The third of the "Donnerberg" triad, the first two being #9 & #10 of North of Elsenborn.

A full regiment of the 104th US INF Division; its integral ENG company; and a company of M4's set up extremely tightly in the B12 town with overflow west of the river. The Heer's 12th INF, about a company depleted from two full-strength battalions, with a mixed bag of guns in support, set up in clusters about the Donnerberg. I made the minefield draw "blind" and scrambled the pieces so that I did not know what I had drawn or what was where (1x2, 2x1, 1xdecoy): also, I try to play minefields as "hidden." The Germans placed both entrenchments on the southern peak.

The dense set-up packing and the mud conditions made the US approach slow, difficult from a command-and-control perspective, and quite "strung" out. Essentially, the US INF arrived first; established footholds (or tried) and waited for the heavy weapons and armor support. Even on a road, the HMG's can only move 1-hex, whilst INF can (along a road), move three. US approach was: (i)northern group and (ii) larger middle group with element (a) a blocking force to hold/pin the German units on the southern peak/slopes and (b) main group to occupy/clear the center and the northern peak/woods (linking up with the northern attack group).

Group (ii-b): two companies attempt to exchange 2-3 hex DF with the dug-in or entrenched Heer. A series of DD's on US forces encourages a 2xGREN counter-attack; this is successful (3 steps of US INF), but is counter-counter attacked and forced to retreat back. This area then remains relatively stable.

Group (ii-a): the road capture elements turn into the expected blood bath. US having lower morale faces the usual problem - payment in blood. Essentially though, by game end, this element has cleared the Donnerberg a hex or so south of the E/W road and seals the southern peak (with group ii-b) pressuring from the west.

Two companies of this center group are most successful for the US: these units, with some good OBA/mortar support, thoroughly rout the German units holding the northern 60-m hill and woods ... thus, the German dug-in positions on the northern slopes are sealed off from the center.

Group (i): took a while to overcome initial OF morale failures. Fortunately, the M4 + ENG support arrived (I sent two of the three of these elements that way) to assist in dealing with the dug-in HMGs + GREN here.

With the drop of visibility as night fell, the US consolidated, finished off what assaults were remaining and held the 40/60m territory on a line from 0509-1006-1004-0703 (the Heer holding a kind of semi-circle about the 60-m southern peak. In game terms, the US eeks out a minor victory by 6 VPs. Historically, this is a far better result for the US. Yet, the Germans still held one of the peaks and, as an aside to Vince, I'm very thankful for the second set of "Black and Purple" morale counters - at one point, I was using every single one of both sets. The US held more territory, but they occupied it in a mostly disrupted and demoralized state.