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Strike - Counter Strike: 4th Armored Division vs Panzer Lehr along the Saar: A GTS Narrative LP What is GTS The Grand Tactical Series is a company-level wargame system produced by Multi-Man Publishing, updating the older Panzer Command system originally created Victory games. It attempts to bridge the gap between purely tactical games like Advanced Squad Leader and more operational game like the Operational Combat Series, by providing some tactical considerations like lines of sight and suppression, while creating a grander approach to combat, with more importance given to combined arms and larger command and control implications. With 500 meter hexes, some of the details of tactical combat is lost and therefore the bulk of the decision making needs to be done in terms of how to use your sparse resources to most effectively engage the enemy. What is Strike - Counter Strike (Taken From The Rulebook) In November 1944, the advances of the US Army XII Corps and XV Corps threatened the boundary between the German First and Nineteenth Armies. General Balck, Commander of German Army Group G ordered Generalleutnant Bayerlein’s Panzer Lehr Division to attack southward along the Saar River into the flank of the US Army XV Corps to stop its advance east. Unknown to Bayerlein, the situation of the Panzer Lehr was precarious. While the German division was moving south, the XII Corps' 4th Armored Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. John S. "P" Wood, advanced west toward the Saar River before advancing north. Judging the soggy ground west of the Saar River to be unsuitable for armored operations, Maj. Gen. Wood obtained permission to have the American armored unit's CCB move eastward across the Saar River into the XV Corps' zone, before swinging north toward Sarre-Union. A clash between the two opposing armored formations was inevitable. STRIKE–COUNTER STRIKE simulates the attack of the Panzer Lehr Division into the flank of the US XV Corps, the delaying actions by 106th Cavalry Group, the defense by the 44th Infantry Division, and the counterattack by the 4th Armored Division. The game covers the afternoon of 23 November to the afternoon of 27 November 1944. The German commands the Panzer Lehr Division and the American player commands parts of two divisions on a single map. This game was released as part of GTS-focused magazine that MMP published. MMP Magazine games tend to be full-fledged offerings, although usually focusing on smaller engagements than their full-box games. What is this LP This LP will be a solo, narrative-based LP of this wargame. What I mean by narrative-based is that in general, I will not be posting about every individual dice roll made within the game and instead attempt to provide a smoother narrative of the game. This will hopefully make it easier for people not familiar with the game to see what is happening on the ground (and also hide any mistakes I make from the more experienced players). This LP is a continuation of my first GTS LP about Operation Mercury, which can be found here. I will attempt to also provide the history of the battle, although it is likely that my own version of the battle will diverge significantly from real life. Involvement from spectators will be limited, but I will allow people to pick their hero units if they wish, although due to the scale of the game, many of the chits within the game are relatively interchangeable. How will this be different from the Operation Mercury LP Ideally, this should have been my first attempt at doing a GTS LP! The game is much shorter than Operation Mercury, it has less fiddly rules on the first turn since there aren't any airborne elements, and the force composition is much less infantry heavy, meaning that terrain and lines of fire will play a much bigger role in this game than in the rough terrain in Crete. In terms of the the thread itself, there will be notably less historical posts and no rules explanations, apart from rules specific to this game. If you are interested in finding out how the game works, I would suggest reading the rule explanation posts on the Operation Mercury thread, as they go in some depth with regards the nuts and bolts of the system! I'm also hoping that thanks to my experience with Operation Mercury, I will be able to show some more informative graphics for this LP: the first LP was very much an experiment, but hopefully this one will build from the lessons learnt in the last one. Also, thankfully, for this LP I can just take full pictures of the entire map without creation an abomination! Who am I I am Tekopo, a long-time resident of the Traditional Games subforum, and avid wargamer. I've made several (successful and unsuccessful) wargame LPs in the past, including Cuba Libre and The Hunters, of which the latter I am especially proud of. I am (still) a relative newbie to GTS, however, so feel free to correct me if you spot any mistakes with the system. Links: Turns: Initial Positions Turn 0: <1500, 23rd November 106th Against the World Turn 1: 1500, 23rd November Turn 2: Night, 23rd November The 4th AD Arrives Turn 3: 0700, 24th November Turn 4: 0900, 24th November Turn 5: 1100, 24th November Turn 6: 1300, 24th November Turn 7: 1500, 24th November Turn 8: Night, 24th November American Offensive Turn 9: 0700, 25th November Turn 10: 0900, 25th November Turn 11: 1100, 25th November Turn 12: 1300, 25th November Turn 13: 1500, 25th November Turn 14: Night, 25th November German Collapse Turn 15: 0700, 26th November Turn 16: 0900, 26th November Turn 17: 1100, 26th November Turn 18: 1300, 26th November Turn 19: 1500, 26th November Turn 20: Night, 26th November Turn 21: 0700, 27th November Historical Posts: Dramatis Personae Rules: Weather Armour and Anti-Tank Victory Fire Zones, Line of Sight and Suppression Air Attacks Resources: Tekopo fucked around with this message at 12:04 on Mar 22, 2024 |
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Mar 3, 2024 10:33
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Game Turn 0: Afternoon, 23rd November 1944 Troop Dispositions  At the start, the only Allied troops present on this flank of the river Saar are elements of the 106th Cavalry Group that had been deployed to cover the northern flank of XV Corps and act as a "crumple zone" in order to slow down any possible attack by the Germans, giving enough time for infantry to deploy. Panzer Lehr is poised to strike down south, attempting to recapture the Saverne Gap and cut XV Corps from its supply lines. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 10:44 on Mar 3, 2024 |
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Mar 3, 2024 10:39
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Dramatis Personae Panzer Lehr Division The Panzer Lehr division began forming in 1943, and although it's official name was the 130th Panzer Division, due to it's initial status as a teaching, training and demostration division, it was known as the Lehr Division. It began forming in 1943 and was mostly created as a counter the expected Allied invasion. Made up of highly experienced troops, the Lehr was one of the few divisions that, by the end of the war, was fully stocked with halftracks and tanks, making it a fully mobile division where most of the rest of the Wehrmacht still made use of trucks or, even worse, horse-drawn transport. It initially participated in Operation Margarethe, the German occupation of Hungary, before going back west and becoming part of the German armored reserve, destined to counter-attack any potential invasion of northern France. Panzer Lehr took part in the battle for Normandy, being released a few days after the invasion, and hitting British and Canadian forces near Caen. The division took heavy losses during the ensuing fights, mostly due to the heavy allied air presence. It eventually fought in the defence of Saint Lo, where the division was rendered combat ineffective, with only about 1200 combat troops left, and only 20 tanks. After the Allied breakout in Normandy, it was sent back to the Saar to refit and rearm, where its strength was bolstered substantially. Just before Wacht am Rhein, Panzer Lehr, with a strength of about 34 Panzer IVs and 38 Panthers, attacked south towards the Saverne Gap, leading to the start of this particular battle. 4th Armored Division The 4th Armored was a newly activated US armored division created during world war II in April 1941. After training in the US and arriving to train in England between January and July 1944, it arrived at Utah beach on the 11th of July, a month after the initial landings. Taking part in Operation Cobra, and was instrumental in liberating Nantes and cutting off the Brittany peninsula, after which it swiftly advanced east, crossing the Moselle in September and then fighting several German brigades in the Lorraine area. By November, it had crossed the Saar river and eventually swung back North, striking back at the attacking Panzer Lehr division that had attempted to cut the XV Corps supply lines, just before the Battle of the Bulge began.
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Mar 3, 2024 15:19
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Game Turn 1: 1500, 23rd of November Panzer Lehr, under cover of rain and the due to the early sunset in late November, makes its way down the roads towards the Saverne Gap, with the Panzer Granadier Regiment 902 quickly securing the towns of Berg, Gungwiller and Adamswiller, which were left undefended by the 106th Cavalry Group defending the area. The heavy rain means that this approach is unspotted by the US troops, so far.  On the western edge of the offensive, Panzer Granadier Regiment 901, slightly understrength compared to the to the 902, also makes its way down south, capturing Burbach. Pisdorf and Woliskirchen, their approach similarly covered by the bad weather, which the Germans are hoping will keep the Allied air forces off their back.  The Artillery Park is considered offboard, and is actually 3 hexes further away than represented. The 901, finally almost in range of the allied troops, dismounts their transports and readies up to infiltrate closer to the US soldiers under the cover of night.  The 106th Cavalry Group, hearing the rumblings of the German war machine, set about to improve the defences and entrench their position. It is clear that with their sparse resource they won't be able to hold back an entire German Panzer Granadier Division, but hopefully they will be able to resist long enough for the rest of the 44th Infantry Division to bolster the defences. The only movement is E Company in their M5A1 "Stuart" tanks making their way to Kirrberg, a crucial crossroad town.  PzGr Regiment 902 also dismounts, and gets close enough to be able to spot the defending allied units. Although the rain makes the ground less than ideal for bombardment, the fire is accurate, and the Scout A Company of the 106th Cavalry, defending the village of Bettwiller and still attempting to dig in their positions, is caught in the open and rendered combat-ineffective, the first casualties of the fight. This doesn't come without cost for the Germans, however, since in order to get close enough to spot for the artillery, the 5th Company of PzGr Rgt 902 gets caught dismounting by the tank destroyers of the 44th ID, and the Germans take many casualties as they desperately try to get out of their trucks.  Night falls quickly around 5 o'clock, with Panzer Lehr poised to infiltrate during the night and assault the allied positions in the coming morning. How long will the Cavalry Group be able to hold? German Victory Points: 5
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Mar 3, 2024 18:36
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GTS LP: Now With Arrows!
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Mar 3, 2024 18:41
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Rules: Weather Alright, so, we didn't really bother with weather in Crete because it was nice and sunny for the entire 10 days of fighting that featured in that game. This game, however, will have weather playing some a role in the combat. I am going to use the historical weather pattern: there are rules for random weather to better reflect the fact that the commanders wouldn't know if it was going to rain or not as well.  The two elements are cloud cover and weather itself. If it is overcast, the Allies get no air units to use, otherwise potentially they can have air strikes available. The weather itself has the following effects: - Rain: All combat is at -2, LOS is restricted to 2 hexes (which is why I was able to get this close with the Germans) and unless you are using roads in column, all movement costs are increased by one. - Mud: The movement cost to enter Clear, Woods, and Orchard hexes for Wheeled Vehicles is increased by 1 and for Tracked Vehicles by ˝ movement point. So mud isn't so bad, but rain really affects the game, and is essentially a worse night turn.
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Mar 3, 2024 19:14
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The only thing that I regret is not realising that the vassal module for this game does not have the auto-attack calculator built in. In Operation Mercury there's a calculator that automatically calculates range, terrain, supply effects, if a unit is Out Of Command, and it makes running the game a breeze since there's a ton of modifiers in this game and the module just calculates all of them for you, including telling you what the result of the roll is (it's a bit screwy for assaults, though). This is completely missing from this module, so I'll have to manually check all applicable modifiers and check the CRT. Pain.
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Mar 4, 2024 10:46
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I think it's a lot of work to add the functionality, as useful as it is. At least this is a small game. Race to Bastogne similarly lacks the calculators as well.
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Mar 4, 2024 11:48
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Game Turn 2: Night, 23rd of November The 106th Cavalry Group and elements of the 44th ID Tank Destroyer companies pull back from their exposed positions in Bettwiller and Dursiel, using the cover of the night to their advantage. The Panthers of the Panzer Lehr division fire some shots at the retreating TDs, and although they manage to confuse them, the fire isn't effective enough to knock out any of the American M18 Hellcats, who manage to rally on they reach their destination. Seeing that there is an open path through the woods to Weyer, the Armored Cars of B Company pull back as well, along with the self-propelled artillery M8s (a Stuart chassis with a 75mm howitzer). There is an attempt by them to fire at the Panzer IV concentration near Eschwiller, but the fire has little effect.  Warned by the 106th of the German attack, elements of the 44th ID arrive on the scene: the 71st Infantry Regiment arriving near Hellering, allowing the Stuarts from the 106th to go back to Baerendori.  The 114th Infantry Regiment arrives further east, closer to the crucial town of Metting, and immediately start heading north, hoping to bolster the Cavalry Group as quickly as possible.  The 901 Regiment approaches the Allied positions using the cover of night and preliminary bombardments, managing to get close without sustaining any casualties on the approach.  The 902, meanwhile, also advances during the night, taking the now-abandoned villages of Bettwiller and Dursiel. The Panthers flank to the east, trying to avoid the heavy woods north of Drulingen.  The long night is finally over, and sunlight starts appearing around 7 am, with the mud finally drying up. The first few hours of the morning will be crucial in the coming fight. German Victory Points: 5
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Mar 4, 2024 18:00
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Each unit represents a company, both here and in Operation Mercury, although some units can be below company strength if they start with 1 step or even 0 steps, with the latter likely being just 1 or two platoons at most.
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Mar 6, 2024 08:46
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The only difference in terms of the counters in this game is that most of the Panzer Granadiers have organic transport available: in that case, the units are still two-steppers, but on their reverse side they have their mounted version rather than their step-reduced version (which is why I had to use step loss counters for that German unit that took a step loss).
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Mar 6, 2024 10:24
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Game Turn 3: 0700, 24th of November The early morning starts with some preparatory bombardments from the German from the 902 Regiment, although the well dug-in troops of the 106th Cavalry Group aren't overly phased by the incoming fire. The Panthers, however, finally finish their encircling manoeuvre, shrugging off the ineffective fire from the Greyhounds of the 106th.  The 106th Cavalry Group and the elements of the 44th ID on the scene move up to better defensive positions. In the east, the infantry of 114th Regiment sets up near Siewiller: the guns from the Panthers prevent them from moving much further ahead. Greyhound companies C and B reshuffle, with C leaving Eschwiller to take up defensive positions on Weyer, and B company moving east to help cover the approaches to Siewiller. An artillery bombardment against 3rd Company, 902 Regiment is ineffective.  In the west, the 71st Infantry Regiment moves up past Baerendorf, aiming to help the 106th troops around Postroff, while the Stuarts move up in the direction of Eschwiller, although they stay out of range of the guns of the Panzer IVs for now. Further reinforcements from the 71st Infantry Regiment, including another company of M18 tank destroyers.  Reinforcements also arrive for the 114th Regiment, including more M18s, that quickly move up to help shore the defensive line forming around Siewiller.  The 106th opens fire on the attacking Germans, primarily targeting tanks and any nearby infantry. Most of the fire is ineffective, with the only shots finding their mark being the ones from the M18s in Drulingen, which manage to disrupt the Panthers approaching from the East.  The German bombardment becomes heavier: in the west, the targets are the 106th troops holed up in Postroff, with the Greyhounds taking the brunt of the shells, which manage to damage more than a few of the armoured cars. The M18s near Eschwiller are also targeted, and although the fire is heavy, it is relatively ineffective.  In the east, the German fire is similarly heavy, targeting the enemy concentration in Drulingen, but it has little effect on the M18s or holed up cavalry, although it is only the anger of the NCOs that keeps the troops from being suppressed.  Reinforcements for the 901 Regiment also arrive on the scene, quickly heading south, along with some Pioneers.  The assault by the 901 begins in the earnest, with a storm of fire from the artillery, both the organic artillery of the 901 and the pieces from the Volksartillerie to the north. After the bombardment is done, the infantry attempts assaults of their own, but are unable to close the distance with either the US troops on Postroff, or the ones in Eywiller. The only success is the Panzer IVs closing in on the Stuarts, and disrupting their formation.  The 902 is similarly busy, and stages several assaults on the US troops, but most of them are repulsed. The weight of fire against the defenders in Drulingen takes its toll, however, combined with the Panthers from the east, and several M18s are knocked out or rendered ineffective, while the infantry dives for cover.  The first elements of the 4th Armoured Division, that had already been on their way since the night before in order to push north, arrive on the scene near Romelling, and go on the last intact bridge over the Saar, heading for Postroff. With tank assets on the scene, the German offensive might stall before it even really starts.  German VPs: 5
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Mar 6, 2024 13:03
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Game Turn 4: 0900, 24th of November Seeing their precarious position, the scouts of Company A, 106th consider giving up, but cajoling from the NCOs and officers keeps the troops at their posts. (Random Event: American Surrender) Although the weather had cleared during the night and the early morning, the downpour starts again, reducing visibility and slowing down both the Germans and the American troops. Assaults by the 902 continue despite the rain, causing havoc on the defending scouts, but little in terms of casualties. Although an assault is finally conducted on the troops defending Eywiller, the pioneers of the 902 take more casualties than they receive, despite their armaments of satchels and other high explosives, although casualties on the scouts are also mounting  Follow-up assaults by the Panthers on Drulingen continue despite the rain, and with the units in the town suppressed, there is little that the Americans can do against the German tanks. The last of the M18s get knocked out, but the entrenched positions of the scouts in the village soak up most of the incoming fire, and a further assault by the Panzer Grenadiers is also repulsed.  Attacks by the 901 also are crumpling American resistance, with many of the M5A1 Stuarts knocked out by a close assault by the Panzer IVs of the 6th Company, 901st Regiment. Assaults by infantry on Postroff and Eywiller are also conducted, with the former beaten off before the Germans can approach closer, while the attack on Eywiller causes many casualties amongst the scouts. The other Panzer IV Company swings around to the south of Eywiller, almost getting in range of the Howitzer Stuarts.  With the attack almost spent due to the rain, a few more assaults are attempted on Eywiller, but it quickly gets bogged down and the attack is called off. The Panzer IVs manage to make contact with the M8 Howitzer Stuarts, while the rest of the front is relatively quiet.  More German reinforcements arrive, this time in the form of the Panzer Auf 130 recon formation, who quickly make their way past Gungwiller.  The 44th ID finally gets moving: the Greyhounds near Drulingen retreat under fire, taking some casualties but nothing major despite the incoming fire from the Panthers, while the some more M18 Tank Destroyers move up to cover the approaches to Siewiller, where the 114th Regiment is starting to dig in, while further reinforcement come in from the south, heading for Veckerswiller.  To the west, the 71st Infantry Regiment deploys near Baerendorf, and moves past Hirschland to try to support the remaining units of the 106th.  Some of the defensive works started by the 114th Infantry are finally complete, but advance up to Veckerswiller is slow due to the rain.  CCB also gets in motion, sending A Company to support the Stuarts against the enemy Panzer IVs, while the rest approaches the Panzer Grenadiers that surround Postroff.  The rest of CCB arrives, substantially bolstering the left flank of the Allies. The reinforcements mainly consist of the Artillery, recon and mechanised infantry elements of the CCB, the latter of which move past Shalbach, with Lt. Col Jaques in command.  The self-propelled artillery (known as the Priests due to their distinctive cupola) and mortars of the 4th AD start shelling the German infantry, but it has little effect.  The rain hasn't relented in the past few hours, and looks likely to continue for a few more, although the downpour hasn't stopped the fighting yet. German VPs: 6 Tekopo fucked around with this message at 16:30 on Mar 6, 2024 |
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Mar 6, 2024 16:26
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Turns are taking longer due to the lack of calculator and the arrows, but I think the latter are worth it, especially with the speedy movement possible in this game compared to Operation Mercury.
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Mar 6, 2024 16:31
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Current Status Map:  Casualties: 
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Mar 6, 2024 16:41
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tomdidiot posted:4th Amoured Arriving is a hell of a swing - The Germans essentially have until the end of the next day to arrive because once the other Combat Command for 4th Armored gets there , it's over.
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Mar 6, 2024 19:07
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Game Turn 5: 1100, 24th of November The rain continues, but the fighting doesn't seem to relent. The 71st Infantry Regiment lets loose with their artillery assets: the wet terrain adsorbs most of the blows, but some the of the Panzer Grenadier near Eschwiller are caught in the open, causing many casualties. Although the TDs open up on the Panzer IVs, their shots also miss their mark.  The Panzer IVs, seeing the arrival of more American tank assets, open fire at the Stuarts facing them. As brave as the crews of the scout tanks are, the light armour of the Stuarts is no match for the 7.5 cm KwK 40, which make short work of them despite the rain.  There are some other localised offensives, but the pace of attack seems to have slowed down due to the adverse weather. Eywiller does come under heavy bombardment, however, and a follow-up attack by 3. Company, 901 Regiment manages to knock out several of the defending Greyhounds, mostly thanks to the Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck anti-tank weaponry. In the west, the Flak 88 company repositions to provide support against the encroaching Sherman threat. Artillery also opens fire on the Howitzer Stuarts, which are forced to hunker down, while accurate fire from the Panzer IVs knock several out.  The 44th ID regroups and recuperates, with the officers attempting to get some sort of cohesion back. The only movements are by some of the Greyhounds repositioning, the 114th finally reaching Veckerswiller, and the defensive positions finally being complete around Siewiller.  The 106th does manage to fire back at their attackers, but the only effective fire is by the scouts in Eschwiller, who manage to cause further casualties on the PzGnr Company caught in the open. The M8 Stuarts manage to extricate themselves away from the Panzer IVs, but not without some more damage to the tanks.  By 1300, the rain finally relents, leaving the ground muddy, but the next few hours will likely see a renewed intensity in the battle. German VPs: 7
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Mar 8, 2024 00:45
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Rules: Armour and Anti-Tank Operation Mercury didn't feature a lot of armour, but this game has quite a bit more, and it does have quite a bit more, and it does affect how you play the game. As mentioned in the previous LP, there isn't much difference between how you activate and move armoured units versus infantry, but there are many game implications of the different stats between them. The main differences are two-fold: tanks tend to use tracked movement, which isn't quite as good as leg movement, but tends to be better than wheeled movement:  This isn't the full terrain chart, but it's only missing roads/railroads. As you can see, there are some pretty severe limitations for wheeled/tracked movement: you have to be in column to move into towns or orchards, you can't cross a stream apart from where there is a road and you have to be in column, woods are basically non-passable unless you follow a road. This tends to funnel vehicles to open hexes or to stick to roads where the terrain is rougher. The column restrictions especially mean that tanks are more vulnerable within those types of terrain, as just being in a column gives a +2 to your defence modifier (and lower defense modifiers are better). Although leg is universally better to traverse terrain, the main difference is that leg units tend to have a max movement allowance of 4, while tracked tend to have movement allowances of 13 or even 18 depending on the unit. The other difference is the defence modifier. The defence modifier comes into two flavours: armoured and unarmoured. There are major differences between how armoured and unarmoured units are treated, mostly when they receive fire. For example, some of the terrain modifiers above are ignored if the unit is unarmoured and receiving fire from artillery in orchards or woods (artillery burst in woods can be deadly). As well as that, range modifiers are slightly different between armoured and unarmoured targets, with unarmoured generally getting more difficult to shoot at longer ranges (since, after all, infantry units are harder to pick out individually at range). The main difference, however, is the Combat Result Table:  We saw this back in Operation Mercury, but let's dive a little deeper. The Armoured side a lot better in terms of results for the defenders: 0s are only ever Cohesion Hits, and the results tend to be worse when firing at armoured units. The only times when Armoured units suffer more is when being fired at by Armour Piercing or Dual Purpose guns, which make sense. Dual Purpose guns, though, are still deadly against unarmoured targets, which makes tanks a very large threat against infantry. Some other reasons why tanks tend to dominate encounters in this game (while still not being the best unit, because artillery is still so dominant) is that they have a much longer range than infantry, as well as having relatively high values of Dual Purpose firepower. Fortunately, the infantry units in this game tend to do a little better against tanks than their counterparts in Operation Mercury, for the following reason:  This is one of the better Panzer Grenadier units in the game, and you will notice that the assault rating (the smaller subscript firepower value on the top left of the counter) is white. This means that this is Dual Purpose fire: most units in Operation Mercury tended to have Small Arms Assault ratings, which aren't great against armoured targets. But Assault Ratings are only rolled during an assault, and using infantry to assault tanks is difficult since most tanks will have a high defence rating, meaning that passing the bravery check to assault them is a lot more difficult. These Dual Purpose assault ratings thus tend to be more useful when defending from assaults, or attacking armoured units with poor defence modifiers (such as the Stuarts or Greyhounds). The only puzzling thing about the system above, which otherwise works relatively well, is that entrenching units turn their defence modifier from unarmoured to armoured. Which leads to a situation where firing Armour-Piercing firepower at infantry dug-in in trenches is really effective, which doesn't make a lot of sense. However, the trenches do make infantry much more resilient against artillery, so I think overall this was done as a trade-off between making entrenched infantry a lot more resistent, or making some weird rules in order to remove the above weirdness.
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Mar 8, 2024 10:44
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Logistic aspects for GTS are game-specific, and in the context of this game, the assumption is that there is enough ammo and fuel available for the tanks/trucks to operate for 3-4 days without affecting their operational capabilities. As a whole, there isn't a strict line of supply system in the base rules either. There was some soft logistic aspects in Operation Mercury, not sure about other games though.
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Mar 8, 2024 11:55
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Game Turn 6: 1300, 24th of November The 4th AD deploys for combat, with the task force lead by Lt. Col. Jaques approaching Weyer from the south, although the guns of the Panzer IVs largely keep them at bay. Using the counters for cover, the two Sherman companies under Maj. Churchill approach the Panzer IVs that face them, while the rest of CCB repositions in the west in order to be able to fire indirect fire from the Priest gun-carriages.  The mortars of CCB open fire on the 901 Panzer Grenadiers of 7. Company, causing many casualties as they lay down fire. The Shermans also open fire on the Panzer IVs, with some shots finding their mark and damaging the German tanks.  With the weather improving, the German attacks renews, and artillery bombardment blanket the three main villages that are the main aims of the German attack for now. Eywiller faces heavy artillery, which is followed by a 3. Company, 901st Regiment. With the heavy ordnance coming in and the well-trained veterans of 3. Company, the Greyhounds quickly get knocked out, and the scouts are finally overwhelmed, although their fire does cause some casualties on the Germans: the village is finally captured by the Germans. Drulingen and Eschwiller face similar assaults, but there is no follow-up assault.  The lines from the edge of the screenshot represent long-range artillery concentrations. The 44th ID is still trying to recuperate from the blows sustained by the German attack, and does not do much apart from some small repositioning, although the 7. PzGnr Company keeps getting pounded by artillery, to little effect. The 114th infantry in Veckerswiller start to dig in.  With the artillery ineffective, the Panthers start firing heavy explosive ammunition against the dug-in scouts in Drulingen, finally forcing them to surrender after many buildings are turned into rubble. Two crucial towns have now been taken by the Germans, and they are hoping to push even further before the rest of 4th AD arrives on the scene.  The 902nd swings into action, having cleared Drulingen, the attack pivots Weyer, with the Panthers quickly racing to make contact with the Greyhounds, managing to get into contact despite the mud. Although the Greyhounds in Weyer itself manage to shrug off the fire, the fire against the elements of the 121nd Cavalry Group Greyhounds (lent to the 106th for the time being) is deadly accurate, knocking out the armoured cars and rending the entire company combat-ineffective. An assault by the 3. Company against Weyer manages to knock out several Greyhounds, but the M8s give as good as they get, causing severe casualties on the attacking Germans.  CCB attempts to strike back, pressuring the Germans heavily in the west. The 7. Company, 901st faces the brunt of the attack in their exposed position, with accurate fire from the Shermans and Stuarts of CCB causing many casualties. Meanwhile, the Shermans under Maj. Chuchill advance, screened by artillery fire by the M7 Priests, and fire a volley against the Panzer IVs, heavily disrupting their formation. Mechanised infantry reaches Weyer, to help defend the village while it is still under American control.  Attempting to defend Weyer might have been a bit foolhardy, as heavy fire from the Pz Auf 130 recon regiment causes some disruption on the mechanised infantry, while German Panzer Grenadiers encroach on the town from the north.  The 901st Regiment scrambles to contain the threat posed by CCB. Artillery and mortars attempt to shell the Shermans in order to provide cover for the 7. Company attempting to withdraw, but fire from Postroff forces them to hunker down and prevents the retreat. Some hits are sustained on the Shermans but not enough to seriously threaten them for now. Fire is also concentrated on Eschwiller, killing some of the scouts defending the village.  German VPs: 11
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Mar 8, 2024 14:08
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Rules: Victory You might have noticed the VP count at the bottom of each posts, and been wondering what exactly it means in context of the game. Well, this is the table of VPs for the victory determination at the end of the game:  Generally, draws tend to be the historical outcomes (which wasn't great for the Germans), anything above or below that is better/worse than historical. But how are those VPs calculated. Well, since we are going to start the 1500 turn, the most important part of the VPs is the victory towns/villages, which can be more clearly seen in this map, taken without any units present:  The red numbers next to some of those towns/villages are the victory points awarded to the Germans (only) for capturing those hexes, with control determined by the last side that passed through the hex. This VP is only awarded if the Germans control it at the end of the 1500 turn (the last turn before Night). So the Germans will get a steady tick of VPs as long as they control towns. VPs are also awarded for destroying American units (not individual steps like morale in Operation Mercury), one per unit, and are lost for losing any German units (again, one per unit). However, the Germans lose an additional VP for losing any tank units. The current balance is that the Germans scored 4 VPs at the end of the 23rd 1500 turn, and scored 7 VPs for destroyed American units.
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Mar 8, 2024 16:26
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Game Turn 7: 1500, 24th of November The ground is still muddy from the deluge, but the attack by the Shermans is unrelenting, and the weight of fire from both of the Sherman companies suppresses the Panzer IVs, who start panicking from the weight of firepower received.  With their Panzer IVs in danger, the 901st Regiment attempts to extricate them. Artillery fire from the divisional artillery targets the Sherman, and the fire is heavy enough to severely disrupt A Company. B Company receives some lighter fire, but it is enough to give a chance for the Panzers to escape. Unfortunately, they have forgotten about the Hellcats south of Eschwiller, and as the Panzer retreat northwards, several of them are picked out and immobilised by the M18's accurate fire.  In the east, the Panzer Grenadiers advance into the woods, while accurate fire from the Panthers knocks out several more Greyhounds, who don't stand any chance against the German tanks.  What remains the 106th Cavalry attempts to strike back at the Germans, but the fire is relatively desultory. The Howitzer Stuarts attempt to suppress the Panthers, to little effect, and the remaining Greyhounds in the East try to withdraw from the Panthers, but they get picked off as they attempt to retreat, leaving the survivors combat ineffective.  The CCB doesn't relent, and after suppressing artillery fire from the mortars and Priests, with the former managing to knock out some of the German mortar teams, the Shermans advance, although their fire is ineffective to say the least. An assault on the remnants of 7. Company near Postroff finally forces the Germans to surrender, and they are taken to the back lines under guard. The casualties for the Germans on their right flank are starting to mount, even considering their relative success in the east.  The attack by the 4th AD continues, with mortars suppressing the German Sd.Kfz 251/9 half-tracks, which allows the Shermans of A Company to reorganise despite the heavy barrage they are facing. The other companies keeps hunting the retreating Panzer IVs, suppressing them heavily, while the light mortars of the 4th AD mechanised infantry keep up the fire, causing light casualties amongst the German Panzer Grenadiers.  With renewed confidence, the 44th ID also joins in the fire, causing many casualties on the Panzer Grenadiers immediately east of Postroff. The infantry, now that the tanks have been cleared, moves up closer to support the defence of Eschwiller.  In the east, the defensive positions around Vickerswiller are complete, and the M18 Hellcats move to try to contain the Panthers, although the shots miss their mark and barely scratch the German tanks.  It's now the turn of the Germans to strike back, however, with a new offensive by the 902nd. Artillery targets the C Company infantry of CCB, and the weight of fire is so heavy that the exposed infantry is almost completely obliterated. The Hellcats facing the Panthers fare little better, and several are knocked out by the German tanks.  The pressure from the American troops in the west, however, continues, and the 71st attacks in earnest, shelling the Germans east of Postroff heavily, which is followed by an assault, in which the German casualties keep mounting up despite managing to beat off the American troops. Light and heavy mortar fire also targets the Panzer Grenadiers outside of Eschwiller, but to lesser success.  Night descends fast. The fighting for the day has been hard, and casualties are clearly mounting on both sides, although the 901st seems to have suffered the brunt of them. German VPs: 18
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Mar 9, 2024 00:08
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Rules: Fire Zone, Line of Sight and Suppression So, in Operation Mercury the fighting was different because of the units involved and the terrain we were in. The hills and orchards there lent a very close-up feel to the fighting, especially considering that most units were infantry and there were very few direct fire weapons with more than 1 hex of range. In this game, line of sight and hence fire zones are much more important, and they have dictated the fighting to a much larger degree due to the large open areas. But how does line of sight work? In GTS, we measure line of sight from center to center of a hex, and usually the maximum line of sight range is 8 hexes, reduced to 3 during night, or 2 hexes (in Saar) during rain. The rest of the terrain and how it affects line of sight is game-specific, so terrain might act quite differently from game to game, although there are usually some base rules. In Strike - Counter Strike, for example, the slopes given do not affect anything apart from line of sight, unlike in Operation Mercury where they both affected assaults going up hill as well as movement. They do, however, also lead to some weird cases, such as the one below:  If your line of sight passes through a slope, you can't see the enemy. However, if either the enemy or your unit is next to the slope hexside, you can. HOWEVER, if more than one slope is crossed when tracing line of sight, line of sight is blocked. So in the example above, the M18s and the Panzer IVs can see each other, but the M18s and the Panzer Grenadier company can't. Although weird, the reasoning is that the slope hexsides are more contours rather than strict deliniation of hills. There are some more rules in regards to Line of Sight following a slope hexside as well (in which case LoS is blocked) or when it follows one hex which has blocking terrain and one hex which doesn't (in which case it isn't), but overall line of sight is relatively easy to determine. This brings us to fire zones. Now, having line of sight is all well and good, but what you want to do is be able to project fire on a hex, and this is why ranged weapons are so good, and especially tanks: they allow you to project fire zones, which both slow down enemy movement (because you can only move into an enemy Zone of Fire during a Formation Activation or by spending a Command Point), but they also cause Opportunity Fire: this is especially deadly because if you move from Fire Zone to Fire Zone, the unit that has opportunity fire gets a +2 to their firepower. So the game really centers around projecting fire zones and restricting opponent movement, but fortunately there are ways to "suppress" these fire zones. What I mean by suppress here is not causing a suppression result on an enemy (although that also works!), but things that limit the Fire Zone of a unit. The most easily accessible option is just using a barrage from an indirect artillery piece. Barrage markers both block line of sight, and as well as that they reduce the Fire Zone of a unit to 1 hex (so only immediately next to that unit). The other way to do it is to park a unit next to an enemy unit, which has a similar effect as above. This allows you to restrict the fire zone of an opponent, which allows for a greater degree of movement. So, overall, lines of sight and fire zone management is where this game really tries to make you think about deployment and movement, and I think it does a pretty good job!
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Mar 9, 2024 13:57
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Ah one thing to note, they only do that if the barrage marker is directly on the unit. As well as that, most blocking terrain allows you to see in it and out of it, it only blocks if it is in one of the intervening hexes (and this is true of barrages as well). But yeah, once again, artillery absolutely loving rules this rule set.
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Mar 9, 2024 14:16
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Game Turn 8: Night, 24th of November Another deluge greets the coming of the night, meaning that, with the dark and the rain combined, fighting during the next hours will be increasingly difficult. The 901st, that had planned to attack before the coming of the night, was delayed, and by the time the rain starts, the attack is called off. With the hammering that the 901st has taken, a careful withdrawal is necessary, but the command and control structure of the Panzer Lehr is in considerable disarray, considering the unexpected arrival of the 4th Armoured Division. Overall they simply pull back and attempt to regroup to meet the threat of the Shermans.  The Volksartillerie, struggling to be in range to support the Panzer Lehr, moves in closer, preparing to set up artillery parks near Burbach and That-Drulingen.  The 901st is still attempting to shore up their lines, but the retreat does not go well. Near Postroff, even despite the dark and the rain, the Pioneers and Panzer Grenadiers that were previously attacking the village are unable to retreat without suffering losses, despite a barrage attempting to suppress the Shermans that have a line of fire towards them. The rest of the 901st is able to reform a line, with the rest of the Panzer IVs rejoining the main group.  As for the 902nd and the Panzer Auf 130, the east is relatively quiet, with only the Pioneer moving into column to attempt to head back toward Eywiller, and the Panzer Grenadiers in Drulingen managing to finish improving their positions.  CCB makes use of the night by repositioning and recuperating their troops: the Shermans of A Company that had taken many blows from the Panzer IVs have fully recuperated, as well as the defenders of Weyer, who are still surrounded by Germans.  The night draws to a close, and the weather forecast seems to be for one without a spot of rain throughout the day, although the early morning will still likely have mud covering the landscape. The battle is in the balance, with the 901st being heavily pressed by CCB of 4th Armoured, but the American east being similarly in peril due to their lack of anti-armour assets, and the ever-present threat from the Panthers facing them. German VPs: 17
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Mar 9, 2024 19:18
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Game Turn 9: 0700, 25th of November The 44th ID, having been delayed all night, only starts moving near the end of the night, as light finally arrives around 0700. The artillery that had been meant to come up during the night only now arrives on the scene, late for whichever attack was likely to happen in the morning.  The 71st advances now that the village of Postroff has been cleared of enemies, with some light bombardment targeting the fleeing Pioneers. Unfortunately, the long fire lane created by the flak 88s emplaced north of Postroff make most movement difficult to say the least. Some of the anti-tank guns of the regiment move east to help cover the ground against any possible tank penetration.  In the east, nothing much happens apart from some light mortar fire against the exposed Panzer Grenadiers in the north.  The 901st has taken a beating, but it still has teeth. The artillery starts thundering, targeting the Americans north of Postroff and next to Eschwiller. For the former, the mechanised infantry and a company from the 71st take the brunt of the fire, causing many casualties amongst the latter, while suppressing the former. Artillery fire is followed by attacks by the Panzer IVs, targeting the Shermans of B company, out in the open, and the weight of fire is heavy enough to suppress the tanks. With the Shermans suppressed, the stranded Panzer Grenadiers next to Postroff attempt to flee North, but accurate HE fire from the M18s that are now stationed decimate the retreating infantry, and only a few survivors manage to escape the gauntlet.  There is also fire in the east, with the Panzer Auf 130 targeting the Americans holding Weyer, but the only effective fire is from the heavy Volksartillerie, which causes light casualties on the mechanised infantry from CCB.  The heavy artillery fire does not seem to discourage the Americans, and is only met with shouts of "gently caress you, Nazis!", the Americans showing their characteristic bravado. (Random Event: American Hero: add +1 Fire/+1 Assault/-1 Defence/+1 TQ, remove all cohesion hits, Hero marker stays until next event). The answer by the Germans is to send even more heavy artillery: this time it is much more effective, and the Americans take many casualties, despite their bravado. The Panzer IVs, meanwhile, keep bracketing the Shermans, and it is clear that the fire is having some more effect.  In the east, the Panthers attempt to take out the remaining M18s on the flank, but the fire does little and the Hellcats remain unscathed. As well as that, the Pioneers finally arrive back in Eywiller, strengthening the German centre against any possible attack by the Americans. It is clear that the offensive, at least in the west, is over for the Germans.  The German assault is not over, and the 902nd pitches in as well. Artillery and cannon fire blankets the entire area near Weyer, but it is relatively ineffective. The only results seem to occur from the Panzer Grenadiers, that assault the M18s that were under fire by the Panthers: using their close-range anti-tank weapons, they manage to make short work of the lightly-armoured tanks.  Even though the Germans have shown that they still have teeth, the 71st IR moves up to attack, pressing the Germans hard. The 88s are targeted by mortars and artillery, causing much confusion amongst the tank crews. With the support of the Shermans, the M18s in Eschwiller also move up and aim relatively accurate fire against the Panzer IVs, disrupting their formation.  Having taken their licks, it is time for CCB to counter-attack. The tanks of B Company, that had taken a heavy pounding by the combined artillery and cannon fire from the Panzer IVs, are screened using artillery, and manage to pull back to safety in good form. The rest of the Shermans push up in force, destabilising the formations of the Panzer IVs that face them. Heavy artillery also targets the flak 88s, finally crippling the guns and making their crews scatter. There is also fire in the east near Weyer by the CCB elements there, but it is relatively unsuccessful.  German VPs: 16
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Mar 10, 2024 00:05
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The 901st PzGr Regiment is not standing up to the fury of the CCB very well: I have to say that the Combat Commands are mean as gently caress in this rule set, large formations with a lot of firepower at their disposal, and both relatively good infantry and armoured companies. Edit: What the CCB has done well is that every time I had a Sherman Company on two cohesion hits, and thus potentially likely to take a step loss, I was able to suppress the germans with overwhelming firepower and then pull back the Shermans, while still having enough tanks that the Germans can't do the same without jeopardizing their position or leaving their infantry/other support weapons stranded. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Mar 10, 2024 |
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Mar 10, 2024 00:07
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Game Turn 10: 0900, 25th of November More mechanised infantry arrives from CCB, and they quickly hit the road and head east, trying to shore up the defences around Weyer: the mud having finally dried means that the going is quite easy.  The attack by the CCB continues, although slower than before. Artillery tries to disrupt the Panzer IVs of 8. Company, and although they do little more than suppress the tanks, accurate fire from the Shermans of C Company knocks several of them out. Tank assets for the 901st are starting to dwindle under the heavy American pressure.  In the east, there is some light mortar fire from the troops around Weyer, but it only causes light casualties on the encroaching Germans. The M18s of 44th ID attempt to join in and finish off the Panzer IVs, but their shots miss their mark. Light mortar fire also erupts, but the only thing that it manages to do is to suppress the stranded Pioneers that had been attacking Postroff just a day before.  The CCB continues their offensive, driving close to the Panzer IVs and attempting to take them out, but their fire is less effective this time around, and the Germans take little to no damage.  The newly arrived reinforcements move up the road and dismount, helping to shore up at least part of the gap between the 114th and the rest of the American formations. There is some mortar and artillery fire in the sector as well, but it does little, along with the light mortars, that only force some of the Panzer Grenadier to duck for cover.  The 901st pulls back their artillery assets, now that the American attack is getting closer. They are unable, however, to extricate their Panzer IVs, with one of the companies having woods in their back and the only routes of escape being to run the gauntlet of Shermans and Hellcats, which is a daunting prospect. The 3. Company moves to cover the half-tracks and the road north to Wolfkirchen.  The Panthers finally get orders to attack the village of Weyer, and the remaining American defenders can do little as the tanks sweep over the towns, blowing apart many of the houses and forcing the Americans to run for their lives. The Panzer Auf 130, meanwhile, moves back to cover Eywiller, while other Panzer Grenadier companies move back to Drulingen.  The 114th remains within their defensive positions: although they could potentially try to force an offensive towards Drulingen, the lack of mobile anti-tank assets and their low mobility means that if the 902nd resumes the attack, they wouldn't stand a chance against the Panzer Grenadiers and especially the Panthers. They do decide to reposition their artillery and anti-tank guns, however, and their mortars do manage to force many casualties on one of the German Panzer Grenadier companies that is out in the open.  Although beset on all sides, the Panzer IVs of 8th Company, 901st PzGnr Regiment decide to sell their lives dearly, with renewed fervour. (Random Event: German Hero) German VPs: 18
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Mar 10, 2024 11:01
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Game Turn 11: 1100, 25th of November The sky is still cloudy, but clear sky can be seen in some of the breaks, meaning that potentially in the afternoon, the Americans will receive some much-needed air support, with little chance for the Germans to receive similar support from the much-depleted Luftwaffe. Around 1100, the 71st IR renews its assault, and bring under fire the Panzer IVs, who are quickly disorganised once again: this is followed up by further bombardments from mortars, artillery and light mortars, which manage to cause some casualties amongst the Pioneers, as well as take out an anti-air formation near where the Shermans are roaming.  In a bid to keep their Panzer IVs alive, the 901st blankets the entire American tank line with heavy artillery fire. The fire itself is shrugged off by the armoured vehicles, but it will certainly disrupt any attempts to attack the Panzer IVs.  The 6. PzGnr Company, cut off from the rest of the 901st by the woods, swing around the road now that the Pz Auf 130 is defending Eywiller, while the light tanks of the recon regiment form up to defend the village. In the east, there is some repositioning of the infantry, but largely the sector remains static.  The artillery screen created by the Germans seems to have done its job: the fire from the Shermans is severely disrupted and does not manage to find its mark against the Panzer IVs. B Company, having managed to repair and recuperate their strength, once again heads for the front, screened by mortar fire in order to approach and attack the German positions. Light mortar fire against the Germans does little, however.  The attack continues, however, and soon the Panzer IVs are under heavy fire, both from the Shermans and from artillery, forcing them to hunker down. Artillery fire also targets the rest of the German line, disrupting formations and causing havoc on the Germans. The Panzer forces on the western flank are a sliver away from collapsing altogether.  In the east, the mortars of CCB also make good work, and cause many casualties on the exposed Panzer Grenadiers facing the mechanised infantry, who are also beset by the light mortar fire from them and the scouts directly south of their position.  German VPs: 17
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Mar 10, 2024 17:08
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Here's a full map of the current situation. Although I could potentially push with the 902nd, the Panzer Lehr always seems to be dangerously low on CPs due to the American push in the west, and there are other reasons why I think that a continued push south would be unwise (which I will not reveal yet): The 901 line is extremely thin and vulnerable at the moment. 4th AD is really proving its reputation today.
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Mar 10, 2024 17:15
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Game Turn 12: 1300, 25th of November The sky has cleared up, but no air support is forthcoming for now. Even without air support, it does seem like the Americans are gaining the upper hand in the fight. The afternoon is met with renewed vigour from the 44th ID, that targets both Hellcat and artillery fire at the heavily beset Panzer IVs. Eventually, the artillery is able to mobility kill the Panzers, and the crew dismount and flee for their lives. Light mortar fire also heavily beset the Pioneer company as well.  The Pioneers of the 902nd also face an increasing volume of light mortar fire, disrupting their formation, while AT guns move up to prevent any sort of Panther attack from materialising.  The 901st lays down a base of fire and pull back to a more defensive position, although some of the half-tracks and Pioneers are left stranded since they were heavily suppressed by American fire. With the woods hopefully covering the gap in the lines, the situation still looks dire for the Germans on this front. The covering artillery, however, does manage to disrupt one of the Sherman companies: a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.  Seeing the 901st retreating, the 4th AD takes a moment to recuperate, shelling the positions where the German half-tracks are as well as covering the armoured cars from the Panzer Auf 130 with fire. This allows A Company to reorganise itself. Saving itself for another attack, no other fire is directed to the Germans for now. The rest of the 4th AD fires its light mortars, to no real effect.  After a quarter of an hour, the attack finally materialises, mostly targeting the Panzer Auf 130 troops near Eywiller and the remaining Pioneers and half-tracks that are left behind by the German retreat. Some light casualties are sustained in both by Sherman, mortar and artillery fire, with the Stuarts bravely moving up to add fire against the armoured cars. Additional fire by the Stuarts and Sherman does finally manage to crack the armoured cars, which take several losses in the exchange.  In the east, the fire on the Panzer Grenadier keeps up, managing to make them dive for cover, but little else, since there aren't enough troops for a follow-up assault.  The Panzer Lehr as a whole starts pulling back from their advanced positions. The half-tracks that had been left stranded manage to extricate themselves after heavy artillery fire suppresses the Shermans, while the infantry that had been separated at Eywiller finally finishes its journey and sets up defensive positions around Wolfskirchen.  In the east, the 902nd stops its offensive: the situation is dire enough that any renewed offensive against the American would almost certainly cause the 902nd to be flanked from the north. As such, some of the infantry is moved to cover the gap between the woods, while other infantry congregates on Drulingen, while the Panthers move around the formation in order to get to Eywiller. The remaining infantry on the front line manages to pull back to the woods behind them  German VPs: 15
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Mar 10, 2024 19:41
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Just spotted the "walking barrage" lmao
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Mar 10, 2024 23:26
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Game Turn 13: 1500, 25th of November The 902nd starts forming a line near Drulingen, as well as pushing up to Eywiller to take on the CCB and prevent them from rolling up the remnants of the 901st. Some barrages are prepared on the CCB tanks, but they are mostly there just to suppress the American tanks, although the Stuart formation is quite disrupted by the artillery.  Some air support finally arrives, and it targets the Panthers directly south of Eywiller, but it misses the mark, leaving the German tanks unscathed. Meanwhile, the Stuarts notice that their position is exposed, an attempt to retreat, but the heavy barrage and fire from the Panthers takes out a few of the small scout tanks.  The rest of CCB pushes for Weyer, recapturing the town that had only been captured by the Germans a few hours earlier. They are met with burning Greyhounds and some survivors that had managed to hide out while the Germans were too busy to do a proper search of all houses and basements.  The Panzer Auf 130 calls some heavy artillery fire on the only enemy unit they can see, the Shermans, but although the fire is heavy, it has little effect. The same can be said of the direct fire from the Pumas, which is at the extent of their effective range. Otherwise, the rest of the unit either mounts in transports to potentially moves out, or recuperates and repairs their vehicles, as best they can.  More reinforcements for the 44th ID finally arrive, including more M18s and infantry, and they quickly make their way north.  After clearing the last few Pioneers that were left behind in the retreat of the 901st PzGnr Regiment, 71st Infantry moves up to keep the pressure on the Germans.  The 114th, with the threat of the Panthers now gone, moves out of their defensive positions and starts heading for Drulingen. The AT guns mount up on their transports, ready to reposition.  The Panzer Auf 130 repositions so that it can support either the 902nd or the 901st. Both formations have taken a lick from the Americans, although the latter has taken the lion's share of the casualties. However, the 90nd has a much longer front to cover, and their infantry companies are much depleted.  The 902nd forms a line to defend Drulingen and the gap west of it, while the pioneers create entrenchments to discourage any sort of attack by the Americans through Eywiller: this will be a tough nut to crack now for the Allied troops. The Panthers take a few pot shots at the M18s in Eschwiller, disrupting their formation.  German VPs: 22
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Mar 11, 2024 11:05
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We are more than halfway through the campaign already, since there are 25 turns in the full campaign. The situation isn't great for the Germans, and it's only going to become worse in the next two days.
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Mar 11, 2024 11:35
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Game Turn 14: Night, 25th of November Night is quick to arrive on these short November days, and a planned attack by the 71st is considerably delayed, but still an attempt is made, despite the darkness. Artillery strikes the main target, the infantry south of Wolfskirchen, and manages to take out quite a few of the Germans, catching them sleeping. The half-tracks are also suppressed, and an infantry company advances and attempts to assault the Germans: the assault is largely inconclusive, although the Germans do sustain some casualties.  The rest of the 71st moves up the road, ready to bolster the offensive in the coming day.  The element of the 71st that were helping to bolster the defence of the east now move back towards the west to rejoin their main formation.  The night for the Germans is just spent digging in their infantry, although a few artillery strikes are sent towards the attacking 71st IR GIs: the lead element, caught in the open, suffer serious casualties.  Wanting to keep the offensive going, the Shermans of CCB advance to jump-off positions during the night, hoping that they can get close enough to threaten the remaining tanks of the 901st Regiment.  The suppressing fire from the artillery rattles the crews of the Panzer IVs, and the Shermans manage to advance into contact during the night, ready for combat as soon as daylight hits.  Under the command of Lt. Col. Jaques, the eastern part of CCB also advances towards the Germans during the night.  German VPs: 22
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Mar 11, 2024 18:11
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Game Turn 15: 0700, 26th of November Rain comes thundering down once again, meaning that the sky conditions are not suitable for close air support, which is somewhat of a reprieve for the Germans. The 44th ID keeps moving up towards Wolfkirchen, only firing some mortars to cover the advance, but largely preparing for the offensive expected to happen soon.  In the east, the 114th advances towards Drulingen, hoping to stretch the German defences to breaking point.  The Germans, hoping to blunt the American attack before it can occur, fire artillery and mortars at the Shermans, hoping to suppress them enough that it would affect their fire. The artillery does little against the tanks, especially considering the wet terrain and rain.  The Panzer Auf 130 moves to cover a stream crossing at Pisdorf, but otherwise remains detached from the fighting. They have received orders that they must leave the area of engagement by the end of the day.  The 901st attempts to pull back to the same stream line, considering it to be a much better defensive position than the one near Wolfkirchen. Artillery and mortars cover the retreat, allowing the Germans to retreat relatively unscathed. The rest of the Panzer Lehr remain in their positions.  The 114th advances and makes contact with the Germans defending Drulingen: their mortar fire does little to help but suppress the Germans, but at least the attack is now ready for the next few hours.  The CCB does not relent despite the retreat of the Germans, and the Shermans forge ahead under fire, managing to close the gap between them and the Germans. Fire against the Pumas disrupts their formation, while heavy fire against the retreating German columns causes many casualties amongst the Panzer Grenadiers holding the bridge over the stream, who were caught still in column formation.  In the east, the CCB infantry approaches the German defensive line, and there is a smattering of ineffective mortar fire.  The 901st attempts to fight back against their assailants, but the fire, both from artillery and from their tanks, is ineffective to say the least. They are, at least, able to get out of column formation, however.  The 4th AD isn't done yet, however, and the Shermans open fire once again: this time, their target is the remaining Panzer IVs: the fire proves to be remarkably accurate, causing disruption in the ranks of the Panzer IVs. German VPs: 22 Tekopo fucked around with this message at 11:58 on Mar 13, 2024 |
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Mar 13, 2024 11:54
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Mar 13, 2024 12:41
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Game Turn 16: 0900, 26th of November The rain doesn't relent, covering the entirety of the morning, although forecasts seem to suggest a break in the weather during the afternoon. In danger of getting overrun, most of the German artillery parks disband, since the Americans are getting too close, meaning that the plunging indirect fire is impossible. The 902nd, knowing that they are in risk of getting encircled from the back, attempt to retreat, and although the manage to disengage without too many casualties, the rain prevents them from being able to make much headway. The Panthers swing around the woods in order to help their hard-pressed 901st comrades.  The tanks of the 44th ID, both Hellcats and Shermans, seeing that the Panthers are gone, advance into contact, artillery covering them, causing heavy casualties on the defending Panzer Grenadiers around Eywiller. The infantry also tries to move up, but the rain makes it difficult for them to advance, although the regiment is starting to split into two elements, one pushing Eywiller and the other heading north for Pisdorf.  The 902nd manages to pull back further, increasing the distance between them and the American troops.  Meanwhile, the majority of Panzer Auf 130 manages to retreat and head north, out of the area of operations, as the recon battalion is needed elsewhere. The Panthers deploy in line with the Panzer IVs, finally in position to help beat back the American offensive in the western flank.  The 44th ID continues their slow advance, although the Hellcats start blasting their dual-purpose cannons at the Panzer Grenadiers north of Eywiller, and the HE shells find their mark, rendering the German company combat-ineffective.  The 114th manages to take the now-abandoned Drulingen, although much like the rain slowed down the German retreat, it slows the advance as well.  CCB keeps up the pressure on the German despite the arrival of the Panthers, and directs fire at the remnants of the Panzer IV company, managing to rattle them further and making them close to reaching a breaking point. The Shermans that were covering the area between Eywiller and Eschwiller swing upwards to rejoin the main group of Shermans as well.  In the east, the 4th AD troops keep up their advance, hoping to make contact on the retreating Germans. From the looks of it, the Pioneers in Eywiller will remain in their defensive positions, although they are already starting to become encircled.  German VPs: 21
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Mar 13, 2024 18:16
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Game Turn 17: 1100, 26th of November The weather finally subsides, and forecasts seem to predict that the weather will remain clear for the next couple of days. With the Germans on the back foot, this is doubly bad, as it will mean that Allied air planes might appear overhead, along with allowing the American offensive to progress. CCB takes advantage of the break in the weather by attacking the remains of 901st, with both artillery and the main guns of the Shermans, but it has little effect, although the Panzer Grenadiers defending the stream crossing are disrupted by the fire.  The Panthers, not to be outdone, strike back, getting the Volks Artillerie to lay down some suppressing fire on the Shermans before advancing. The accurate guns of the Panthers then take out several of the Shermans, the first real loss of these tanks for the Americans during the entirety of the engagement.  The rest of the 902nd drops out of column formation, creating a new, although thinly held, defensive line.  The 114th keeps up its advance, although it is slowed down by the woods north of Drulingen. Some mortar fire is sent to harass the Germans at Bettwiller, but it does little.  Despite the casualties being sustained by the Americans now that the Panthers are on the scene, the attack by the CCB continues, with heavy artillery barrages across the entire front. Although these do little more than suppress the German tanks and infantry, the direct fire from the Shermans renders all remaining infantry companies of the 901st combat-ineffective: the only thing holding back the American advance on the western flank is now some half-tracks and the German tanks. Company A pulls back from it's exposed salient to give it some distance from the Panthers.  The rest of the 4th AD keeps moving forward towards the German positions, similarly slowed by the presence of woods in their sector.  The Panzer Lehr, still reeling from their engagements, attempts to suppress some of the American Shermans, but apart from that, just takes a moment to recuperate and attempt to fix their struggling command and control situation. The last remaining company from Panzer Auf 130 attempts to disengage to the North.  The systematic collapse of the German left flank continues, with the CCB continuing to push, clearing one of the half-track companies and providing counter-battery fire to take out some of the German motors. The 901st is a shell of its former self.  The rest of CCB captures Gungwiller and continues to press the retreating Germans hard.  The 71st, without much heavy equipment that is able to take on the Panthers, starts pivoting toward Eywiller, reaching the outskirts of the village with their lead elements.  The 114th, meanwhile, continues its slow advance in the east, almost reaching the outskirts of Bettwiller.  The remnants of the 901st can do little to stem the tide, although the HE guns of the half tracks do manage to disrupt the American mechanised infantry formation that has almost reached the outskirts of Pisdorf. The self-propelled artillery moves back to Saarewerden.  The last remaining elements of the Panzer Auf 130 finally leave: even though the situation is dire in this sector, they are desperately needed elsewhere. German VPs: 17
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Mar 15, 2024 12:11
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Game Turn 18: 1300, 26th of November Although the ground is still muddy, the clouds finally break, which means that there is a prospect for the Allied air forces to make their presence known. Artillery attempts to suppress the Panthers on the western flank, which is followed by relatively accurate fire from the Shermans, which continues to create disruption within the Panther formation.  The 44th ID keeps moving toward Eywiller in force, with the Shermans and Hellcats opening up on the entrenched Pioneers in the town. The shots are accurate, causing severe casualties as many of the houses of the village collapse on the sheltering German troops. The rest of the Division remains relatively quiet, waiting for the signal to approach and attack the Germans.  The CCB keeps pressing forward: with artillery suppressing the remaining defenders in the west, one company of Shermans columns up and crosses the stream, trying to move in a position out of sight of the Panthers, while the remaining Shermans keep up the fire, to little effect.  The rest of CCB attacks the Germans near Gungwiller, trying to force them to cede grounds, but the mortar fire does little to discourage the Germans.  Adding misery to the already desperate German position, CCA of the 4th AD has finally arrived to the scene, heading for the eastern flank in order to help push the offensive there.  Thunderbolts appear from the sky, targeting the Panthers out in the open, but the strafe has little effect on the tanks. The Shermans that crossed the stream drop out of column formation, and heavy artillery fire pounds the German tanks once again, adding to the cacophony.  The Panzer Lehr is immobilised by command indecision. With little left in supplies and with the divisional HQ in a panic, little gets done during the hours that follow. German VPs: 17
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Mar 15, 2024 15:22
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