Hiters Last Gamble - Command Ops BftB AAR

[Hofstadter]

Okay. In that scenario I got a marginal defeat.

Basically the main problem was that I spread my forces out too much and didnt concentrate attacks. For instance in Osweiler and Dickweiler you can see masses of you allies enforcing it, allowing me to split down the middle. At that point what I should have done was start slowly diverting units. Unfortunately I took too many away at once, allowing the mass at D and O to move east and block me. Sorry for the quality, this will be improved in the next section.

[Hofstadter]

Section 2 - Breakout

Scenario 9 - We Fight And Die Here

This scenario shows the assault at Bugenbach and Dom Butgenback by KG Kuhlmann under the 12th SS Panzer division, their mission is to break through the flood of 1st US inf Division and seize the towns, and exiting if possible.

PLAN

Allied resistance will be massive, with heavily entrenched troops dug in from the end of the Heresbach river to Dom Butgenback. There is a wood to the south from which FSJ groups will appear, however I need to get the attack on before they arrive. Essentially I plan to loop a batallion of inf around the forest and attach from the rear while the rest of KG Kuhl attacks from the front



Resistance is incredibly heavily. All I can do is take pot shots at them. To the west one of my FSJ groups arrived. I sent them north, however they were blocked by a reserve of 2 inf and 3 art companies




A panzer regiment arrived from the west. Although the resistance was heavy to Dom Butgenback, I thought the units pushing north through the woods could use the armor support. Although I have units in the objective, this stubborn assault gun group wont die.



Not much has changed by the morning of the third day. More FSJ battalions have arrived with some extra, they actually managed to encircle a group of companies. Dom Butgenbach is proving to be a tough nut



Companies have started pushing into the objectives. Now its just a matter of pushing them out



I skipped over D4 because it was just more of the same. By the end I actually managed to grab both objectives and secure a marginal victory, the cool thing is most of the points actually came from destroying enemy units. A ton were encircled and destroyed from the pushes from the south

[Hofstadter]

Peipers Race To The Meuse

This scenario follows my favorite little KG leader from Elsenborn, Joachim Peiper. On the third day of the battle, his group rested on the southern side of the Ambleve river by Stavelot regroup. With his flanks wide open due to the fighting at Rocherath-Krinkelt, holding up the 12th SS, his only option is to continue forging forward to Staumont by Trois Ponts. Historically, his journey ends at Stavelot, as his KG was out of fuel and basics. He retreated to La Gleize, and led 800 men back when he realized he could not punch though allied resistance.

Basic plan for the two starting battalions. The third batallion is the move across Stavelot and secure it, a flak battalion will be left behind to soak up points. The 1st will move down to the east of the Trois Ponts bridges. Once the third is in its formup, they will joint attack and secure both bridges. Reinforcements will probe northwest and south. I hope to pinch Staumont from the north and south, then move as much as I can west and exit the map.

MARGINAL VICTORY

This actually went amazingly well. I managed to exit a huge amount of forces. I managed to secure the Habiemont and Salm bridges, which were both blown. And KG Peiper exited. Unfortunately two KG's were killed in the defense of Stavelot, but they died gloriously. Watch the third video if you want to see a general overview of how things went

[Hofstadter]

CRACKING THE GOOSE EGG - Historical Overview and Planning

Alright gentlemen this is the biggest scenario so far, this is the battle to take St Vith!


Essentially this mission is an extension of the Losheim Gap, where I fought to take the bridges at Steinbruck, Schoenburg and Andler (For the sake of this lets assume I succeeded.



This mission starts on December 20th, most of the info under the Battle for St Vith starts at the 16th. So after the destruction of the two regiments of the 160th Division of the Schnee Eifel. The 18th and 62nd VGD were poised to strike at St Vith, the reason the Germans wanted this place is due to it being a major town, and like Bastogne, the hub of a road network. The attacks however were frequent from the 16th after the capture of the bridges, and St Vith eventually fell on the 21st of December when the 7th AD realized their position was quickly becoming untenable. Essentially the game at this point is giving me one day to capture the town of St Vith in a historical fashion, which is kind of problematic considering the objective was supposed to be taken on the 18th



Essentially I want to cut off St Vith, then proceed west to take the bridges. As the enemy is organized in the goose egg defence, there doesnt seem to be a visible weak point. So it looks like I will have to blitz my way through. The original objectives for the 5th Pz were to head west, however I am ignoring that and seeing if I can push south. The defense of the object south may be too strong, so I will probably try and skirt around them to cut off any roads heading east. The 62nd VGD is to attack west as aggressively as they can, then push up north to put pressure on the southern part of St vith and to cut off any reinforcements. The 18th is to hold position and try to force the enemy into a battle of attrition, while elements try to probe into the north eastern section of the enemy line.

[Hofstadter]

Morning of the second day, all forces have pushed into position and cut off every road into St Vith. CCA 7 base in under thread



With St vith cut, battallions that are not holding roads push into St Vith. Although the eastern section is heavily held, a regiment with attached stugs is moving to engage



With St Vith secured, its time to move out my eastern most division to see what I can do about those bridges



And now I have secured a bridge, unfortunately I am still on a draw.



Well I got a minor defeat on this one. Capturing Saint Vith is rather pointless, the real points is in the bridges to the east. I should have encircled and then just pushed out.

[Hofstadter]