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.]

Objective: Hoffmeister

A week had passed. Not only had the situation stabilized, but the battalion had begun pushing forward again. Fox Company was coming out of reserve and being sent back up front. By the lantern in the command tent, Captain Thorpe briefed his platoon leaders.

"You probably know that earlier today Charlie company took the Schellendorf Bridge over the Kopp Creek and have established a bridgehead on the east side of the stream." The captain pointed at the map. "At the same time, further south, Dog company secured this ford on the Kopp, just below Oberndorf. Our battalion S2 tells me regiment believes the Germans have been fallen back to the town of Hoffmeister here in the north. Intelligence's best guess is that they've got a weakened company there, down to about 50-60% strength."

Thorpe paused to look at Benedetto and Pickard. "Tonight, second and third platoons are going to go in under cover of darkness and relieve Charlie company, taking over their bridgehead on the east bank of the Kopp. Meanwhile, I'll accompany lieutenant Dowler with 1st platoon and some armor support up from the ford, and we'll assemble near Oberndorf. At 0745 we'll launch a two pronged assault on Hoffmeister, hitting it from the west and south."

The captain looked around at his subordinates. "Now get your men together and get what sleep you can. We shove off in three hours."

[Game note: as you may be able to see, I've taken Paul's and Al's suggestion and increased the US to German troop ratio. I'll be leaving the random event rules intact. Hopefully this will give the GI's a better chance this time!] 

A Moment of Silence