Intro ASL SK - #S43 Clearing Carentan

Assaulting Carentan

Our next starter kit scenario takes us to Carentan in June 1944... 

S43 Clearing Carentan

Attacker: American (506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division) (GaryB)
Defender: German (Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6) (GaryG)
Turns: 6 Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Carentan, France 1944-06-12

RESULT: The Americans conceded on turn #5

Overview
The key in the initial assaults on the Cotentin Peninsula was the town of Carentan. Control of this vital town of approximately 4,000 people would allow the Utah and Omaha beaches to be securely joined. At approximately 0530 on June 12th elements of the 101st Airborne under the command of artillery commander Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe deployed for the attack scheduled to start at 0600. The initial assault instantly bogged down with well-sited machine gun fire pinning the paratroopers along the road into Carentan, but company commanders rallied their troops and quickly grabbed a foothold in town. Now came the difficult task of capturing the town as well-trained paratroopers began clearing building after building.

Victory Conditions 
The Americans win at game end by controlling all buildings on/between hexrows D-J in hexes numbered </= 5 (Highlighted by yellow boxes on the map below). The Americans set-up below the blue line and the Germans above it.

Set-Up Rules & Victory Locations

German Initial Set-Up

Initial German Set-Up

In setting up I have:

> a 7-0 leader in building hex H3 to rally any broken unit withdrawals in the centre.
> a 2-3-8 and 5-4-8 with MMG in building hex I4 covering the central N/S road and West towards N4
> a 2-3-8 in building hex L2 helping to cover the open area ahead in K4, L4,M4 etc
> a 4-4-7 in building hex N3 covering the N/S road West towards N8

I also have the support of an 8-1 leader / 5-4-8 with LMG and an 8-0 leader / 5-4-8 with LMG all set-up with hidden initial placement. The 8-1 Leader / 5-4-8 with LMG in hex D6 and the 8-0 Leader / 5-4-8 with LMG in hex F5 (marked with a green circles in the map above).

Two hexes have been nominated as artillery attack points for the Germans to use at any time during the battle. These were F7 and G7 (marked with a target on the map above).

The Americans begin with the following squads and support and will set-up >/= hex-row "8" between A and P

Initial American Set-Up

In setting up the Americans have:

> an 8-0 leader and a 7-4-7 squad in hex A8
> a 3-3-7 half-squad in building hex E8
> a 7-4-7 squad with DC in building hex E9
> a 7-4-7 squad in building hex D8
> a 10-2 leader and 7-4-7 squad with MMG in building hex G9
> a 9-1 leader with two 7-4-7 squads in building hex M8

From a defensive point-of-view, I'm quite happy with the American set-up as they are very likely to encounter both of my hidden stacks in D6 and F5 and are very close to my artillery targeted hexes F7 and G7.

Let's see how this one plays out...

>>>AAR for S43