This aar is going to be a completely playthrough of Command ops battles of the bulge as the axis, the scenarios will be played through in historical sequence with commentary about each battle, analysis of historical conditions and points about what could have happened. I will see about creating a map, with a comparison of historical advanced, lines compared to what happened in my game. They will be presented in a lets play format for the bulk, with written commentary about what I could have done. Along side this i am reading Hitlers Last Gamble by anthony beevor, a popular history book about the Ardennes offensive
This is just a placeholder for now until i start the series. Hopefully tonight if todays lab work doesnt kill me.
I hope this will get some decent attention, as the only videos of command ops are years old and only two battles are on youtube.
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O-Tag
On December 16, the Allies were resting in farmhouses after the brutal battle of Hurtgen forest, where the Germans took advantage of the rough terrain. That morning the artillary bombarbed the allied line, disrupting communications, but causing relativly very casualites. This was advised against by Manteuffel, commander of the fifth panzer army, as he felt it would signal the attack like it did in the first world war.
The battle of the bulge starts in the north near the villages of Hohen, Monschau and rocherath krinkelt. The battle begins at Hofen, and Mutzenich, where the 326th VGD division prepares to take the towns in order to secure the vital road network south for the assault on Elsenborn Ridge.
IMAGE PLACEHOLDER
My style of attack is generally based on cocentrated fire, breaking the fortified part of the line, and spreading outwards. In the start of the battle I have three battallions available to me, 751, 752 and 753. The 753 and 751 are poised for an attack on Hofen, while 752 can attack Mutzenich or Monschau. The problem with this is that I do not have any confidence in one battalion to disodge the yanks from either of these places. They would be much better suited to help out at Hofen. As this place has two victory point locations, two can hold, while the other advances to Kahlterberg or Monschau. Therefore the 751 will advance behind the hill southest of the town. While the other two move into Hofen North and Hofen South. Its important to note that the battalion attacking the north should approach the main road in a V formation, allowing them to hold back reinforcements while the other two push up and hold the town
REVIEW
At the end of the mission I only got a draw, which I am quite happy with considering I normally fail miserably. At the end of each mission I will give it a couple of more play throughs to see if I can do better. However for the purposes of authenticity I will only be uploading my first attempt. So expect a ton of failure. On my second go with this scenario. I moved my 752 to the forest above Mutzench, and used the northern reinforcements to take it. Attached is a marginal victory with end unit positions. I am bad at maps like this, I feel if this was 3d I would do much better.
I doubt I'm the only Groghead subscribing to this! But I wanted to let you know people were doing so. O:-) :smitten:
Incidentally, it was discontinued because Panther Games went on to work with a different publisher and have since remade (most of) this and their previous games in the Command Ops 2 engine.
But the differences aren't terribly different yet, so such videos are still relevant. :)
(Oh, never mind, you did talk about that. ::) :P )
Quote from: JasonPratt on January 20, 2016, 12:41:15 PM
I doubt I'm the only Groghead subscribing to this! But I wanted to let you know people were doing so. O:-) :smitten:
They better! This game is hard as hell!
+1 I am a huge fan of Command Ops and I am watching.
I am playing the Malta campaign right now in the Battle for the Maltese Cross.
Love seeing how others play and their level of command decisions
Con
Mission 2. The Battle of Elsenborn Ridge
Alright kids. Time to watch me get completely destroyed. Historically this is the only place where the Axis did not achieve a breakthrough, this was due to Allied arty behind the ridge, shattering any unit that got near the twin villages of Rocherath-Krinkelt
(https://d10probono.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/northern-shoulder-of-the-elsenborn-ridge.jpg)
This right here, will not be successful in the opening stages. The arty will be too strong, and the enemy infantry too dug in. The only hope of taking this is complete encirclement
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdelong.typepad.com%2F.a%2F6a00e551f08003883401b8d0aaea3f970c-pi&hash=5c81078d16534fe4e956784f4d37807257f549ee)
This image shows a basic plan of attack, however the northern shoulder will not be pushed, they will wait in the forest on the outskirts of the twin villages, and random points I will pull units off for support to the southern attacks. I essentially have one objective in this scenario
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R65485%2C_Joachim_Peiper.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R65485%2C_Joachim_Peiper.jpg)
This snazzy bugger here is Joachim Peiper, now this dude is basically responsible for the blitz through the Allied line, as he has the most amount of assets assigned out of all the Panzer groups. The main objective of this scenario, protect his group to the Rolbahn point. This scenario is basically the blitzkrieg for the panzers. The 3rd FSJ will primarily assault the villages. on the way, clearing the route for Peipers group, everybody else supports.
Unfortunately I could not do a video recording of the battle due to its length, the amount of divisions moving about the map slows down game considerably.
Lets examine the original objectives
1. Capture the village of Rocherath-Krinkelt
2. Capture the villages along the way to KG-Peipers Exit
3. Extract KG-Peiper and as many SS Panzer divisions as possible.
Objective one obviously failed. But this was expected due to the historical research. The second object was a success. The third objective was also a success. KG Peiper was exctracted on the third day, choosing the northern route and capturing all the points. Although the game considers this a draw, I think this is a resounding success. Historically, Peiper was never able to extract out of the allocated route, and the A and B Rollbahns were not able to be cleared in this time. As you can see, just in a nick of time I managed to secure the B and C route.
In conlusion this is a very minor success. I managed to extract Kamfgruppe Ott on the B route before the germans could reinforce it. Although the size was not as big as Peipers group, it would still be a good reinforcement for the upcoming campaigns.
I absolutely hate this battle, and when I played it before I lost everytime. I am quite happy with this result and I may replay it again.
Random questions. Are the draws and losses going to get people to lose interest in this aar?
Draws and losses are fine. O:-)
I mean, my latest AAR currently has a 38.63 reader-to-post ratio, and it's NOTHING BUT a rolling catastrophic loss.
Here is the next Mission Losheim gap, not happy with this mission, I cant win this one, there is simply too much Allied artillery, my units stopped moving by the end of day 2. Complete Loss. So bad I just scrubbed the entire thing
However onto the next mission, Stuck in the Teeth.
Pretty simple stuff, more blitzkrieging, good victory on this, managed to extract every single panzer division, the only reason I didnt get a decisive victory was because I didnt secure the last town, but that doesnt matter, I got so many panzers out to Houfallize, I ran up all the victory points and caused it to jam
Having another go at the losheim gap
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FgSK6KJv.png%3F1&hash=40a685aaa7be954da3f5a2ace518340e5ba5f5d5)
Goddamnit so close, they keep blowing the bloody bridges. Pricks
The Race for Bastogne
The primary task for the XLVII on O-Tag was to capture positions along the way to Bastogne, the key point for the entire Ardennes offensive. This corps had three divisions, the 26th VGD, Panzer Lehr and the 2nd Panzer. The purpose of this mission is the encirclement of Bastogne, capturing it will not be possible due to the arrival of heavy allied reinforcements.
This mission starts off with several infanry battallions across the river. Far across the map are the towns of Noville and Bastogne and three exit points that permit encirclement. The mission is this. The battalions will secure foward positions across the Our river and secure the primary towns, engineers will build a single bridge. When that is completed everyone will rush foward, secure the bridges at Clevaux and Draufellt. Panzers will then blitz across the map, harassing enemy units and exit at the points. Infantry will push foward and attempt to capture Noville and Assenois to help with the encirclment of bastogne, although the exit points permit this, its always good to get closer
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fnz866wk.png&hash=2dff336c23a10c37be28745ff9d3183b68c51008)
The first two days saw the easy capture of the crossing, and the most well rested panzer divisions race across the map. The southern bridges are captured to allow forces to cross south into the map for the beginning of the capture for Assenois. Panzer divisions are starting to exit
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FGsrwZTW.png&hash=89b56d46f6ffae08f6e4c897ba2b75519add3934)
Reinforcements begin to arrive from the west and north. HOLT in bastogne will hold as long as he can, panzers going west keep being held up by sporadic companies.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FvcjmhcV.png&hash=d6687e2523051323eb8b6d9a24be374a34eb8d00)
Forces are beginning to push south, the bulk of enemy has arrived to secure Bastogne. HOLT begins his retreat
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FIzQouVU.png&hash=4a1c801ad2a52d9efe99f3667ad3ccb02c43e52f)
All the exits are secured, FSJ groups and VGD battallions will push into Assenois on the last day.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimgur.com%2FBvRvt16&hash=285b3422e563c9ca3cd852d6ed1b41ed58e886d5)
Marginal Victory, resounding success. Bastogne has been completely encircled, panzer divisions cutting off all roads. Assenois secured by the morning of the sixth day. Now to wait for Patton to come....
Nobody Comes Back
In this mission, the LXXXV Corps commands the 352 VGD and the 5 FJ are to cross the our and take several key points. The 5FJ will push west and attempt to take out the majority of the Allied light resistance. The 352 VGD is to cross south and move across the south to take Bettendorf. After which an element from the 5FJ will move south if permitted and take the Diekirch Bridge.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FaNe5wsM.png&hash=8d1ea55b59553c1f4c7fb31695a8365549aad827)
Hi guys sorry for the drop in quality. Will be improving it in prep for the next series.
ASSAULT ON THE SAUER
This battle represents the southern section of O-Tag, with the city of Echternacht being the southern most point before the Sauer river swings east. The battle begins early in the morning, with several infantry batallions having made their way across the river by rubber rafts
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F1yAswMQ.png&hash=50b4dfce217654f49c07d81f4eebaba788a60b2b)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F08rO5Qq.png&hash=907c055e791181fb1701df91c6d78dcc9271e792)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FyzAmus0.jpg&hash=1687c741e171a414be5297c0232fadbd54300380)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FHefBu1A.jpg&hash=99aaba2c87e7406a9a9cb8adc59b8ab3089ac7c5)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FYJgnPz9.jpg&hash=1bc6d40169ed922aa7a72a314ec0cf01976be882)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F3Tc5wE8.png&hash=9f7d8db88090bc415b1fef9f72f7f9d3d50892bc)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FZmx2Zj7.png&hash=58a87652cff20be268a6baf0e20933b086180b3a)
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.
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
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F4BX04C9.png&hash=f53c79aac6f7110724b1e6d9f4e290584d5fc238)
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
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F93sDRx9.png&hash=5028ce31690c9b5e16c4bd90b0bc8ce35ca10d60)
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.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FLhzJGUS.png&hash=473caa4dc8ea5effb4b0741cc1178a010f89d3e4)
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
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FpcCGPXG.png&hash=982127b50ecccf5dc2d7afa5e495468f033c62b8)
Companies have started pushing into the objectives. Now its just a matter of pushing them out
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FtFFUpCd.png&hash=d0fadc8260251ba954c9c429def3c7ea038dbffc)
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
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FV9cSyoM.jpg&hash=e6bfc34dbef2c72e0c095bd6839acd8a3029f18c)
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.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FP4jOpUG.jpg&hash=6faea0143c7d2ec97e068ef457960176a14c4895)
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
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.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/St_Vith_Map_Ardennes.svg/990px-St_Vith_Map_Ardennes.svg.png)
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
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F8okwcYf.png&hash=70bf6a737b97f8950e361f441e3d443352194140)
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.
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
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F3aGoK61.png&hash=11f7f7f994f4d84896cfcd06e335a68c917566c7)
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
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FgU6ZngQ.png&hash=845900c31433da9e092e405ed8b877a8e395feb5)
With St Vith secured, its time to move out my eastern most division to see what I can do about those bridges
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FZHbgSbV.png&hash=3f732893ac9ee2ae20ba16acd11444f5227ad3c1)
And now I have secured a bridge, unfortunately I am still on a draw.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F4hqIIg3.jpg&hash=a7067eaf104574fb9e3476321e0c1147c12e1b6f)
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.