Road to Rome - Battle for the Gothic Line 1944

After the American barrage was lifted from the Left Tit, the 3rd Platoon, less the 4th Squad, pushed up the southern slope. Nearing the crest, the 1st and 3rd Squads veered to the right, struck the road, and moved along it for a few yards until the platoon leader, Lieutenant Panich, intercepted them. He warned the 1st and 3rd Squad leaders of mines on the road and steered them back to the slope west of it. Moving west from the road, the 1st and 3rd Squads, 3rd Platoon moved down the ridge slope beyond the Left Tit and swung west of house No. 2. Here they turned east again and moved up along the terraces below Hill 103 at a fast trot. A mine exploded, killing one man and wounding two more in the 3rd Squad, but the squads continued to push up the rising ground near Hill 103 to a point south of house No. 6 and west of the big house No. 7 on the road. There two explosions rocked the earth near the two squads and knocked them to the ground.

Picking themselves up, the men started for the road, or for where they guessed it to be. Climbing up over the next terrace, they followed it for about 15 yards until they hit a double strand of concertina wire. Unable to move ahead, Sergeant Pyenta and Corporal Tyler and the survivors of his squad started off, racing over the terrace as fast as they could make it. As he passed from view above the first terrace, Corporal Tyler called back to Sergeant Pyenta, “The road’s up here!” The words were scarcely out of his mouth before bursts of machine-gun fire silenced him and mowed down the rest of his squad. The fire came from two automatic weapons, one in house No. 7 on the road, the other in a dugout behind the barbed wire and on the left flank of the 1st Squad. It was the latter gun, firing at point-blank range, which did most of the damage. 3rd Squad opened up on the two German machine guns with everything they had. When the shower of explosives was over, the machine guns were silent; the enemy had either been knocked out or had retreated to other positions. But during the fight the 1st and 3rd Squads were reduced to nine men, including the 3rd Squad leader, Sergeant Pyenta.

The soldiers of the American 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Division were tasked with cracking the mighty Gustav Line. Their mission was to break the German stranglehold on the ‘Mount Bracchi Triangle’, a wedge of hills dominated by enemy spandaus and mortars and open the road to Rome. The fight would be slow and bloody, with each German machine-gun nest needing to be eradicated before the next leap of a few yards forward could be accomplished. The rolling countryside and even slopes afforded Nazi soldiers superb positions from which to site their weapons and rain murderous fire on anything that moved.

THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE GAME! Ownership of the ASLRB, and any modules providing the Germans and Americans, plus standard system marker counters is required to play this historical module.

Includes:

• 1 Color Wraparound Cover Sheet
  
• Four 18” x 12” Color Cardstock Maps
  
• One Countersheet of 140 Counters
  
• 2 ASL Chapter Page
  
• 12 Scenarios
  

Scenarios included:

• Last Word – Astride the Minturno-Santa Maria road, Santa Maria Infante, Italy, May 12th 1944
  
• Retrograde to Cemetery Ridge - Astride the Minturno-Santa Maria road, Santa Maria Infante, Italy, May 12th 1944
  
• Back in the Saddle Again – In the saddle between Cemetery Ridge and Hill 130, Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 12th 1944
  
• Stopped at “The Spur” – “The Spur,” south of Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 12th 1944
  
• 3rd Battalion Stopped Cold – West of the Minturno-Santa Maria road, Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 12th 1944
  
• Tin Cans Burning – Between the Tits and The Spur, Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 12th 1944
  
• Beyond the Right Tit – Along the Minturno-Santa Maria road, Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 12th 1944
  
• ”Kamerad” – Positions south of Tame, Italy, May 12th 1944
  
• Company G Stopped at “The Spur” – Positions on “The Spur,” Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 13th 1944
  
• Dead in its Tracks – Positions on the western end of “The Spur,” Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 13th 1944
  
• Confusion at the S-Ridge – Positions on the S-Ridge, Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 13th 1944
  
• The Capture of Santa Maria Infante - Santa Maria Infante, Italy, March 14th 1944