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In game turns 1,3,5 Craig used the terrain well, he sent Panzer grenadier company C in an out flanking move, skirting the hedge rows on the right of the village, supporting wherever possible the more direct assault with small arms fire, Panzer grenadier company B, advancing over open ground, was initially forced to go to ground by a poor morale throw, following casualties from US mortar fire, but rallied by turn 5 and moved into wood (2) to support the attack on two village building modules by Panzer grenadier company A.

This company in turns 5,and 6 took crippling casualties from small arms cross fire from the GI`s in the two buildings, but despite being reduced to 50%, had two magnificent consecutive morale throws using 10 sided dice (used in Storming the Reich for all purposes to simplify procedures) allowing the company to hold firm. However in turn 7, Craig decided to pull them back to be replaced by B company, now moving through the wood in rear support.

More serious for the GI`s was the presence of the remaining Panther tank, despite the loss of its command vehicle in game turn 4, it had managed a morale throw of 8, allowing it to continue its advance despite the -3 reduction from the morale test for the loss of the command tank. Now the Panther had placed itself in a gap in the Hedge rows by wood (2) and was threatening the last remaining Browning .30cal mmg and GI company A positioned behind a brick wall which was part of building module (A).

Despite poor H/E shooting by the Panthers main 75mm gun, the browning mmg team was forced to relocate and the GI`s were becoming edgy being that close to the German AFV which was outside Bazooka range, and so decided to pull back. Well wouldn’t you ?

But what about the US tank destroyers ? So far the M18`s had made 'shoot and scoot' attacks on the German vehicles, but even with a veteran crew, moving, shooting and hitting require high die 10 throws and that they hadn’t had ! So after the German players move 7, victory was definitely within the sights of the evil 3rd Reich-But- come the hour come the guy.

In ’Storming the Reich’ rules, US tank destroyers are allowed to use their proper 'shoot and scoot' tactics. They can be placed in Overwatch/ambush and can interrupt the opponents move by declaring to fire, they can then in their own turn fire and move. They suffer a +2 modifier on a die 10 required to hit the target and then move away at full speed to get out of reach/sight of enemies return fire.

So far our 'shooting and scooting' had been as effective as a snowball in a blast furnace, but now Lieutenant Jack ‘Buck’ Diamond, knowing it was XXXbleep ! or bust, had his M18 Hellcat 'Rag doll', undertake a fire mission that was at best crazy suicidal or supremely heroic, dependant on how you see it.

He had his driver Hal Maguire, drive the Hellcat at full speed between Wood(5) and the building module (A), to stake all on one direct shot at the surviving Panther tank. Of course the Hellcat would end up stationary at the end of the move, in full view and at the mercy of the Panthers big gun and if the Hellcat missed or failed to damage the Panther, it would be toast in the next game turn.

None the less the Hellcat drove at full speed stopped and fired. The minimum die 10 score required to hit was 9. This was crazy, or was it ? The dice was thrown a 10, a hit ! Fantastic shooting, but would the 3” gun of the Hellcat damage the Panther ? We now use the anti-tank direct fire mechanism in ‘Storming the Reich’, which sounds complex but is very logical, and once used is easy to remember and repeat.

(1) Measure the distance between the two vehicles, in this case the distance falls within the effective range of the Hellcats main gun.

(2) The firer’s gun class is cross referenced against the facing armour class of the target, in this case it’s the frontal armour of the Panther. At this range the Hellcats gun class is 5, The Panthers frontal armour is classed as C, both are cross referenced against each other using the Gun v Armour chart, which in this case gives a G band result.

(3) On band G only a 9-10 score on a die 10 will penetrate the frontal armour and knock out the Panther.

The tension is electric ! OK I’m over dramatising a bit- the die 10 is thrown- it’s a 9, The Panther explodes blowing all of its hatches into the air ! Am I delighted, you bet I am. Craig’s remaining armour must now perform a morale test as it has now lost 50% of its strength. His dice throw is a 1, and with all the subtractions means that the German armour must withdraw.

Without their AFV support and with one company reduced to 50% strength the Germans pull back. The village is safe, Buck Diamond has saved the day !, he is now a tank ace and I’m awarding him the Congressional Medal of Honour.

A lucky win for the GI`s ? Well, frankly yes, Craig the German player did nothing wrong. His combined arms tactics were exactly right, even though on the night he wasn’t exactly blessed with the best die rolls. By game turn 7, he was winning. But as I said before, it is the glorious uncertainty of wargaming, and real life bravery of soldiers actually involved in real battles, that you cannot and must never factor out, that sometimes wins the day.

My GI`s marched proudly back into their boxes, with a win to remember,