Scenario

 
The fight on Verrières Ridge...
After Caen was finally taken, forces of the 1st SS Panzer Korps turned Verrières Ridge into their main defensive position along the Anglo-Canadian front. Although not particularly imposing, the geography around the ridge meant that the Germans were capable of firing at advancing forces from three sides.  Verrières ridge is located 8 kilometers south of Caen. The ridge overlooks the broad plains south of Caen, and dominates the countryside between Caen and Falaise. The ridge was held by two German Divisions: General Schack's 272nd Grenadier and SS Generalmajor Theodor Wisch's 1st SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Panzer Division (1st SS LAH).

The 272nd was one of the three "270" series raised in late-1943 and sent to France to train.  It was composed of veterans and a varied mix of Germans and Osten Truppen (Russians and Poles). The division had spent the last six months training in the Perpignan area. In its first battle—Operation "Atlantic," 18-23 July, the 272nd had been roughly handled by the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division but still deployed three weak grenadier regiments, the Fusilier Battalion and its Panzer Jaeger Battalion

The 1 st SS LAH was simply the best German panzer division in the Third Reich. Its units' battle honours included the campaigns in Poland '39, France '40, and Greece '41. It had fought as a complete division in Russia in 1942-43 and was rebuilding in Belgium when the Allied invasion of Normandy began. Both German divisions were supported by the artillery of 1st SS Panzer Korps, recently reinforced by 8th Werfer Brigade. LAH was also reinforced by the 272nd's Fusilier Battalion and 101 SS schwer Panzer abteilung (sch Pz Abt)—an independent Tiger battalion.

British General Montgomery did not intend to rely on Operation Cobra (the American offensive) to end the Normandy stalemate. He planned a new series of battles on the Caen front, "to try to bring about a major enemy withdrawal."  The first of Monty’s blows was Operation Spring. It was scheduled for July 25. Both 7th Armoured Div. and the Guards Armd. Div. were to join in the Canadian attack once the infantry had broken through the German defenses on Verrières Ridge. 

The Black Watch were to attack at approximately 05:30 from their assembly area at St. Martin, along with armor units and artillery cover. However, they ran into heavy German resistance on the road to St. Martin, and didn't even arrive at their assembly area until close to 08:00. By that time, the two highest ranking officers, Lt. Col Cantlie and his senior commander, had been killed. Command of the Black Watch passed to 24 year old Major Phil Griffin. At 08:30, he met with 5th Brigade's Commander, Brigadier General W.J. Megilland, and planned his assault. Because the armored support failed to show up in St. Martin, the infantry would have to attack alone. When they attacked the ridge at 09:30 (in now broad daylight while walking in a straight line up the ridge), they were easy targets for well entrenched German defenders, who were equipped with tanks, 88-mm antitank guns, Nebelwerfer rocket artillery, machine gun nests, and dozens of mortar pits. Very few members of the Black Watch managed to make it to the crest of the ridge. All of the ground gained during the battle by the Black Watch and Calgary Highlanders was lost in vicious German counterattacks, inflicting heavy casualties on the Highlanders.