Buffalos on Crucifix Hill Aachen 1944 #8 |
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(Attacker) Germany | vs | United States (Defender) |
Formations Involved | ||
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Germany | 12th Infantry Division | |
Germany | 1st Sturmpioneer Regiment | |
United States | 1st "Big Red One" Infantry Division | |
United States | 745th Tank Battalion |
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Overall Rating, 5 votes |
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4.6
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Scenario Rank: 5 of 940 |
Parent Game | Aachen 1944 |
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Historicity | Historical |
Date | 1944-10-12 |
Start Time | 13:00 |
Turn Count | 12 |
Visibility | Day |
Counters | 65 |
Net Morale | 0 |
Net Initiative | 0 |
Maps | 1: 23 |
Layout Dimensions | 43 x 28 cm 17 x 11 in |
Play Bounty | 145 |
AAR Bounty | 171 |
Total Plays | 4 |
Total AARs | 1 |
Battle Types |
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Inflict Enemy Casualties |
Rural Assault |
Conditions |
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Entrenchments |
Off-board Artillery |
Reinforcements |
Terrain Mods |
Scenario Requirements & Playability | |
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Aachen 1944 | Base Game |
Elsenborn Ridge | Maps + Counters |
Introduction |
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The hill that controlled the area north of Verlautenheide had a large crucifix at its summit, so naturally it became known as Crucifix Hill. Back on the 8th the Americans had secured the hill and occupied the entrenchments there. When their Piper Cubs were grounded it provided too good of an observation point for the Germans to allow them to keep it for long. |
Conclusion |
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The Wild Buffaloes had been bled white since their arrival in the Aachen sector, and lacked the strength to attack Crucifix Hill on their own. Therefore, the untried 1st Sturmpioneer Regiment was assigned to spearhead the operation. Despite the grand-sounding title, the latter was just a motorized infantry unit lacking heavy weapons (and apparently even motor vehicles). Nevertheless, the Germans took the hill with what an American reporter called "bitter courage," but all the courage in the world could not stop the Big Red One from reoccupying the hill before sundown. |
AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle |
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2 Errata Items | |
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The reduced direct fire value of the Heer HMG became 5-5 starting with Fall of France. (plloyd1010
on 2015 Jul 31)
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The movement allowance on the counters in Airborne is misprinted. It should be "3." (rerathbun
on 2012 Jan 30)
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Green troops, but they can still shoot | ||||||||||||
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This is a short scenario having the German Water Buffalo's attack a hill occupied by American troops. From the first look at the scenario it is fairly even, mostly infantry affair. The Americans have a slightly less morale when reduced, but they do have entrenchments. The German have the numbers plus an assault gun platoon. What made my play unique was the leader "flip". The Germans received the best leaders and the Americans the worst. The Germans receive 5 leaders with morale of 10 and the others were 9's. All the German leaders had both morale and combat bonuses. For the Americans they received all the morale 7 leaders as well as two morale 8. All had no bonus, except the Sergeant with a combat bonus. So what do you do for an American setup, circle the wagons and place all the entrenchments with the best terrain benefits. They were all grouped around the 40m level of the hill with dug in units holding key advances along the road. The Germans decided on a split attack from the east and the west. This would try to pinch the Americans as well as hit the reinforcements as they move on the board. Given there leadership and morale they should be able to advance on the edges of the American defense. The attack started well enough with light American OP and OBA fire. They were able to move up to get into assault position, then the American fire started to find their marks. Dice rolls of 2,3,11 and 12 appeared for the American attacks and the German morale checks were high as well. All of a sudden the Germans had half their troops disrupted or demoralized with a step loss. The Germans were push back but the German mortars and OBA were finding their mark on the entrenchments. The American AT gun demoralized and the leaders demoralized put a strain on the defense. But the two American HMG's and some of the INF remained in good order to continue the firing. By turn 5 American reinforcements arrived and start to position on the southern flanks of the Germans. The Germans recovered from their first assault begin to move on the entrenchments. American fire hits more German units, but on entrenchment is lock in assault. Meanwhile American tanks start to stalk the German Stug. The Stug backs off it's attack to position for a shot on the first American tank that appears. The M5 moves up on the east side of the board and the M4 positions on the west. A couple of turns past before the cat and mouse exposes the Stug to the M4. The M4 fires but misses with the thick Stug armor the next turn the M4 is destroyed. The M5 drop back to provide fire support after the M4 loss. Meantime in the assault the Germans are not fairing well. Initial assaults have the Germans disrupting and demoralizing. The assault on the first entrenchment has mixed results some Americans are demoralized but the Germans take another step loss. It got bad for the Germans when the American mortars demoralized the attacking GREN's. Several turns of assault produced results but the losses mounted. In the end the scenario was a draw, not one could get an advantage. The Americans held the entrenchments with had several step losses. Final count 8 points for the Germans, 11 points for the Americans. An enjoyable scenario for a small quick fight. It was not as lopsided as I feared when I saw the leader "flip", entrenchment recovery bonus helped alot. The Germans super leaders proved to be vulnerable with high dicerolls. The extra little tanks hunt made it interesting beyond all the assaults. |
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