Airfix Battles: Scenario 2 (part five)

The situation at the start of round four

ROUND FOUR
I ditched my interrupt card and drew ... another interrupt: rapid retreat. Not very helpful.
We rolled for the initiative, with Wald winning 3-1 and choosing to move first.
*He ordered his captain and veterans to fire at my snipers, and rolled three 6s. That meant the unit lost half its men and had to take two morale tests. It passed one test but failed the other, meaning that it, like my infantry squad, is now pinned.
*I played my one command card to try to rally my infantry squad. The roll failed, so I played the valour counter to roll again, but again failed.
*Wald advanced his machinegun section to shelter behind the fence on the edge of Colonel Parker's square.

The Americans still have a numerical advantage but both units are pinned in the open

ROUND FIVE
My new command card has the dropping-lead special order, which can only be used for vehicles.
*Wald won the initiative and opened fire with his machineguns on my infantry squad, scoring four hits. The squad had to take two morale tests and failed them both. Since it was already pinned, the unit routed (and is therefore removed from the table).
*I used my command card to successfully try to rally my snipers. Having done so, I used the card to get them to fire at the German machinegun crews. They scored two hits, and the Germans were not allowed saving throws as the hits were both natural 6s. That meant two morale tests - the Germans passed one but failed the other. Wald played the valour counter to re-roll the failed test, but failed again, and so the remaining two machinegunners are pinned.
*Wald successfully rallied his machinegun crew and opened fire on my snipers. Even though there are just two machinegunners left, the rules state that two is enough to fire both machineguns, so Wald rolled eight dice, easily wiping out the three remaining snipers and so winning the scenario.

Nothing can stop the Germans capturing Colonel Parker

AFTERTHOUGHTS
Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I seemed to have everything sown up - then the German machineguns sprung into action with deadly effect.
Of course the luck of the dice can always play its part in game such as Airfix Battles, but I did not think I was especially hard done by in that regard.
One mistake I certainly made, I believe, was to place my two pieces of cover too far from the centre square. It meant my men were in open ground as soon as they approached the centre.
Wald, on the other hand, placed his cover further forward, and his men were able to make good use of it.
However, my opponent said that during the game he wondered if he should have put his pieces of cover a square further forward, the idea being that, with his aggressive style of play, he could have rushed his men to the centre of the battlefield knowing they would then be behind cover.
I am not sure about this, as cover in my half of the battlefield would have been likely to be at least as useful to my men.
Considerations of cover aside, the turning point was surely when I lost my captain and so was reduced to having a single command card.
In any event, it was a victory for my opponent, which leaves us with one win apiece in Airfix Battles.