Strike: Counter Strike – 4th Armored Division vs Panzer Lehr along the Saar (2023)

Overview

Strike - Counter Strike: 4th Armored Division vs Panzer Lehr along the Saar is designed as an entry-level game as an introduction to the Series: Grand Tactical (MMP) by Multi-Man Publishing.

Strike - Counter Strike is a small footprint, low counter density Grand Tactical Series game with minimal exclusive rules meant to provide a quick, easy introduction to the Grand Tactical Series. The game highlights the elegance and fun of the GTS at gaming maneuver warfare at the company level. The Saar battle was chosen as a topic of interest because of the size of the forces involved, the limited battlespace and time period, and most importantly, because it pits two mobile forces against each other, both with the chance to attack and defend.

In November 1944, the advances of the US Army XII Corps and XV Corps threatened the boundary between the German First and Nineteenth Armies. General Balck, Commander of German Army Group G ordered Generalleutnant Bayerlein's Panzer Lehr Division to attack southward along the Saar River into the flank of the US Army XV Corps to stop its advance east.

Unknown to Bayerlein, the situation of the Panzer Lehr was precarious. While the German division was moving south, the XII Corps' 4th Armored Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. John S. "P" Wood, advanced west toward the Saar River before advancing north. Judging the soggy ground west of the Saar River to be unsuitable for armored operations, Maj. Gen. Wood obtained permission to have the American armored unit's CCB move eastward across the Saar River into the XV Corps' zone, before swinging north toward Sarre-Union. A clash between the two opposing armored formations was inevitable.

Strike - Counter Strike simulates the attack of the Panzer Lehr Division into the flank of the US XV Corps, the delaying actions by 106th Cavalry Group, the defense by the 44th Infantry Division, and the counterattack by the 4th Armored Division. The game covers the afternoon of 23 November to the afternoon of 27 November 1944. The German commands the Panzer Lehr Division and the American player commands parts of two divisions an a single map.

Originally published in the 44 page magazine GTS Briefing Vol 1 (May 2023) by Multi-Man Publishing

Game Scale: Game Turn: 2 hours daylight / 8 - 12 hours night time Hex: 547 yards / 500 meters Units: Platoon to Company

Game Inventory: One 22 x 34" full color mapsheet Two dual-side printed full countersheets (352 5/8" counters) One dual-side printed half countersheet (88 5/8" counters) One 24-page Strike - Counter Strike Exclusive rulebook Two dual-side printed CRT/TEC player aid cards

Solitaire Playability: Medium Complexity Level: Medium Players: 2 or more Playing Time: 2-4 hours

Note 1: Players will need to provide Grand Tactical Series Rules v2.0c to play. Note 2: Players will need to provide one 10-sided die for game play.