The CCB of the 6th Armored Division seized the Nied bridge and crossed that river on November 11th. Wary of German panzers to the north, a small cavalry force was sent to form a blocking position between Berlize and Bazoncourt to protect the flank of the CCB. Capt. James Bridges set up positions six hundred yards south of Berlize at midnight. As morning dawned they saw a lot of movement in the town, but couldn't tell if it was friend or foe. The answer came soon as German tanks and assault guns poured out of Berlize and came straight at them.
Attacker: German (Elements 21st Panzer Division)
Defender: American (Elements 86th Cavalry Sqdn & 603rd Tank Destroyer Btn)
Germans enter on the NW corner of the map and have to exit off the SE. Americans have quite a large area to protect and not a lot of good AT weapons, so they need to make the most of things. They do get a little extra anti-infantry muscle in the form of three M3A1 HTs that can be stripped of 0.50 HMGs, MMGs, and BAZs, plus a Wolverine to hopefully knock out a tank or two. I got the worst of things when I lost the initial tank skirmish when my best onboard tank (a hulldown M8HMC) was fried by his StuG thanks to the help of his AL direction, while my mortar HS was chased off Level 2. Meanwhile my men in the farm compound awaited the onslaught. The Germans do have a lot of ground to cover and not a ton of time and, like many exit scenarios, there's a fine line in deciding to try and make a break for it with just the vehicles while leaving the men behind, or making a combined-force push. Turn 3 saw the Germans just about wrap up the farm, while a Stuart was fried sitting patiently concealed in one of the few outlying stone buildings. Turn 4 saw Scott's recently placed smoke all blown away, only to be replaced with some more, and he decided this would be the turn to make his push with the armor. It was my time to have a good turn when three of his Panthers were knocked out, but my Wolverine's gun overheated in the prcoess. Meanwhile a pesky American squad in DD6 held off the encroaching German infantry. Turn 5 saw another Panther fall to a BAZ, but my last Stuart bogged while trying to turn in the woods. Scott graciously reminded me of the part of the VC giving him an immediate victory if I had no remaining mobile AFVs with functioning MAs, so I drove my AC to safety near the back of the hill to hide him in the brush. When Turn 6 saw more infantry setbacks, and with only two vehicles left and many broken bodies strewn across the battlefield, the Germans called it a day. I'm not a big fan of exit scenarios, but this was a pretty fun swirling scenario. Almost all of the ESG scenarios I have played have been very enjoyable.