Author	Isra3lite (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Britain
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2025-08-26
Language	English
Scenario	PaLe007

Played as the beleaguered Germans, who for some odd reason were given only two armored StugIII units but three mortars and only a handful of grenadier units. The OpPlan written accounted for a screening force defending the town on hill in the North with two companies of Grens and supporting units in the towns to the south and west. The opplan missions were defined as follows:

(British) Blue mission is to occupy towns and eliminate combat units, with priority on the AFVs (see diagram below).

(German) Red mission is to defend the towns and slow and prevent advance of the blue units, eliminating any armored units in particular the 4 Shermans, Firefly, and 2 Bren carriers.

The initial plan (see diagram below) for turns 5-7 is to screen units attempting to occupy the northern woods, hills and two towns, then retreat leaving a small holding force behind to set up a counterattack as Blue units breakthrough, keeping mobile moving south is key to being able to hold the two large towns to the south, rather than holding the positions north of the center. With only 14 turns, delaying action of 5-7 turns would prevent Blue progress from achieving its goals.

Red priorities are the following:

1. Maintain the majority of high ground (20 and 40-meter hill mass) locations around the town centered on 0612. If possible, dig in any units not involved in combat during the initial early turns before turn 3.
2. Create one, or more dug-in, mutually-supporting, defensive positions on the east-west hill within the forest west of the town.
3. Prevent enemy units occupying even any E-W road hex at the end of turn seven.
4. Establish firm contact & overwatch protection with the two armored units, on or around, game turns 9-10. Make use of as many feints and probing actions as possible throughout the multi-turn operation to draw enemy attention away from the two southern central towns.
5. Inflict as many step losses as possible on the enemy force

The first and second priorities enacted were successful, but timing and the limitations of digging in towns and forests prevented sufficient defensive terrain to hold back the nearly sixteen infantry platoons and 17 leaders who never once halted their assault. Most surprising was the overwhelming two Blue platoon assault hexes tying up one of my two companies while the rest of the units flowed around them to the far west and south. My defense was heavily augmented by some very good off map artillery rolls, and not due to the anemic firepower of the two batteries. The OBA really only slowed the advance while the prodigious number of leaders kept a steady pace of rallies. The third priority was impossible as the scenario allows the Blue player to deploy across the E-W road on turn 1, preventing any attempts to block. With the overwhelming number of fronts to defend, there were only 3-4 turns that the German armor had superiority on the battlefield before the Brits could send two Shermans to the southernmost town. The last priority was somewhat successful with several well planned kill zones available for the Germans to prosecute. Unfortunately, mediocre “combat 7s” prevented any consistent ability to reduce the overwhelming numbers of infantry. Losses on the German side mounted quickly once secondary defensive positions were penetrated from the North and Eastern edge. This scenario only rewards occupation of the towns, which could be achieved in the first 4-5 turns. Without versatile spotting and recon, the German player cannot see most of the map due to the terrain and the small numbers of available Lehr leaders means that a holding and using mobile defense, means that whatever artillery is available will get overwhelmed in assaults, preventing artillery strikes.

IMHO, this scenario is a waste of time for the German player without significant reworking of the setup and OOB to allow a better defensive advantage and encourage a mobile defense. For example, the E-W road at the northern edge provides SO much advantage while the roads on the southern half are non-contiguous and winding. This scenario would significantly benefit from a revised PG Edition making the spotting and assault hex rules less gamey.