A Test of Mettle: Three Battles of the Lorraine Campaign, September 1944

A Test of Mettle is three games in one package, one of two Professional Series Games published by High Flying Dice Games. Components include three 11 by 17 inch full-bleed maps, one sheet of 280 die cut counters, one full color Players' Aide Chart, and three 8 page rule books. The game is available in either boxed (plastic counter tray with clear lid and a six sided-die) or zip bagged.

Patton’s Finest: the Battle of Arracourt is a simulation of the armored clash between the U.S. Third Army’s 4th Armored Division and counterattacking German forces led by the 111th and 113th Panzer Brigades. After breaking out of the Normandy Bridgehead in July 1944, the 4th Armored had led the advance across France to the German Westwall fortifications, earning the nickname “Patton’s Finest.” Desperate to stop the American blitzkrieg, and recapture the vital railroad center at Nancy, Hitler placed General Von Rundstedt in command. To support the counterattack, emergency reinforcements were ordered up to the Western Front that included new and improved models of Panther tanks. The armored clash east of Arracourt would confirm that the Americans had learned well the lessons of war, and would foreshadow the desperate fighting in the Ardennes a few months later.

Revanche! The Battle of Dompaire is a simulation of the armored clash between the Free French 2nd Armored Division and counter attacking German forces of the 112th Panzer Brigade. After breaking out of the Normandy Bridgehead in July, the Free French 2nd Armored, led by General Jacques Leclerc, triumphantly entered Paris and advanced across the French countryside intent on liberating the province of Lorraine. Desperate to stop the Allied blitzkrieg, and recapture the vital railroad center at Nancy, Hitler placed General Von Runstedt in command. To support the counter attack, emergency reinforcements were ordered up to the Western Front that included new and improved models of Panther tanks. The armored clash at Dompaire on the 12th and 13th of September confirmed that the French had learned well the lessons of war, and that Allied victory in the West now was now at hand.

Tough Hombres: The Battle of Mairy is a wargame simulation of the clash between the U.S. Third Army’s 90th Infantry Division (nicknamed the “Tough Hombres”) and counterattacking German forces led by the 106th Panzer Brigade and elements of the newly formed 59th Volksgrenadier Regiment. After breaking out of the Normandy Bridgehead in July, Patton’s Third Army led the advance across France to Germany’s Westwall fortifications. Desperate to stop the American blitzkrieg, and forestall the American’s drive on the vital railroad center at Nancy, General Otto von Knobelsdorf ordered an attack by the newly formed 106th Panzer Brigade, equipped with new Panther tanks and commanded by the legendary commander Colonel Franz Bake, against the 90th Infantry Division. Although nicknamed “Tough Hombres” for their divisional patch letters “TO” (for Texas and Oklahoma, the two states whose National Guard units comprised the division), its record was far from distinguished. The division had run-up ghastly casualty rates during the Normandy campaign (some battalions suffering a staggering 400% rate of loss!) and the sacking of its commander. The Germans expected this American formation, charged with holding Patton’s open left flank, to quickly fold in their early morning night attack of September 8th…