Banholz: 1 December 1944

The Army reports have little to say about the assault on Banholz. The American attacking force loses its impetus in the earliest moments of the push forward, and never regains it. The fight turns into an immobile slog, with infantry on both sides simply exchanging fire, gradually whittling each other down. While the American armor gets the better of the German panzers, the Americans suffer from significant mechanical difficulties which prevent the U.S. armor from making any real contribution to the attack. The American company commander, Captain Norman Fowler, is killed in action, as are all three of his subordinate platoon commanders. So deadlocked is the position throughout that there is little to report. What follows therefore is simply a list of the difficulties that beset the immobilized American force.

An overview of the battlefield

Deck 1, Turns 1-4

Preliminary U.S. artillery has virtually no effect.

An exchange of infantry fire begins in the center of the lines due west of Banholz, pinning units who then rally and are pinned again repeatedly. This continues through the rest of the battle and bears no further commentary.

The two Shermans run into ditches.

The crew of one M10 Wolverine is stunned by enemy fire.

From about the second turn, half to two-thirds of the US infantry remain pinned, while half to two-thirds of the US vehicles remain immobilized for the remainder of the fight. No further significant maneuvering occurs after the initial engagement.

End of Turn 1

Deck 2, Turns 1-4

The American M8 goes up in flames from German infantry AT fire.

The Americans get reinforced by an understrength rifle platoon (two squads) and an additional M8 scout car. These reinforcements are unbearably slow moving up, and will only reach sight of the enemy at the very end of the battle.

One Sherman drags itself out of the ditch and slides right back into it, again temporarily out of action.

Lieutenant Dowler (first platoon) is killed by a shell fragment.

A machine gun burst kills Lieutenant Pickard (third platoon).

An M10 Wolverine and a Sherman engaged with the two Panzers manage to send one PzIV up in flames.

Deck 3, Turns 1-3

One US squad gets pinned down in a minefield.

One of the Shermans gets hit by a panzerfaust attack and explodes.

Captain Fowler (company commander) is killed by a sniper.

Lieutenant Benedetto (second platoon) is killed by a mortar round.

The Sherman and the Wolverine bounce a total of six shots off the Pz IV's hull. [Game comment: each armor save has a 33% chance of succeeding. The chance of the Panzer making six armor saves in a row, as it does, is .0013 or just over 1 in 1000]. Finally three more hits destroy the enemy tank.

End of Game

Aftermath:

Seeing their attack has petered out, the Americans pull back. The Americans suffer one Sherman destroyed, one M8 destroyed, and the loss of three rifle squads. The Germans suffer two Panzer IVs destroyed, and the loss of two rifle squads. Though the losses are fairly even, not a single G.I. even comes close to setting foot inside the town. The fight is a solid German victory.

Fox Company, effectively decapitated by the loss of its four commanding officers, is pulled out of the Hurtgen entirely. The unit is shortly thereafter disbanded, and its men reintegrated into other units shipping out to Belgium and Luxembourg as the snow begins to fall, to fight in yet another desperate campaign.


Game Notes:

I've got to say this was a terribly anti-climactic conclusion to the Hurtgen mini-campaign. The Germans drew more action cards than the Americans every turn of the game, except the final turn. In several cases the disparity in action cards drawn was extreme (11-4, 10-4, 11-5). The Americans could simply not overcome this deficiency, which was coupled with brutal random events – four officers killed outright, one tank blown up by a panzerfaust, and no fewer than four "mechanical breakdown" results keeping US tanks out of action, and a seemingly utter inability of US pinned and immobilized units to make successful recovery rolls. The US force – significantly greater in numbers – just lay there like a beached whale, passively taking fire for much of the game. So much so that writing a report (other than the list of things that went wrong provided above) was practically impossible, just because nothing actually happened the whole game but a stagnant, immobile firefight that reduced the game to a pure dice-rolling contest. You can easily see that the photo at the end of turn one and the photo at the end of the game are not significantly different from each other.

Then again, that's pretty much how the Hurtgen forest campaign played out in real life too...

Hoffmeister: The Aftermath

Graves detail carries off Captain Thorpe in a body bag. Nobody even salutes. The only notice anyone gives of him at all is the occasional shrug.

Still, the company took Hoffmeister and, in the days following, the unit is brought quickly up to full strength again. Dowler and Pickard look good in the reports. Benedetto less so, and there is rumor he may come up on charges for drinking.

As the last of the reinforcements and supplies are brought in, so is the new company commander, captain Fowler.

The captain's first announcement is that the company has been chosen to lead the main assault into the town of Banholz. The company will have armor backing them up, along with some artillery support, and some reserves standing by for reinforcement, if needed.

Newly built and painted armourfast vehicles (one M4 and two M10's at the rear of the column) move up to support Fox Company in their next push.
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Revised Company Roster

Fox Company:
Captain Norman Fowler, commander (replacement)
1st platoon (full strength, some replacements)
2nd platoon (full strength, many replacements)
3rd platoon (full strength, many replacements)

Support:
1 M8 Scout Car
2 M4 Sherman Tanks
2 M10 Wolverine Tank Destroyers
1 Artillery Fire Mission
Reserves (unspecified type/number)
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New NPC

Company Commander (Replacement): Capatin Norman Fowler

Description: A pragmatic man, whose primary interest, outside his duties, is family. He talks freely about his own, and also takes an active interest in his men's families' well-being. Most of the men have quickly taken a liking to him because of this. He is a cautious but competent commander.

Traits/Stats: Personality: Pragmatic; Interest: Family; Combat Temperament: Cautious (-1 DRM to number of cards drawn); Combat Leadership: Level II (average); Background: Average.

Cumulative DRM: -1 DRM to number of cards drawn for the US each turn.
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Revised NPC

1st Platoon Leader: Lt. Clinton Dowler

Description: Lieutenant Dowler is a mercurial fellow, as quick to offer a kind word as to jump into a rage – both perhaps related to what many view as his religious fanaticism. He can be charitable to the men around him when they are in need, and severely judgmental and angered when they engage in any activity he perceives as sinful. The fact that he often quotes biblical verse while addressing his men will no doubt win him points with fellow believers, but will also certainly turn off the foxhole atheists in his platoon.

Traits/Stats: Personality: Mercurial (-1 DRM), Interest: Religion (pious/devout), Combat Temperament: Even, Combat Leadership: Level 2, (Average); Background: Average.

Cumulative DRM: -1
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[Game note: the "after-the-battle" narrative was drafted based on results rolled for with the Platoon Forward rules – Post-Battle Events: Freeform (Replacements/support); Manpower (reserves); Manpower (Arty support)]

Hoffmeister: 13 November 1944

The sun is rising as Lt. Benedetto takes one last sip from his silver hip flask and wipes his mouth on his sleeve. His watch says 0745. "Okay, Sergeant, let's get them moving."

Deck 1, Turn 1

One of the men in Benedetto's platoon steps on a mine, then the platoon comes under a crossfire from two German platoons who have swiftly moved into the woods just in front of them. Benedetto's return fire is virtually ineffective. In the blink of an eye second platoon is down to two squads. Meanwhile third platoon moves up on second's right flank, and first platoon with the armor support enters the town of Oberndorf.

Deck 1, Turn 2

The sherman takes a wrong turn in Oberndorf and finds its path blocked in a narrow set of alleyways. The crew immediately try to back out and get back onto one of the main streets. Meanwhile a sniper opens fire from an upper-storey window and kills Captain Thorpe with a bullet to the chest. A medic rushes over to him, but too late. The withering German crossfire finishes off second platoon. Benedetto and a few survivors manage to fall back to the safety of the bridge. Meanwhile, Pickard's third platoon open fire on the Germans across the road and manage to cut them down to half strength.

Deck 1, Turn 3 - 4

The infantry on both sides continue to exchange fire, and Pickard's platoon does heavy damage to the German center. Dowler succeeds in getting his men back on their feet and first platoon reaches the north edge of Oberndorf.

Deck 2, Turn 1

The sherman still fails to extricate itself from the back alleys of Oberndorf. Meanwhile Dowler's first platoon advances on the American right, while Pickard's third platoon and the Germans in the center chop away at each other. Both forces are down to about 50 % of their original strength.

Deck 2, Turn 2

Pickard's platoon gets whittled down still further, but Dowler's platoon does some damage to the Germans facing them, completely annihilating the German left flank. If only the sherman could get free of Oberndorf, then Hoffmeister would be completely open to the Americans.

Deck 2, Turn 3

An overstrength platoon of German reinforcements marches down the road from the north toward Hoffmeister. Meanwhile, German fire from the woods facing Picard's depleted third platoon is ineffective. Pickard however, manages to keep the German platoon pinned in place. The sherman manages to extricate itself from Oberndorf, and races north along the road toward Hoffmeister, with Dowler's men dashing across the east-west road, right alongside.

Deck 2, Turn 4

A panzerfaust team takes a shot at the sherman as it rolls up the road, then pulls out in the face of close range MG fire from the tank. The sherman then rumbles forward into Hoffmeister with Dowler's first platoon immediately behind. The German reinforcements, hearing the tank roll into the town ahead of them, take cover in the trees northwest of Hoffmeister. Meanwhile the exchange of fire in the west near the bridge is relatively ineffective, as both sides have very little fight left in them.

Deck 2, Turn 5

Dowler's men join the tank in Hoffmeister, and with a final ineffective exchange of fire, the remnants of the German force pull back off the battlefield. Though it cost them dearly, the American are victorious.

[Game notes: Lt. Benedetto hit the bottle before going into action. This did not help the Americans at all, as his platoon had a severe penalty to their dice rolls. Consequently Benedetto's platoon got wiped out very quickly. The random events were still quite unkind, but manageable [barely] with the numerical advantage for the GIs. Even so, it was a near run thing, and had the Americans not secured the town as they did right at the end of the second deck (which allowed me to call the game there), they would certainly have lost -- a third deck would have killed them. As it is, the GI's took a lot of casualties securing their objective.]

Gratz: The Aftermath

Despite the frantic withdrawal from Gratz, one of Lt. Grover's sergeants manages to bring his body out. Falling back to an assembly area – no more than a large clearing in the woods – the company is in complete disarray. First platoon was completely wiped out, second platoon is down to about a dozen men, and third platoon is the only one largely intact, though Pickard's men are fairly shaken. Benedetto watches as some men bring over Grover's body and lay it with the other corpses recovered from first platoon. "I'm beginning to see what old Grinder had against the captain," he mutters to himself. He looks around as if there might be a spare bottle lying around, but of course there isn't. Not in this mess.

"Lieutenant!" calls a voice. Benedetto spins around to find himself face to face with the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Kenison. "What the hell happened here, lieutenant?" Benedetto hesistates at first, but gives the commander his assessment. Kenison nods and pats the second platoon commander on the shoulder. "You're doing a fine job lieutenant. Keep up the good work. I'll make sure you get back to full strength with the replacements coming in."

Benedetto watches the battalion commander stomp off to find Captain Thorpe. The need for a drink gnaws him again. Medics working on wounded men. Soldiers running back and forth. A jeep pulls up and a new lieutenant steps out, in a clean, pressed uniform with a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. The fresh L-T approaches. "I have orders to take over first platoon. Any idea where those boys are?" Benedetto points to the line of dead bodies where Grover was just laid down. "Over there," he says. The new lieutenant crosses himself. "With the Lord then," he says softly. "Well, I suppose I just better report to Captain Thorpe and wait for the replacements."

Once the young lieutenant is out of sight, several trucks arrive. Sergeants run up to them barking orders. "You men, you're in second platoon with Lieutenant Benedetto. Form up on me! You others, you'll be in first platoon with the new lieutenant. Fall in over there!" Benedetto wonders how long it will be before these men are lying beside Grover and the others.

[Game note: the "after-the-battle" narrative was drafted based on results rolled for with the Platoon Forward rules – Post-Battle Events: Freeform; Encounter; Player Choice (Replacements)]

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Revised Company Roster

1st platoon (brought up to two squads; new commander)
2nd platoon (brought up to three squads with replacements)
3rd platoon (intact with three squads, no replacements)

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New NPC

1st Platoon Leader (Replacement): Lt. Clinton Dowler

Description: Lieutenant Dowler is a mercurial fellow, as quick to offer a kind word as to jump into a rage – both perhaps related to what many view as his religious fanaticism. He can be charitable to the men around him when they are in need, and severely judgmental and angered when they engage in any activity he perceives as sinful. The fact that he often quotes biblical verse while addressing his men will no doubt win him points with fellow believers, but will also certainly turn off the foxhole atheists in his platoon.

Traits/Stats: Personality: Mercurial (-1 DRM), Interest: Religion (pious/devout), Combat Temperament: Even, Combat Leadership: Level 1, Below Average/Green (-1 DRM); Background: Average.

Cumulative DRM: -2

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New NPC
Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Max Kenison

Traits: Personality: Likeable; Interest: Engineering; Combat Temperament: Even; Combat Leadership: Level 4 (Excellent); Background: Average).

[Game note: no detailed description or DRM, since he only exists for the purposes of his encounter with Benedetto and will not be seen again (encounters with previously met NPCs are re-rolled).]

Gratz: 4 November 1944

"Forget about sending in scouts Lieutenant!" Captain Thorpe is screaming into the radio at his subordinate. "I want you to get your platoon into Gratz now. Second and third platoons will be right behind you. Battalion thinks the Germans may be moving in as we speak, and by God we're not going to let them get into that town first! You get it moving Lieutenant or I'll personally come up there and put my boot in your ass!"

Lieutenant Grover slams down the handset and grinds his teeth together. "Goddammit..." he mutters. "He's got us charging straight in there with no idea what's in front of us." The lieutenant presses his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Let's get them moving, sergeant."

Deck 1, Turn 1

Grover's platoon advances east toward Gratz, coming under light mortar fire, but no one is hit. They make contact just outside of town with a German rifle platoon. Benedetto, sober today, moves second platoon into the woods on Grover's left flank. while Pickard advances third platoon into the same woods on the American far left. Germans appear in the trees across the road. Grover's men, after an initial exchange of fire, deploy in Gratz. Though the Americans are successful in pinning down some of the enemy, a sniper rifle rings out and Grover himself goes down, shot through the head.

Deck 1, Turn 2

First platoon, now in Gratz but leaderless, takes fire from the Germans, losing one squad, but eliminating one enemy squad as well. The remaining American platoons deploy into the woods north of the town, and the Germans do the same across the north-south road.

Deck 1, Turn 3

A squad from first platoon sets off a booby-trap, no doubt left behind by the German sniper team before they withdrew from Gratz. Adding insult to injury, the Germans east of the town lay down additional heavy fire on the already stunned squad. First platoon has been whittled down to just a dozen or so men. Benedetto's platoon in the center also takes heavy fire. Things are looking grim for the GIs and their spirits sink momentarily as a German tank can be heard rumbling closer from the village of Schierholz to the east. Just as they begin to despair however, the GIs' morale rises again as they hear a Sherman coming up from the rear.

[Game note: this was just dumb luck. I created a scenario rule that allowed armored reinforcement to arrive on any roll [move, fire, recover] of double sixes. The end of the turn saw double sixes rolled on BOTH of the last two fire rolls – the first tank turned out to be German, the second American.]

Deck 1, Turn 4

The last remnants of first platoon wither away under German fire inside Gratz. Meanwhile, Pickard's third platoon finally gets into position on the American left, while the Sherman advances to become what is now the American right. With the help of the tank, the two remaining American rifle platoons manage to pin most of the German troops in the trees across the road.

Deck 1, Turn 5

The Sherman has mechanical difficulty and creaks to a halt. The German Panzer IV slowly grinds forward. Fire from the American infantry begins to take a toll on the Germans in the woods, knocking out two squads and pinning all the rest. The only German infantry in good order is the platoon advancing into Gratz from the east. After what seems like an eternity of vulnerability, the Sherman's crew get their vehicle running again.

[Game note: now at the end of the first deck, I could call the game and retreat; my force is down 4-3, a minor loss, and not the end of the world. However, seeing as how half the German infantry is pinned, and all of my units are in good order, I decide to take a gamble, thinking maybe I could pull this out – bad idea].

Deck 2, Turn 1

"Sonofabitch!" Pickard can see a dust cloud rising in the distance in the outskirts of Schierholz. Another Panzer followed by an entire platoon of German infantry! He grabs the handset from his radio man. "Fall back! Fall back! We can't hold this position!"

"Goddammit!" Hollers Thorpe into his own radio. "You hold your position Lieutenant!"

The GI's keep firing, taking out two German squads in the woods. The tanks on both sides fail to find their marks, and the German infantry in Gratz manages to destroy an American squad on the US right.

Deck 2, Turn 2

Things go to hell in a handbasket for the Americans. A mortar barrage leaves every squad in Pickard's third platoon pinned, and the exchange of infantry weapons fire leaves Benedetto's platoon down to a single pinned squad as well. The Germans in Gratz attack the Sherman with panzerfausts, and momentarily stun the crew. Yet another German vehicle rolls into the town of Schierholz joining up with the other troops assembling there. The only good news for the Americans is that their tank quickly recovers from the panzerfaust attack. However, it seems now only a matter of time before the German troops in Schierholz make the final push to drive the U.S. force from the field.

Deck 2, Turn 3

There is a lull in the action, as a few desultory shots are fired by the remaining engaged good order troops on both sides. The Americans take advantage of the lull to pull their troops out, falling back through Broeckerhoff, leaving Gratz in German hands.

[Game notes: Deck 2 ended here, and I wised up and opted to get out while I still could. In terms of casualty victory points, the game was tied, 5-5, as both sides had taken even losses. But the Germans took Gratz and that gives them the victory here. In reality though, the "numerical" VP score doesn't come close to reflecting the horrible position I was in when deck 2 ended. All my infantry was pinned, practically all the German forces were in good order, and the German reinforcements were going to be overwhelming, outnumberng me about 2:1 in infantry and 3:1 in vehicles. Sticking around would have been sheer suicide.

Playtesting notes: As for the solo Paper Tiger variant rules I drew up, the random events rules were pretty brutal. They come up four times per deck, and are all bad events undermining the solo player. In other words, they represent four "free shots" against the player's forces on each run through the deck. That may be a bit much. The random events just pounded me the whole game. With the random event rule as written, I'm not sure the player has any chance at all of winning a game, and my target is for a game that gives the player a roughly 50-50 chance to win or lose. For the next game I may tweak the rules so that random events don't pop up quite so often – maybe a random event occurs only when the enemy draws an ace. This way, instead of being guaranteed four bad events per run through the deck, I could get anywhere from zero to four such events, with an average of two per pass through the deck, depending on who draws the aces.]

Coming soon: After the battle.

Platoon Forward Solo Hürtgen Forest Campaign Personalities

Using the Platoon Forward campaign rules, I set up some personalities for the company and platoon commanders of my fictional company. All given names were created using a random name generator. Nicknames were created based on the personality traits generated by the Platoon Forward rules. The Dice Roll Modifiers (DRM) are based on the personality traits of the character.

The campaign will be set in the Hürtgen Forest, and my fictional company will be part of the historical 1st Infantry Division.

U.S. Force: Fox Company ("The Misfit Marauders") of the fictional 4th Battalion, belonging to the historical 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red One")

Company Commander: Capt. Walter Thorpe

Description: Captain Walter Thorpe is a career officer with one thing only on his mind – climbing the ranks and getting ahead professionally. He'll screw over anyone he has to in order to do this. In a word, he is a jerk to all peers and subordinates, whom he sees only as stepping stones to professional advancement. While he is an exceptional tactician, he may recklessly volunteer his men for jobs too big for them to handle in his desire to make a splash with the top brass. His total disregard for his subordinates' needs (and sometimes lives) has earned him the nickname "Captain Ass-Hat."

Traits/Stats: Personality: Unsupportive (generally unpopular; -1 to campaign progress rolls; -2 DRM); Motivation/Interest: Position (promotion/furthering his career); Combat Temperament: Bold (+1 DRM); Combat Leadership: Exceptional (Level IV) (+2 DRM); Background: Average

Cumulative DRM: +1 to US reserve cards and to AFV move/fire cards played.

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1st Platoon Leader: Lt. Lewis Grover

Description: Grover rose from the ranks. Due to the circumstances of his rise to platoon command, he hates Captain Thorpe. Grover became a lieutenant and platoon leader the day after Thorpe sent the first platoon on one of his rashly bold career-advancing attacks while Grover was just a sergeant. The platoon lost its leader, and Grover lost a lot of good friends that day. He blames Thorpe for their deaths, and will look for any way possible to bring down the Captain in the eyes of the higher echelon commanders. His hatred burns so hot that he often cannot help grinding his teeth in the Captain's presence. Consequently some of his men call him "Grinder."

Traits/Stats: Personality: Cheap; Motivation/Interest: Revenge; bears a grudge against Capt. Thorpe; Combat Temperament: Bold (+1 DRM); Combat Leadership: Rookie (Level I) (-1 DRM); Background: Up from the ranks

Cumulative DRM: +/- 0

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2nd Platoon Leader: Lt.Todd Benedetto

Description: Lieutentant Benedetto is a socially meek fellow, who turns a little too often to alcohol to bolster his confidence. In combat, he is a more than competent platoon leader – when he is sober. But when going into combat under the influence, he becomes a loose cannon. His decrease in judgment is not offset by his increased boldness. So far, no combat deaths are attributed to his drinking, and some of the more "macho" men in his platoon even prefer going into battle with him in that condition, as they equate (quite mistakenly) his socially quiet demeanor as "cowardice" and believe (quite wrongly) that sober he is more likely to get them killed in combat. Other men are worried about it though, and his drinking has earned him the nickname of "Lieutenant Beercan."

Traits/Stats: Personality: Meek; Motivation/Interest: Alcohol, loose cannon when drunk (2-in-6 chance each day); Combat Temperament: Even (when sober)/Reckless (when drunk; red/black cards are interchangeable); Combat Leadership: Poor Level 0 (when drunk; -3 DRM) / Above Avg (Level III) (when sober +1 DRM); Background: Average

Cumulative DRM: +1 sober /-3 drunk (red/black cards interchangeable)

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3rd Platoon Leader: Lt. Howard Pickard

Description: Lietenant Pickard is a morose individual, whose eternal frown has earned him the nickname "Pouty-Puss Pickard." A moderately competent commander, the only notable thing about him at all, besides his glum personality, is his keen interest in making a buck, by any means he can shy of actually breaking regulations (though he's not afraid to bend them a little). There is sometimes a bit of tension between Pickard and Lt. Grover, as the latter, somewhat of a skinflint, not only refuses to invest in Pickard's high-risk get-rich-quick schemes, but quite often discourages others from doing so as well.

Traits/Stats: Personality: Glum; Motivation/Interest: Wealth; will seek out money by any legal means; Combat Temperament: Even; Combat Leadership: Average (Level II); Background: Average

Cumulative DRM: +/- 0