Sunday, April 14th was the first of the HMGS game days to be held at the Tin Soldier hobby shop in Centerville, Ohio. Since I ran the game I thought I would give a brief description of the event.

I ran a game at Cold Wars `96 called Parker's Crossroad, and that is what I chose to run for this game day. Parker's Crossroad takes place at a place called Baraque De Fraiture, Belgium during the latter part of the Battle of the Bulge, on the northern flank, not to far from St. Vith. The American forces are under the command of Maj. Arthur C. Parker III, who was the executive officer of the 589th field artillery battalion 106th Infantry Division. Maj. Parker thus lending his name to the battle. The Americans were a hastily thrown together force from four separate divisions. These include the 106th Infantry, 82nd Airborne, and 3rd and 7th Armored Divisions. The Germans were on the attack and consisted of the 4th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment of the 2nd SS Panzer Division (Das Reich). The ground was covered in deep snow, which made movement slower than normal. The attack began at 1300 hrs, in order to allow the P-47s to leave for the day and due to logistical problems.

The objective was for the Germans to take both the crossroads and the nearby village of Fraiture within a time limit of 14 turns (half daylight and half night). The initial German attack went well, and the crossroads were in German hands by mid game. However, the Americans holding the village were in a very strong position and it became apparent to all involved the Germans would not be able to take the village by the end of the game. A very good effort by all that participated, netted a hard fought draw. The result not too different from the historical one.

The game was very well attended and was just the first of such HMGS game days to be held at the Tin Soldier hobby shop on the 2nd Sunday of every month. The game for May will be the battle of Bentonville ACW Fire and Fury, and the game for June will be WWI naval using General Quarters.