Crown of Thorns - The Matrix Games version of West Front

Hill 112, 7km SW of Caen, France: [Best played against Human opponent] Situated just southwest of Caen within the Orne foothills just off Route National 178 there is an almost insignificant hillock, Hill 112. Never important enough to warrant a real name, it was pre-war the site of bountiful orchards, the pride of the local population. In July 1944 though this description was to change forever when, in an attempt to trap the last remaining German troops around Caen, the British launched a two-pronged offensive east and west of that city. As the Allied offensive got underway German troops were rushed forward to plug the gaps and weak spots. Charging northward from the small town of Vieux, Axis troops occupied Hill 112 just minutes before the lead British units came into view. Hill 112 was about to become the scene of one of the greatest battles of the whole Normandy campaign, a battle that spanned several days as each side took turns advancing through the scarred orchards into a hail of enemy fire. Hill 112 was the scene of the greatest bombardment of the Normandy campaign that turned the pre-war orchards into twisted stumps, causing German survivors of the battle to christen the hill as "The Crown of Thorns". Engaged throughout the battle was the 43rd (Wessex) Division with its battalions from Wiltshire and Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall, West-Countrymen all, short of stature but with the hearts of lions. Pitted against them were recently returned veterans of the Eastern Front, the 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen". Being recently re-equipped after a failed campaign in Galicia to rescue the survivors of Tarnopol, it was at the time one of the most powerful German units in the West. This scenario reflects the actions of only some of the units involved during the second day of the battle.