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A Wargame Test Drive - Turn 1: German Movement Phase

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German Movement Turn 1

The German player decides to take advantage of his good fortune in the north. Both his units up there threw back US attacks, so the Germans can rearrange the German units to build up a larger reserve. He moves the German 1126th regiment one hex to the north, to 0402. This allows the 1126th regiment to cover most of the northern front. The German 1125th regiment is then moved along the road to 0601, 0702, 0703 and 0704. The 1125th can now be moved either all the way down to Metz or into the vicinity of hex 0505 to relieve the stronger German Unterfuhrer regiment. It is always best to have your strongest units in reserve when you are on the defensive. For the moment, however, the 1126th regiment in 0402 and the Unterfuhrer regiment in 0505 are enough to hold the northern sector.

In the south, the only unit to be moved is the German 37th SS Panzergrenadier regiment in 0808. This unit will be moved off the map to gain victory points for the Germans. This represents the German player's need to send units to other threatened areas off the map (and outside the action covered by this game), in addition to holding his ground in this battle, is one of his primary victory conditions in this game. This is an elegant way of showing how most battles of the 20th century do not occur in isolation, but are interconnected with many other events.

Turn One: German Combat Phase

Given the difficulty of obtaining sufficiently high differentials against American units, the German player wisely decides not to attack. His best tactic is to respond effectively with movement only to American movement and combat. This points out the ancient military experience that the defense is the stronger form of warfare. The Germans can get more out of the few troops they have available by not attacking. Of course, the player may ignore this wisdom and, if the US player makes enough dumb moves, German attacks might even make some sense.

  Wargame Test Drive : Turn 1: U.S. Combat Phase

  Wargame Test Drive : Turn 2: U.S. Movement Phase


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