This scenario is very similar in victory conditions, setup and morale. Forces are slightly changed as well as the Germans having more OBA, but still has the Americans attacking and the Germans defending hex 0406. The number of turns has been cut in half to only 22 turns.

In my play the Americans advanced up the road toward the town at 0508 and the Germans are setup to defend this and hex 0406. The Germans move up to occupy 0406 and the surrounding hexes. They get dug in as the Americans start to engage. American OBA has some early effect, dislodging some of the digging Germans. Germans rely on Op fire and OBA to hit the Americans. The Americans move to flank the Germans from the north through the hedgerows. Several key assaults by the Americans get stalled and early FoW rolls speed the game up. In the end the Americans fail to get all the hexes cleared and the Germans win.

This scenario is good but is too similar to 18 to make it new and interesting. Of the two I would play this one as it is shorter than the 18, but has the same feel.

This is just a replay of Airborne scenario 8. The same boards in the same configuration. Despite being at a disadvantage the Allies captured the bridge at 1400 on a assault that eliminated two Axis steps. The Axis reenforcements had yet to make their presence felt. At 1415 the remaining two demorialzed Axis platoons routed away from their position on a failed recovery check. This left the Allies in total control of the bridge hex despite the fact that they had two platoons demorialized themselves. Over the next several turns the Axis attempted to recover and bring up reenforcements while peppering the Allies with 81mm and 20mm fire. Unfortuntally for the Allies their demorialized platoons never recovered until it was too late. Once the Axis were reorganized they assaulted the village and the newly dug foxhole position north of the village. Despite losing a step the Allies managed to drag out the assault till 1700 when they were finally eliminated. The leader escaped to the now recovered Allied platoons. With only 4 steps left to 9 inf plus the 81mm and 20mm for the Axis the Allies retired. The Allies never had a chance in this scenario. Despite doing as well as could be expected at the beginning they were just overwhelmed at the end. Had their two demorialize platoons recovered they may have had a shot. A very long shot.

I really don't know how the American player could get through this one without taking 8 step losses and then there's still a lot of Germans to clear off the map to meet VCs. Also there is no chance for a draw as if both or neither players win, the Germans win. I think this one is about as broken as they come in 'Airborne'. In addition to the lack of leaders available for deployment there are not enough units in the counter mix for the OOB; the Germans will be short one HMG and the Americans less one PARA unit so further adjustments need to be made. Then there is the xx03 hex restriction for deployment and/or movement which makes zero sense. As for my play it was interesting enough to start with trying to manage a huge mass of American leaders and units in a very small deployment/entry area. Reinforcements had to stay off the map until room was made for them to enter for a few turns lest they became triple stacked and in range of German spotters for 3x16 increments of OBA. The American 81mm was the first American unit to get obliterated from a roll on the 55 column of the bombardment table and then, about every other turn, more American step losses quickly tallied up from rolls on the 42 column. The outcome was never in doubt even before setting this one up. The German victory was secured when the M4 Sherman unit perished engaging the dug-in StugIIIG, which was the only loss not generated from German OBA, topping American losses over 8 steps. The attack was called off at 09:45/turn 13 as there was no point in going on and no chance of reaching the American territorial VCs as there were still plenty of German units in the vicinity of hex 0406 and even the first line of defense was still holding out. I don't know why I chose to give this one a "2" rating but was very close to giving it my first "1". I think if the VCs were altered concerning American losses it would be a better scenario but otherwise I don't know how the Americans could endure 22 turns of German OBA alone without taking 8 step losses. The American objective is about the same as the scenario before it, "VII Corps Advances North" but with less than half the amount of time allowed to accomplish it.

Sorry, I don't have any answers. The terrain is such that to be able to even see the Germans one has to get close. Once you fire at them or get into assault position they will see you and hit you with their strong artillery (maybe not as strong as yours but still very potent) and substantial infantry weaponry. You aren't going to stampede them since their morale is almost as good as yours and they even have armor support that is better than yours.

Frankly, this is a great example of a non-winnable situation for the Americans, much as they found out in real life (see the conlusion of the scenario writeup. The airborne were given goals that were simply not acheivable, completely in keeping with the immaturity of the American tactical knowledge at the time. So, a good simulation of what happened and a frustrating play as the six step losses can happen quite quickly. Of course, I have been playing a lot of east front battles so I am used to high loss levels. I just can't see how the US can dig out a strong German position in 5 1/2 hours without taking losses at a level to lose this one.

Again, I see the culprit in the victory conditions. I would suggest a road control victory condition, perhaps between the town at the east end of the bridge and 0803. This means that the troops would be able to be engaged sufficiently to incur losses and have a goal that is acheivable.