Escape along Salmchâteau - December 23, 1944

Historical Background:
On December 23, Kampfgruppe 'Krag" was already in control of the village of Salmchâteau when Task Force 'Jones' approached along the steep-sided Salm valley. The column of American tanks and infantry were spread out along the road when Krag unleashed an attack. There was limited room for Jones to deploy and bring forward any units. To make matters worse, Panthers of the Führer Begleit Brigade were moving forward out of Cierreux. Both German forces converged on Jones' column. Total victory eluded them though: Some American units escaped west, while the men and guns of the 440th Armored Field Artillery fled to safety through the hills to Vielsalm.

The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.

Briefing:
Axis Player
[Germany]
Take 6 Command cards.
You move first.

Allied Player
[United States]
Take 5 Command cards.

Conditions of Victory:
9 Medals.

The Winter countryside hex with an Exit marker on the Axis player's baseline and the Exit marker on the road west (left) of the map are Exit hexes for the Allied forces.

Special Rules:
Winter Combat (Actions 25 - Combat Cards), Winter Weather (Actions 26 - Winter Weather) and Reduced Visibility (Actions 27 - Reduced Visibility) rules are in effect.

Place a badge on the 2 German mobile artillery units (Troops 14 - Mobile Artillery).

Place a badge on the 3 Allied Army and 1 Axis Tank Destroyer units (Troops 24 - Tank Destroyers).

Church rules are in effect (Terrain 19 - Churches).

All Hill terrain hexes are impassable.

Even though Allied units are surrounded by German forces in this scenario, they still retreat toward the bottom of the map, while German units all retreat toward the top.

Scenario Bibliography:
BADGES
Mobile artillery
Tank destroyers

LOGOS
Breakthrough
Eastern Front
Winter Wars