Played a solo play of Christmas in Belle Haye this afternoon. Thankfull for the errata posted on PZG HQ, I had an initial bit of trouble sorting out where board 10 comes from, but that didn't last too long. US mix of armor, regular army and airborne troops with a singe off board arty element vs an SS force that has to be set up with roughly quarters in each quarter of the board, keeping them from concentrating between the US and the exit area. With a 10-turn scenario, I thought I would have little trouble getting a strong force off the board, but it didn't go quite that way. Germans kept the initiative most of the game, mostly just enough to move first each turn. US forces set up with infantry and weapons in the town, with the 3 tank and TD elements dug in on the north side of town. The US succeeded in destroying both steps of one PZ IVH but the Germans managed to eliminate one Sherman platoon. The US sergeant with the HMGs and a halftrack made the first dash to the north, succeeding in running the gauntlet, which also caused a number of German forces to use their activations for OP fire, meaning they weren't there to catch the next few stacks walking towards the north. Next turn, Germans again got initiative and moved to intercept where possible, or taking ranged shots of direct fire, trying unsuccessfully to slow down the exit. US elements kept successfully moving out of assaults, taking little or no damage from the parting shots from German forces. Results came down to not quite getting enough troops off the board in time. At 1 point per step exiting, but 2 per for losses, it was going to be difficult getting enough off unless I started that exodus from the first, which I failed to do, trying to kill off some of the German forces first. Game results? Germans squeezed out a Major Victory with just enough points to do it.

The Germans set up approximately 25% of their force in each quarter of the board, using the north-south and east-west roads as a grid to divide it. US forces set up in or near the large town in the middle of the board. I set up SS assault forces with 3 of them supported by mortars, giving the panzers to the southwest and southeast quadrants. US forces set up with Shermans in both southern-most town hexes supported by infantry in each, the M18 and infantry in the northwest and the halftrack, an Infantry and an LT in the northwest hex, with the Major, 2 infantry and a mortar in the central-western hex and just a mortar and infantry in the central-eastern hex. This gave all-round good defense against assaults, with the US M3 offering it's fire support. The victory conditions offered one point per US step exited from the north edge, so I thought I might send the halftrack loaded for the points I might get from that. Germans went in to assault the Eastern half of the town as they could start right there in the woods within distance to get to those adjacent hexes, while on the western side, they needed a few turns to maneuver into that range. Naturally, the defense was able to take out some SS troops as they approached, but this was a bit of a blood bath today. Lots of 2s and 12s in the initial turns. Those German troops that did make it to assaults got stuck there for turn after turn as the stacks were slowly bled dry and the US troops managed to make nearly all their morale rolls. It came down to the last full German unit, one of the Mk IVs which a mixed US Para and Infantry stack had gone out to assault, trading fire unsuccessfully for some turns before turn 12, when the US troops succeeded in getting 2 AT shots, but managed to get a 13, killing both steps. Other than the 3 German mortars, there was a single step HMG element left adjacent to the southwest Mortar, and with the lack of success the mortars had had all game, I called it a day. Great game,31 US points to nothing.

This is an interesting and quick to play scenario.

The SS set up with a Grenadier Platoon and and Pz IVH platoon in each northern sector to move and try to block the road.

The rest of the Kampfgruppe set up with a main for in the woods to the southeast of the town whose job was to rush the town and try to cut off the Americas while on the other side of the town, another company was set to do the same thing. The US set up with most of the force forward including the Shermans, but a platoon was also set up in the SE and SW corners to force the Germans to set up further away. the M18 was in the town overwatching the Shermans, and this proved crucial.

The game opened up with the panzers trying to take out the Shermans, but all their shots missed. The Hellcat responded by killing a step of Pz IVs. The Shermans then moved forward, masked by light woods, to take on the German blocking infantry. The SS troopers crumbled at the sight of ten Shermans and soon ran off. In the next half hour, the panzers were dispatched, and the US surged forward to exit the board. The position collapsed methodically as the Germans closed in and all of the US infantry escaped but one platoon and the poor mortar guys who could not keep up. Between the losses the suffered and the US points for escaping, there SS were soundly defeated.

Kind of an odd little scenario! The problem for me with this one; is the Americans get victory points in two ways, which include eliminating enemy steps and exiting units off the north edge of the map but when setup some units are already only two hexes away from that exit point. The German get 2 point for every enemy step loss and double that for tanks but they have to slip their forces into four setup areas on the map and at least three hexes away from any American units, so in three or four turns, most of the Americans can roll off the map before Germans can do anything about it.

In my game, the Americans took out three steps of German SS PzIVH’s and rolled off the north edge of the map without too much trouble, other then losing one Infantry step, one Sergeant to some German Infantry and Mortar units attaching through the woods and the M18 to the other step of German PzIVH that was left. The Americans easily achieved a major victory. It makes me wonder if my strategy is wrong as the Germans or the Victory conditions are a bit off? I think the Americans can setup too close the exit. They just have to be within three hexes of hex 0709 and the German setup ¼ of their units in every section of the map divided by the roads.