Designer: Adaptation: John Appel, Pat Ryan & Bill Sisler
Starter kit scenario?: Deluxe scenario?:
Balance:
GermanAmerican
Overview:
The Fifth Panzer Army in an effort to expand its position around Tunis, sent the 86th Panzer Grenadier Regiment supported by armor from the 7th Panzer Regiment on a two-pronged attack along both sides of the Medjerda River. If the Germans were to gain control of the bridge near Bordj Toum railroad station, Combat Command B would be in danger of being cut off on the eastern side of the river.
Attacker: German (1st and 2nd Battalions, 86th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 7th Panzer Regiment)
Defender: American (1st and 2nd Battalions, 6th Armored Infantry Regiment / 16th Combat Engineers / 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment)
8 turns
Players: 2 OBA: Both Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:24.0 D:20.0
AFVs: A:14
PzKpfw IVF2 x 2 PzKpfw IIIL x 3 PzKpfw IIIJ x 3 SPW 251/1 x 6 Motorcycle x 2
AFVs: D:6
M3 MT x 4 T19 HMC M3 ht
Guns: A:0
5cm leGrW 36 PzB 39 ATR x 5
D:3
M3A1 37mm AT Gun x 3 M2 60mm Mortar
Misc Rules:
No grain December. Enemy units on opposite side of river ignored for Rout purposes
A tale of two games with separate action on each side of the river. In the west I strongly contested the crossroad, forcing him to enter closer to the river under cover of woods and buildings before one of my MMG squads moved to the upper reaches of J8. In the east he entered mostly through the pass and moving up into the hills, but was surprised just how many clear LOS I had from my vantage points up on the level 3/4 hills. I blew out my 105 gun on its first shot, but my harassing fire OBA started doing its job early, busting up a number of Germans and shocking a tank. And I blasted a fully-laden HT with one of my AT guns. Turn 2 saw me quickly lose my FT and him sweat me out of J8 with some tank fire, while my men retreated to their 2nd line of defense south of the road. Meanwhile in the east he smoked in one of my guns with his OBA, but my other flamed up a Panther in the upper hills, while my repositioned tanks knocked out another. My OBA immobilied a HT before my radio operator was sent back routing, and it'd be some time before he could dial in again. Meanwhile the German radio would have problems of its own. Turn 3 saw my freshly concealed MMG nest move back to J8, just in time to brace for his attempted crossing of the road. Turn 3 saw me break two of the 37LL guns on my tanks as they knocked out another Panther, while another HT was sent to the scrap heap by my AT gun. The Germans were having an extremely hard time gaining any traction action the well-positioned/fortified American defense, and their Turn 4 moves saw a little more desperation trying to take some ground. In the west they were still stymied north of the road, and a berserk paratrooper caused all sorts of havoc. In the east they lost yet another tank to the American AT gun , which was finally knocked out with a CH from one of the last two remaining German tanks on that side of the river. With their western force in shambles, red-chitting out their radio, and losing another 3.5 squads and two leaders, the Germans called it a day after their Turn 5. Scott thinks the Germans need a well-coordinated combined arms assault and I certainly can't argue with him. Probably much more fun to play as the defender, but I really enjoyed this scenario with its massive scope and two-pronged battlefield.
2023-08-30
(A) Scott Sherer
vs
Jeff B
American win
2022-04-15
(A) Andy Goldin
vs
Stephen Worrel
American win
This is one of my favorite scenarios because it combines combined arms maneuver warfare across the hills with close-in fighting through the olive grove and chateau. That said, I've never won this playing the Germans and am curious to see how the Germans win this one.
In my game against Stephen, my OBA was effective against the Americans defending the ridgeline on hill 783 and I was able to clear his ATG in the woods by 15C2 with accurate infantry MG fire. I crested the ridge and was having good success against his infantry until about midway through the game when Stephen's sniper repeatedly found its mark, killing three of my best leaders by order of rank. That was followed by every infantry squad which received fire, broke. My Panzers kept me in the game by destroying three of his four tanks (the 105 equipped HT was a priority target for the OBA and had been destroyed on Turn 2).
I had cleared enough of hill 711 to get a squad, HT and tank within range of the victory locations but my lack of leadership left my infantry ineffective, and my tanker's inability to knock out his remaining tank prevented the remainder of my force from closing on the victory hexes.
The effort across the river by the Chateau never amounted to much. His 105 OBA knocked out one of my tanks and immobilized the second. Without armor support, the infantry didn't make much headway. The infantry got to the chateau but, with mounting losses, could not get past it. Game over.
