Date played: 12/27/99, Gary's Games
British: Dan Owsen
Germans: Harold Moritmer

Victor (after 7 turns): Germans

This is a tale of a game that I feel I made more challenging on myself due to a weak set-up. It took a hard fight and a lot of luck (almost every SAN rolled by the German was rewarded with a "1" sniper activation, also got a couple of HOBs resulting in heroes, one of which took out an SS squad single-handedly!) to make the game even reasonably close and exciting. However, as my first foray into the new HASL module "A Bridge Too Far" it was a great learning experience. Although I did not take detailed notes about the game, I feel that now that I have played it, I can make some recommendations about the scenario that may help players who have not yet attempted it.

First of all, make sure you read through the ABtF rules carefully. Most importantly for the British, remember the following:

1. British set up concealed regardless of LOS, so everything is covered before the Germans set up.
2. PIATs are secretly recorded. This is not a big deal, and actually it is probably a good idea to not do this so you don't forget where they are.
3. British get Gammon Bombs. Don't forget to use them if you get the chance.
4. British units in S11 are fanatic. This doesn't appear to be a key building in this scenario. We played that you must use this building as your HQ and can't designate another in a scenario (as you can in the CG). I would probably designate a different building as HQ if I had a choice, perhaps one in block J or L.
5. British have white phosphorous grenades. Killer for those engineer squads with a smoke exponent of 4! (Germans do too though....) Even though I tried to drill this into my head before the scenario I didn't use them in a couple of cases where they might have been helpful.
6. British are elite so they get increased smoke depletion for the mortars (as well as HE for the 57L).
7. Mist hindrance. Don't forget this early in the game for longer range shots (+1 at 7-12 hex range, +2 at 13-18, etc.) After turn 5, it gets worse, with a +1 at 0-6 hexes, +2 at 7-12 hexes, etc.) This gives the British a lot of cover later in the game during the final assault.
8. Study the LOS in Arnhem carefully! The orchards in particular can make it possible to move with impunity versus units that are in upper levels of buildings or on hills. I thought I was being clever by setting up my 76mm mortar on a rooftop but the LOS was so restricted it was of limited effectiveness.

Set-Up Comments:

As I said, my set-up was weak. The British get a large force (A Company) that sets up within 4 hexes of R14, and another slightly smaller force (HQ Defense platoon) with some engineers (Troop B Royal Engineers) that sets up within 3 hexes of I6. I spread out my R14 force a little too much. I put most of them in Block J and L, but I also put a few in the Schoolhouse (S11) and in Block H. My thought was that the forces of the first group in Block H would serve as a covering force for the engineers as they moved towards the bridge for an assault on the pillbox. The second force set up in Block H, as close to the bridge as possible so they could make their way to the attack as soon as possible. As it turns out, the engineers will not need any help making it towards the bridge, and the squads I put in Block H from A Company would have been better placed in Block J and L to assault the bridge more quickly.

One of my other goofs was to put the 76mm Mortar on the rooftop of building N10 (in o12). It got off a few shots but was really out of position to do any real damage. Another goof-- putting the 57L in a building (P16). What was I thinking? It too actually ended up doing some damage to Germans squads assaulting from Block I before it ran out of HE, but had no effect on the German AFVs. Final and worst mistake-- putting the jeep, with leader and HS w/PIAT in R16 (under the bridge). Although intended to be a roving anti-tank force, it was targeted by the German kill stack in W14 and killed. The leader was wounded and managed to retrieve the PIAT but it was a non-factor in the fight.

Based on how the scenario went, here's what I would do differently:

1. Put the jeep, with 57L gun in tow, in factory hex P17. It will be safe in here from immediate attack, and can then be moved to where it is needed. In our game, Harold brought all of his AFV to defend the bridge by driving them around the east edge of the map. It would have been nice to have the 57L mobile to try to scare away the AFV.

2. Find a better location for the 76mm mortar. Duh. What are some good locations? S15 might not be too bad... it looks like it can see the key hexes of R20 and R21, but its LOS to other locations is pretty limited. In worst case, the mortar can be disassembled and moved onto the bridge (or manhandled there) to fire right down the road if the pillbox is occupied. It might actually be a good idea to set-up with it disassembled so it can be moved more easily.

3. I would not put any of the Company A force in Block H. I would put the majority of them in Block J and L (P16 and T16 are key locations). I would also put at least a squad and a machine gun (LMG probably) in V16. Usually this would be a kind of foolish location, as a squad that is broken here could be cut off from the main force, but I found that the orchards and hedge around hexes V17-20 totally obstructed my view to the German forces that were moving through Block R. Since this is the obvious axis of advance for Kampgruppe Euling (the most potent of the German infantry forces), it has to be covered.

Other observations:

There is plenty of time for the Engineers to reach the bridge and take part in the assault on the blockhouse. Even in my game the 9-2 was on hand to lead the assault with a flamethrower and DC. Do not waste the flamethrowers on any other target than the blockhouse. I got one shot out of each of them and neither did any damage at all. Ditto for the DC-- these must be used to attack the blockhouse, or some other juicy target. By time the engineers reach the bridge, it will probably be dark. Combine that with +2 infantry smoke and even in the open you have almost as much protection as a stone building.

Conclusion:

This seems like a great introduction to A Bridge Too Far. The scenario is long enough and has enough forces for both sides that it is possible to recover from mistakes. Both sides also get some interesting toys, and have to play the part of attacker and defender during the course of the action. In addition, it was fairly fast playing and we pretty much had finished the game in about 7 hours.

German Comments / Rebuttal (from Harold):

As the German you must have an aggressive attack early to reinforce the bridge and then settle in with a defense that covers the R20 pedestrian access access points both below the bridge and on the bridge. The S19 building is suited well for this. Be careful of British units setting up on/near the ramp. With the good smoke #'s from the mortars they might try to smoke the blockhouse and the bridge level of R21 when they are ready for the final assault. The gathering darkness will help British units survive those -1 shots. Don't forget the vehicle notes for the 251/sMG. There is some heavy FP that can be removed from it.

The nice thing about this scenario is both sides are attacking and defending at the same time. The battle can get quite mixed and confused with enemy units coming in from all sides and makes for a bloodbath especially if both players are aggressive at ASL to begin with. Definitely a primer for any of the CG's.