Steve Petras and I played this yesterday on his shiny new Baraque de Fraiture map (nice work, Front Line -- can you repost your ordering info?).
Tactically, it was an interesting situation. 13 American 747s and 667s with a couple of MGs, two BAZes, and 5 M4A1s (two of them with the 76L gun) have to exit at least 34 VP from the far side of the board, i.e., they enter on row A and have to get to row Q. The Germans have 7 658s with a couple of PSKs and several MGs to stop them. The Germans also get a Roadblock and a bunch of foxholes.
From the American side (the side I played), the left half of the board is Woods, with interior hexes being Forest. There's a fairly extensive network of Paths. The right side of the board is a band of woods, then a large area of "Cleared Forest," which is treated as Scrub -- open ground for all purposes except Concealment. A road runs right up the middle of the board in a beeline to where the Americans must exit. Tempting, indeed. (As a warning, you really need a sheet of Lexan to hold this map down -- especially in this scenario, where the road runs right down the fold in the mapsheet, and without Lexan over the map you'll be catapulting units into the air all afternoon.)
The problem for the Americans is that the tanks won't make it unless they go straight across the Open Ground in the middle of the Board; a couple of tanks that I optimistically brought in through woods didn't do well on Bog rolls; one of them never did make it off the board. OTOH, the Infantry will never make it if they try to cross all that Open Ground, since the Germans can pretty well criss-cross it with Fire Lanes. (I never found Steve's Bore-Sighted hexes, BTW.) With Deep Snow in effect, the Americans are also deprived of all their wonderful Smoke capabilities, too.
Steve set up all over the map in places where he could move pretty effectively to get at me no matter what I did, but also places where I wouldn't readily be able to fire at him early on. He placed the Roadblock wisely across the road near the exit area, covered by what I rightly guessed was a 348 with a PSK. The roadblock was also in a place where it was a real pain for me in terms of LOS, as well.
I decided that I'd bring my tanks in pretty much the only place I could -- the one or two road and open ground hexes on the friendly board edge. The infantry set up in a big skirmish line; my theory was that some would Armored Assault with the tanks while others cleared the woods on either side. I wanted to protect my tanks at all cost, since they'd give me 35 VP all by themselves if they survived and exited.
However, I knew perfectly well that the foxhole just behind the first woods to the right of the road would have a PSK guy in it. So I was pretty cagey with the tanks at first until I broke that HS. Personally I would've put the PSKs with full squads -- can't beat that broken morale of 9.
My plan worked OK, though my dice ran cold every time I tried to go into CC to eliminate some pesky Germans on the flanks. And Steve rolled some nice 3s and 4s on the IFT, including a PBF 658+hmg attack on a concealed stack including my 9-2 and a 747 squad with an MMG; the 9-2 died of wounds in his first contact with the enemy. However, his first followup attack with ROF created a Hero out of the broken 747, and the second ROF shot wounded the Hero and turned the squad Fanatic! Coolness.
The dice did turn in my favor, though, and I got a couple of CHs right when I needed them, which polished off SS guys who could've really slowed me down. The final stage of the attack featured four of the tanks in a flying wedge stacked with several 747s and the 9-1 (Lt. Tokarz, if he's listening) facing off against what I'd figured that lone SS HS with a PSK in a Foxhole surrounded by a barbed wire fence. To the right was another HS with the other PSK.
The woods on the left were mostly clear. Behind me was a Fanatic SS HS with an LMG taking potshots, and an SS squad with a BAZ captured after killing its owners in a long, pointless Melee off to the side, which was now pursuing my tail-ass-Charlie tank.
The problem was the PSKs. There was no way I could exit my tanks without getting within at least three hexes of a PSK. And the Sherman is a Large Target. So on the DFPh of the last US turn, all four of the lead tanks blazed away with everything they had at the guys behind the barbed wire. And they missed. A lot. But the fourth tank scored a hit (can't remember if it was a CH), and broke 'em.
So, on the last US turn, my infantry ran for it, my tanks hit the gas right past the broken PSK guys and 5 hexes from the unbroken ones, and I exited 41 VP to win -- 4 tanks, the 9-1, and a bunch of MMCs. Even though I'd decimated the German force utterly, I think it would've gone the other way if both PSKs had remained in play.
This is a fun scenario and a lot more balanced than it looked at first. The US has a big, big force -- but can't take a lot of casualties, especially with the tanks. And the Germans are fearsome opponents who can pretty much guarantee you some infantry casualties. Don't mess with the SS, even when they have a large front to cover.
The only thing I would've done really differently as the Germans would've been to set up both PSKs near the US entry area. If the initial road hex is covered from two directions, you're almost certain to get a Burning Wreck there early in the game, which in this case would've made all the difference. The only option for the US to avoid that is to go through the woods next to the road and create Trail Breaks, which is slow and risky at best -- and easily countered by moving the PSKs to places where you'd get a 1-hex shot anyway. Also, SS firepower has a pretty decent chance of getting rid of escorting infantry from a tank or two and letting them close in with their PFs and ATMMs...
Finally, my last tip is that the American player should destroy all his Bazookas on his first AFPh. There are no buildings or walls on the entire playing area, and the possibility of taking a shot at someone behind the Roadblock is much smaller than the possibility (which happened to me) of having one or both BAZes captured and used against you.
John Frazer
German: S. Kyle
American: J. Brackin
Result: German win
American paratroopers and armor trying to bust through a German blocking force of SS in Deep Snow. The Americans attack with ten and a half paratrooper squads, three 1st line squads with sapper ability, 5 M4A1 tanks, a 9-1 armor leader, a 9-2, 9-1, 8-0, 2 MMG's and 2 BAZ. Two of the tanks are equipped with the 76L gun, and the leaders include a 9-2. To stop this force, the SS have 8 and a half SS squads with a 9-1, 8-1, 8-0, 1 HMG, 1 MMG, 3 LMG's, 2 PSK's, inherent PF's, 10 foxholes, and a roadblock.
The VC require the American player to exit at least 34 VP off the south edge of the playing area, which is hexrows A through P of the BdF map, 16 hexrows. They start with 33 points worth of infantry, so at least one tank has to make it. With five Shermans the American would normally use lots of smoke, but this scenario has Deep Snow so smoke is NA. The two paved roads are plowed, but the snow also hinders off-road movement. The Americans aren't strictly road-bound, but the paved roads are key to the defense.
Placement of the roadblock will have a major impact on the game, and in this case the obvious choice is also the best. Hexside B17-A18 is the only place were the road from the American board edge passes between woods hexes, so that's where I put the roadblock. The American will expect it there, but even so he has do deal with it one way or another. By SSR the sapper DRM can be applied to clearing the roadblock, so its very likely that the block will be removed, but it will cost the Yanks time. Delaying the American armor is important to limit the number of fire phases the guns can pound the German positions. I also put two half-squads at the roadblock, one behind it and one in woods next to it. These units will be wiped out quickly, but should get a shot or two off at moving attackers. Plus, their presence within 2 hexes of the road entry hex will give the Americans a reason to keep the armor off the board until the PF threat is gone. In retrospect, a single full squad would work better, since it has a better chance to get a PF, has Spraying Fire ability, and better survival chances in CC.
Jim made a couple attempts to clear the roadblock, while at the same time moving his tanks through the woods on either side. A couple of them did Bog, but freed themselves later with loss of a turn's movement. Although the Americans successfully bypassed the roadblock, they were delayed several turns. This is what the German player needs, as time is short for the Americans. Every turn spent on the wrong side of the roadblock is one less turn those 75 and 76 mm shells are pounding the German defenders.
Four squads with two LMG's and the 8-0 were spread out in the woods to the east to prevent any quick movement on the paths. Jim didn't bring a strong force on here until turn two, which I think is a mistake. The US infantry has to clear the way for the armor to break through, and the woods to the east of the main road will need to be cleared of German PF-toting infantry. This group just retreated slowly to form a blocking position alongside the road for the last American MPh. The 747's are great for this close range fighting, while the 667 sappers can clear the roadblock and then use their longer range to shoot over the cleared forest terrain at the German defenders. Jim's infantry attack through the woods was about one MPh short of being able to exit. It would have been tougher to stop him if he had attacked this area on turn 1.
The lack of long range AT weapons is a real problem for the German player, so he has to make good use of his LATW threats. The panzerschrecks represent the best chance to kill American tanks, and their positions will attract a lot of attention from the Americans. It would be nice to put them somewhere within range of the entry hex, but the paratroopers will just swarm them before any tanks enter. I decided to put them with half-squads in foxholes about four hexrows away from the German board edge, in the "cleared forest" (i.e. Scrub) terrain. They were setup concealed, each within two hexes of one of the roads. There was no other cover nearby, so if they broke there would be on place to rout to, but would be out of long-range fire from the 747 squads until late in the game. The tanks could only hit them after they got through the roadblock. With concealment and the foxhole TEM, the TH modifiers would be +4 for the ITT, +2 for ATT. Plus, the Deep Snow halves the FP of HE hits, so while concealed the PSK teams would be pretty safe.
This worked out well, although an early sniper '2' attack revealed one of the PSK teams. Jim took some shots at the PSK positions, but the few hits he got had no effect thanks to the Deep Snow. Finally, after one PSK team's shot missed at 2 hex range, he fired back with an Improbable Hit Bounding Fire shot and broke it . Earlier, the other PSK team had advanced out of its hole to get the main road within range, and a turn 5 Prep Fire shot hit and killed the lead Sherman at 4 hexes with a 5 (+1 target size).
With the loss of one tank, Jim now had to exit at least 4 infantry points and all the remaining tanks, including the armor leader, in his last turn. The infantry moving through the forest on my right was too far away to make it, except for one squad. His only chance was to move the rest of his tanks and infantry down the main road in the open, past two squads with an LMG and a HMG, and through a half squad in the road that was hoping to find a PF at the right time. If the tanks did not eliminate the half-squad, the infantry would not be able to exit. His first attempt to move a squad down the road resulted in a KIA, with a 6 RFP and LMG fire lane waiting for the next guys who tried it. At this point Jim realized he didn't have the necessary MF to make it, and conceded.
This is an interesting scenario, which is not immediately apparent at first glance. The weather conditions work against the American's superior numbers, and make it difficult for him to use his tanks. At 5 and a half turns, and medium-sized OB's, this would be reasonble tourney scenario, and can be played easily in an evening as we did.
Steve Kyle