Higher Ground

Saint Lô & Falaise, France, August 1944 - Light US forces press forward against the encircled Germans...

Historical Situation

Mid-August 1944, central France, the German front is collapsing (although they haven't realised it) and Hitler is insisting on an armoured thrust west from Trun to counter the U.S. advance. The U.S. XV Corps has already broken through into empty country beyond Saint Lô and General Bradley has now ordered the Corps to swing east to hook round behind the German armour and trap it - preventing a retreat north & east to the Seine river. American forces are pushing forward as far and as fast as they can to keep the Germans guessing, and secure vital objectives for the ongoing advance!

Having secured Le Mans then turned north, the American XV Corps has sent a Task Force (consisting of a reinforced Motorised Infantry Battalion with some light-armour reconnaissance forces) north towards the south bank of the Orne river. Approaching Argentan they are ordered to secure some dominant high ground south of the town to cover the approach of heavier forces the next day, who are heading for Argentan themselves, and an Orne crossing. Falaise and the Canadians are just 25km away across the Orne to the north, in between are all or part of nearly 7 Panzer Divisions, 2 Tiger Battalions, several reasonably fresh German Infantry Divisions, and the last remnants of the German 7th Army.

The Germans meanwhile, with the Canadians finally entering Falaise itself, have suddenly realised the threat to their rear and have finally started to send forces south to secure their open flank... As the U.S. XII Corps approaches Orléans 100km to the south, the Task Force approaches it's objective, unaware that the first significant German forces have already occupied the area south of Orne around Argentan...

Map

There is no map available for this scenario at this time (but will be soon). For 15mm figures the table size is approximately 2.2m x 1.5m (7'6" x 5') and runs long-ways North to South.

U.S. Player

Morale: Regular

1 Battalion (Task Force) HQ:
     1 BC (+1)
     1 FO (for Mortars*)
3 Rifle Companies, each with:
     1 CC (+2)
     1 MG Section with:
          1 0.30" MMG Stand
     1 Mortar Section with:
          1 60mm Mortar Stand*
     3 Rifle Platoons, each:
          1 PC (+1)
          1 PAT Bazooka Stand
          3 Rifle Squads

1 (Attached) Rifle Company with:
     1 CC (+1)
     3 Rifle Platoons, each:
          1 PC (+1)
          3 Rifle Squads

1 (Attached) Armoured Recon Platoon:
     1 PC in Jeep with 0.30" MG (+1)
     1 Recon Jeep with 0.30" MG
     2 M8 Greyhound Armoured Cars

1 Attached Recon (Support) Tank Platoon:
     1 PC in Jeep (+1)
     1 M3 or M5 Stuart Light Tank
     2 M8 HMC Support Tanks

* The US Forces are permitted to pool their (3) company mortars into a fire support group and deploy a FO to provide some centralised battalion level indirect fire capability. This is not compulsory and they may leave the mortars in their individual companies if desired (in which case the battalion level FO is not used).

U.S. Objective

To secure the high ground at the far side of the table with sufficient force (a company equivalent group of 10 squads and/or AFVs) before nightfall1. Troops are assumed to have encountered some light German resistance and have dismounted from their trucks to advance the last kilometre or two to the objective on foot.

U.S. Deployment

Deploys Second and has First Initiative. Enter from anywhere along the Southern table edge, or the Southern half of the West table edge, in any order desired, except the 'Attached' Rifle Company's platoons (the company with no heavy weapons), which must be the last U.S. infantry to enter the table, as they represent the leading company of the following battalion sent up as reinforcements.

German Player

Morale: Regular

1 Battalion HQ:
     1 BC (+1)
     1 FO (for mortars)
     1 Mortar Platoon
          2 81mm Mortar Stands (off-table if desired)
2 Rifle Companies, each with:
     1 CC (+2)
     1 MG Platoon:
          1 PC (+1)
          2 MMG Sections (Stands)
     3 Rifle Platoons, each with:
          1 PC (+1)
          1 PAT Panzerfaust Stand
          3 Rifle Sections (Squads)

Assorted Armour Attachments 'in the vicinity':
     1 Tiger I
     2 Panzer IV ausf F1 (75mm L/24)*

* You may instead substitute two of, or a mix of any two, of the following: Panzer III ausf N (75mm L/24), Sdkfz 251/9 (75mm L/24), Sdkfz 234/1 (20mm), or Sdkfz 234/3 (75mm L/24), or other similar light armoured vehicle equivalents.

German Objective

Hold the high ground and prevent an American breakthrough, but without losing the Tiger tank! The Tiger must deploy on table on or near the high ground, it may not exit the table, and it must shoot at the U.S. forces at least once in the game (otherwise it counts as lost by the Germans).

German Deployment

Deploys first, has Second Initiative.

Victory Conditions

Scenario Special Rules & Rules Variants

1. Applying a time limit is optional, in the end we did not worry about this. However if you choose to (to add some extra tension) we suggest the 'Moving Clock' system provided in the Crossfire Supplement "Hit The Dirt". Use something like a Clock Roll of 5+ at the end of each German Initiative Phase, success advances the clock by 15 minutes until dusk. The game starts at 1500 and dusk falls at 2000. After dusk falls the next Clock Roll ends the game - time assuming to have then advanced to 2100 and Nightfall.

2. This was one of our first genuine games of Crossfire. We also used indirect fire for the first time, and increased the number of vehicles to see how it would go. We were still working through some vehicles rules since we were not happy with the ones in the book, and included is an early draft. See the house rules section of this site for the latest version.

With this scenario we tried out a new AT fire system we had been working on, the first of various systems we have tried or tinkered with. To summarise:

The weapon throws the number of dice indicated (e.g. 4D for a 75mm) and must score the number indicated or better to get a "hit" against that armour value. To hit & penetration are all built into a single roll that works the same way as the normal anti-infantry fire in the rules. Three Hits kill the target same as for infantry stands. Multiple Suppressions do not kill the target, but have to be rallied off twice (i.e. first rally reduces vehicle to single suppression). This simulates damage and temporary crew distraction. Multiple rallies may be made in the same initiative.

Adjustments

-1D is lost as usual when firing at targets in cover with AT (whether hard or soft).
-1 pip if the target is Hull Down (i.e. a 5+ above becomes a 6, etc).
-1 pip if the weapon is a Bazooka/Panzerfaust firing at spaced-armour.

A natural 6 will always count as a hit and a natural 1 is always a miss on each die.

HE fire is as per the standard CF rules. Tanks could choose to fire their MGs instead of the main gun, getting 3D or, if 2 MGs (i.e. Hull & Turret) both had LOS to the target, 4D. MGs on Jeeps got 3D. Pintel & Roof mounted MGs on AFVs were ignored for the purposes of this scenario.

For the record the armour values are based on those given in the WRG 1925-50 rules.

We were still discussing how Pins and Suppressions should affect AFVs... In this game we treated them exactly as normal (except for the additional multiple suppression rule above) - but this meant the vehicles were inactive a lot!

Read the After Action Report...