Tactics in 'Beyond Normandy'
Scenario #13, “The Gavrus Bridge”
By Doug McNair
June 2006

In my first tactics article on Panzer Grenadier: Beyond Normandy, the 9th Cameronians got the worst of it on Day 1 of Operation Epsom. So it’s only fair to give them another shot at the Germans on Day 2. Scenario #13, “The Gavrus Bridge,” depicts the Cameronians’ attack on the German-held town of Grainville, with help from the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry tank battalion plus elements of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment.

Tactical Situation

The scenario is played on a nine-hex-wide swath of ground on Board 1 between hex columns 03XX to the west and 11XX to the east (inclusive).

The 8th Panzer Company/12th SS Panzer Regiment and elements of the 2/26 Panzer Grenadier and Pioneer Battalions set up in the towns of Grainville sur Odon, Mondrainville and the unnamed hamlet to the east. The British battalions set up at least three hexes north of the towns.

Starting on Turn 2, the German player rolls two dice at the start of each turn, and on the first roll of 9 or more the reinforcements from the 2nd Panzer Division enter in any west-edge hexes numbered 0312 or more.

The 9th Cameronians had been fighting almost non-stop since the launch of Epsom on June 26, 1944, and it took them until 1800 hours on June 27 to arrive and join the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and the 7th RTR tanks for the attack on Grainville. The Cameronians have taken four step losses before the scenario starts, and these count toward the eight-step-loss threshold for morale penalties to the Cameronians per the Formation Morale special rule in Beyond Normandy.

The three Churchill VII tank platoons of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment are ready to attack with the Cameronians, but the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry can only fire, not move, until Turn 3 of the game.

Objectives

To win, at game-end the British player must control all of the following:

• All town hexes of Mondraiville.
• The eastern hex of Grainville sur Odon.
• The western hex of the hamlet east of Mondraiville.
• The one-hex hamlet of Le Valtru to the south.

The German player wins if the British player does not.

British Tactics

Although the two Scottish battalions outnumber all German units combined, they must attack and take the towns as quickly as possible: The reinforcements from 2nd Panzer Division include two platoons of Panther tanks and one of StugIV turretless tanks. Each of these tank units has an AT fire range of 8 (which out-ranges all British tanks), the STUGs have an AT fire strength of 6, and the Panthers have an AT fire strength of 8.

Since all but three of the British tank platoons have armor strengths of 3 or less, the tanks of 2nd Panzer will be able to blow them up at will if the British tanks don’t make it into the protective cover of the towns first. If the British tanks do make it into the towns, they can take cover and wait for the Germans to come into view, then blast them before the Germans can spot them and get off a shot.

Getting to the towns isn’t a problem — the British set up only three or four hexes away. But all German units have a morale of 9 and get defensive bonuses from town terrain, so it’s highly unlikely that they’ll become demoralized and flee. Rather than demoralize them, the British have to rain maximum concentrated firepower into the towns to inflict step losses on the Germans there. Once the Germans are sufficiently weakened that their assault combat bonus for higher morale won’t be a deadly advantage, the British will then have to move in for combined-arms tank-and-infantry assaults to take the towns.

The British offboard artillery, the WPN (heavy machine gun) units of the 9th Cameronians and the tanks of the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry are the best sources of massive firepower for hitting the Germans in the towns. But killing the SS units in the towns won’t be of any use in a short scenario if the Wehrmacht reinforcements can simply move into the towns when the SS units die. So the infantry platoons of the 9th Cameronians, supported by the Churchill VII tanks of the 7th RTR, must charge south and cut the road connections west and southwest of Grainville. They should dig in on the roads and deploy the battalion’s AT guns and artillery there to form powerful anti-tank roadblocks. That way, when 2nd Panzer shows up, it will have to fight its way through roadblocks to make it to the towns. Hopefully, by the time the British roadblocks break the towns will be in British hands and the 9th Cameronians can fall back to the towns and help the Fife and Forfar keep the Wehrmacht out.

German Tactics

The Waffen SS men in the towns don’t know when 2nd Panzer is going to arrive. They also don’t know how much artillery support they’ll get — the German player rolls for artillery support each turn, and on a roll of 4 or more he gets none at all. And since the British get artillery support on all but a roll of 6 and the SS is outnumbered by the Scots almost 3 to 1, there’s a good chance the British will break into the towns before the Wehrmacht shows up.

The SS has to start by setting up units in or as close as possible to all four of the towns, forcing the British to split their forces to attack them all at once to keep to their short timetable. Each town’s defenders should hold their ground only until the British get close to cutting off their retreat route. At that point, the garrison should fall back to another town and reinforce the garrison there, or pull out and assault the British roadblocks from behind to help 2nd Panzer break through. Since night is falling fast and visibility starts decreasing on Turn 4, the Germans can spend the game making a fighting withdrawal, moving some units out of British sighting range to towns at the rear while others fight to hold the British back.

Since the Germans need to hold only one town hex at game-end to win, they should take advantage of their assault-combat bonus for having higher morale and assault the British at every opportunity. This will slow the British advance. The assaults will incur higher German casualties than other forms of combat, but the German player doesn’t have to worry since step losses are irrelevant to victory.

Game Summary

Here’s what happened in a recent game:

Setup

The German player sets up his SS Panzer, heavy machine gun (HMG) and two grenadier (GREN) units (one of them reduced) in the center at Mondrainville. In Grainville on his left flank he puts a full-strength GREN unit, a 75mm AT gun platoon, and an SPW 251 APC. On his right flank in the unnamed hamlet he puts the same unit types, except that the AT gun is the more powerful 75/41 type (he considers this town a fallback position and wants it strongly defended). Finally, he puts a reduced-strength GREN platoon and the 81mm mortar platoon just north of Le Valtru, which is his other likely fallback position. The units will move into the town as soon as possible (the setup zone doesn’t include Le Valtru).

All 9th Cameronian rifle (RIF), antitank (AT) and artillery units plus transports set up in the woods and hedges north of Grainville on the western German flank. The Churchill VII tanks of the 7th RTR set up with the Cameronians, poised to spearhead the Scots attack on Grainville and their advance to the roads beyond. The Cameronian WPN heavy machine gun units set up behind a hedgerow northeast of Mondrainville, ready to fire on the SS units in Mondrainville or the hamlet to the east as soon as they fire and reveal their positions. Finally, the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry setup in the roads north of Mondrainville, ready to destroy the SS panzers as soon as they fire out of the town.

Turn 1 — 1800 Hours

The players roll for offboard artillery support, and the British roll a 2 and get 2 x 13 and 2 x 18 while the Germans roll a 5 and get nothing.

The Germans start with an initiative of 3 while the British start with an initiative of 2 (the Cameronians are tired after two days of hard fighting). Each player rolls a natural 1 for initiative, meaning a Random Event occurs. The players roll on the Random Events table and the event is a “German Cut Wire.” German communications break down and no bombardment fire may be spotted for this turn, and possibly on future turns.

The players roll for initiative again and the Germans win by one activation. The PzIVF platoon in Mondrainville activates and fires at the most powerful tanks the British have on the board, the Firefly tanks of the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry. The panzer platoon has a fire strength of 5 to the Firefly’s armor of 3, but the Fireflies are dug-in. The German platoon can fire twice because it has armor efficiency, and rolls a modified 11 and a 7. The 11 destroys one Firefly step (which counts for two step losses) and disrupts the other.

British offboard artillery hits the Germans in Grainville, ahead of the 9th Cameronians. All Germans there make their morale checks. There’s a 120-meter rise between Grainville and the Fife and Forfar, so the 75mm AT gun in Grainville fires at the Churchill tanks of the 7th RTR that are about to attack with the 9th Cameronians but misses.

The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry activates, shooting at the now-revealed PzIVF platoon’s position in Mondrainville and the AT gun’s position in Grainville. The German GREN and AT units all make their morale checks, but the Sherman tanks of the Yeomanry score two hits and destroy the panzer platoon (which counts for four step losses).

All German units which can see eligible targets have already fired, so the German player passes, and then the RIF platoons of the 9th Cameronians plus the 7th RTR all activate. The first Churchill VII platoon blows up the SPW 251 halftrack in Grainville on the first shot (for one step loss), and the other two pour fire into Grainville but the Germans make their morale checks.

Then the Cameronians charge the town and past it to the west. The lieutenant leading the charge past the town makes to the woods southwest of town along with a RIF platoon. The next platoon takes one step loss from opportunity fire on the way, but holds morale and joins the lieutenant in the woods. The rest of the Cameronian RIF platoons rush the town from the north, and opportunity fire from the SS HMG in Mondrainville demoralizes one RIF platoon.

The Germans north of Le Valtru move into town, and British mortar fire is ineffective. The Germans hold position, and then British HMG fire from northwest of Mondrainville disrupts the ranking Hauptsurmführer in Mondrainville. German fire at the HMGs from the hamlet east of Mondrainville is ineffective, as is the last British offboard artillery, and the turn ends with everyone having activated who wishes to.

The Germans have taken five step losses and the British have taken three.

1815

Both players roll sixes, and neither side gets any offboard artillery support this turn. But the Germans fix their cut wire and can spot for their mortar platoon now. The Germans roll a 7 for reinforcements, meaning 2nd Panzer is still en route.

Each side loses one initiative for every four step losses it takes, so the Germans lose one and both sides now have an initiative of 2. The Germans win the initiative roll.

The garrison in Grainville is surrounded on four hexsides and the AT gun platoon’s APC transports are smoking wrecks. But the Ostführer commanding the garrison thinks he and his panzer grenadiers can dash through the streets of Grainville and make it out of town to Mondrainville since the Cameronians just outside of town to the northeast lost one of their units to demoralization on the way in. He tells the 75mm AT gunners to die for the Führer and heads out.

The AT gunners miss the Churchills again, and the ostrführer and his GRENs run northeast. They survive British opportunity fire from a single RIF unit, and the Churchills opt to let them make it to Mondrainville, since they’d rather move east to guard the southern approaches to town.

The forward units of the 9th Cameronians activate, and two platoons assault the AT unit in Grainville while the other good-order units that didn’t use opportunity fire press on to the roads southwest of the towns. The demoralized RIF unit that didn’t make it to the town fails to recover and flees to the woods northwest of town, and the assault on the AT gun gets a bloody nose, with the SS laying down withering fire and rolling a 6 on the 9 table. A Cameronian RIF takes one step loss, but the Cameronians hold morale! Seeing this, the AT gunners decide this dying for the Führer thing may not be all it’s cracked up to be, and become disrupted.

The hauptsturmführer commanding the Mondrainville garrison recovers morale while his HMG unit fires ineffectively on the Cameronians who failed to stop the escaping Ostführer. The Fife and Forfar open fire on the Hauptsturmführer’s position, and the two lead fire teams of three Sherman platoons each roll a 12 and an 11, respectively, on the 11 column. The HMG unit in town takes a step loss and becomes disrupted, but the Hauptsturmführer makes both morale checks. More tank fire fails to do more damage, and the disrupted Firefly continues to fail to recover morale.

German mortar fire on the Scots units charging toward the roads southwest of town is ineffective, and then the Churchill tanks of the 7th RTR move east into Grainville. The German 75/41 AT platoon in the hamlet east of Mondrainville has only one target — the just-moved Churchills — so it fires and rolls an 11, missing by just 1!

The Cameronian RIF bringing up the rear with the battalion AT guns and artillery charges south past Grainville, and the guns and artillery follow behind on their trucks and Bren carriers. More fire from both sides is ineffective, and the turn ends with a British Lieutenant leaving the Cameronian mortars to try and rally the fleeing, demoralized RIF unit northwest of Grainville.

The Germans have now taken six step losses and the British have taken four.

1830

On the last full-daylight turn, British initiative drops to 1 while German initiative holds at 2. The Germans get no offboard artillery support, but the British get 2 x 13 and 2 x 18 again. The Germans roll a 9 and 2nd Panzer arrives! But the Fife and Forfar can move now too, so things will get hotter very fast.

The British win initiative by one activation (whew) and the three-and-a-half Cameronian RIF platoons leading the charge south from Grainville spread out to make a Thin Red Line from hexes 0419 to 0422. This blocks the two roads that merge south of Grainville and lead to Mondrainville, and will force the 2nd Panzer to either whack through the hedges north of them, enter the board farther south to circumnavigate them, or go right through them or the Fife and Forfar to the north.

The German player decides on a two-pronged attack, with the panzer grenadiers, HMGs and mortars of 2nd Panzer hitting the south flank of the Thin Red Line, and the Panthers, STUGs, AT guns and halftracks entering seven hexes to the south, on the track at hex 0329. They will then charge northeast toward Le Valtru, from where they can advance to Mondrainville or engage the Fife and Forfar if the British tanks break through the town line.

The German player activates the panzers, STUGs and the halftracks with the AT guns, and drives northeast on the track to four hexes south of Le Valtru. British offboard artillery fire is ineffective, and then the panzer grenadiers and HMGs shoot past the south flank of the Thin Red Line, moving adjacent to the town of Cahier and the road to Mondrainville and Le Valtru. Opportunity fire from the RIF platoon at the south end of the line is ineffective, and then the line pulls back to just west of Cahier, outside German assault range but where any forward German movement will result in point-blank British opportunity fire.

German opportunity and mortar fire from Le Valtru on the retreating line is ineffective, and then the Churchills of 7th RTR head out to the crossroads, wanting to get there before the Fog of War rolls start and possibly end the turn.

The subsequent Fog of War roll is a 15, which is one shy of turn-ending. More fire from both sides is ineffective, the SS HMG unit in Mondrainville recovers morale, and the haupsturmführer who activated it sends the ostführer and GREN platoon that escaped from Grainville two hexes south to an assault position behind 7th RTR. If they can activate first next turn, they’ll assault the three Churchills on the 18 column and quite possibly demoralize them all, eliminating all opposition to the Panthers moving toward Le Valtru and Mondrainville.

A RIF platoon and the AT and artillery weapons of 9th Cameronians move up from Grainville into the south part of Mondrainville, right behind the audacious Ostführer who wants to assault the Churchills. The guns unload, and the BREN carriers get ready to combine fire with the RIF unit and blow the ostführer away.

Then, continuing this weird game of Follow the Leader, another ostführer and two GREN platoons (one of them reduced) in the northeast hex of Mondrainville move one hex southwest to an assault position behind the just-arrived RIF, Brens and guns of the 9th Cameronians. One way or another, there’ll be Hell to pay next turn south of Mondrainville.

Fife and Forfar activates and sends its lead Shermans east to Grainville. The only way they can get beyond it is to move southeast on the track adjacent to Mondrainville, but that would expose them to deadly assault from the SS units there, so they stay in Grainville for now.

The SS AT guns in the assault at Grainville recover morale, more Cameronians head southeast from Grainville to support the retreating Thin Red Line, the British assault in Grainville goes nowhere, and the turn ends with repositioning of units and recoveries.

Nobody took any step losses this turn since most units spent their time maneuvering rather than firing.

1845

Visibilty drops to eight hexes. British artillery support peters out while the Germans get 1 x 16, and initiative is still Germans 2, British 1. But the British win initiative by one activation and get the jump on the massive SS assault plan in Mondrainville.

The British AT guns and artillery in Mondrainville unlimber while the Bren carriers fire point-blank on the audacious ostführer who was about to assault the Churchills. Both he and his GREN unit make their morale checks, so a RIF unit and a captain go in and assault him. The British roll a 5 on the 9 column while the ostführer rolls a 6 on the 13 column, inflicting one step loss on the Cameronian RIF and demoralizing it. The ostführer and his GREN both make their M2 morale checks, but they’re tied down and can’t assault the Churchills, at least for now.

The British guns and Brens in Mondrainville are very powerful, and since they’ve got town cover the hauptsturmführer doesn’t think he can assault them successfully. So 2nd Panzer’s STUG platoon moves northeast toward the hamlet east of Mondrainville and the Panthers split, with the reduced-strength one moving into Le Valtru and the full-strength one plus the 75mm AT gun on the halftrack moving south toward 2nd Panzer’s GRENs and HMGs. They’re hoping to find a long-range, flanking fire position on the Fife and Forfar from behind the German infantry screen.

Fife and Forfar in Grainville activates, with a Sherman fire team doing no damage to the SS in Mondrainville, and others moving east to oppose 2nd Panzer while one last Sherman platoon dives into the assault in Grainville and wipes-out the 75mm AT gun there (doing one German step loss), with one British RIF unit becoming disrupted.

The last remaining German AT gun, the 75/41 in the hamlet east of Mondraiville, fires on the Bren carriers who revealed their position in Mondrainville when they fired on the audacious ostführer. It destroys a Bren, doing one British step loss. The Churchills of 7th RTR then relocate, putting woods between them and the hard-to-hit Panthers in Le-Valtru (the Churchills would need to roll a 12 to hit them), and moving to where they can fire on the 75/41 AT guns that just destroyed the Brens.

The GREN and HMG units of 2nd Panzer then activate, hitting the leaderless RIF unit adjacent to them with combined fire on the 45+ column, but only rolling an 8 and disrupting it. Fire from 2nd Panzer’s mortar unit is also ineffective.

One full and one reduced RIF unit move north and next to the audacious ostführer, and German opportunity and mortar fire on those units from Le Valtru is ineffective. British HMG fire on the 75/41 AT gun position is ineffective, as is German offboard artillery fire. RIF units from the Thin Red Line then start falling back east to assault positions on Le Valtru, leaving the advancing Fife and Forfar to guard their rear against 2nd Panzer’s GRENs and HMGs.

The audacious ostführer then counterassaults the pesky but demoralized RIF unit that held him back from assaulting the Churchills. He wipes out the RIF (one more British step loss) and kills their captain.

More British pull back to assault positions on Le Valtru, and more Fife and Forfar head east to prep for a combined-arms assault on the audacious ostführer, while others whack through the hedges toward 2nd Panzer. German point-blank fire on the British artillery position in Mondrainville is ineffective, and then the reduced-strength Firefly from north of town moves south past Mondrainville to where it can fire on the Panthers in Le Valtru.

The turn ends with more ineffective fire and failed recoveries.

Each side has now taken seven step losses, and with four step losses to the Cameronians plus the four they had suffered in previous battles, they have now taken eight step losses total and their formation morale drops to 7/7.

1900

Visibility drops to six hexes, neither side gets any artillery support, and the Germans still have an initiative of 2 and the British 1.

The Germans win initiative by one activation, and with the Fife and Forfar having broken through the town line line the Germans now have a target-rich environment. But their Panthers in Le Valtru are about to be assaulted, so the Le Valtru garrison opens fire point-blank on the British, who have wisely spread out into three hexes so the Germans can’t hit them all at once. Panther fire disrupts a reduced-strength RIF platoon, but that’s all that happens. Then two RIF platoons (one reduced) and a Stuart tank platoon assault the audacious ostführer and his GREN unit south of Mondrainvilee. The lieutenant leading the assault becomes disrupted, and the ostführer becomes demoralized (he didn’t know the British could do that to an übermensch).

The 2nd Panzer INF and HMG units rush northeast to relieve Le Valtru before the Fife and Forfar can get between it and them. Long-range opportunity fire from a Sherman fire team does one step loss to the lead GREN unit and disrupts its Lieutenant, slowing the advance. Motrar fire from 2nd Panzer is ineffective.

The Churchills of 7th RTR east of Mondraiville then open up on 75/41 AT gun’s position, blowing up the SPW 251 APC with the gun (one German step loss) but doing no other damage.

The 75/41 gun then fires, not at the Churchills but at the last Bren carriers in Mondrainville, hoping to get rid of them so the SS grenadiers in Mondrainville can assault the British artillery position with a good chance of success. The AT gun rolls a modified 9, just barely missing. The Brens and artillery then open fire, and the 17-pounder also rolls a modified 9 on the reduced Panther in Le Valtru, bouncing shells off its armor. Other fire from the guns on adjacent SS units in Mondrainville is ineffective.

The full-strength Panther platoon and the APC carrying the 75mm AT gun move around the hedges and up to the leaderless, disrupted RIF unit that held the south flank of the Thin Red Line. As the APC enters the destination hex, the half-strength Firefly that the SS PzIVF hit on the first turn opens up with opportunity fire before the APC can unload its AT gun. The Firefly rolls a modified 11 and destroys the APC and the gun it carries (two German step losses), leaving the Panther to face down the Fife and Forfar alone.

The British would like to assault Le Valtru, but without tank support their INF units will be annihilated by the combined German force in the village. So the Fife and Forfar and 9th Cameronians who have successfully taken Grainville activate, sending their Sherman fire team to Le Valtru while a Sherman, Firefly and Archer unit mass at the east end of Grainville for an attack on Mondrainville. But their disrupted INF unit fails to recover, and until it does they can’t assault the town with a combined-arms bonus.

The STUG from 2nd Panzer makes it to the hamlet east of Mondrainville to take on the Churchills. British fire and recoveries outside Le Valtru are ineffective, and when the British WPN (heavy machine gun) units try to advance on the hamlet east of Mondrainville to support the Churchills, opportunity fire from both towns disrupts their lieutenant and one of the platoons. The demoralized, audacious ostführer recovers morale, and his GREN unit just holds position rather than making a suicidal counterassault without a leader. The british Captain trying to coax out the demoralized RIF unit in the woods north of town finally starts to succeed, but the disrupted RIF unit next to the newly arrived Panther south of Grainville just cowers. The turn ends with everyone having activated.

The Germans have now taken 11 step losses while the British have still taken seven.

1915

Visibility drops to four hexes, the Germans get 1 x 16 of offboard artillery support while the British get 2 x 13 and 1 x 18, and German initiative drops so both sides have an initiative of 1.

The British win initiative by one activation, and the combined-arms assault on Le Valtru goes in with two Sherman platoons firing first at the reduced-strength panzer there. One shot rolls a modified 11, destroying it (two German step losses). Then two RIF platoons and a Sherman tank platoon, plus a lieutenant with a +2 morale bonus, go in and assault the garrison of one reduced-strength GREN, one unit and a hauptsturmführer. The British roll a 5 on the 18 column while the Germans roll a 3 on the 9 column. The SS mortar is wiped out (one German step loss) and the hauptsturmführer is killed, leaving only the reduced GREN unit, which makes morale. All British units make morale.

The full-strength Panther platoon south of Grainville opens fire at maximum sighting range in the fading light. It hits two full-strength Sherman platoons four hexes to the north and does one step loss to each of them, demoralizing one of the remaining steps and disrupting the other (four British step losses).

The British then assault the audacious ostführer south of Mondrainville again, but with his wits recovered, his defense against the combined-arms assault is masterful, and he rolls a 6 on the 18 column while the Brits roll a 3. The reduced-strength Cameronian RIF unit dies and the Stuart tank unit takes a step loss (three step losses total). Their lieutenant becomes demoralized and so does the Stuart tank unit.

The STUG and 75/41 AT gun in the hamlet east of Mondrainville fire at the Churchills to the west, scoring one step loss. But the Churchill holds morale!

British offboard artillery hits the Wehrmacht captain leading the relief attempt for Le Vanu, but he and his HMG and GREN make their morale checks. German offboard artillery hits the British AT and artillery position in Mondrainville, but it only demoralizes a truck.

The British then draw the one air unit they’re able to for the game, hoping for an aircraft with anti-tank capability to kill the Panther. But they draw a Marauder, which does no damage.

The audacious ostführer then counterassaults the largely demoralized British, who nevertheless do a fine job defending themselves versus this admitted übermensch, rolling a 6 on the 5 column while übermensch rolls a 4 on the 18 column. The Germans all make their M2 morale check, and despite their spirited defense the full-strength good-order Cameronian RIF takes one step loss and is disrupted, the reduced, demoralized Stuart tank unit is again demoralized and eliminated (two British step losses), and the demoralized lieutenant stays demoralized.

The Churchills east of Mondrainville open fire on the hamlet to their east, scoring two step losses on the STUG platoon and destroying it (counts as four German step losses). German offboard artillery then hits the WPNs advancing on the hamlet from the north, but is ineffective.

The Wehrmacht captain then orders a charge on Le Valtru, hoping to save it from the British, and opportunity fire from British tanks is ineffective. Then more Fife and Forfars go east down the track south of Mondrainville to run up the rear of the Wehrmacht advance on Le Valtru, running over the lone, just-recovered lieutenant and killing him. The other Fife and Forfars the Panthers shot up fail to recover morale, with the demoralized platoon fleeing.

German fire on the AT and artillery position in Mondrainville is ineffective, and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll.

It’s been 15 minutes of carnage, and the Germans have now taken 18 step losses while the British have taken 19. But at least the Cameronians have only taken 10 step losses total and don’t lose any more morale.

1930

Visibility drops to two hexes, each side has initiative of 0 now, and the British get a lousy 1 x 13 for artillery support.

The Germans win initiative by one activation, and the now-cut-off Wehrmacht running to the rescue of Le Vanu activate. Unfortunately, assaulting the town would be suicide with the combined-arms British there. So they assault the tanks that cut them off from behind plus the British captain leading the town assault, with the Wehrmacht captain ordering a full and reduced-strength GREN into the British Captain’s hex while he turns around and assaults the British tanks who just cut him off from behind. The assault on the captain gets a bloody nose, with one full-strength GREN taking one step loss but both making morale. The German captain’s assault on the tanks does worse, taking one step loss to his HMG (but both his units make morale).

A Sherman piles in and counterassaults the two half-strength GRENs who assaulted the Cameronian captain outside Le Vanu. The Germans take one step loss and the other GREN is demoralized, but the British captain and both tanks are disrupted.

The übermensch assaults the British, demoralizing the last unit in the hex. Then the British assault on Le Vanu wipes out the reduced-strength GREN (one German step loss), taking the village.

The 75/41 AT gun in the hamlet east of Mondrainville misses the Churchills, and Churchill fire on the town is ineffective.

The German player considers his options for his Panther platoon, and realizes that since next turn visibility drops to one hex, his only option is to drive right up to the reduced-strength Shermans blocking the road to Mondrainville. He does, and the Shermans open fire, scoring a hit with a roll of 11, doing a step loss to the Panther platoon (counts as two German step losses) and disrupting it.

With the Panthers disrupted, the Fife and Forfar can swarm in and surround them, getting crossfire bonuses and destroying them in short order. With the Panthers gone, and the rest of 2nd Panzer weakened and pinned down in assaults, the Cameronians and Fife and Forfars that took Grainville and Le Valtru can head north and east to overwhelm the garrisons of Mondrainville and the hamlet to the east. That Uubermensch will probably cut his way out and escape . . .

BUT THE BRITISH WIN!

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