After the US victory in the last game and my opponent winning the campaign as a result, we played the last All American scenario anyway.
Again, the Germans had to attack entrenched paratroopers. In order to win the Attack and Defend scenario, the enemy's force morale needed to be reduced to zero (or low enough for them to voluntarily retreat).
From the previous games, I knew this was going to be difficult for the Germans. Also the scenario offered little in the way of support (7 points for the Germans, 3 for the paratroopers).
I chose a Panzer, an adjudant and a medic as support options. The plan: entice the Americans to deploy their squads and then blast 'em with the panzer, hoping for some leader casualties and high bad things happen rolls.
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| patrol phase results |
I deployed my panzer and 2 squads in the first phases of the game.
Soon the Americans responded by deploying their mortar team and second squad led by Sergeant "Bronco Bill" Walters.
Obergefreiter Graber's luck (he escaped a mortar barrage in one of the previous games) runs out when he is wounded, reducing his command intiative to 1.
Meanwhile the Americans deploy both their senior leaders, their first squad, led by sergeant Reno and start blazing away at Obergefreiter Graber's squad.
Panzer fire manages to wound the US lieutenant, but Graber's squad is losing men at an alarming rate (I should have pulled his squad back from the hedge to take them beyond LOS of the paratroopers).
Fortunately the German medic is able to patch up Graber, But then he is wounded a second time (out of action for the remainder of the turn).
While his squad is dying around him, Graber recovers after being patched up again by the medic, only to be wounded a third time (again reducing his command initiative to 1) and a fourth time which proved to be fatal.
German force morale had taken a substantial hit, but the paratroopers were also losing men from the continuously firing panzer.
The blasts knock out sergeant Bronco Bill for the remainder of the turn.
With the US second squad in tatters and it's leader down I try to exploit the situation by deploying the final German squad under Obergefreiter Derrick and send them towards the US flank.
My opponent decides to withdraw his first squad from the entrenchments to put them out of LOS of the Germans. because of a low movement roll they are stuck in the open. An opportunity for the panzer to do some real damage!
But the dice gods have abandoned me for this one:
Obergefreiter Derrick and his squad succesfully dashed across the part of the field where they could be targeted by the paratroopers.
But Lieutenant Garret assembles the remnants of Bronco Bill's squad and the (now out of mortar ammo) mortar squad, and advances towards the Germans. Carrying the unconscious Bronco Bill with them!
The turn ends, Bronco Bill recovers and the paratroopers open fire at the Germans who are caught in the open. (We allowed the mortar men to fire their rifles. Don't know if this is allowed in the rules but it seemed fitting).
Derrick and his squad fire at the paratroopers, but to no avail. Derrick is wounded and shock is mounting for what remains of his squad.
The german medic rushes towards Derrick and his men.
But it's too late: The squad breaks and my opponent uses one of his CoC dice to end the turn, removing the squad from the table.
His bazooka ambush with an other CoC dice fails to destroy my panzer, but with only one squad and the panzer left and a force morale of 3 I decide to withdraw. Victory for the Americans!
And so the campaign ends with an American victory. It was an exiting and tense campaign with the Germans having great difficulties to overcome the American defenses. I read on the ToofatLardies forum that in the current available version of this campaign the US paratroopers are rated as regulars instead of elites (I seem to have an old version). This would probably make the campaign more balanced. I found the paratroopers almost impossible to kill, even in the open (you need sixes to hit them).
On the Leadadventure forum, CapnJim posted a link to a report of the real Battle for La Fière which contains a gripping description of the intensity of the fighting.
