After finishing up in Tulle, Mark and I went back to Paratrooper, and scenario 17, “Lost Opportunities”. It’s D-Day, and the Germans are trying to retake Ste.-Mère-Église from 505th Parachute Regiment. They have six turns to take five buildings on board 1.
I had the defending Americans, who get eight paratrooper squads, a 60mm MTR, a couple MMGs, five BAZ, and an AT gun. The defense is along the narrow edge of the board, where it abuts board 2. The ATG went in J4, where there’s actually pretty good LOS up the entire center street, and if the Germans went too far on either flank, it’d still have a shot. My one HIP squad took a MMG and was in D2, where it could do a surprise shot if he advanced on that flank. The MTR was in E6 with a foxhole, as it’s one of the few hexes with open ground in front of the buildings, and has a few places it can see in the MTR’s range. The other MMG was up in 1F6h2, where it could largely out-range the Germans.
The Germans have a mix of nineteen second line and conscript squads with the usual machine guns, a couple 50mm MTRs, a Marder I, and a couple of captured French Renault tanks. Most of them in a line at the limit of the setup area, but the two MTRs set up on the hill, with the Marder right in front. As a last note, the Germans lose if they ever go below nine unbroken squad equivalents. Given the quality of troops, its a heck of a restriction.
Mark led off with a bombardment of forward positions from all his ordnance, including a nice rate-tear from one of the MTRs. However, the only result was to reveal my squad in 1B6 and battle harden him. Movement was fairly calm until a 8-0 came into view, and the high-up MMG pinned him and ELRed the conscripts with him (for the first turn or so, I was stuck on the underscored morale method of breaking into HS for anyone who couldn’t be Replaced, before finally remembering they should be disrupting instead). Then an 8-1 came in next to that, and the MMG broke him and the MMG squad with him. In DFPh, the MMG claimed another victim, breaking his 9-1 and LMG squad, and the ATG took what I supposed to be a ranging shot at the hull down Marder, which hit and burned it.
Situation, German Turn 1, showing the full board. North is to the left.
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