Maelstorm - The Matrix Games version of West Front

Hypothetical Scenario - Standermono, Italy - As the joint British and American forces crawl up the Italian boot, the Germans continue to mount a stiff, well organized resistance. Field Marshall Kesselring, in charge of the defense of Italy, begins to see a pattern to the way the allied forces attack. After probing for a soft spot they punch through and race forward to gobble up ground and then pause to let their heavy artillery and remaining infantry to catch up. While this has been effective, Kesselring sees that this form of attack has a weakness in which for a brief period of time, the Allied strike force is susceptable to being flanked and surrounded. Kesselring decides to gamble and use this bit of information to his advantage. He purposely orders elements of the 4. Parachute Division to run a soft defense in the sector just outside the town of Standermono. The town has a high value as a military target as it straddles the only road heading north and is also the junction for two major rail lines. If the allies take the bait and rush forward to capture this tempting target, Kesselring will then have the remainder of 4. Parachute division and elements of the 12 Panzer Division encircle and crush the allied forces. On the 27th of June the plan goes into effect, with results that are too perfect! The allied forces take the bait, however, due to the terrain they are unable to move as quickly as Kesselring had anticipated. The result is utter chaos as both sides meet at roughly the same time with only some of Kesslerings forces able to get into position. The arriving elements of the Allied 3rd Armored Division and 26th Armored Division as well as the German 12th Panzer division are plunged straight into --- The Maelstrom!