US set up 3 INF PLT in the north town 2 in the south town. A Capt. set up with an INF PLT a 3" and the 81mm"s dug in on the north hill. A Sherman PLT set up to block the road in hex 0712 with an INF PLT dug in next to it. The other 3" set up in the field east of the south town along with a Sherman PLT, an INF PLT and a HMG PLT. These units dug in along the eastern hexes of the field. Each town had a M-18, the north town had a Sherman and HMG PLT. The units outside of town were to delay the Germans as long as possible then fall back to the towns. German armor with riders were stopped by the roadblock units which withdrew. The Sherman PLT withdrew to hex 0707. The INF PLT went to the hill with the Capt. US INF moved out of the south town to set up a line with the Sherman. AS the Germans advance to the intersection at 0707 M-18's moved to firing possitions when visibilty increases to two hexes. The Shermans M-18's and 3" PLT will destroy 3 of 4 German armor steps in the area between the field and the north town. Germans concetrate their attack in the south. The US units south of 0707 fall back to the town when pressure incresses. All south town hexes will be involved in assault combat before 2100. North town was not under strong attack before 2200. When German reinforcements arrived at 2230 they headed for the north town. The Germans walked into one north town hex unapossed, and assaulted three others. The US ended up in control of one hex in the south and one in the north for 4vps. The Germans had two hexes in the north for 6vps. The vps for step losses gave a final total of US 45 Germany 35.

Germans, leery of the artillery strength of the US Army, spread out across the eastern edge of the board and start their advance toward the two towns. The operational plan is to take Rocherath before heading on to Krinkelt. They advance through the woods, aiming to combine the forces as they reach the outskirts of Rocherath, subdue the US forces and advance on to Krinkelt.

The US, knowing the battle to be afoot, hunkered down in the towns. Units dug into the adjacent fields and woods and waited. They wouldn’t have to wait long. Soon, the German war machine approached. But what was readily apparent was that any advance on the towns would have to survive the punishing artillery raining down from behind. The farmers next spring wouldn’t have trouble tilling the land come spring.

The artillery kept the Germans in a constant state of disruption, thus not allowing the strong leadership to take advantage of the numerical superiority in attacking the town and nickel-and-diming the German forces all the while. Wave after wave broke upon the defensive positions. At 10:00, the SS was about done for, but a rumor of reinforcements supplied a much needed jolt to keep up the attack. Unfortunately, the reinforcements were slow arriving. They finally showed a bit after 11:00, not leaving much time to execute the plan. The Germans push into Rocherath, engaging the Americans in hand-to-hand combat, but the US stubbornness wouldn’t yield. Pushed to the breaking point on several occasions, luck broke the Americans way and they couldn't be pushed out of the town. As the German reinforcements pushed into town, reinforcements moved from Krinkelt to help stave off disaster. It was just enough to hold on.

Eventually, the SS tried one last desperate push, but it dissolved into nothingness. The attack had failed. Losses had been enormous (74 steps to 30). The Americans weren’t going to go away.

A very fun scenario! The off-board artillery really disrupted the planned German attack. The pre-plotting of artillery, even while playing solo, worked very well. About half of the rounds failed to land on occupied spots, which greatly diluted the massive numbers of shells raining down. Even though the Germans were soundly defeated, the issue was in doubt until late. A great little scenario and I highly recommend it!

Once again I drew the Germans in my ongoing Elsenborn battles with Darryl. In this scenario the trick for the German player is to avoid the pre plotted American artilley. To do this vary your initial moves by not using the entire movement allowance. This I did and managed to get to grips with the American with the advantage of numbers gave me a reasonably easy victory.

Hice un reportaje fotográfico de esta batalla. Lo publiqué en Consimworld, en la siguiente dirección:

http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?7@@.ee6fd1c/4396

Author	plloyd1010 (United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	United States
Participants	Col. Sonichu
Play Date	2022-09-20
Language	English
Scenario	ElsR006

This scenario is simplistic in its problem. The Americans are trying to hold onto as much of the villages as possible while extracting the heaviest price they can. There is massive artillery on the American side, but it must be pre-plotted in 1 hour blocks. This good for the Americans in the turn at the top of the hour, but less so for the later 3 turns. With the pre-plotting requirement, we added a special rule that the Americans could not pass until all artillery strikes had been executed. This meant that I was wishing for a FoW roll to come before some of my artillery.

The Germans came down the road, a little faster than I anticipated, harassed by my artillery. They came out in front of the larger village and immediately engaged my troops. This cause a bit of a traffic jam. After a couple of turns, a little less than ½ of the German was able side-slip toward the smaller village. This force also attacked as soon as it was assembled.

A lodgment was quickly gained in each village as American artillery on and around the Germans. Sometimes American friendly-fire was as detrimental as the actual strikes, despite have a 3 column in the American’s favor. Still, the Germans suffered greatly when the plotting was correct. The 644th TD Batt executed its function quite well, destroying both JdPz and StuG with out loss. The 741st Tank Batt had more problems. One step of Shermans was lost defending the smaller village while another platoon was functionally pinned supporting the larger village. In both villages the German assault was coming to close to succeeding.

The German effort in the small village nearly succeeded. Demoralization and disruptions had nearly won the first town hex. A 9-1-1 captain should have been a great help in rallying retreating American, but he seems to have been born under a black ice cloud. When he was involved, units didn’t seem rally very often. Fortunately, artillery was causing adequate disruption in the German ranks and some how the Americans held on.

When the German reinforcements arrived, the situation was still dicey with the Americans. There were still the 2 contested town hexes. The Germans were threatening to widen the assault in the large village. American artillery was again the salvation, largely breaking-up the grenadier company while the M18’s took out a PzIV. The remaining PzIV’s headed toward small village, with the M18’s following cautiously behind.

A couple other points of drama occurred. A reduced infantry platoon from the small village made a run through some idling German officers. The incursion was largely successful, but the LT leading them panicked under fire. The infantry were then leaderless, but we figured there must be an NPC in there. I dubbed him Sgt. Grumpy due to the platoon’s ability to sustain against repeated artillery and tank fire. Sgt. Grumpy eventually made it back to the village. The M18’s lost one of their steps to American artillery fire (the FoW roll never came), and another when the Germans won the initiative. One of the M18’s then made one of famous drives through the German leadership again.

The game ended with a stalemate in both villages. The M18’s and PzIV’s taking position on opposites sides of the close battle happening in the small village. The German attack is spent. The Americans in the large village are holding but have little reserve. The small village is in good shape apart for the German tanks lurking outside.