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The 1st session (game turns 1-2) featured the beginning of an intense wee hours, nighttime slugfest in the bocage near St. Lo. The US side was ably led by the hard-fight & tactically flexible Col. Sonichu, and I had the surly German Paratroopers. We played without the defense-biased, fog of war rule, but with the smoke, consolidation and excess initiative optional rules. German Battle Group Kersting mounted two separate attacks, one in the vicinity of the 2-hex town in the north, and a second around the American hilltop positions adjacent to the primary road junction in the southern portion of Map 106. Both sides managed to lose a step apiece in the process of closing on the enemy in both sectors of the battlefield. The northern German prong was concentrated on town hex 0803. The southern prong was focused initially on the eastern and northern margins of the 20-meter hill occupied by the two, dug-in 81mm mortar platoons (Hexes 0810 & 0910). Both resulted in fiercely contested close assaults – greatly complicated by the tedious bocage special rules – that were destined to last for many turns.
The 2nd session (game turns 3-6) continued the original set of nighttime close assaults, plus unsuccessful new ones launched by the German side in the now-contested, northern 2-hex town. For this session we switched to the normal TEC hedgerow rules rather than continue to struggle with the advanced bocage rules as the darkness made them superfluous.
This was a difficult and rather grim session for the defending American side as 13 steps were lost in a series of close combat and accurate German mortar and OBA fire. The US defense on the southern hill collapsed on game turns 4 & 5. Two additional German infantry steps were lost on the southern hill fighting as well – one to friendly fire! Turn six, brought the delayed American reinforcements in the form of another complete infantry company with HMG and 81 mm mortar support on the northern edge of the battle map. This forced an alteration to the overall German oplan, as the reinforcing American troops arrived “just-in-time” to stave off further German close assaults in town. Now, it become a race to see how long it would take for the larger portion of the Major Kersting’s force from the south to reinforce their German comrades in the vicinity of the contested town.
The longish 3rd session (game turns 7-12) consisted of a series of decisive maneuvers and bitterly-contested close assault fighting focused in – and around – the northern town hex (0803), as well as adjacent hexes. Heavy US casualties ensued in the determined defense of the north half the town, including a leader decapitation episode as the sun slowly rose on the battlefield. The southern town hex was captured by the Germans during game turn 7. Later, the road south of town was finally cleared of US units at the end of game turn 10 thanks to a lengthy close assault.
At the end, the Germans had managed not to lose 5 steps, and had full control of the crucial road, south of the still-contested town, resulting in a minor victory. The final tally of steps lost was: 4 German steps, and 23 for the American side.
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IN44018 
