US Paras vs Panzerspah in Pincer

Too good to be true?

It is that was taken before the first Recce move of the game.  Game 3  of the LW Nationals was 1780 pts and I played against Paul.  He was running German armoured Recce supported by tank hunters and Panzer IVs.  I was running the Avenger's Initiative with 2 full Para platoons, Para Machine guns, Shermans, 2 x M18s, Cav Recce and some Glider 105mms.  I was automatically the defender and combat attached the machine guns out and deployed the two big platoons and held the Shermans in ambush.  Paul was an excellent sport but his dice betrayed him and wouldn't let him buy a hit or save.

Set Up

 Objectives are behind the wood and on the hill both on the right side of the table

 Paratroopers in the wood line

 From the Paratroopers point of view

 Looking for a safe place to park your tank?  Behind me.

Turn 1

 Shermans spring from their ambush to aid the overwhelmed paratroopers

 The small german recce platoons are everywhere, even Avenger is overwhelmed by all the targets

 Shermans take aim at the first patrol and eliminate it!

Turn 2

 Avenger finds its range and takes out a Panzer IV

 The Grenadiers advance and launch an assault on the paratroopers

The defensive fire is some successful that the platoon is taking below half and flees the table

Turn 3

Easy 8's continue to bring the pain destroying Panzer IVs

Turn 4

 The Nashorns and Panzer IVs are able to knock out one of the Easy 8s

Hellcats and Cav Recon knock out the remaining 8-Rads

The battle ended with the German company failing motivation while the OC was bailed from his Recce truck.  The game ended 6-1 for me and Paul was a great sport.  We played the next turn to see what would have happened and the Shermans evaporated.  I will be doing game 6 from LW Nationals next and then start back at the beginning.  I'm using the battle reports for the WWPD Operation Overlord campaign.  If you haven't checked it out, do so it's awesome!