 x 1st LT
• 2nd LT
• SARGE
• 14 x PARA
• Reduced PARA
• 3 x PARA HMG
• Reduced PARA HMG
• PARA ENG
• 57mm
• 75mm
• 81mm
• Jeep

In short, at this point the Americans possess an overwhelming manpower advantage - thanks to patience and careful management of disrupted and demoralized units during the battle. Even so, they must cross a long swamp and assault a town across open ground - a town with a garrison led by a 1-10-1 CAPT.

Turn 38 End - GSL: 33, ASL: 20

General Shad opted to split his forces into 3 groups: the bulk of the muscle would flank along the east, taking the widest possible route through the swamps and then pushing hard to the west over dry land. A smaller but potent 5 PARA platoon detachment would flank to the full west and take up ready positions very near to the town. The final detachment, smallest in size, would sit in the middle of the swamps to spot for artillery and provide reinforcements if either side began to falter.

It was at this point in the game that I, as Herr Shad, began to annoy myself so much that I wanted to punch myself in the face. Herr Shad had a Sergeant at his disposal who had retreated into the swamps from the last northern town to fall, and who at 0-8-0 was not worth bringing back to the fortified line. This man became a suicidal artillery spotter for the Germans. He shadowed and spotted the Americans throughout the swamp crossing, surviving a half-dozen lone leader checks in the process, and calling down all sorts of indirect and direct fire onto their positions. It was a legal, but unbelievably annoying, play to make. Every time he'd spot for artillery I'd sit there silently cursing myself as I made morale check after morale check!

Final Moves

Taking advantage of a particularly effective artillery shot, the western and central detachments closed on the garrison and initiated assault. Initial success destroyed the 50mm emplacement, but it was a false victory as that made room for another GREN unit to jump into the hex (a net gain of 4 DF points!)

While the large eastern flanking force ground down the poor Germans dispatched to stop it, it became clear that the town assault was suicidal against 3 full strength GRENs led by that 1-10-1 CAPT. The Americans assaulting pulled out without only one steploss and waited for the eastern force to arrive (again, PATIENCE!)

They soon did, and several rounds of point blank direct fire on the highest column reduced the city to rubble. The PARA engineers walked in and blew the bridge at the end of Turn 49

• Final German Steplosses: 42
• German Survivors: only a LT and an 81mm platoon
• Final American Steplosses: 21
• Turns Played: 49 of 52 (<-- patience!)

Shad's Thoughts

This was a wonderful scenario and I rated it accordingly. There were several times throughout the game that I felt the Americans had blown their chances, and these were almost all related to moments when I got a bit too hasty or impatient. Even so, I nearly reached the turn maximum without getting the job done!

This would be an excellent scenario for either solitaire or head-to-head play, and I'd be very surprised to find a better scenario in all of Airborne.

This is the scenario I have wanted to play from the scenario book since I first saw it – it uses all the map, has tanks on both sides, with plenty of time – 52 turns starting at 0830.

The objective of the scenario is the control or destruction of the bridge in 0412 by the US.

I played the US in this one and failed to learn any lessons from our previous game! The plan was simple. The first phase; the main para force with tank support to take the first two villages in 0604 and 0803, and secure the woods in 0707. While this was to happen the rest of the paratroopers would use the swamp hexes as cover and move towards the bridge and put pressure on hexes 0412, 0513 & 0613. Phase two; the main para force to fights its way down to 0509. The second para group to continue to apply pressure around the 0412, 0513 & 0613 and hopefully prevent the German reinforcements from crossing the bridge. Phase three; all remaining forces to converge and assault the bridge in 0412. Sounds simple doesn’t it!

My forces seemed adequate; 14.5 paratrooper platoons, some para HMGs, a couple of 57mm ATGs, a 75mm gun, a couple of tanks and some intermittent artillery. The only way of moving the guns was a solitary jeep, more on this later. I also had a reduced ENG squad who could it left unmolested destroy the bridge and win the game single-handed for me.

The jeep and guns were a real challenge. I only had the one jeep, so if I lost that the guns were stuck – I had to back off with the jeep until the way was clear. Remember the jeep can’t cross the hedgerows so routes on the map were rather limited.

The German defenders had 9 grenadier platoons, some HMG’s, 75mm INF gun and 50mm ATG. Not too scary. However on a roll the 10 the following units appear; some more grenadiers, two panzer IVF2, some motorcycle troops and an Sdkfz 251. The IVF2’s were particularly worrying me – better than the M4 & M5 that I had.

The Germans had a morale of 8/7 which seems a little high considering the history of the units involved. The 709th infantry was a static unit that had not seen active service and the 352nd infantry was a unit reformed from a few veterans from the Russian front and a lot of quickly trained replacements. Maybe 7/7 would be more appropriate to differentiate their morale from those of the highly motivated US paratroopers.

The Game. The first village fell quickly. However the attack on the second village did not. The German reinforcements arrived at 0945. Most stayed to guard the bridge area, but the panzers immediately rolled across the bridge and stopped when they could get the second village in their sights but the US tanks could not respond.

The firepower of the supporting panzers blunted the paratroopers attack on the second village, and after a couple of failed assaults the paratroopers decided to cut their losses and flank the village. The jeep had to run the gauntlet of the Germans in the second village and skirt all around the edge of the board. The planned attack on the woods in 0707 did not happen and the paratroopers there seemed unsure what to do and so wasted a lot of time trading ineffective shots with the Germans in the woods.

The paratroopers began to make some progress around 0513 & 0613 but the Germans rushed a panzer back to support the defence and the paratrooper attack stalled.

By 02:00 the para force was struggling. A major assault developed on the causeway next to the bridge. The Germans reinforced with a panzer and in a daring move the US M4 rushed into the fray. The paratroopers initially held the advantage as many of the defenders were demoralised; however the Germans had the reserves and were eventually successful, another decisive moment in the battle.

The remains of the main para force were whittled down as they attempted to flank the second village. The paratroopers also failed in their attempt to take the woods in 0707 as the Germans reinforced with a panzer platoon. At this point the US had lost all their tanks but had managed to set up an ATG in hex 0108 which could cover the causeway. The Germans even attempt a counter attack against the artillery forces in the 0803 village, but were repulsed.

The US paratroopers called off their attack at 15:45. The Germans had launched successful counter-attacks against the paratroopers at the bridge and around 0806.

Summary – Well my impatience cost me the game, I am still too use to rushing attacks. I had 52 turns to conduct this attack but was pretty well spent after about half the time allowed. Not taking the village in 0604 was a major error – I rushed trying to take both villages before the arrival of the German reinforcements, when they arrived at 0945 and my opponent rushed his panzers forward and I was caught in an exposed position and took many losses. With the time available I should have allowed at least an hour for softening up each of my target hexes, using artillery and direct fire before committing any units to assault, I guess the blood just rushed to my head! 0607 and the woods in 0707 are key hexes in this battle, they can interdict the road network and have good fall-back routes to the village in 0509.

I think my guys moving through the swamp hexes to pressure the bridge and surrounding hexes is a good strategy but I sent them in too early. They fought well but needed artillery and tanks support to really route out the German defenders. If the rest of my attack had succeeded then the village in 0509 would have provided a good fire support base for my ATGs and tanks when the final battle for the bridge took place.

My opponent used his forces sensibly and ground down my inept attack.

The best scenario we have played so far in the Airborne module – lots for both players to do and a good mix of units. Hard to say about balance as my attack failed so spectacularly – will have to play this one again.

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

This is the first really big scenario in Airborne, and has all of the elements of Panzer Grenadier. Infantry, tanks, on board and off board artillery, fog of war, etc. The German group in 1016 has a 10-1-0 lieutenant and a 9-1-0 captain. Their objective is to interfere with the troops from the lock and keep them from infiltrating through the swamps and also to attempt to reinforce hex 0412. The group in 0412 has an 8-0-1 lieutenant and they have an easy job…just sit in the town and wait for the Americans. The group in 0604 has a 10-0-1 major, and lieutenants with ratings of 8-0-1 and 8-1-0 along with 1 ½ grenadier platoons. Another grenadier platoon, the HMG platoon and the 75mm IG along with an 8-0-1 lieutenant are set to defend 0803, while another 8-1-0 lieutenant and a grenadier platoon dig in in hex 0805. The group in 0608 has a 9-1-0 lieutenant colonel, a 10-1-1 captain and a 9-0-0 lieutenant. The lieutenant and the mortar set up in 0509, the captain, a grenadier platoon and an HMG in 0708, and lieutenant colonel and 1 ½ grenadier platoons in 0707.

On average, the German reinforcements should arrive by turn 6. By this point, there is a 625/1296 chance that they will arrive. The general plan is for the tanks and armored car to cause as much damage as possible and then fall back into 0412. The only way for American armor to approach the town is over the embankment, and the Germans will get point blank shots on them.

For the Americans, the troops at the lock will try to slow down German reinforcements heading for 0412. Because the lock doesn’t figure into the victory conditions, I’m prepared to abandon it if the need arises. However, right now it does give a good enfilading position on German troops. I am going to send the colonel (10-1-1) and 2 platoons towards 0412, while the 2nd lieutenant (9-0-1) stays at the lock with the reduced platoon, full strength platoon and HMG.

The 1201 group has a 10-0-1 lieutenant colonel, a 9-0-1 1st lieutenant and a 9-1-1 2nd lieutenant. Using the hedges for cover, they are going to circle towards the two northern towns with the turn 1 reinforcements. The mortar and 75mm are just going to pound the town, getting at least one shot over open sights, while the jeep will shuttle the 57mm anti tank guns to where they are needed. I later realized that I had made a mistake and put the 75mm behind hedges on all sides, so the jeep could never get in there to move it to a new position. Its 40 hex range covers the entire map, I just wasn’t able to combine it with the mortar for a better shot after a while. It’s a priority to keep the engineers out of harm’s way as long as possible as if they can blow the bridge, its an instant victory for the US.

There are no step loss issues in this scenario (past lowered initiative) and the US has a significant step advantage (53 steps available compared to 42 German) so the US will attempt to rush forward and blow away German troops and not worry so much about casualties.

Turns 1 -3

On Turn 1, the Americans do receive their OBA, however the German OBA makes the first impression, demoralizing a battery of 57mm guns. Meanwhile, the troops in 0803 kill off a step of paratroopers and when US on board and off board artillery returns fire, it disrupts or demoralizes most of the units in the town. Americans swarm towards the town, hoping to catch the Germans in a poor morale state. On turn 2, the US gets on board artillery again and it targets 0803 but misses, giving the Germans a chance to recover, and all units improve a step (2 of them thanks only to the presence of a leader). The US closes in for an armor assisted assault. On turn 3, the German reinforcements do not arrive, and the US does not get OBA. The Germans have 3 initiatives before the Americans move, and they start off by assaulting 0803 with a platoon of paratroopers, a paratrooper HMG platoon and the Shermans led by the 2nd lieutenant. They have 26 firepower points and fire on the 24 column, while the Germans fire back on the 18 column. Each side inflicts a step loss, with the Americans reducing their HMG and holding morale, and the Germans taking a step loss of grenadiers and seeing everyone but the infantry gun get demoralized. They attempt to recover, and only the leader does, while the HMG and grenadiers fleet the town (the lieutenant voluntarily demoralized to go with them) leaving only the 75mm IG to defend 0803. Both sides trade other fire, mostly ineffective.

Turns 4-6

The Americans don’t receive OBA again (now 2/4) and the German reinforcements don’t appear. The Germans get 2 initiatives on the Americans, and attempt to rally the troops from 0803. The leader and grenadier rally, the HMG does not and flees to 0705. On the 2nd activation, a captain and 2 platoons assault the paratroopers in 0614. The US gets first fire and disrupts both platoons, and the Germans miss completely. Back at 0803, the US assaults the infantry gun and it holds tough, and in fact demoralizes the paratrooper and HMG platoons in the hex. Even though the gun is valiantly holding on, its not stopping the Americans from slipping around the town, and they assault the troops that fled to 0804, demoralizing the leader and the grenadiers. The paratroopers lose another step advancing on 0603. Fog of war ends the turn after 8 German and 6 US activations.

On turn 5, the US OBA is nowhere to be seen (2/5) and neither are the German reinforcements. The Germans grab the initiative and assault 0614 again, losing their captain in the process. The Americans finally clear 0803, capturing a lieutenant. Fire from dug-in Germans in 0705 is a snake eyes and gets a 2X on the troops in 0704, resulting in a 2X! Nothing else big happens, and the turn ends after 7 US and 6 German initiatives.

Turn 6 shows no signs of either the German reinforcements or the US OBA (2/6). The Germans grab the initiative and expend a lot of ammo on the US troops to little effect, while the US spends most of the turn rallying and moving for position. The turn ends after 14 US and 9 German activations (the Germans passed a bunch of times). Step losses at the end of turn 6 are 5 for the US and 3 for the Germans.

Turns 7 – 9

On turn 7, the US OBA finally decides to show up (3/7), not so the German reinforcements. The US also gets 2 initiatives on the German. Tanks and paratroopers begin blasting away at the dug in paras. The tanks roll an 11 with 17 firepower and the paras roll a 12 with 11 firepower, killing a step of greandiers and demoralizing others. The Americans lose a step advancing on 0509 and then the German OBA takes out another step by rolling a 2. The turn ends after 9 US and 6 German activations. Step losses are 7 for the Americans, 4 for the Germans.

Turn 8 sees the US OBA show up again (4/8) while the German reinforcements miss their 6th consecutive roll (only a 33% chance). The Germans grab the initiative and recover in 0705. The Americans are now assaulting back in 0614 and take out a grenadier step. Other than that, its not an exciting turn, despite 13 US and 8 German activations.

Turn 9 has more US OBA (5/9) and still no German reinforcements (28% chance). Fire into 0509 demoralizes the HMG and disrupts the grenadier, and when the Germans reinforce, that GREN gets demoralized. The German forces in 0705 and 0604 combine fire on 0704 and get to the 45 column (23 firepower + 2 shifts for adjacent) and rolls a 5 to kill another step of paratroopers and a captain. The Shermans are disrupted and the remaining paratroopers demoralized and they flee the scene. The turn ends after only 7 German and 5 US activations, with step losses at this point 8 for the US and 4 for the Germans.

Turns 10-12

The US OBA makes another appearance (6/10) while the German reinforcements are still sleeping in (only 23% chance of taking this long to enter). The Germans have 2 initiatives and the 45 column attack goes off again, demoralizing the HMG and disrupting the leader and then return fire from the Shermans demoralizes a platoon of grenadiers and the lieutenant colonel. Other than that, there are no major events, and the turn ends after 12 American activations and 9 Germans activations. Turn 11 has no US OBA (6/11) and no German reinforcements, and its now down to a 19% chance this would have happened. The Germans are starting to worry that the reinforcements may get there too late to help the battle. The feeling increases after the Stuarts and 2 full platoons assault dug in but morale deficient Germans and eliminate more grenadiers. The Germans abandon 0604, leaving 1 reduced platoon in the town to buy some time. The turn ends after only 9 US and 7 German activations, although thanks to subordinate activation, virtually every unit was activated anyway.

Turn 12 sees more US OBA appear (7/12), which is nice, although it hasn’t been all that effective. And finally the German reinforcements appear on the 10th roll It was only a 16% chance that it would take this long, and the Germans really need these guys. The Americans continue to assault 0705, eliminating an HMG step. After coming under heavy fire from 0509, the Americans withdraw to wait for tank support. The German reinforcements stream up the embankment and towards 0412. The turn ends normally, with each side having taken 8 step losses so far.

Turns 13-15

The US finally clears 0705 on turn 13, destroying the HMG and capturing the lieutenant colonel. 0604 is also cleared out. For the 2nd straight turn, fog of war does not end the turn. On turn 14, the USA OBA makes another appearance (now 8 of 14 turns) and both sides take a breather. Troops begin to dig in and prepare for the next phase of the battle. In 0614, the US tries to clear out the stubborn grenadiers and doesn’t dislodge them, however another reduced grenadier platoon is eliminated. The US gets OBA again on turn 15 (9/15) and with an initiative advantage continue their advance. The Shermans lead an assault on 0607 and eliminate an HMG step. The Germans evacuate the hex, leaving the disrupted HMG to cover their withdrawal. The grenadier in 0609 refuses to recover. On the German side, 0614 is reinforced with another reduced platoon. German mortar fire disrupts 2 platoons in 0507 and follow up fire from 0509 eliminates a paratrooper step. However, as happened so many times, the rest of the paras keep their morale intact. Combat in the swamp intensifies, all at point blank range, and there are morale checks galore. The turn ends normally, and at this point the step loss count is 9 for the Americans and 12 for the Germans. With the Germans having a smaller force in the first place, this is a strain on them.

Turns 16-18

The US continues their luck with the OBA, with it appearing again on turn 16 (10/16) and the US also has the initiative and reinforces the assault on 0614. The Germans get first fire and demoralize a platoon, so the assault is effectively the same. The remaining US troops then assault, and the reduced platoon, which did not get first fire (it was not dug in) also fires back, only on the 3 column. The Americans roll a 6 and get a “1” result, killing the reduced platoon and demoralizing a lieutenant. The grenadiers roll a 5 for an M1 and disrupt one platoon, and the US dodges a bullet as the demoralized platoon rolls 2 over its adjusted morale (3 over would have caused a step loss). Then, the turn ends on the first fog of war roll before most units have moved. Turn 17 sees no US OBA (10/17) and once again the US has the initiative and renews the assault on 0607 while the leader recovers. The Americans kill off the HMG and clear yet another hex. And for the second turn in a row, the turn ends on the first fog of war roll! Again the US advance is stymied.

Turn 18 has no US OBA again (10/18) and for the 3rd straight turn, the Germans and Americans roll the same number for initiative, however the Americans still get a +1 to the roll and get first activation. They close in on 0509, coming under heavy German fire. After a lot of back and forth, this turn goes the distance, with 10 activations per side.

Thoughts at the 1/3 mark

At 52 turns, 18 turns in is about 1/3 of the way. The US has 28 units left (11 PARA, 5 PARA (reduced), 1 PARA ENG, 2 HMG, 2 HMG (reduced) and M4, an M5, 2 57mm, 1 81mm and 1 75mm) for a total of 92 infantry firepower points and 2 AFVs, 2 ATGs and 18 on board artillery. They have suffered 9 step losses of 53 at start. The Germans have 17 remaining units (7 GREN, 1 GREN (reduced), 1 ENG, 2 HMG (reduced), 1 MTC, 1 PZIVF2, 1 Sdkfz 222, 1 50mm ATG and 2 81mm). That gives them 63 infantry firepower points, 2 AFVs, 1 ATGs and 16 on board artillery factors. They have lost 14 of their initial 42 steps. They have been pushed back to the swamp and the Americans are grinding them down. The Germans have a defensive advantage, however the US has superior numbers and superior morale and superior leadership. Can the Germans hold on? The late arrival of the reinforcements likely cost the Germans, as their tanks are better than the US tanks and the armored car and motorcycles were never able to use their mobility on the far side of the swamp. The armored car especially could have been dangerous, as nothing on the US side is close to its speed, and it is immune to small arms fire, meaning it could have caused havoc in the US rear areas. The 57mm ATGs might have kept it at bay, as they have otherwise been pretty useless. This scenario is far from decided at this point.

Turns 19-21

There is no US OBA on turn 19, bringing the Americans almost into line with 10 successes and 9 failures on a 50/50 shot. 2 rounds of fire into 0509 cause a grenadier step loss, as the first fire demoralizes a unit, and then it fails its morale check by 3 on the second fire. The German return fire disrupts one paratroop platoon and German off board artillery demoralizes another, however for the most part, the very high morale of the American troops holds up, and the turn ends normally.

The US does get its OBA on turn 20 (11/20), although it misses its shot at 0509 (and does not hit any adjacent friendly troops). The US then assaults the town with the Stuarts (M5) and 2 paratrooper platoons. Both sides are on the 18 column and both sides roll a 6 for 2 step losses. The Germans have one GREN wiped out and the other disrupted, while on the US side one paratrooper platoon and the Stuarts are reduced. The Stuarts also demoralize. Down in the long assault on 0614, one paratrooper is demoralized, however the grenadiers are reduced and the lieutenant leading the defense is killed. The turn ends after only 7 US and 5 German activations.

On turn 21, the US gets the OBA again (12/21) and again its not very effective. The Americans attempt to finish off the grenadiers in 0614 and only succeed in disrupting them. The Shermans, a reduced HMG platoon and a paratrooper platoon fire into 0510 and kill off a step of grenadiers, while on the German side, heavy fire from 0412 and 0513 kills a step of paratroopers in 0612. In 0509, the US attempts to rally, however the Stuarts fail their morale check and flee the assault. The turn ends after 8 US and 7 German activations. At this point, step losses are 12 for the US and 19 for the Germans.

Turns 22-24

Turn 22 sees the Americans receive OBA for a 3rd straight turn (13/22), however its again ineffective, and except for finally clearing out 0614, it’s a very quick turn, as fog of war ends the turn on the very first roll. On turn 23 the US has to go without artillery (13/23) and renews its assault on 0509. They are on the 13 column while the Germans are on the 9. The Germans roll a 6 (1 step loss) and the US a 3 (M1). The Germans hold firm, while half a platoon of paratroopers die and the lieutenant colonel is disrupted. Farther south, heavy fire into the swamp kills another step of paratroopers and demoralizes a Captain. The Stuarts continue to be demoralized. All this in just a few activations, as for the 2nd straight turn, the first fog of war roll ends things!

Turn 25 again sees the US without OBA (13/24) and the Germans grab the initiative and use it on some fire that doesn’t hurt anyone. The US hits 0509 again, now on the 18 column while the Germans are on the 9. The US rolls a 6 and wipes out the remaining grenadiers and captures the captain, while an M1 result from the Germans demoralizes the Shermans, a platoon of paratroopers and the lieutenant colonel. The turn ends after 11 US and 6 German activations (the Germans are doing more mass activations and are running out of units). After 6 hours of battle, the Germans have suffered 23 step losses and the US has suffered 14.

At this point, the US has 13 2 step units remaining, 9 reduced units and 4 artillery units, for 39 steps. The Germans have 6 2 step units, 3 reduced units and 3 artillery units, for 18 steps.

Turns 25-27

Turn 25 sees the US get its OBA back (14/25) and it once again doesn’t do much. This is mostly a positioning turn, although heavy fire from 0613 and 0614 does kill off a reduced German HMG platoon. Back in 0509, the Shermans are still demoralized, which may delay an assault on the objective hex of 0412.

The US gets its OBA again on turn 26 (15/26) and it starts pounding 0412, however its only 18 points, and with 1 shift left (-2 for town, +1 for 3 units) its not doing a lot besides making the Germans hunker down a little more. The Shermans still stay demoralized, which is frustrating, so the Americans send the Stuarts to 0410 to help with the assault down the embankment. The Germans have a lot of firepower in the town, however it isn’t able to see anything because of the embankment and because none of the Americans advancing through the swamps have fired, so they haven’t been spotted.

On turn 27, us OBA pounds 0412 again (16/27) and heavy fire demoralizes both German units in 0411. That gives those units something in common with the Shermans, who staunchly stay demoralized. Other than that, things remain pretty static. There as a lot of fire, a bunch of morale checks, and no major changes in the overall situation. At the end of the turn, the Germans have lost 24 steps, the US has lost only 15.

Turns 28 – 30

The Germans get a break from the US OBA on turn 28 (16/28) and prepare for the American advance. At least most of their remaining troops are good ones, and they manage to inflict step losses on the paratroopers in hex 0614 and 0612. For their part, the only major event this turn (besides the Shermans remaining demoralized) is the assault on 0411 that eliminates the HMG and causes the major to retreat back to 0412. The Americans are finally next to their objective.

There is no off board artillery for a second straight turn on turn 29 (16/29) and the Germans grab the initiative. The PZIVF2s in the town make short work of the remaining Stuarts (which apparently gives the Shermans more incentive to stay demoralized, which they do) and the other fire from the town demoralizes the HMG and disrupts the paratroopers in 0411. The Americans advance more troops into position.

On turn 30, the off board artillery shows up and starts doing counter battery fire against German mortars. There are too many troops near 0412 to risk friendly fire. However, that’s later in the turn. The Germans roll a 6 for initiative and the US a 2, for a 2 initiative bonus for the Germans. The troops in 0412 unleash their fury on an approaching stack of 3 paratrooper platoons in 0411. They have 22 firepower points and 2 shifts to the right (2 for adjacent, 1 for 3 units and -1 for the embankment) to put them on the 45 column and they roll a 10 for an X result. One step of paratroopers dies, and the rest just laugh things off. The Germans activate most of their units on a subordinate activation and that first fire from the town was the only real positive result (the rest of the fires were all 7s and 8s). Off board artillery hits 0411 to no effect and even scatters into the town, thankfully not hurting the defenders.

On their activation, the US begins the assault on 0412, with 2 paratrooper platoons and an HMG platoon. The Germans are on the top column, due to shifts for a leader, combined arms and an engineer in a town while the Americans are only on the 13 column. The Germans roll a 4 for a 2 stop loss, killing one paratrooper platoon outright and demoralizing the HMG and the captain. The Americans roll a 1 and miss completely. Next the Americans have 3 reduced platoons assault the reduced grenadiers in 0313 and eliminate it. German mortar fire from 0314 exacts a measure of revenge, killing off a step of paratroopers and demoralizing the 1st lieutenant. Again fire scatters into the town and onto itself, but both miss. There is a big celebration as the Shermans finally recover to disrupted. By the end of the turn, casualties are rapidly evening out with 22 for the Americans and 26 for the Germans.

Turns 31-34

At the start of turn 31, the Germans have only 6 full strength units and 3 artillery units left, however they are all good units and they hold good defensive positions and the Americans have to charge the guns. The US is down to 10 full strength units, 7 reduced strength units and 4 artillery pieces, including the 2 57mm AT guns, which have been all but useless in the scenario. The Germans have a 1 initiative advantage on turn 31, and use it to assault the remaining Americans in 0412. They are only on the 24 column this time (22 FP + leader +combined arms + engineer – 2 for town and they roll a 5 for another 2 step losses. The Americans who are on the 13 column roll a 4 for an M2. The US loses the HMG platoon and has the captain killed and the paratrooper demoralized while the sergeant is disrupted. However, it’s a costly assault for the Germans as a lieutenant is demoralized and all of the other troops are disrupted. While the Americans are being bled heavily in 0412, numbers are still on their side.

The Americans don’t get OBA on turn 32 (17/32) and do grab the initiative. They are too weak to assault in 0412 so they instead assault 0513 with 3 fresh platoons. The Germans get first fire and roll a 1 and miss, while the paratroopers get an M2 and disrupt the Germans who spend their impulse recovering. Action in 0412 is calm as the Germans rally back from disruption. The US reinforces the assault, hoping to inflict some casualties before the Shermans, who have finally rallied, appear.

There’s no off board artillery on turn 33 (17/33) and the US renews its assault. Will it fare better this time? The US is on the 13 column and the Germans on the 30+. The US rolls a 3 for an M1, while the Germans roll a 6 for a 3 step loss result! The US reduces an HMG platoon and eliminates a paratrooper platoon. The sergeant and a 1st lieutenant are killed. The survivors are fine, and this was just ugly. The only positive result is that the Americans manage to disrupt the Panzers, which could mean no attack by the Germans on the survivors on turn 24. The Germans then assault the 2 reduced platoons in 0313 with the armored car and motorcycle platoons. One of the reduced platoons is destroyed, and the other is disrupted. Seeing the tide beginning to turn, the Americans send the engineers into 0412. They may not be able to take the town, and if they blow the bridge they will still win.

Turn 34 sees no off board artillery (17/34) and the Americans have the initiative. They start off assaulting 0513 and lose another step of paratroopers without dislodging the defending grenadiers. The Germans have one shot at winning the scenario…they have to either kill or disrupt the engineers. Having recovered morale on their impulse of turn 33, the Germans assault on the 24 column while the Americans defend on the 13 column, as the engineers cannot be part of the assault since they are busy wiring the bridge. The Germans roll a 3 for a step loss and the US a 2 for a morale check. The reduced HMG is eliminated, and the game comes down to the engineers’ morale check…they roll a 5, and pass easily. There is no way for the Germans to hurt them, short of calling down artillery on the town, and even there the chances are very small (rather than play out the turn, I just rolled the 3 German artillery shots, all of which missed) so the bridge gets blown and the US wins the scenario!

Final Thoughts

This was an exciting scenario that I think could easily have gone either way. Had the Germans managed to disrupt/demoralize the engineers on turn 34, they might have won the scenario. Casualties were mounting up quickly for the Americans. At the end of turn 27, the Americans had lost 15 steps and the Germans had lost 24. At the end of the game, the Germans had lost 25 steps (only 1 more) while the Americans had lost 30 (15 steps lost in 7 turns). While the Shermans could now fire into the town with a small chance of taking out the Panzers (just under a 1/3 chance of inflicting a step loss), I also could have pulled the Panzers from the town and replaced them with the motorcycles, forcing the Americans to send in more troops and letting the Panzers shoot up the Shermans (about a 40% chance of a step loss) and frankly the Americans were running out of fresh paratroopers to send into the town. With the 30 steps lost, the Americans only had 23 steps left, 4 of which were artillery and couldn’t really help.

I thought this was a very exciting scenario and could have gone either way. I think what influenced it most was the late arrival of the German reinforcements. Had they arrived 3 or 4 turns earlier, they could have fed fresh troops into the assault on 0614 and the defense of 0509. The armored car and motorcycles could have run around the American rear areas, wreaking havoc on artillery and demoralized units, although the counter to this would have been the 57mm AT guns, which would have at least made the armored cars steer clear of anything they guarded. Had the Panzers been in place earlier, the result would most likely have been closer to historical.

Because this scenario placed no value on step losses, the Americans could afford to attrite the Germans and while they only had 23 steps left at the end of the scenario, the Germans only had 16. Most of the fighting was done at very close range because of the hedgerows and swamp, which I think definitely increased the casualty count. Mostly, though, this scenario came down to better American morale and better leaders. It was tough for the Germans to demoralize US units or keep them demoralized. This became more blatant when the Shermans were demoralized. Tank morale was 8/7, so a demoralized Sherman had morale of 7 with no leader bonus. Paratrooper morale was 8/8 and virtually every American leader had a +1 for morale, so even a demoralized, reduced paratrooper still had a morale rating of 8 and was likely to recover good morale quickly.

This is one of the largest Airborne scenarios at 52 turns and most of the counters that come with the game and then some, see errata. It will take a while to play as it took be three weekends to string this one together, but it is worth it. The Americans need to take and hold 0412 and/or destroy it. SSR rules specify that. But first they must attack several pockets of German resistance in their way as well as battle some German armor that appear on turn 3.

in my play it took until turn 25 to get into position to attack the locks in 0412. By that time the tanks had dueled it out with the Americans coming out on the short side of the battle. But American infantry soon forced the remaining German armor back to a defensive position.

The American attack on the locks started with bombardment with OBA, mortars and a pack 75mm gun. Disrupting several of the defending units. The Germans looked to stage a move around the Americans through the swamps, but were stopped by HMG fire and forced to regroup. German OBA had been lacking all through the scenario, but now started to hit the American paratroops trying to assemble for the attack. Several units we disrupted and demoralized. This pushed the attack off several turns. But eventually they rushed the town and the defenders of GREN and ENG put up a fight for several turns, before becoming demoralized. German reinforcements swapped out and had two GRENs hold out. Several more back and forth disruptions and demoralization occurred before the tanks moved in but American paratroops hit them with AT guns in the hedgerows forcing them to retire.

By turn 50 the game was still a toss up for the town. The American paratroops had 3 full platoons against the Germans with a full GREN, half ENG and half HMG. The Americans continue the attack and scored a kill on the German Lt Colonel that forced morale check on the towns defenders. The half platoons failed and were demoralized. The Americans attacked and demoralized the ENG and the full strength GREN. Failing to recover the ENG and GREN flee leaving only the half GREN to fight. The Germans move up the motorcycle to help but they are hit with OBA and go to the ground short of the assault hex.

On turn 52 the Americans look to win, they push one paratroop into 0513 to engage the last hope for the Germans while reinforcing 0412. They are able to score a second demoralization against the remaining half GREN, destroying it. They have the town and there is no way the Germans can counter. An American win.

Les américains ont pris la veille le barrage de La Borquette, sur la rivière à l'est de la carte. Ils veulent prendre ou détruire le pont qui se trouve à l'ouest. Pour y arriver, une grosse force va entrer par le nord-ouest avec des chars, mais sur le chemin, plusieurs groupes allemands enterrés dans les villages.

Comme tactique, j'ai décidé de séparer les américains en deux : le gros va attaquer de front les allemands sur la route, espérant réduire l'un après l'autre les défenses allemandes. Un petit groupe, avec l'ingénieur qui peut détruire le pont va passer par les marais pour rester à l'abri, et contourner les défenses. Un autre groupe part du barrage et va aussi progresser dans le marais au sud de la rivière et attendre que les autres arrivent.

Au début les choses se passent bien pour les américains, les tanks détruisent tout de suite le seul canon anti-char (d'ailleurs complètement inopérant), enterré dans la ville la plus au nord-ouest, mais les renforts allemands arrivent dès le premier tour où ils le peuvent (tir de 11 avec deux dés, il fallait au moins dix).

Des tanks allemands vont donc remonter au nord, et comme il y assez de forces au sud de la rivière, un groupe va essayer de reprendre le barrage à l'est, un peu esseulé.

En deux heures, j'ai joué six tours d'un gros scénario. En tout, 52 tours (de huit heures et demi à 21h30) à faire ! Le jeu est vraiment très sympa, très fluide, avec beaucoup d'action. Je ne vois pas du tout comment tout ça va tourner. Les règles sont très faciles à maîtriser, même si je dois oublier des modificateurs par ci par là, je sens que je maîtrise l'esprit du jeu. Je me demande maintenant ce qui va sortir de la bataille de tanks, les choses vont se décider en grande partie là.

Quelques tours plus tard :

• Dès son premier tir, le PzIV fait un 11 (en deux dés) en visant le M4 (ou M5 ? le plus puissant des deux). Avec le différentiel armure vs. force anti-tank, cela fait 13 ! Plus de M4. On comprend tout de suite que les combats entre tanks sont plus animés que ceux avec uniquement de l'infanterie.

• Le M5 va essayer de se cacher de la ligne de vue du Pz, et soutenir son infanterie, en passant derrière la ville.

• Les US ont finalement pris deux hexagones (une ville plus un bocage où quatre allemands étaient enterrés. Mais derrière, il y a les chars. Je pense que je vais essayer la technique d'assaut de kalman (pas d'autre solution), mais en même temps je vois mal comment forcer les tanks à m'attendre... Je préfère ne pas jouer avec des bazookas, j'imagine que s'il n'y en a pas dans Airborne, c'est pour des raisons de véracité historique ?

• Sinon, une réserve d'infanterie allemande va essayer de prendre à revers l'attaque principale US, et le barrage de La Borquette n'est plus très tenu. Pas facile du tout pour les américains.

American platoons are scattered throughout the map. Their main force is in the north where the Germans hold a few small towns amongst the hedgerows.

In the south the Americans charge the German held bridge, as the German hold out waiting for their reinforcements to arrive.

The casualty count begins to flare, with the Germans taking a beating in the north as the American M4 and M5 platoons aide the infantry. In the south, the story is the exact opposite as the Americans are overwhelmed as the German reinforcements arrive just after the second hour.

American armour advances in the north as the battle rages in both the north and south.

The Germans continue to lose ground in the north while defeating the Americans in the south.

By the 4 hour mark, the Americans begin to threaten the bridge as the north town falters when the German Major is killed by a freak artillery strike!

Americans are spotted in the swamps and the paratroopers are hit.

Paratroopers perform a critical action. They assault the German armour. Although thoroughly beaten and fought back, they tie up the IVF2s long enough that the American M4s can advance and open fire. The reduced German armour is finished off in close assault.

Meanwhile the Germans lose the northern town in a bitter assault.

The Americans use the 5th hour to pull back and regroup. At the sixth hour they use their armour against the Germans in the town just north of the swamp. The American foot troops charge!

By the seventh hour the last of the towns north of the bridge is overrun.

With six hours to go the Americans pour though the swamps and attack the dug-in Germans. Their losses are heavy but by the 8th hour, the battle has deteriorated into two large assaults. One at the bridge and one on the embankment just north of it.

Aided by armour, the battle at the embankment is over by the ninth hour. It only takes the Americans another hour and a half to capture the bridge and destroy the last of the German resistance.

Americans win at the 10 hour 30 minute mark.

AMERICAN VICTORY!

Aftermath

The scenario began quite chaotically, with forces spread all over the single map. American troops were plentiful, and with some early luck they were able to take the north quite quickly.

After the first half, the scenario deteriorated into some large assaults along the embankment and into the town. The Americans suffered severe losses, probably about two-thirds of their platoons, but they were still too numerous for the Germans.

Scenario Rating: 3/5 - Large battle for airborne with quite a high unit density. First half of the battle was great, the second half was not so great.

This one is a real shootout. The setup leaves both sides in direct fire range from turn one on. Both sides make a dash for the bridge with the Axis winning but not in strength. A battle broke out in the village with both side fighting there to prevent the other from reenforcing the units fighting for the bridge. Meanwhile the Allies were able to capture the bridge at 1130 suffering 3 step losses to one for the Axis but this was the turning point. It became a defensive battle for the Allies from then on. They were slowly able to improve their position over the next 45 minutes pushing all Axis forces at least 2 hexes away from the bridge hex. From then till 1245 the Axis made repeated attacks on the Allies line suffering an additional 12 step losses to none for the Allies. The Allies did suffer a number of disruptions and demoralizations along the way but never lost a step. Consequently they were able to maintain their line intact until the Axis attack folded up. This was a good scenario. The largest factor on how the scenario goes is when and how fast the Axis reenforcement comes up. Rating 3

This was a tough scenario to both play and finish. I stretched 52 turns out over 6 days time, sometimes finishing less than 10 turns in a day. For me, playing solitaire, this was one of the most difficult, trying to equally play both sides evenly and it did require a lot of patience. There were a lot of units involved, especially for the Americans and little space with a lot of unforgiving terrain. It ended with a German victory though the Americans had superior morale, leaders and numbers.

The American advance was slow to begin but early on they were inflicting greater numbers of enemy step losses until they made it midway to the objective; the town/bridge hex at 0412. The German reinforcements show up immediately at 09:00/turn 3 and this may have played a huge factor in the turn of events that followed. As soon as a decently fortified postion fell a new postion was taken up not far behind it with sufficient time to dig-in; slowing down the American descent. The panzers and SPW 251 quickly occupied the objective hex with plenty of foot units around on the flanks to reinforce and defend it. The American M4s and M5s attempted to threaten the German armored units but the PZIVF2s easily wiped out the Shermans with two volleys. The M5s went for the softer target of the German APCs and were successful in eliminating them but were easily wiped out by the panzer's return fire. So the only armored engagement was brief and decisive in favor of the Germans. The American Jeep unit was able to transport one of the 57mm AT guns within range of the panzers but German OBA quickly took care of that threat before the AT guns could fire. So it was left up to the American foot units and unpredictably available OBA to finish the job.

About midway through the battle it really seemed as if the Americans could and would take the bridge. German losses were very heavy but with what few units they had left they made the most of. Soon it seemed inevitable that the bridge would fall into American control but there was one very stubborn German roadblock in the way and once it was assaulted the dug-in defenders repeatedly held the advantage. One German ENG alone in that hex was able to inflict at least 3 PARA step losses if not more. An assault was also made on the east flank of the bridge hex but after it was cleared the remaining American units got hammered and were left in poor morale and leaderless. Eventually the one stubborn roadblock was cleared but with only 3 to 4 turns remaining to assault and control the bridge. The PzIVF2 unit in the town was reinforced with reduced GREN and HMG units and a capable leader, giving the defenders a 18 column defense on the assault table. A final American assault is made with the one PARA ENG unit but though one step of the panzers do get eliminated by the end of the battle through compound demoralization one disrupted German GREN remained and retained control after the panzers fled. So the Germans hold out in the end with just a handful of units left. The Americans could not complain about not having enough time to get the job done; 52 turns was plenty. Their luck and possibly steam just ran out when it was needed the most.

Casualties were severe on both sides; the Germans lost an incredible amount of leaders that were either captured or eliminated to the tune of: 1x LT-COL, 2x Major, 1x Captain and.... 5x Lieutenants!

German step losses were: 22 INF, 2 ENG, 2 MTC, 5 HMG, 1x81mm, 1x75mm IG,1x SPW 251 and 1 step of PzIVF2: 36 total (tanks counting double)

American losses: 21 PARA, 4 PARA HMG, 1x 57mm, 2x M5 and 2x M4: 34 total (tanks counting double)

So losses were almost equal.

I suppose there are a few things I could of done differently with the American forces. One was to have waited until much later on to attempt to use the Shermans and M5s, just prior to the final assault and I probably should of sent a detachment of PARAs southeast to assist the units that were held back at the lock. Had the units by the lock broken out sooner and been reinforced then a lot more pressure could have been put on the south end of objective hex and possibly have made a difference. As far as the Germans go, I wouldn't of changed anything with the defense strategy; especially since it worked! However, the German reinforcements did arrive right away, which surely helped and I believe I dispersed them correctly. Overall I found this scenario tiresome at times but can find no faults with it so I give it an even '3'. I believe play balance is fair enough, even if the German reinforcements show up right away.