For a change I am writing about a scenario that I can’t recommend. It’s April 1945. A German pillbox on a board 15 summit covers a road. The pillbox has a 360 degree covered arc. The Germans have six squad equivalents, two crews, 80mm OBA, a HMG, a MMG, two LMG, three leaders, mines, trenches and foxholes.

Elite Free French infantry, assisted by 80mm OBA, and an assault engineer platoon with a FT and a DC, must control the summit hex and have no German infantry with LOS to the road. Their losses cannot exceed a CVP cap of thirteen. The Free French also have a one-mission 150mm OBA stonk for only the PFPh of French turn one.

We played the second release of this scenario. It was included From The Cellar Pack #13, released in 2024. The original appeared in Le Franc Tireur magazine number five, which appeared in 2000. The designer is Xavier Vitry.

The French start off-board so all the Germans will be concealed. The infantry enter from the bottom left. The assault engineers enter on the right side.  This leads to the first clarification that I obtained from the designer Xavier. The 150mm OBA mission uses an offboard observer at level four. The module has automatic access. By the rules, however, it would require a second chit pull to come down anywhere useful. Xavier confirmed that was not the intent; no second chit pull is necessary. I also asked a question about the victory conditions. If the Germans can’t see the road because of smoke, does it satisfy the “no LOS” part of the VC? Xavier replied that it does.

The next question we had was about the pillbox. How do we play a 360 covered arc pillbox? There is nothing in the core rules about it. I expect that one does not play it exactly like a regular pillbox. I remembered that the ABTF module has a similar pillbox on the Arnhem bridge. This is covered in rule R5. The rule allows units in the pillbox to see outside units in the pillbox hex. I wonder if since the pillbox units can see the other units in the hex, can they can also fire at those units. R5 does not specifically state that. The B30 pillbox rules state “Fire from inside a pillbox into its own hex is limited to CC, or SMOKE grenade placement, or a Thrown DC (30.31), or to vertices of its CA, or to PBF vs units currently crossing the CA hexsides of its own hex.” We played that units in the pillbox could fire at enemy units in the pillbox hex. We used the counter for ABTF, but the capacity for this scenario is three squads, rather than the two that it shows.

Here is the situation at the beginning of the match.

I had the French. My plan was to move cautiously in the south on the first turn, except for some half-squads to draw fire. On the right, the troops would work to dislodge the unit in the east foxhole. My 150mm single-mission OBA did nothing. I intended to use the 80mm OBA to smoke the pillbox hex, to have cover for the troops and hoping that the smoke would prevent the German 80mm OBA from being useful because of no good LOS.

I had some temporary help from the dice; the first German contact DR was a twelve. We were using the new optional radio rule; the Germans repaired it later on after they were smoked in. I expected to bring the smoke on in French turn two, but I lost radio contact. The situation after two turns was this:

In turn three, the French OBA brings down smoke. The cost of moving uphill just went up from 3 MF to 5 MF. Unless a unit is with a leader, it must double time during the MPh to go uphill and then it can’t advance uphill. Of course the units in the pillbox can’t fire at the French, but the French can’t fire at them either; no LOS. The German radio is repaired, their red spotting round is on the map. The observer is in the pillbox, but he can see only his own hex, so he can’t correct and convert because it is a mandatory correction situation. The French managed to get a decent stack into the pillbox hex for CC, but it is three squad equivalents on both sides. We both rolled high, but the French eliminated a German leader. No melee, however, because of the pillbox. During the German turn, fire from the pillbox devastates the French in that hex, double breaking several units. On the next French turn, the smoke flips to dispersed because the French lost radio contact. That allows the Germans to correct and convert their OBA onto the pillbox hex to seal the deal for them.

I think the French here did better than average because of the broken German radio. The French eliminated all the Germans that weren’t in the pillbox. Normally, I would expect the Germans to use harassing fire to make it really difficult for the French to move up the hill. In our match, the French missed all the German mines. Had I played the Germans, I would have put twelve mine factors in the pillbox hex. The Germans could still enter/exit using the adjacent trenches, but the French can’t enter the pillbox if the Germans have the pillbox fully manned. ROAR shows ten German wins to one French win. I’m going to guess that the German OBA pulled two reds from the start for the one French win.