Stand and Deliver

Scenario BB56i

Baraque de Fraiture, Belgium, December 23, 1944: The main highway between 
Bastogne and Liege is crossed by the Laroche-Vielsalm Highway linking the 
Belgian border roads. Baraque de Fraiture is the name of the height where 
the crossroads hamlet stood, huddle of typical Belgian peasant homes with 
its one adornment a four-square, concrete marker. To the 106th Infantry 
Division it became known as Parker's Crossroads. The 589th Field Artillery 
Battalion had been fighting the opening moments of the Battle of the Bulge. 
They were down to three 105mm artillery pieces. On December 19th, the remnants 
of the 589th were commandeered by Col. Herbert Kruger commanding the 174th 
Field Artillery Group of VIII Corps Artillery, who was moving his outfits out 
of danger. He sent the 589th to Baraque de Fraiture to establish a roadblock 
and protect the passage of the 174th as enemy tanks had been reported to the 
south. Major Arthur Parker obeyed the orders. He emplaced his three howitzers, 
organized a perimeter of defense and bivouacked. Later they were joined by 
elements of the 87th Reconnaissance Squadron, 203rd AAA Battalion, 325th Glider 
Infantry and two 105mm assault guns from the 3rd Armored Division. With this 
rag-tag group, Major Parker held off three days of German assaults. On the 
23rd of December, the final German push was made from all sides.

Game Length: 4.5 turns

For the Germans to win they must capture hamlet surrounding the crossroads
For the Americans to win they must defend the crossraods

Germans: Squads, HMG, MMG, LMG's, PSK, AFV's
Americans: Squads, HMG, MMG, mtr, BAZ44's, ART Gun, AFV's

Boards: #19, #32
 
Aftermath: Tanks and infantry of the 2nd SS Panzer Division smashed the line at 
1600 hrs. The first two tanks were eliminated by direct fire from a howitzer. 
The third was missed and the GI's fell back, covering one another with their 
carbines as the German infantrymen began to rush through their position. The 
defense desintegrated and the remnants decided to shoot their way out in three 
groups. Some forty men escaped but now the 589th Field Artillery Battalion had 
no howitzers.

Source: "Here's a scenario that Carl Fago submitted to Backblast before 
MMP went to AH. They can't use it now since it uses the Tactiques hedge 
overlays. It was originally called, "Parker's Crossroads" before the 
General came out with a scenario of the same name. Try it out and tell 
Carl what you think. He say's it's pretty well balanced already, as it 
had a fair amount of testing." 

The above came from a scenario sheet that was just a text only plain paper with no 
graphics or logos.
