This is the last in a series of scenarios for the battles around the twin villages and is certainly the bloodiest. The way the scenario is constructed has the Americans and Germans locked in combat for the twin villages. Both forces will immediately assault each other with there close proximity. OBA is plentiful for the Americans and good for the Germans, but dropping the shells on the prime targets will probably have a high risk of friendly fire. Leaders will be key to keep units going and for an assault bonus.

As stated about setup is different, both sides are going to be lock in the two towns. In my play the Americans controlled most of the northern town (Rotheract) while the Germans controlled most of the southern town (Krinkelt). The Germans have tried to form assault groups with tank and infantry groups. The Americans look to have the numbers of INF grouped together to hold the town hexes and use their artillery to blast the Germans. Reinforcements will appear sometime after turn 4 for the Germans.

To start the Germans use their OBA to try to hit the Americans in Krinkelt, but miss and score friendly fire on one of their assault groups, disrupting and demoralizing the troops. The Americans go after the Germans and hit them with OBA and DF, scoring several step losses and demoralizations. German fire continues to miss the American troops but the Americans get bold and assault some of the demoralized SS troops. By the end of the first turn, there is a total of seven step losses for both side and several town hexes are contested.

Turn 2 has the Americans going after some of the Panzers posed to support the assaults. American DF and bazooka teams in the assaults score hits on the Pzkw IVH's, while the Panthers fend off the attacks. German artillery still misses its targets and the Germans are forced to recover disrupted/demoralized troops before they become casualties. American tanks start to position for some shots on German Panzers locked in assaults and forces them to make desperate attacks or try to retreat out of assault hexes. By the end of turn two, step losses on both sides are now up to 14 steps as well as three town hexes contested.

Turn 3 is a big one for the American OBA, four direct hits for steps losses and demoralizing of German tanks and one leader lost. The SS troops start to flee from the town hexes and the Americans look to retake the towns. The Germans do score kills on American armor with the lost of one M18 and one M4. German OBA is miserable and the American infantry is able to survive the weak attacks.

Turn 4 German OBA finally comes alive and scores a kill on the Americans. But the Germans have a bigger problem, morale. Most of the remaining troops are disrupted or demoralized and forces them to try to recover. The Americans take advantage of this with there OBA and continue to keep the German infantry weakened. The German tanks try to put some offensive together, but American infantry lock them in assaults and a Panther unit takes a loss from a bazooka team. At the end of the turn the Germans have lost 13 steps and the Americans 8 steps.

Turns 5 and 6 follow the same pattern as the Germans await their reinforcements. These finally arrive on turn 7. The Volksgrenadiers are thrown right into the fight for Krinkelt, but the Americans look to stop them with OBA. The artillery does the job with the Volksgrendiers suffering heavy casualties advancing town the town. American HMG's keep the Germans back. This gives time for the SS troops in Krinkelt to recover and they are able to get back into the fight for turn 8. But the American troops seem to be immune to morale checks and German fire has no effect. In Rotheract, the Germans are nearly complete pushed out and the Americans continue potshots at the remained as some of the troops are shifted to the battle in Krinkelt. Step loss 17 for the Germans 10 for the Americans.

Turn 11, this is probably the last attempt for the Germans to try to get Krinkelt. The Volksgrenadiers have recovered and the SS have scored disruptions on the American defenders. German OBA misses the target and causes friendly fire disruptions to the SS troops. The VG's move up but American OBA pound the Germans and demoralize the German attack. The supporting Pzkw IVH in support move up but it is to little to late.

The final score is Americans 29, Germans 23.

Author	plloyd1010
Method	Solo
Victor	Germany
Play Date	2022-04-12
Language	English
Scenario	ElsR008

This play began as shared play over a year ago, back when Über v2.6 was the thing. My opponent insisted that we use several optional rules from the 4th Edition set. Of particular interest was the efficient split move and fire rule. I suggest that we not use that rule, but my opponent insisted. The coin flip gave me the Germans.

The setup was quite conventional. I deployed my SS troopers in 3 groups with tank support floating behind them. My center group moved on the northern town from the northwest while my left side (east) approached from the northeast. My right side moved through the woods to interdict any support that might come from the southern town.

Things got seriously ugly for the American armor from the get-go. Using the afore mentioned, and not recommended, split move and fire rule I advanced on the Americans from alternating sides, first with the Panthers, with the PZIVh's. The M18's died in swift fiery deaths, only able to get a couple ineffective shots off. The Shermans fared little better. As turn 2 closed, 1 Sherman remained, running like a scared rabbit through the eastern woods. With the arrival of the 12th VG division on turn 3 my opponent abandoned the game.

I recently pulled up the game and updated it to see if the Americans might recover. The SS slowly won the battle for the northern town, grinding the American infantry down, mostly through compound morale and rally failures, and not having a retreat path. The volksgrenadiers had more trouble. American artillery and good infantry firepower broke up the German advance. The resulting firefight favored the Americans until the northern town fell. After that, the combined threat spelled doom.

The split move and fire rule had seriously unbalanced the game in favor of the Germans. The only advantage the Americans really had was their artillery. It slowed the SS center in the north and stopped the VG advance from the south before it got to the town.

En este escenario dos compañías de la SS apoyadas por cuatro secciones de tanques "Panther" y 3 de PzIVH se enfrentan a tres compañías de infantería americana, apoyadas por dos secciones de "Sherman" M4 y otras dos de cazatanques M18. Los alemanes reciben el refuerzo, una vez empezada la batalla, de dos compañías reforzadas de infantería (12th Volksgrenadier Division).

Hasta aquí parece un escenario normal. Sin embargo la partida deja de tener interés al conocer la artillería fuera del tablero de los americanos: 5 x 24, 8 x 18. Esto supone que los americanos disponen en cada turno de cuatro salvas de artillería en la columna 55 y una de 21 de la tabla de bombardeo, con lo que el combate queda totalmente desequilibrado. En particular, los refuerzos alemanes (moral 7/6) son completamente inútiles, incluso contraproducentes, a no ser que se mantengan escondidos de la vista del enemigo toda la partida.

La pesadilla acaba en el turno 11, cuando el comandante alemán se ve incapaz de seguir adelante a la vista de su infantería casi aniquilada. En realidad la partida no debería haber empezado.

Este escenario refuerza mis sospechas de que el sistema Panzer Grenadier brilla realmente con combates de la primera mitad de la guerra, cuando los combatientes disponen de una capacidad de fuego limitada y los blindados carecen de una protección excesiva. En esas circunstancias se aprecian mejor las cualidades del sistema, en particular de la buena maniobra. En partidas como la presente hay sólo una exhibición de fuerza bruta que las hace, a mi juicio, muy aburridas.