AAR - ASL SK1 Scenario #S1 - Retaking Vierville

ASL Starter Kit #1 (MMP)

This is the first in a series of ASL Starter Kit after action reports (AARs) and is based on the Allies trying to take the town of Vierville in northern France.

Retaking Vierville

Attacker: German (1058th Grenadier Regiment/919th Grenadier Regiment/6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment) (GARY)
Defender: American (1st Batt. 506th PIR, 101st Airborne) (ANDREW)
Turns: 5 Players: 2 Germans (twyearling) and Americans (Blaze) OBA: None Night: No
Vierville, France 1944-06-07

RESULT: German victory. (GARY)

Background

Why is Vierville important?

Vierville is along the main route from Utah Beach to the German position at St. Come du Mont. At the end of D-Day St. Come du Mont is still a German strongpoint. This game takes place on D-Day+1. Vierville is necessary for control of the road and to allow the movement of troops and equipment inland. To take and hold St. Come du Mont the Allies must control Vierville.

A map of the area surrounding Veirville

Objective

Prevent any good order German squads from occupying objective buildings, marked with red dots on the map below, at the end of the game.

The Troops

US 101st Airborne - These are elite troops equipped with automatic weapons and smoke grenades. They have excellent firepower but limited range. They may split up their fire between adjacent enemies and are good at assaulting positions.

German Grenadiers - These are either first or second line troops with good morale. They have average firepower and average range. Troops from the 919th Grenadier Regiment are not as accurate at greater ranges. They have limited availability of smoke grenades.

German Fallshirmjager - These are elite troops with excellent morale equipped with automatic weapons. They have good firepower but limited range. They also have good assault capability and smoke grenades. They have good leadership.

Order of Battle

US 1st platoon - 3 squads, 1 half squad, senior NCO. Begins in town.
US 2nd platoon - 3 squads, senior NCO. Enters from the right hand side on turn 1.
US 3rd platoon - 2 squads, NCO. Enters from the right had side on turn 2.
US 4th platoon - 2 squads, 2 half squads, experienced officer. Enter from the right hand side on turn 3.
German 1st Grenadier platoon - 3 squads, senior NCO. Enters from the bottom on turn 1.
German 2nd Grenadier platoon - 3 squads, junior NCO. Enters from the top on turn 1.
German 1st Fallshirmjager platoon - 3 squads, senior NCO. Enters from the bottom on turn 2.
German 2nd Fallshirmjager platoon - 2 squads, senior NCO. Enters from the bottom on turn 3.

Victory Conditions

No good order German units should occupy hexes with red dots at game end

Okay, I'll try and describe the last turn...

I (playing the Germans) needed to protect hex L3 as my objective was to have a working order unit in one of the red dotted hexes in the map below (L3, M4, N6 or N5). Going into the last turn I was moving first and tried to get as much support to L3 as I could. Unfortunately Andy had the roads pretty well covered and the single units I sent out were getting cut down as soon as they ventured into the streets. Finally I elected to position units at positions A and C to cover my beleaguered unit at B. I was fairly happy with the result as I had three strong corridors of fire (blue arrows) covering the streets around L3. Taking a deep breath I prepared for Andy's final attack. He needed to force me out of L3 to claim victory himself.

Despite continuous America assault, the Germans hang on!

Moving single units to use up my defensive fire looked to be working well, but this was leaving a wall of residual fire markers (the red flashes) along main street and cost Andy a number of morale checks. Still, as the dust settled, he managed to get three fairly strong units into building hex M4 and ready for the close assault to L3.

My remaining units in L3 were pretty badly shot up, having been in melee fighting for most of the game. Now they had to withstand one final assault and this came down to three American close combat rolls (All 3:1 ratio so looking for 7s or less due to a CX modifier). The Americans needed three successes, but ultimately didn't get any and the Germans held their ground winning the scenario. Phew!