Hauts Vents

Hauts-Vents SC EN A R IO R U LES (con’t) 5. The Germans may place six inches of wire and two machine-gun dug-outs. The machinegun dug-outs are tunnels under the bocage and act as protected firing positions and as conduits connecting each side of the bocage. 6. The north one-third and southeastone-third of the board slope upward. The southeast hill is twice as tall as the northern hill (see contourlines on the m ap). AFTERM ATH As Task Force X advanced, they encountered heavy sm all arm s fire and sniperfire from theirflanks and rear.D ue to the narrow road, tank casualties perpetually blocked the line advance. As Task Force X deployed astride the road, they began taking anti-tank fire from the east.The advance stalled about700 yards northeastofH auts Vents. SC EN A R IO O PTIO NS U S Infantry Shortage:B y July 1944,U S infantry form ations w ere short infantrym en due to the large casualty rates. For each U S Arm ored Infantry and Arm ored Infantry M achinegun squad,rolla d4;on 1 reduce the num berofriflem en by one, on 2-4 reduce the num berofriflem en by tw o. G erm an B oard-Edge Fire: W henever any U S unit ends its movement within a field with an open border to the east board edge,itis subjectto an im m ediate attack from a single 7.5cm anti-tank gun (that is considered to be 70-inches off the eastboard-edge).Apply all norm al targetm odifiers. G erm an D ecisive Victory: If the Germ an player prevents the capture ofthe tw o m iddle-m osthouses and destroys four U S AFVs, the G erm an player receives 5 additional victory points. U S D ecisive Victory: If the US captures the two m iddle- most houses and exits at least ten soldiers off the south board edge,the U S player receives 4 additional attachment credits. CAM PA IG N NO TES This scenario is the firstscenario in the Lehr C ounterattack Campaign. This campaign is large in scope though only fought on a single m ap. Because of the size of the battles and the factthatthere are three scenarios to the cam paign, both sides should be prepared in this scenario (and to som e extent the next scenario) to w ithdraw and prevent m assive casualties that could make winning the campaign in later games impossible. The US player should be careful to preserve his tanks and halftracks as losses in this scenario m ay effectreinforcem entin those thatfollow . SC EN A R IO NOTES The U S G overnm ent produces an excellent book detailing the St.Lo Campaign that was used in researching this scenario,see the Bibliography in this volum e fordetails.O ne of the more interesting footnotes of this scenario is the participation of Battlegroup Heintz- a rag-tag motorized elem ent of the nearly destroyed 275 th Infantry Division. BG H eintz struggled to “hang on”until the arrival ofPz Lehr. SETTING D ate: 10 July 1944,0630 hours Location: Slightly north ofH auts Vents,N orm andy. H istory: Northeast of St.Lo the 30 th Infantry D ivision was tasked with driving south and securing the im m ediate w estflank of the Vire R iver. B y July 10 the division had advanced to w ithin a few kilom eters ofPont H ebert,only a handfulofkilos w estof St. Lo. In direct support of the 120 th and 119 th Infantry R egim ents (30 th Infantry D ivision) w ere elem ents of C om bat C om m and “B” of the 3 rd Armored Division. By 0600, Combat C om m and B w as attacking south,betw een the infantry regiments, with Hauts Vents as its objective. Earlier, Task Force Y (each C om batC om m and w as m ade up of several “task forces” each with about a battalion of tanks and armored infantry) had secured advanced positions. By 0600 Task Force X w as m oving through Task Force Y to begin the advance. O pposing the U S drive w ere beleaguered elem ents ofBattlegroup H eintz (ofthe 275 th Infantry D ivision).Though relatively new to N orm andy,the unithad taken over30% casualties by 9 July. The soldiers of Battlegroup Heintz struggled to hold until armored reinforcements, now on the way, could relieve them . G erm an O rders:PreventU S victory conditions. US O rders:C apture the tw o m iddle-mosthouses. G am e Length:10 Turns. SC EN A R IO RULES 1. O pen areas surrounded by bocage are fields w ith crops of low to medium height. All roads are som ew hatsunken below the level ofthe fields. 2. Allbuildings are ofstone construction.The m anor house and large house are tw o stories. 3. All German forces may start in hasty foxholes; these m ay notbe placed on roads. 4. The G erm an player m ay place two 1x3" Mixed Anti-Personnel/Anti-tank minefields; these must be placed within 12 inches of friendly forces. M ines placed on the road are clearly visible.

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Hauts Vents