As the exit from the valley was of strategic importance to the Axis, the decimated Bersaglieri received support from German Panzergrenadiers and a platoon of Panzer IV F2 tanks to recapture the village dominating the valley exit.
In the meantime, the Allies only managed to reinforce the Armoured Infantry with a platoon of Parachute Infantry and set up their defences as best they could - the left flank was protected by two minefields and the road leading out of the valley was closed by a roadblock.
The crucial question was: would this be enough to stop the advancing Axis forces?
The surviving Bersaglieri were reorganised this way: 2 rifle squads of 6 men each and a LMG squad with 3 Breda LMGs and their crews.
The battlefield with the Jump of Points in place.
The Sicilian woods are crowded with Krauts 😎
The first Panzer IV F2 appears.
While on teh other flank the Bersaglieri LMG squad advances on the village of San Leo.
The hedges surrunding San Leo are manned by 2 squads and the Italian Eneneers trying to cross the field and clear the minefields are quickly wiped out.
The Bazooka team was only able to shoot off one of the tank's tracks and is then at the mercy of the fire from its explosive grenades - with predictable consequences
The Panzergrenadiers have deployed at the edge of the forest and their merciless hail of bullets kill one squad of the Armoured Infantry after the other, forcing their Moral to go down in a with frightening speed.
A closer look at the Panzergrenadiers.
Finally my 57mm PaK was able to blow up the leading Panzer IV.
Barrages from both sides are incoming - now it's time to keep our heads down.
The Panzergrenadiers suffering the most, even losing their Platoon Commander!
A last squad of Armoured Infantry tries to drive the Bersaglieri out of the citrus plantation.
To no avail - the losses are too high, the morale of the platoon is broken and the surviving remnants are forced to retreat.
The paratroopers cover the escape of the armoured infantry and then retreat in an organised manner.
An exciting and hard-fought game right to the end, in which the pendulum swung sometimes to one side and then back to the other - just when you thought the game was lost, the cards were reshuffled one phase later because the senior leader of the Panzergrenadiers suddenly breathed his last breath and their force morale suddenly collapsed.
Typical for games of Chain of Command, no other rules system I know offers these multiple twists and turns.
