Battle of the Bulge - The Twin Villages After Action Report

I’ve posted a number of times about the Battle of the Bulge game we’ve been planning for some time. I’ve covered the infantry, vehicles, trees, the table set up and the scenario. It may be worth having a look at those before reading this AAR.
The game was played over several nights by 4 players with two on each side. I led the US forces with Dave the Designer leading the Germans. Once initial set up was complete I outlined the table terrain and it’s effects. There is a substantial amount of terrain on the table with a number of effects. This had a major impact on the battle, with the difficulties in crossing the main section of river west of Wurzfeld in particular constraining the German battleplan. Height advantage played its part, with the Germans generally disadvantaged all through the battle. The snow was considered light and had minimal influence on the game.

Krinkelt-Rocherath is at the bottom right, Wurtzfeld in the middle and Murringen on the left middle. German forces entered from the left.

Looking down the river valley from the northwest. This section of river to Wurtzfeld was very difficult to cross and impacted the German strategy.

For both sides this was a do or die battle. The Germans had to capture the highest point on the table, effectively requiring them to eliminate the US forces on the table. The US objective was simply to hold on until nightfall. If the Germans failed the US players would win. 14 turns of battle would follow.

  

The key heights above and to the northwest of the twin villages Krinkelt-Rocerath 

The key heights viewed from the German entry points to the southwest looking over Wurtzfeld

After a brief planning session the game began. 

The German battleplan comprised three main thrusts. The first to the east sought to capture the Twin Villages of Krinkelt-Rocherath. The central thrust sought to capture Murringen and Wurtzfeld. The western attack through the woods sought to outflank the US defence but faced a tricky crossing of the river.

The US players view south from Krinkelt-Rocherath

Wurtzfeld in the foreground and the heights above it

The German players view of Murringen with Krinkelt-Rocherath in the top right. 

The woods to the west of the table looking from the American side south.

The US defence was based on strongpoints. US infantry occupied Krinkelt-Rocherath, another battalion held Wurtzfeld deploying a company sized garrison force in Murringen. US armour was held back below the heights near Krinkelt-Rocherath ready to intervene where needed, whilst the last infantry battalion was placed close to the centre in semi reserve able to counter any flanking attack from the west. Considerable artillery resources were held off table with command prioritising support in this battle.

The game began with German forces starting to enter at the southern table edge. Fog, and clogged roads slowed down deployment and it was an hour before all German formations were on table. In addition aggressive defence by the forward US elements forced some German formations to prematurely deploy near to Murringen and on the road to Wurtzfeld. Elsewhere the US defenders waited nervously.

German artillery quickly deploys, but an infantry battalion catches incoming fire from US guns.

In the early stages of the battle it was the central thrust that saw the lion's share of the action. A company of US tanks supporting the defence at Wurtzfeld were uncovered by the suddenly rising fog and quickly discomforted by German tanks and artillery. US artillery spotters seized the chance to disrupt the German advance and the 155’s stonked a deploying infantry battalion disordering a number of platoons and forcing it to seek shelter in the woods.

US tanks attract German artillery fire

German infantry scuttle into cover to escape 155mm guns

Meanwhile the Germans advanced on Murringen where US infantry in M3 half tracks hoped to fight a stubborn delaying action. 

US infantry bravely stand to battle

The Germans relying on weight of numbers attacked quickly. The US infantry was hit by supporting fire before being assaulted by infantry supported by 251s. The US troops fought bravely and although suffering heavy losses gave as good as they got. Pushed back they counterattacked, before being eliminated by the next German assault. Although scattered the US force had hurt the enemy and, more importantly, a single company held up two German battalions for almost 3 hours.

Initial German attacks reduce the defenders

Everything gets thrown in and the US forces are defeated.

Elsewhere the Germans advanced on both Krinkelt-Rocherath and Wurtzfeld moving into position to begin their attacks. 

The Germans thunder towards Krinkelt-Rocherath

German forces mass on Wurtzfeld

German gunners fired on the defenders of the Twin Villages, one notable consequence was that the engineers charged with mining the bridges were so badly shelled they were ineffective for the rest of the game. 

US engineers suffered from German shelling.

US artillery fire, particularly near Wurtzfeld hindered German manoeuvring, as a Volks infantry battalion was caught in the open by the combined fire of 155 and 105mm guns.

Infantry exposed to artillery in effectively open ground being chewed to pieces

In the west the Germans slowly advanced, keeping to the woods.

  

The next phase of the battle was the desperate defence by US infantry in the centre and in the Twin Villages.

US infantry awaiting the German assault in Wurtzfeld

US infantry in the twin villages already under enemy shell fire

German panzer grenadiers and Panzers opened up on Krinkelt-Rocherath, supported by artillery. 

They're coming!

The US troops replied firing back with everything they had, but as the Panzers were outside bazooka range impact was limited. So much fire rained down on the US infantry that their battle line was significantly weakened.

Ineffective fire from the US infantry has minimal impact on the German forces. Where's the artillery fire support?

The Germans despite receiving heavy artillery fire pushed onwards, the panzer grenadiers assaulting supported by their half tracks.

German panzer-grenadiers throw back the US infantry in the twin villages

The attack was a success, pushing the surviving Americans back across the river, although at the cost of breaking the German formation. 

The half tracks may still be there but much of the assaulting infantry didn't survive.

This attack was followed by a panzer assault into the town. The Germans desperately short of infantry and with the clock passing midday were forced to sacrifice tanks for territory. 

Everybody is feeling the pain!

One more push and the twin villages will fall.

They took the ground, broke the American infantry, and then followed up with a charge into the routing GIs wiping another company off the table.

US infantry break

The Germans push on and on hitting the routed infantry

The only forces left to support this attack was another Panzer battalion. It deployed trying to move forward. However the concentration of German forces in the salient left it exposed and US Sherman’s and Wolverines firing from higher ground across the valley supported by heavy artillery fire caused significant losses.

Caught by artillery and tanks out in the open

Ouch!

In the centre across a broad front the Germans advanced, particularly towards Wurtzfeld.  

Artillery fire is hurting the Germans but the US ground defence is weak

The Germans mount a broad thrust fowards

US command and control was poor and the defence unco-ordinated. Whilst the Germans suffered badly from artillery pounding them the US ground forces inflicted minimal casualties. Just as the Germans took the Twin Villages the US forces in Wurtzfeld pulled back and soon after collapsed.

The Germans begin a determined push into Wurtzfeld

That was over quickly! Now on to the heights!

The German advance in the west continued, forcing the Americans to commit their last reserve, an unbloodied infantry battalion. No sooner was this done though it became clear this was an elaborate feint. The full weight of the German assault had been thrown across a narrow front.

Where did they go? That was just a feint!

The US position was now critical. All the villages had been lost, half their ground forces routed and only 1 tank battalion and a raw infantry battalion stood against the Germans. However the US commanders consoled themselves with the fact that the German’s were suffering heavily. Every enemy formation had suffered losses and several were combat ineffective. The battle was not over yet.

The German advance passes the river at all points. Just one more mile to go!

The next blows came on the slopes above Wurtzfeld. Infantry supported by tanks and artillery fired upon the dug in American defenders, grinding them down. 

Only this infantry stands between the Germands and the western side of the heights

The inexperienced troops suffered steady losses and gave ground. The Germans sensing victory threw infantry and tanks into an assault. The Americans, overwhelmed, gave way routing up the hill. The route to the Heights was open!

German tanks, infantry and artillery combine to hammer the US defenders pushing them back.

The Americans can't hold! The heights are open.

At the Twin Villages the few US infantry remaining under command staged a desperate attack against the Panzers. It shattered the infantry but bought time for the US armour to reposition. The Panzers advanced under cover of smoke but couldn’t grapple with the US tanks who pulled back further up slope, with a company providing covering fire.

  

A last throw of the dice for the remaining US infantry

As the panzers push on and on ...

… the Americans fall back

As the Americans tried to consolidate and establish a new battleline, they had only an intact armoured battalion and the shattered remnants of one US infantry battalion, their morale less than shaky, on table. Opposing them were 4 or 5 German battalions, although almost all had been badly shot up. The tank vs tank ratio was about equal, but the Germans were about 50% Tigers and Panthers vs mostly 75mm Shermans. The Germans had much more and better infantry. The US still had significant artillery support although loss of F.O.s meant 155mm support was halved. The Germans were optimistic the Americans phlegmatic. The next turn would determine the result. 

The route to the heights is open - just one US tank battalion stands in the way

US artillery fire caught the Tigers in the centre out in the open and all 3 suffered concussion effects from incoming fire. 

Accurate US artillery pounds the Tiger company leading the attack above Wurtzfeld

The last German infantry formation still undaunted copped fire from 105mm Shermans and artillery. It caused a bloody mess in the troops that had struggled across the river and were being pushed ever forwards without a chance to reorganise and recover. It was too much and they scuttled back across the river.

That has got to hurt!

Next the German Panzers were ordered forward to engage. The prospect of fighting up the slope against hidden Shermans and tank destroyers whilst dodging artillery shells was just too much. The first Panzer battalion routed back, the other retreated.

Retreating and routing the panzers baulk at charging up the hill

The German attack had stalled all across the field of battle! With night less than two hours away the Germans conceded defeat

The state of the table when we called it. German troops retreating, US troops holding the last few metres of ground.

It was just unrealistic in the time left available for them to rally and reorder their forces and push them up the hill against a determined force of US armour. The game had been in the balance for 12 of 14 turns before attrition tipped the scales in the Americans’ favour.

At the end of the game we had a good chat. Everybody had really enjoyed the scenario and game. The result was pretty much in question all the way through. The difference between the sides had been the weight of US artillery. The Germans were slowly whittled down before finding themselves exhausted with ground still to capture.

As the scenario was intended to test artillery and the impact of height I was very pleased with the resulting game. Artillery carried great power but needed ground forces to be able to follow it up and take advantage. US artillery effectiveness had determined the result - in line with my reading of the actual battle. That the result was in doubt for so long was very cheering too!

Hope you enjoyed checking that out.

Roll dice responsibly!

Charles the Modeller

Arnhem Bridge Model Build Update

Today is the 75th anniversary of the start of Operation Market Garden the ill fated attempt to capture a series of bridges in Holland and gain a crossing point on the Rhine. It all came unstuck and ultimately is regarded as a heroic failure. It was audacious and continues to inspire historians, wargamers and the wider public to this day. I have been building a model of the area around the bridge at Arnhem where John Frost and 700 British paratroopers managed to secure and hold for several days. The model isn't yet quite finished but its about 80% of the way. Below are some pictures showing progress, as well as one historic photo taken the morning of the attack.

There are more details about the build on the blog - check them out!

Those of you really interested in this can see it and play our participation game on it at Fiasco in Leeds at the Royal Armouries on the 27th October. 

Happy gaming!

Charles the Modeller

Battle of the Bulge Scenario - The Twin Villages 18th December 1944

The German assault on Krinkelt-Rocherath intensifies!

I recently finished a game with a couple of friends based on the Battle of the Bulge around Krinkelt-Rocherath. I've posted on the table set up. This post covers the actual scenario we used. The next post will be the AAR. The scenario is written specifically for the rule set we're working on but is should be relatively easy to convert to Spearhead or any other larger scale game.

Background

Two days ago the Germans launched a full scale attack on the American positions in the Ardennes. It caught the Americans completely by surprise. German forces have the strategic initiative and in places have made major advances. Poor weather is preventing Allied aircraft from providing ground support and US commanders are struggling to react effectively. German forces though are not having it entirely their own way. US troops on the ground are fighting hard and progress is already behind schedule. At the northern end of the German salient lies the twin villages of Krinkelt-Rocherath and beyond them the strategically important Elsenborn Heights.  Probing attacks by German forces began yesterday, but the Americans reacted quickly and a rushed defence has been thrown together.

The simple map I drew up prior to laying out the table

Terrain

The battlefield is hilly, with the key Heights at the northern side of the battlefield. Roads and rivers run along valley floors. Three villages are dotted across the landscape surrounded by bare fields. Trees cover whole areas of the hillsides. A light dusting of snow lies over the ground.

The river that exits the western table edge is, from the west of the river junction by Wurtzfeld, passable only to infantry. This requires an entire turns movement to cross and results in 1 disorder. Strategic counters cannot cross this river, they must deploy.

All rivers are impassable to wheeled and half-tracked vehicles for their entire length. It costs infantry and tracked vehicles half a move to cross.

There are bridges in both Krinkelt-Rocherath and Wurzfeld. Any section of river anywhere on the board can be bridged requiring 3 engineering actions. None of the bridges, either built by the Germans or pre-existing, are strong enough for Tiger or Panther tanks.

The fields around the villages provide no benefit to units inside them.

The towns are generally low density housing.

The snow prevents roads from having any beneficial impact on movement and causes wheeled vehicles to treat the steeper slopes as difficult terrain (4” move). Otherwise the snow has no additional effects.

US Briefing

The heights must be held at all costs or the entire flank will fall and the Germans could be in Paris, or Antwerp or God knows where by Christmas.

Hold the village of Krinkelt-Rocherath for as long as possible. US troops continue straggling back through the lines there. The longer you hold the more can be saved. Round them up, feed them and get them back into the line.

The krauts are going to throw everything they have at you. God knows where they got it from, but it’s coming. You must hold. Hold until dark!

Initial US Forces

All formations must conform to the 12 unit max rule plus non fighting HQ and FO. Formations may field any stand allowed by the Army list with the following restrictions.

3 Formation Infantry - 2 regular, 1 inexperienced

• ATGs are 57mm.
• No more than 3 stands Engineers, split or grouped into one or more of the formations.
• No recon units
• No more than 5 M3 halftracks, max 3 in any given formation
• Up to 3 75mm Shermans to 1 formation

1 Formation Tanks

• 3 105mm Sherman
• 6 75mm Sherman
• 3 M10 Wolverines

3 Formations Artillery

• 6 battery 105mm artillery – Regular, off table
• 6 battery 155mm artillery – Regular, corps reserve, off table
• 6 battery 155mm artillery – Regular, corps reserve, off table

Either the Tank formation, or both corps artillery formations, may be well led.
Corp reserve artillery suffer an additional -1 activation penalty
1 Dummy counter

US Unit Placement

The US deploy first.

The US players may set up their starting units anywhere within 6” of the villages, or anywhere north of the river. The use of garrisons in any of the villages is permitted. Up to half the US infantry may start the game dug in, in entrenchments.

US formations may be placed deployed or in strategic mode.

Forced movement is generally towards the northern edge of the table.

US Reinforcements

For every turn that ends with the US player having an undisordered unit inside Krinkelt-Rocherath the US gains 1 infantry stand placed on the road hex exiting the northern table edge north of the twin villages. Once 3 units are available these may be moved at strategic speed to reinforce an existing formation of the US players choice, subject to formation size rules. These units move in the activation phase of the formation. Once within the 6” command of the formation HQ the units must move normally. They are considered a garrison if attacked/ threatened by enemy troops.

German Briefing

Advance! The great assault upon the allies in the west has begun. The Americans are poor fighters and cannot resist the might of the Fuhrer’s armies. You must capture the roads and heights to enable the advance to continue. Nothing must stand in our way. Failure will not be tolerated! Attack!

German Forces

All formations must conform to the 12 unit max rule plus non fighting HQ and FO. Formations may field any stand allowed by the Army list with the following restrictions.

2 Formations Tanks

• Max 9 panther, split as desired
• Max 3 Tiger, split as desired
• Remainder PzIV or Stugs

2 Formations Mechanised Infantry

• Max 9 Sdkfz251 inf carrier
• Max 3 Eng – must be assigned into 1 formation

3 Formations Infantry

• Max 3 Eng - must be assigned into 1 formation
• Max 3 Tigers
• Max 6 Stug/JagdPzIV

2 formations artillery

• 4 battery 105mm with trucks – regular, on table
• 4 battery 150mm – regular, off table

3 dummy counters

The German player must field a minimum of two veteran formations. However for each veteran formation the Germans must field 1 matching formation as inexperienced.

German Placement

The German formations start on the southern table edge, no closer than 12” to another formation/HQ, including dummy counters. Formations that cannot fit on the table in the first turn only become available, including dice, in the 2nd turn. Formations may be deployed or in strategic mode.

Forced movement will generally be towards the closest of the southern table edge, or the eastern or western table edges south of the river.

Visibility and Conditions:

The 1st turn and last turn are poor light. The weather is overcast/ light snowfall resulting in no aircraft support for either side.

The game begins with fog/ mist at base level. This clears based upon dice roll starting on the 2nd turn, on 6, then 5, then 4 etc.

Line of Sight range in Fog 4”

Line of sight poor light 18”

Line of sight in daylight / Tier 1 or higher 36”

Formations in fog activate at -1 to die roll.

Scenario Specific Rules:

FO with 3rd Tier height advantage grant a +1 to hit modifier to indirect artillery attacks instead of the well led advantage.

Formations unable to draw a line 12” wide from the HQ to their relevant table edge activate at -1. For US troops the northern table edge, Germans the southern table edge.

Corps reserve artillery activate at an additional -1, as well as the off table -1 activation penalty.

Game Duration and Victory Conditions

The game lasts for 14 turns.

The Germans win by ending a turn with more undisordered stands on the Elsenborn Heights (the highest set of hills on the table) than the US player has undisordered stands on the Heights .

Any other result is a US victory.

Designers Notes:

Whilst this game has been based on a historic battle some liberties have been taken with the types, availability and arrival of the various forces as well as the layout of the terrain and entry points. This battle was designed to test the effectiveness of artillery and to look at the rules for units fighting at various height differentials as part of the design work on the All Hell Let Loose rules.

The actual battle for the Twin Villages:

The Americans reacted quickly on the ground and established their defensive lines. Th US forces were mostly infantry but there was a battalion of Shermans and a company of M10s supporting the defenders. US troops from other units hit by earlier attacks were retreating through the battlefield. Absolutely key though was supporting artillery, in enormous quantities, firing from the Elsenborn Heights. German armour and infantry attacked fiercely with much close quarters fighting, particularly in the villages. Ultimately the US troops held on, principally due to the effectiveness of artillery support. Although forced to withdraw the dogged defence bought enough time for a new line to be established below the heights. Successive German attacks on it over the next 10 days all failed. The northern shoulder of the Bulge held and severely impacted German manoeuvrability and success contributing significantly to the ultimate failure of Hitler’s last gamble in the west.

Roll dice responsibly!

Charles the Modeller

Battle of the Bulge - Table Set Up

The German attack is in full swing. The twin villages (on the right) are under heavy assault.

I’ve been planning a big Battle of the Bulge game for months painting US infantry, US armour and making more pine trees than I care to remember. Pretty much we’ve gone all out.

The battle is loosely based around the fighting near the Twin Villages of Rocherath-Krinkelt and the Elsenborn Heights above them, on the northern shoulder of the Bulge. The fighting here on the 18th December 1944 was intense, brutal and unforgiving. Both sides understood the strategic importance of the heights, which commanded a number of key routes the German’s needed. American resistance against substantial and significant German forces was thrown together, desperate and hard fought. Scratch units, tanks and above all artillery supported a number of infantry units in villages and woods.

This battle was designed to test the All Hell Let Loose rules currently being finalised, specifically looking at artillery and height. Consequently the table had to be built up in layers to establish defined contours. To do this I borrowed the Hexon and cloth approach I’ve seen used to refight the Great War Spearhead games put on by Robert Dunlop, although on a slightly more modest scale (BTW if you don’t know about this head over to GreatWarSpearhead.com and even so you should listen to the God’s Own Scale Podcast, specifically episode 3 where Robert Dunlop talks all about his history and the epic games he has put on).

I drew up a rough map on hex paper.

Then Dave and I started to lay out his 9ft by 6ft table.

I wanted the heights to be clearly visible, so once the base had been placed I intended to use both the single hex slopes and double hex slopes to define each tier. In total the highest part of the board would be 9 hexes high, about 10 cms or 4 inches, higher than the lowest levels.

Setting up like this was a big learning curve. It takes time, you need to be organised and I don’t have enough Hexon (I knew that but now I have proof - although I suspect the wife’s Supreme Court will dispute the validity of my evidence). The key is to be organised and be very familiar with the Hexon A, B and C slope types.

The heights the Germans had to capture is the tall hill on the left

Once the contours were in place I laid a sofa throw over them. This is a bit thicker than a sheet and is intended to hide the hex edges.

I laid some smaller river sections and roads on the throw followed by a King Size bedsheet (unused in case you were wondering). The sheet is a bit too white, I might lightly spray paint it brown or colour it to lessen the brightness when I do this again. I’m also aware that the battle wasn’t really fought in snow but decided a snowy look worked better.

I used artists pastels over the top of the rivers and roads. This picked out their presence but gave the impression they were snow covered. The larger more prominent river was then laid on top.

The villages were placed, fields laid adjacent to the buildings and trees set up. Snow flock was liberally sprinkled over the buildings. Key learning - even though I have 600 trees, you can never have enough. I would have liked another 50 - 100 to sprinkle around.

Finally I used pastels to sketch the height contours so that everybody could see where the defined boundaries were. The camera does not really pick out the difference in height but in the room it’s clearly visible and in places quite substantial slopes have been created.

Overall I am very pleased with the table. It took a lot of effort and planning and a good few hours for two people to lay out but I think it was worth it for what turned out to be an amazing refight. I’ll post on the scenario and After Action Report soon.

The rules are now undergoing a final review before being sent for formatting and editing. More information will follow over the next few months leading up to release, either here or on our facebook group. 

Keep the dice rolling!

Charles the Modeller