Road To The Bridge
France in August 1944. The German army is retreating across France with the Allies in hot pursuit. This AAR covers a fictional delaying action by a German rearguard against an American task force.
Situation
The German rear guard needs to delay the Americans long enough for German engineers to prepare an off table bridge for demolition (15 game turns). The Americans are to seize this bridge intact, if possible, therefore they need to cross the game table before the Germans have completed their preparations. Unknown to the American player a broken down Tiger II sits along the road they are advancing on. The Germans are feverishly trying to get it running so it can drive off the table and avoid capture.
Weather
Conditions are dry with low overcast and light wind. There is no US air cover because of the clouds.
Rules
Mein Panzer
The Germans
The Germans have two 75 AT guns, four Hetzers and one infantry platoon with trucks as the rear guard. The disabled Tiger and a truck with mechanics is in the upper left. An off board battery of 105mm artillery is available with limited HE and smoke support.
The Americans
The Americans have three Grayhound scouts, three Shermans, three Wolverine tank destroyers, a Forward Observer (jeep) from a dedicated off board 105 mm artillery battery, and two infantry platoons mounted in halftracks.
The Ground
The Germans are defending from the center tree line which is on a low ridge back to the top of the picture, which is East. The Americans come onto the table from the bottom (the West) using the center hard surfaced road as their avenue of advance. They need to exit off the far end of the table as quickly as possible.
German Deployment
A1 and A2 are where the Hetzers were deployed, a pair on each side of the main road in the woods.
T is where the Tiger is positioned, behind the copse of trees and off the road. One squad of infantry is with the Tiger to provide security for the crew and mechanics.
C1 and C2 are where the AT guns have been placed. Each has an infantry squad for security.
The Germans are deployed hidden, with counters placed on the table standing in for the units until they have been spotted. There are some blanks in the mix to increase the American’s uncertainty.
A view of the low ridge from the American perspective, looking east by southeast:
The Game
The Americans move onto the table, scouts leading They approach the first crossroads and begin scanning the treeline on the ridge, looking for the enemy.
The scouts are followed by the tanks:
The scouts spot a Hetzer in the north woods (position A2)
… which immediately kills one of the Grayhounds.
The tanks move up to the left of the scouts to engage the Hetzer …
(continued below ...)