However, everything went FUBAR on the first turn! American engineers blew the bridge on the right flank just as the Panzers approached. I had six action points available to me, and advanced my tanks 6 feet. Joe requested support from the mortar battalion and laid smoke to screen my advance.
Unfortunately, all the paratroopers defending the bridge on the left flank were killed before they could detonate the demolition charges. Pz IVs began pouring across the bridge! With no other option, German tanks on the right flank turned around to face the leading elements of the 3rd Army.
German tanks advance towards Bastogne.
In turn two, my forces ran into a Pz IV platoon reinforced with two King Tigers! Unwilling to commit suicide, my M3 light tanks charged instead towards the horse-drawn German artillery that was exposed in the middle of the map. However, the Germans had retained initiative and were able to interrupt my attack, destroying all three light tanks in a single barrage. My M4 Shermans moved to a gap in the ridgeline and were engaged by the King Tigers. The German tank commander rolled 36d6, scoring six hits and destroyed three tanks.
In turn three, a well-placed artillery barrage caught a large group of panzer grenadiers in the open, with devastating results. A number of men were killed, and the rest were suppressed. The German tanks on the right flank completed an about-face and charged towards the weakened right flank of the 3rd Army. Withering fire resulted in more losses, with several half-tracks destroyed. However, the motorized infantry were able to bail out and rally on a nearby hill.
Leading elements of the 3rd Army suffer casualties.
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