Battle Report: Two-Way Man hunt!

The Paratroopers advance behind the rubble

 The cold morning air hung over the small town in Eastern France, as the German scouting party made their way towards the center square. The commanding officer, Hauptmann Schmidt, ordered his men to fan out and secure the area. Unknown to him, a small American Airborne party was also on a reconnaissance mission, lurking on the outskirts of the town. As the Germans reached the square, they noticed a small group of American paratroopers approaching from the opposite end of town. Both officers simultaneously gave orders to their men to capture the enemy officers alive. A classic case of the two-way man hunt!

A fierce melee erupts in the streets!

 

The Americans advanced towards the center of town, using the rubble of the bombed out buildings as cover. Fire from the German machine guns proved effective and cut down a few men as they advanced forward but their resolve held and they advanced towards their enemy. Schmidt snapped his men to action and they too advanced over the hedgerow of the nearby farms and into the city streets, hell bent on capturing the US Captain.

The two sides continued to close in on each other until the German troops opened fire on the American paratroopers with a hail of bullets. The paratroopers, caught off guard, dived for cover behind nearby buildings and returned fire. The narrow streets of the town quickly become a bloodbath as the two sides engaged in a fierce melee, with bullets ricocheting off walls and grenades exploding in alleyways.

The greyhound leads the charge for the US flank.

As the melee raged on, the sound of an M8 Greyhound's engine could be heard coming up the road. The American paratroopers breathed a sigh of relief as the Greyhound's 37mm cannon quickly eliminated a few German soldiers who were hiding behind a wall. However, their moment of calm was short-lived as a Puma armored car opened fire from across the village, and a round struck a nearby building causing it to explode. The Greyhound driver frantically maneuvered to avoid further hits.The surviving German soldiers then rallied and charged into some American soldiers, who were caught off-guard and quickly overwhelmed. The Germans mercilessly stabbed the Americans with their bayonets until the last one fell, leaving the German soldiers in control of the area.

American Machine gun team fires across the field

Meanwhile on the Western flank, the German grenadiers advanced backed by their Puma Armored car. They quickly took down the US bazooka team and advanced across the field to drive the American troops out of a nearby crater. The American machine gun team, positioned in the field of a nearby farmhouse, saw the German troops attempting to flee to the cover the crater. The gunner unleashed a hail of bullets, forcing the Germans to dive for cover behind the small ridge of the crater.
The gunner adjusted his aim, and the next burst of fire found its mark, taking out two German soldiers attempting to flank the American position. The rest of the German troops were pinned down, unable to move from their position, as the American machine gun team continued to pour fire on them.

The tension in the air was palpable as the two groups closed in on each other. Suddenly, the American officer, Captain Thompson, spotted the German officer's attendant in his peripheral vision. Without hesitation, he raised his rifle and fired a shot, hitting the attendant square in the chest. The German officer was momentarily stunned, giving the American paratroopers outside his building the opportunity they needed to rush into the building and capture him.

Overpowered, Schmidt has no choice but to surrender.

Despite the Germans' efforts to resist, they were no match for the highly trained American paratroopers. The Germans were quickly subdued, and the American officer emerged from the building with his captive in tow.

It was a small victory in the grand scheme of the war, but a critical one nonetheless. The successful capture of the German officer would undoubtedly provide valuable intelligence for the Allies, and perhaps even turn the tide of the war in their favour.

 

This one was so close that I kept forgetting to take pictures of the action as the tide of battle swung back and forth between the two sides! The US command teams shots onto the German attendant required 6's to hit and my opponent was lucky enough to roll 2 6's to take him out and pin down my officer! The mission was a fun one with simple rules and having higher ranked officers leading our forces gave us the tough decision of leaving the officer back to avoid harm or sending them forward to support the troops and take advantage of those Snap-to's! Another gripping game of bolt action!

Signing off,

Chewie