The Big Cat's Den - Critical Hit 75
Set Up: I took the rag-tag Germans in this one, and the setup is a real challenge, but you have lots of options. Group 1 (the Paras) consist of a whoping 2.5 squads with one leader and a 50L gun. I put the gun in Q6, and half squads in buildings X5 and X7, with the leader and MMG in X5. I used my squad worth of HIP to put 2-3-8s in W1 and T1 with the PzKs. The goal was to simply delay the Canadians a few turns, and make them pay for the R7 bridge with a few vehicles. Group 2 (the 447 guys) were placed around the R4 hill mass, ready to defend that board or shift over to board 22. I also stuck a couple 447/LMGs forward in K8 and I2 as a screen force. I put one of the 658s the 9-1 and LMG in building 22P8, covering the bridge. The other 658 and 348 were in reserve around 41V5. The Tiger went in Q3, hull down, and the PzIV went in K2 in reserve.

Early Turns:
My two opponents massed everything on board 22, with the goal of capturing the R7 bridge, and swinging south of the stream to take the K2 bridge for the win. I was able to delay him for four turns with my paras and the 50L gun. While I didn't kill any infantry, I did get two Shermans and a Lynx before malfing the damn thing in the bottom of turn 3. Basically, the Canadians used a mix of smoke and WP to drive me out of my initial positions, and my withdraw to subsequents didn't work out too well. I wanted to pull the 238/MMG/8-1 stack to T6, but the swarming Stuarts got me after I pinned trying to get there. My HIP guys each took out one Stuart each, about what I expected, and would have gotten more but for a sniper breaking one of them.

Middle Turns: Once they had committed everything to board 22, I brought the Tiger down off the hill and moved him to 22Q2 facing north down the road. I also brought the PzIV up behind him in P2 for support. My opponents then utilized a sort of vehicle human wave attack on my Tiger, moving something like 6 AFVs into the area including three of the deadly Achilles. In the melee that followed, I flamed another Stuart and one Achilles, but some really crappy rolls by me allowed him to take out the Tiger. At that point, I was about done. The 50L crew had broken after the gun malfed, and my SS guys in P8 had broken and rolled consecutive 10s on their rally attempts. With the Tiger gone the Canadians swarmed the PzIV and got over the R7 bridge and attacked the K2 bridge from the rear. The PzIV died trying to un-ass the area and fall back to the bridge, leaving only a few 447/436 types around the bridge by the end of turn 6. I conceeded at this point because I was quickly ru! nning out of MMC around the brid ge, and he still had all his infantry and a ton of armor left.

Analysis:
Overall, a great scenario. It is one of the more realistic ones I've played from this point in the war which really reflects the overwhelming allied numerical superiority, especially in armor. In the end, I the Canadians lost 7 AFVs taking the two bridges and destroying two german tanks. They took 39 CVPs, but still had enough to out firepower the germans. I think my setup on board 22 was pretty good. With only 2.5 squads and one gun defending, the Canucks didn't take the bridge until turn four, and it cost them seven vehicles. I didn't plan the withdraw routes well enough though, and it cost me. With an ELR of zero and all those Canadian tanks, don't plan on staying around too long, so have your subsequent positions well planned. I should have put the MMG farther back, possibly at level 2 of the big H4 building. Putting it forward I didn't get many shots. The net result of it being 1944 and the SSR means that a half-squad only gets a faust on a "1", so don't plan on! many. My opponent attacked ver y well, and I think massing on board 22 and going for first the R7 and then the K2 bridges is the best approach for this scenario. I should have put the tiger farther back, because its presence slows the allies up, even if they don't know exactly where it is. It died on turn 4, so if it had held out a little longer I might have pulled it out. Finally, the R7 bridge is the most vulnerable of the three and I should have put the roadblock on it. Instead, I put it in 41R6, hoping to really slow down a board 41 attack, but he didn't send anything that way. The roadblock may only save you a turn of control, but if backed up well from the south side by the tiger or PzIV it could have made the difference. Anyway, a good scenario which plays really well with three people because of all the allied armor. Kudos to the CH staff again.

Doug Bush