Game number 2 has my platoon of US Airborne defending a farmhouse from an impending attack by the Germans. I set up my forces, generated the PEFs and started the game.
Not wanting to leave the cover of my stone walls and ruined buildings I waited for the Germans to advance, only shifting one .30 cal team to my right since two PEFs appeared in the woods. As the closest PEF moves into view it resolves into three armored vehicles! Since I have only one platoon with one bazooka I decide that they will appear as three half-tracks, sent in support of the advancing troops. It doesn’t make any sense that they would appear in the middle of the board, so I have them enter the board at the roads to my north.
The next round’s activation roll generates reinforcements for me! A squad of men, including another bazooka, appear on my right! The bazookas advance and take pot shots at the approaching Hanomags, missing but keeping them at bay. In addition the two PEFs in the woods advance enough to come into sight and resolve, one into a full squad with two machine guns and another into… nothing. Why three half-tracks were sent to support a single squad of men is beyond me…
The next several turns are rough, my men fail to activate (rolling several sixes) and the men on my right start getting chewed up by the combined FOUR machine guns on the flank. the squad of replacements is cut down and eventually routs off the board as four rounds of fire take their toll. As my bedtime approaches I receive reinforcements again, hoping for an armored vehicle since the bazookas are underwhelming, I instead receive a FULL platoon of reinforcements including another Bazooka. With the bazooka’s range limited to 10 inches I need to move them up the board. I need to get the baby ready in the morning and work, so the game will have to wait until after dinner tomorrow!
As I came back to the gaming table the Hanomag’s machine guns continued to cut down my paratroopers. A small group of men on my left flank was getting whittled down man by man until they routed too. Thankfully the platoon who showed up as reinforcements were able to push up and fill the gap, threatening the half-track with a bazooka.
Another roll of 7 brings in more reinforcements, but for the Germans! A squad comes on the left flank in a sandbagged position. How did I miss the sandbags on the edge of that road? Maybe it was a ditch they took advantage of. Either way they had a clear line of sight to my advancing reinforcements. Thankfully I had just hit one of the half-tracks with a bazooka, forcing one to take cover behind the burning wreck.
My platoon pushes up the board, having wiped out one squad taking cover behind a brick wall as another pushes through the woods.
The tide tuns as I get several activations in a row that the Germans fail. I push up the board, knocking out a second half-track which forces the third to retreat. I pounce on the Germans pushing through the woods and mow them down as they sit in the open.
My reinforcements keep moving through the fields and flank the newly arrived German squad, finally getting an angle to defeat their cover.
As the game ends the Americans have taken a huge toll. The German FJ squads are armed with two MG34’s each, giving them a whole lot of firepower. The M1’s rate of fire was the only thing keeping me from being outgunned! Without a full platoon of reinforcements my men would have been forced back by the firepower of the half-tracks. With the only AT resources being the short ranged bazookas and rifle grenades being a hail mary at best they would have been able simply sit at range and take their time killing the paratroopers.
I like this game, I’ll have to come up with a way to play this at home.