098 Battle at Mairy

In the beginning of September 1944, the frontline in Lorraine was stretching along the river Moselle from Nancy to Thionville. To prepare for an advance on the Saar, the Americans tried to establish bridgeheads over the river Moselle in weak sectors of the German defense. Although defensively thin, Germany fended off most of the American probing attempts to cross the river on 5th and 6th of September.
After these successes, the commander of the First Army, Colonel-General Otto von Knobelsdorff, felt confident enough for a counterstrike on the stalled American forces. He was confident that an armored blow on the exposed flank of the US 90th Infantry Division would cause enough panic to make their units collapse and run.
Panzer-Brigade 106 went into action on September 8th, north of Thoinville. There had been no reconnaissance; the Germans did not know exact American positions.
Splitting up into two parallel armored columns, PB 106 moved into the American position without actually knowing where to strike.
The western column began to spread out just as the Americans start to spot the German intruders. Instead of fleeing in confusion when confronted with this German armored attack, the Americans rallied and started a counter assualt with anti-tank weapons. With the German forces scattered in the countryside, American tanks fired upon the column.

	American	German
Division 1	6 Squad Bases - 15 Regular Infantry - 1 Officer - 2 Mortar Crew - 2 Machine Gun Crew 1 Sherman Tank 2x AntiTank 2x Concealed	5 Squad Bases - 10 Regular Infantry - 4 Elite Infantry - 2 Officer - 2 Machine Gun Crew 1 Panzer IV Tank 2 Panthers 2 SdKfz 251 Half Track
Division 2	5 Squad Bases - 12 Regular Infantry - 2 Officer - 1 Mortar Crew - 2 Machine Gun Crew 2 Sherman Tank 2x AntiTank 2x Concealed	4 Squad Bases - 8 Regular Infantry - 4 Elite Infantry - 2 Officer - 1 Mortar Crew 1 Panzer IV Tank 2 Panthers 2 SdKfz 251 Half Track
Strategy Decks	Artillery 1 Morale 1	Command 1
Starting Strategy Cards	2	1
Operations Cards	{tip content=""}018 Seize the Initiative{/tip}	012 Massive Confusion
Deployment Zone	Any space on boards 7A and 9B.	Any gray-outlines hex; following normal stacking rules.
Starting Initiative
Objective	The Americans must stop Germany from accomplishing the objective before turn 8.	The Germans must capture the objective marker before the end of turn 8.
Rounds	8
Actions per turn	3	3
Reinforcements	-	-