Editor Note:
Neopeius is embarking upon a print and play of 100 of the first S&T Magazine games!
Here is one of his first matches. He has agreed to share his journey with us.

(the Fat Greek faces off against the powerful Panzer Division)

January 2011’s game is Anzio Beachhead, and thus far, we have played once. Dan took the Germans, and I took the Wallies. As usual, Lorelei did the box art.

(note the poor sunbather running in terror from the American soldier. His ship is the “Octopus.” And the seagulls go, “caw, caw, caw!”)

We played with all of the optional rules (so the instructions clocked in at a whopping *two* pages!)

The allied attack caught the Germans utterly by surprise.

By the end of the first turn, the Allies had a pretty fair beachhead. However, the seeds had already been sown for disaster. The Allies had gone a river too far on the left and paid for it with an irreplaceable 9-4 infantry unit. A much more defensible line could have been made a little further back.

The real problem came on Turn 2. The Germans are allowed to come in on *any* map-edge–including behind the lines on the right-flank. This is kind of silly, but rules are rules. I was never able to recover.

The Allies did get a bit of their own back on Turn 3, smashing a number of Germans on the central front, who, in their traffic jam, didn’t have anywhere to retreat to. This could have been fatal for the Germans had the flanks been better prepared.

By the end of Turn 4, the Allies were in rout on the left flank, crushed on the right, and rapidly retreating in the center. The only hope was several desperate fights assisted by air cover on turn 5A. However, these didn’t go well enough, and the Allies conceded defeat after this turn.

I will reserve on reviewing until I’ve had a chance to swap sides. Sadly, Dan will have the advantage of learning from my mistakes, so I will have a much harder time as the Germans.