Battle of the Bulge Mini Campaign Game 2

Fellow Gamers,

The second battle of our campaign was fought recently.  Details below:

Battle at Hamoir, 19 Dec 1944
The Germans pushed towards the bridge at Hamoir, having been delayed at Werbomont by the fierce American resistance.  Since they had lost the first campaign game, the effect on the second battle was to reduce the number of turns they had to gain victory in the second campaign battle (only 10 turns vice the normal 14).  For this battle, the following forces were available:
Kampfgruppe Y of Panzer Brigade 150 (Skorzeny’s commandos): Platoon HQ in staff car, Motorcycle Team with a sidecar MG and 2 single Motorcycles, a FJ Squad, a FJ Tripod MG 42 team, and a 4-man squad of commandos dressed as Americans driving US Jeeps.

Kampfgruppe Knittel from the Aufklarung Battalion: SdKfz 234/1 Armored Car (20mm), SdKfz 234/2 Armored Car (50mm) Puma, a Platoon HQ squad in SdKfz 250/1, 2 recons squads in SdKfz 250/1, and a 150mm Infantry Gun with truck tow.

Fallschirmjager Platoon (-):  Platoon HQ, 2 FJ squads, a Panzerschreck team and a 80mm mortar team.  All were in trucks, kubelwagens or schwimmwagens.
Peiper Kampfgruppe:  3 Panthers, Forward HQ in Sdkfz 251/3, Platoon HQ in SdKfz 251/1, 2 squads in SdKfz 251/1, SdKfz 251/2 (mortar), SdKfz 251/9 (75mm), Tripod MG 42 team, 120mm mortar team, SdKfz 10/4 Flak (20mm), SdKfz 7/2 FLAK (37mm).



As for the Americans, they knew this bridge needed to be destroyed, but the demolitions had not arrived.  So, their orders were to hold the bridge for as long as possible and delay the Germans.  American starting forces were not very strong: a short MP squad holding a checkpoint on the bridge, an engineer HQ squad with .30 cal MG team, an engineer squad and a .50 cal MG team.

Arriving reinforcements (variable on Turn 2, 3 or 4) included 3 x Shermans (one a 76mm), 2 x Chafees, a M-36 Tank Destroyer, and a platoon of infantry, with a .50 cal MG, a 60mm Mortar, an 81mm mortar, and a 57mm AT gun.  Infantry and weapons were mounted in trucks.

Finally, air support in the form of a P-47 Thunderbolt with rockets was due overhead on Turn 4.



The Germans decided to lead with KG Y moving on the board at G1, followed by KG Peiper.  On Turn 2, they brought on the FJ troops, and on Turn 3, KG Knittel was moved on.  The American forces all arrived on Turn 3 (based on their die rolls).  They split their arrival, with a small force moving on at US 1 while the bulk moved on at US 2.

One of these days, I’ll be able to keep better track of events, but I was overwhelmed by the referee tasks and can only give my impressions as they game developed.

The initial German advance was bold with the commandos driving down the road towards the MP check point.  The American player needed to roll a 4-6 to recognize these as Germans, but failed on Turn 1 and on Turn 2.  The Germans disembarked and hosed down the American MPs who were quickly destroyed.  The American engineers returned the favor and gunned down the dastardly Germans.



Suddenly, out of the woods on the hill appeared a Panther tank.  It turned into the wood line and took up a commanding position.  Meanwhile mortars and MG fire had hammered the engineer squad and it was quickly destroyed.  But the American BR draw was a Breakdown counter.  They played it on the Panther and it sputtered to a halt, immobilized for the rest of the game.



KG Y continued to press for the bridge, but was pretty much wiped out in fighting for the small building just to the south of the bridge.  The FJ battalion moved into the woodline on the hill and began to engage the arriving Americans.  This fight was to last most of the game, with the American squad and HMG team holding them up until they were finally vanquished.
Back in Hamoir, long range tank gunnery had not gone well for the Americans as they lost two Shermans and the tank destroyer.  But they still contested the bridge, covering it from the train station and the church.  But the Germans gradually gained fire superiority.  They blasted the church with HE fire until it was almost collapsed, forcing the American to withdraw.  The train station was fired on by mortars and infantry fire until the survivors moved out, too.



KG Knittel finally emerged from the wooded hill.  The Puma dueled with the Chafee, but lost.  The rest of the KG moved towards the bridge.  Suddenly, overhead, the P-47 appeared.  It tried to attack but was driven off by the German AA fire on two turns.  Finally, it was able to make a clean run and destroyed a halftrack with rockets.  On the next turn its 8 MGs ripped apart a recon squad who had dismounted in the open.



But it was too little, too late.  The Germans pushed a Panther on the bridge.  It fired at a Sherman sheltering near the train station, but missed.  On the next American turn and bazooka team rushed out and fired, but missed.  The Sherman took careful aim, fired twice, and missed!  On the final turn, the Panther fired and brewed up the Sherman.  The BR counter broke the Americans and they withdrew.  A German win!

A hard-fought battle.  There were several Beyond the Call of Duty tests in the game, and they went well for the Germans with their mostly elite status.  Next game will see a scratch American force trying to hold off the German advance so a convoy can be evacuated.