This was a fun night/morning battle that saw the German attackers get their asses handed to them, including their entire tank force. A German force with a strong battalion-equivalent of infantry (probably a regiment historically, with losses) plus another battalion of PzIVs and StuGs advance against a town at night. They have to cross a heavily wooded ridge on the way. The American defenders have a battalion of infantry, a company of paras, and a whole mess of OBA.

The Americans defend the main town with a company of inf and the paras, deploying the other inf companies in woods to the north and south of the main road , in front of the town. Plan is to force the Germans to deploy and attack before they get to the town, then fall back and defend against the main assault.

The German plan called for a strong push with the entire infantry and mortar force south of the main road, while a pinning force of HMGs would guard the flank and keep the northern American screen occupied. The tanks would support both efforts, looking for an opportunity to push up the main road and cut off the American front units .

The American player read the intention of an assault south of the road, and sent a forward observer ahead to make contact with the German advance forces, risking a lieutenant in exchange for the chance to blast the Germans with a lot of artillery during their night approach. The German mortar company took a pasting and played no significant role for the rest of the battle. The German advance broke into three waves in the woods, and never really recovered from this disorganization, although they took very few casualties from repeated artillery hits. The American FO always seemed to be just behind the next tree.

The really interesting action took place north of the road. The Americans decided to try to spoil the German screen and get on the flank of the main German force. They engaged the German HMGs with a company of infantry supported by 2 M18 platoons. The German tanks advanced, looking for a chance to knock out the TDs and get behind a brash American force. Unfortunately, they allowed themselves to be caught in the woods without infantry support, and the Americans punished them for it. Repeatedly. The threat of the speedy M18s kept the German tanks wrong-footed (tracked?) in the night woods environment.

Ultimately, the German tanks were wiped out and their attack on the town went in piecemeal. Scattered American counterattacks wore down the attackers, while the American town defenders held their ground. One 57mm ATG battery held off a German company for over an hour.

As things went from bad to worse, the Germans tried to pull back to regroup in the early dawn light, but things quickly turned into a rout.

A great scenario with good replay value.

This is a German hasty night attack against a reasonably prepare American force. Colonel Maucke opposed the attack, and his commanders protest to him. Still the attack went forward, mostly to avoid being caught in the open by the American fighter-bombers, which were expected later in the morning.

The game was played as we normally do, but without TOT artillery fire. I was the Americans. We should have played double-blind, but didn't. We both made decisions based on way too much information.

My setup had my HMGs a couple hexes from town, sort of extending the perimeter a bit. And otherwise just hunkered down into siege mode. The Germans deployed in a column, armor to the rear.

The German advance was rather predicable at first, then veered to the south of the town. The exchange with my HMGs went well at first. Then the Germans got a couple lucky rolls and wiped them out. The advance continued around the town. The maneuver release the paratroopers. I started one on end run to the other side of the board, the rest moved into town to help with the defense.

At 0500 the German luck ran out with a logistics shortfall. At 0515, I sent my tank destroyers after a loaded halftrack, and fried it (something that would not have happened in double-blind). It turned out that besides the HMG, which was the inspiration, the halftrack also was carrying the German commander. My opponent ran tanks up to my tank destroyers, and next turn won the initiative. Guess the outcome.

Town defense was firming up and German reserves were committed. My artillery extracted a severe toll on the uncommitted infantry and supporting mortars. Just after the sun was fully up, the German artillery ran out of ammunition (random event). The attrition rate in the assaults wasn’t working out the Germany either, even with the assault gun support.

At 0700 I got my 15th & 16th steps, which ended the game. The outcome was roughly parallel to the historical accounts. While I benefited from German bad luck, it was also clear that the Germans had barely enough infantry to take the town, certainly not enough to chase the survivors far enough away for victory. That and the attrition was not in their favor.