Below you will find the second in a series of After Action Report articles written by players participating in The Last Hundred Yards ladder play on BGG. You can find the first article in this series here. If you would like to participate in the LHY ladder play, please contact Mark Buetow through the LHY Facebook page or on BGG. Enjoy!

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Mission 24.0: All for a Piece of Dirt

Hurtgen Forest, September 22, 1944: The moment Captain Richards entered the battalion command post, he knew Major Carnes was pissed. “Those krauts snuck an observation post on Hill 179 last night and hammered regiment’s supply column this morning. Colonel Ranking is on my ass and wants us them off that hill now. You got that Captain Richards?” Back at the company CP, Captain Richards—pointing at spot on map—looked around at the grim faces of lieutenants Murphy and Cherry and said “There’s an enemy outpost here on Hill 179, directing mortar fire on our supply convoys. Major Carnes wants it eliminated yesterday. I think your best approach will be here, from the south. Any questions? Alright then, get your men ready to move out immediately.” As they left the CP, Murphy groused, “All this for a piece of dirt.”

Mission Objective:

Mission ends at the end of any Game Turn the Americans control Hill 179, or if either side reaches its Casualty Differential Limit, or if the Final Score ≥ 46.

Forces:

American: Able Infantry Co., 1st and 2nd Plts., supported by one MG section

German: 2. Infantry Kp., 2nd Plt., (4 sections) and one 8cm Mortar section

After Action Report by Mike Crow (Americans)

I lost count of the number of times during the game that I stated “Luck favors the foolish…” referring to the number of times that the bones pulled my bacon out of the fire. Our entry was standard enough. Cherry’s platoon and the MG team using the cover of the southernmost hill taking up positions in and around the farm buildings. Murphy’s platoon advanced into the woods south of the hill taking the objective under observation. Our advance was met with sporadic small arms and mortar fire with little effect.

Embolden by our easy advance so far, both platoons struck out across the open ground toward the base of the hill. This time, Germans small arms and mortar fire more effective and we began taking casualties and now we were in risk of exceeding our Casualty Differential Limit (CDL). So far, we had managed to hold the initiative, but with the casualties starting to mount, things began to unravel. More of our squads and sections were disrupted by small arms and mortar fire, and the Germans began to gain the initiative.

Our advance stalled as the platoon leaders were busy in the recovery of their units to get them back in the fight. Accurate mortar fire pinned a good most of Murphy’s platoon, forcing them to go the ground, but were fortunate in that they suffered no additional casualties. After an agonizingly slow advance, some of Cherry’s men were finally able to assault the eastern slopes of the hill. The defending German was disrupted by small arms fire and eliminated in the assault.

Cherry’s platoon made their way around the north slope of the hill and one of its sections made it to the summit. Cherry’s remaining units remained in position on the hill’s northwest slope and provided cover fire to suppress the defenders. Murphy’s platoon, still enduring accurate mortar fire to the south of the hill. Most of platoon was disrupted and scattered between the hill and the wooded area to the south and were not a factor in the fight at this point.

Cherry’s platoon was finally able to mount an assault on the northwest slope of the hill, thanks to regaining initiative and a medic getting some walking wounded back into the fight. A German section retreated toward the open ground north of the hill and failed to return to the fight. Flushed with victory, the platoon immediately assaulted enveloped the remainder of the German units on the southwest slope. But the Germans repulsed the assault, and Cherry’s men were sent packing, retreating down the southern slope of the hill. Victory was no longer a possibility for us, and by this time it was hard to imagine a draw.

But remember, luck favors the foolish! The German platoon leader, Lt. Lang was killed in the assault. While the Germans were regrouping, the last of Cherry’s troops had made it to the summit of the hill during the melee to the southwest. Cherry’s and Murphy’s platoons were finally able to coordinate their actions. The American MG team in the farmyard suppressed the regrouping Germans and Cherry’s last squad assaulted from the summit of the hill, and one of Murphy’s squads assaulted up the southern slope, enveloping the Germans again. The MG fire was telling, disrupting one of the regrouping German. We were finally able to send the remaining Germans packing and now controlled Hill 179, ending the mission.

As was stated at the start, luck favors the foolish. Going into the last turn, the time marker stood on 39 minutes, and the CDL was in the attacker one box for at +4 Casualty points. Time lapse would decide the outcome, and it did not look good for the Americans. But the Time Lapse die roll result was two-minutes, making the final score 45 (41 minutes + 4 Casualty Points). So, the mission ended in a draw.

Outstanding game. My opponent called the fight “epic,” and I called it “one for the books.” And it was “All for a Piece of Dirt.”

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The Last Hundred Yards Ladder Play After Action Report: Mission 9 — A Tough Nut to Crack