St. Lô and Vicinity – 24-25 July 1944.

• The five situations in this series are small, quick, simple, and good introductions to playing BC. Each is roughly a battalion sized engagement with each player controlling from 15 to 32 individual platoon sized units. In the case of high units count situations, up to half the respective units are merely transports of truck or halftrack type. Each situation has time limits of six or twelve hours simulation time. Using the time-compression settings will reduce this considerably in game play time. The first three "armor-centric" [101, 102, and 103] situations take place for six hours starting in daylight with high-visibility. The final two "infantry-centric" [104 and 105] situations take place for twelve hours, with the first at night with high-visibility, and the second at night with low-visibility [43%]. The terrain on each of the five maps is extremely compartmentalized. Numerous trees and buildings block lines-of-sight all across the map–it would be rare to get a clear line-of-sight for one kilometer without banks of trees, forests, or farm buildings getting in the way. Each one of the maps is a defender's dream, exhibiting numerous opportunities to setup keyhole positions, kill zones, ambushes, and mutually supporting cross-fires. We hope you enjoy playing each of these five situations. BC is a very simple computer game to play, and playing solitaire is also possible as an option. However, we recommend finding a human opponent when possible as your fog-of-war realism and overall satisfaction with the time invested in play will be substantially increased.

• Here are some basic steps you could use to play some of these situations when on the offensive:

      [1] Complete a mission, environment, terrain, elevations, and forces analysis.  
      [2] Create a course-of-action.   
      [3] Find the enemy with your recon effort.    
      [4] Engage the enemy with your fixing force.   
      [5] Flank and finish the enemy with your flanking force, mobile attacking force, and/or reserves.

• Note: You must first download and install the BC game setup [BC_Setup.exe – 125 MB] from the downloads page before unzipping any of the situations to the "\Scenarios\" sub-directory under BC.  You can then open the situation in BC and play it.

Situation

Situation Card

Map Elevations
[Blue=Lo Red=Hi]

101. Marigny

23 July 1944. 4th Armored Division forces attack SS panzer elements holding the town of Lozon in the Marigny section of Normandy during Operation Cobra.

102. Sainteny

24 July 1944. The main road south runs through the towns of Le Forges and Sainteny. US forces must clear the path south for follow-on forces by controlling the critical area around Le Forges and Sainteny.

103. Cambernon

25 July 1944. The SS Counterattack at Cambernon. 2nd SS Panzer Regiment stages a desperate attack to flank the 90th US infantry division. The 35th Tank Battalion forms part of a blocking force to stop the advance.

104. Periers

26 July 1944. Occupied Periers is a thorn in the side of the advance of the US VIII Corps during Operation Cobra. In this night scenario, an armored infantry battalion is committed to a preliminary attack in order to wear down the German infantry and gather intelligence before the main effort assault later the same day.

105. Lithaire

27 July 1944. Hill 135 south of Lithaire is the highest ground in the region. The entire hilltop area is densely covered by forest. A Panzergrenadier battalion has established a perimeter on Hill 135 within the wooded area. The US 53rd Infantry Battalion is committed to claim the hilltop for US artillery observers in this night and low-visibility scenario.