This scenario turned into a slugfest for me. The Germans we able to hold out with their hidden units and good dice rolls. The Americans had to have several multi-turn assaults before they could command key hexes. In the end the Americans were able to win. The victory conditions for this are a bit odd as the Americans have control of hexes that are behind German lines. To defend them, they will need to attack through the Germans. The Germans get control of the hexes by turn 19 if they don't take them before.

So it started with the Americans looking to move through the hedgerows to avoid German troops, but they were spotted by units in 0907 and a firefight started. Eventually, the Americans won but it cost them four turns to do it as well as recover time for disruptions. By turn 15 the were up to the road from 0803 to 1101, but German Op fire from 0803 shutdown the advance. By turn 19 the Americans got moving but German reinforcements now held 1101.

American reinforcements moved up to attack 0803 so the the next batch could roll through. After 6 turns of close fighting the Americans took 0803, but casualties we mounting 5 American steps had been lost in the fighting. But that was not the American objective, on to 1101.

The Germans had been busy digging in at 1101 and now the Americans faced a GREN, HMG and 75mm AT gun. OBA was called in and disrupted units but they rallied easily. The paratroops were too weak to assault without reinforcements, so they waited until turn 37.

The American reinforcements moved quickly to get into position. By turn 40 the American were ready to assault. German OBA tried to break it up but was ineffective. German OP fire was and the first waves were pushed back. Rallied, the Americans setup four assault groups to push on 1101. This time three were able to get next to 1101 and prepare for assault. On turn 43 they went in. The first assault was hard on the American but they were able to demoralize the German HMG. The next assault has the Americans knocking out th AT gun as well as the demoralized HMG running for it life, but the American has lost 6 steps, one more and they would be in trouble. In the next assault the Americans killed the GREN and took 1101.

This was a nice scenario, the only knock against it is the hidden setup it not very effective as it is in a radius of hexes that the American player can avoid. Giving the German player free setup of the hidden units would add a little more to the scenario.

Halfway through the 'Airborne' scenarios I have found them to be either extreme hits(rare) or rather dull misses( quite common). This one seems to be the best all around as far as play balance, turn length and counter density is concerned.

The Americans begin with a small force, as usual, hoping to make an impact before reinforcements arrive to help finish the job in taking two objectives; a road and a town hex. However, the bulk of those much needed reinforcements would not arrive until turn 37/16:00, with just 9 turns left afterwards to help finish the task. The initial American force suffered a loss of a PARA HMG step right away from opportunity fire from dug-in and hidden German units and there was then a direct-fire stand-off between two opposing groups that carried on for quite a while with neither side giving ground. The Americans had split-up into two attack groups, one of them getting behind the German defenders and threatening the 81mm mortars with direct fire.

Beginning at 09:00/turn 11, the Germans got to roll for an increment of 1x16 OBA but 10 consecutive turns passed before they actually recieved it! The first wave of American reinforcements arrived at 12:00/turn 23 and additional pressure was put on the defenders. At one point the Germans broke out of defending positions to go on the offensive and that did not go well and those units soon found themselves in a bad state of morale defending in an assault. However, that move did delay attacks on the objective town and road hexes. Then the large wave of American reinforcements arrived and at that point the Americans had only suffered 4 step losses so a little less caution was exercised in their advance. At that time though, both the German AT guns were still in action so the platoon of M5s stayed back, hidden behind hedgerows as a reserve.

The last four turns were very brutal with a lot of close-quarter fighting. Germany still controlled both the road and town hex needed by the Americans for VCs. Both direct and indirect fire failed to weaken the defenders as much as desired and time was running out. Two final assaults were made on both of the objectives but the German defenders held on before the conclusion of turn 46. So in the end the battle resulted in yet another 'Airborne' draw as the Germans failed to generate enough American step losses to claim a victory though they held onto the required road hex.

This was a tough call attacking with the Americans and minding damage control. A lot is required of the initially deployed units to weaken the enemy before turn 37. At least one of the objectives, either the town or road, should have been in American control by then and neither of them were. There were quite a few German step losses by that time, giving the Americans a huge advantage in initiative. During the last few turns it really could have gone either way. Anyway, this was one of the most balanced scenarios yet for 'Airborne' and the 46 turns passed fairly quickly. I believe both side's VCs were reasonable enough and that there were just the right amount of units available to both sides. I think this is the best all around scenario so far but a lot more than I accomplished was needed for the Americans to win. The reinforcements arrive in time to help finish the job but a lot more work had to be done the first 30 turns.

Battle: In early morning hours of June 7, 1944, units from the American 2/501 Airborne Regiment approached the village of Vierville, where they encountered elements of both the German 91st Airlanding and 709th Infantry Divisions. By 0730, the Americans had already taken casualties south of Vierville and were pushed back east to cover their mortar position. At 1100, the Germans were reinforced by additional artillery in town, and infantry/HMG platoons moved east on the north flank. The Americans were reinforced at 1200 and began to push the Germans back west toward town, with the HMG platoon forced out of the central woods under heavy fire. More American units arrived on the scene at 1530, and Vierville was surrounded on both flanks and to the east by 1645. The Americans then cut off the road west from the area and took control of the town by 1715, trapping the renaming German units west of Vierville. By 1745, all German units were neutralized, and the leaders were taken prisoner.

Analysis: This is a 46-turn scenario that involves hex control for an American win, or both hex control and enemy step loss for a German victory. My first impression was to score this scenario fairly low, as things start off very slowly due to both limited number of units and firepower. This continues for about half the game until reinforcements begin to arrive and create some tactical options. The situation creates tension as the Germans strive to hold off the surging American forces, and the outcome remains in doubt until late in the game. The best strategy for the Germans is defensive, holding the towns or dug-in, until they are reinforced and can establish good defensive positions further east of the town hexes. For the US, if a strong position can be established behind the hedgerows or in the woods within range of the town, this provides a good setup for the large reinforcement group that arrives on Turn 37. In this playthrough, the Americans held the north central woods when the large reinforcement group arrived, and this allowed them to move west quickly and overrun the German positions resulting in a win. At game end, the US had only lost 5 steps to the German 15 and controlled both objective hexes. All German combat units had been eliminated.