Rommel Late War Germans v Americans Scenario 6 'Relief'

Jerry had painted up a load of 6mm Late War Germans and Americans and was keen to try them out. We went for Scenario 6 "Relief" with me as the Germans and Jerry as the Americans. The Americans have some isolated forces (in this case paratroopers) which the rest of the American force needs to break through to while the Germans try to stop them.

I had an Infantry KG which deployed across the centre of the table entirely in terrain with a small Panzer KG holding some of the line and a larger Panzer KG deployed in reserve. Jerry's force relieving force was made up entirely of Sherman's and Armoured Infantry allowing him to move quickly but limiting his numbers a little:

Another view:

The Americans make a strong attack on the German Infantry KG at the far end of the line but the terrain hinders their progress and stops them making the best use of their armoured units:

The German reserve Panzer KG is masked by an equal number of American elements:

The Germans sneak a Tiger company and some Panzer Grenadiers onto the flank of the Americans:

Using three tactical moves the Tigers and Panzer Grenadiers capture the American supply base which the Americans left undefended. This is a serious blow as it will make it much harder for the Americans to move as they are out of supply:

The Americans continue to attack the German Infantry KG but, while they inflict a few losses, the German infantry hold on comfortably:

The American paratroopers are still awaiting relief, the Germans have not attacked them preferring to leave them for later:

The smaller German Panzer KG sends it's Panzer IV's forwards to capture the American objective:

With the American attack on the German infantry stalled, the objective controlled by the Germans and the American supply line still held by the Tigers and Panzer Grenadiers the situation is hopeless for the Americans and they call off the relief attempt, the paratroopers will have to hold on longer or surrender!:

This was only Jerry's second Rommel game. In the first I'd underestimated him and come close to defeat so this time I made sure not to make that mistake again! It showed how steep the learning curve is for Rommel, once the terrain was placed and I had a line of woods/mountains/towns across the table it was always going to be very hard for Jerry to break through with the disadvantage for attacking terrain and the fact that his armour was of little use in the terrain.

The Relief scenario is also a tough one for the attacker as you have to hold your supply base, control the sole objective and be able to trace a line of supply between them which is not easy as it gives the defender several ways of winning the game.

Jerry's armies looked great, the basing being really varied with little dioramas on some bases and the towns (made of 3mm buildings) also looked fantastic as did the railway line.