D is for Dog Black Panthers #8 |
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(Attacker) United States | vs | Germany (Defender) |
Formations Involved |
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Overall Rating, 2 votes |
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4
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Scenario Rank: --- of 940 |
Parent Game | Black Panthers |
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Historicity | Historical |
Date | 1944-11-11 |
Start Time | 09:00 |
Turn Count | 18 |
Visibility | Day |
Counters | 29 |
Net Morale | 1 |
Net Initiative | 2 |
Maps | 2: 22, 24 |
Layout Dimensions | 86 x 28 cm 34 x 11 in |
Play Bounty | 160 |
AAR Bounty | 171 |
Total Plays | 2 |
Total AARs | 1 |
Battle Types |
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Breakout |
Delaying Action |
Hill Control |
Inflict Enemy Casualties |
Conditions |
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Severe Weather |
Scenario Requirements & Playability | |
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Black Panthers | Base Game |
Elsenborn Ridge | Maps + Counters |
Introduction |
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The entire 26th Infantry Division saw action on Armistice Day. Hints that the Germans had begun to retreat caused the division and corps command to press their subordinated units to attack with renewed vigor. South-east of Hill 310 barring the approach to the back side of Koecking Ridge, the town of Haraucourt-sur-Seille still held Germans. Dog Company's light tanks would clear some of the high ground to allow the Shermans to bombard the town and hasten the German retreat without embroiling the tanks and infantry in more house-to-house fighting. |
Conclusion |
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The Americans met unexpected resistance in the woods south of Haraucourt, losing several Shermans and several more Stuarts, and failing to get into position to bring the town under direct fire. The Germans would be able to pull out here without harassment from the American tanks. |
AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle |
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3 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 morale and combat modifiers of German Sergeant #1614 should be "0", not "8". (Shad
on 2010 Dec 15)
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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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Luck was with them | ||||||||||||
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In the real world, the 26th Infantry Division and the 761st "Black Panthers" Tank Battalion were decisively and destructively pushed back from Hill 310 overlooking the town of Haraucourt-sur-Seille. On a small table somewhere in Northern Virginia, events turned out very differently. Most of this was simply due to die rolls. Fairly consistently the Germans rolled between 6-8 on their direct fire attacks while the U.S. units rolled... better. Sometimes two 4 strength attacks would both result in morale checks on the same location in the same turn. The first event of note was at 9:15 (Turn 2) when the German 75/41 ATG was eliminated on a die roll of 2 on the Direct Fire 7 column by two of the M5 platoons that avoided the first two opportunity fire shots from the gun which couldn't find their targets. It was situated to cover the light woods and clear terrain which was one main route the 781st could take towards the town. Mistake #1 for the Germans: No infantry stacked with it to soak the attack. This would, rather obviously, have a strong impact on the rest of the scenario as it gave the Black Panthers much more ability to come onto the hill to support the infantry. A short time later, two platoons from the 761st pushed back a forward blocking infantry platoon at the hill's base by disrupting it - after which it realized it would do better in line with the platoons on the edge of the hill. The centerpiece of the German defense was Hex 0716. But the ATG platoon was supposed to protect it from tanks, and since it wasn't there the HMG and Infantry platoons were eliminated at 11:15. Recriminations over whether the 50mm platoon should have also been included there instead of back in the town would reach German high command and heads would roll. Once that happened, the 26th and the 761st easily cleaned out the German units. By 12:00 all resistance on the hill was eliminated. Making sure that the Sherman platoon would be able to lay fire down on the town and road through it, no less than 4 infantry platoons, the HMG platoon, and three M5 platoons would descend upon the town and surround the 50mm platoon. The Germans did manage one good moment when they eliminated one of the M5 platoons with an extraordinary display of shooting, but they were overrun by 12:30 pm, giving the Americans full control over the battlefield. |
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1 Comment |
Forgot to mention that despite the lopsidedness of this game, I feel that much of it was simply due to the much better luck that the American side had plus the one key mistake of not having an infantry unit stacked with the 75/41 ATG in order to soak any damage it might take. Once that fell on Turn 2, with the 50mm gun platoon back in the town, the Stuarts and Sherman had pretty much free rein on the hill (except of course in the heavy woods).
It was still a fun scenario and would definitely play it again.