The mud and terrain had a significant effect on this scenario. The American infantry had to stick to the road because of the mud and wooded terrain, which the Germans exploited masterfully. They set up a series of roadblocks in the woods that slowed down the Americans. German artillery and mortars were then able to hit the Americans as the closed in. After pushing their way through the woods, the Americans did not have enough time to successfully take enough of the town hexes to achieve victory. Although frustrating for the Americans, I feel this scenario does portray the hard time they had moving and fighting in the Hurtgenwald.

UPDATE: please note that I undercounted the German lost steps by 1 (the 81mm mortar) which was sufficient to change the victory outcome from a minor German Victory to a Draw. The play and AAR were deleted and replaced to reflect his change.

With due respect to the Acrimonius Action Report thread currently going on the MB, this AAR will not capture all of the subtle twist and turns that this (in this play, at least) gem of a scenario presented.

Note:

(i)I played this scenario with the RoRB#1/IoG#26 visibility glide slope for darkness: this scenario runs from 1315 - 1800 with VIS at 1700 down to 6 etc.

(ii) Used Winter Soldiers post-harvest field rules (fields are not LT; do not block LoS; do affect movement as per the TEC).

Heer Set-UP: 2xGREN+LT in 0716. The 75mm + 81mm + GREN in the 3-hex village in the NW of B23. The Jagdpanzer IV and a GREN in 1008 (hill) and the remainder in the 5-hex town in the NE of B23. The 120-mm digs in on 0501.

US attack plan: having had some recent unpleasant experiences with chuffering down a road, the US decides to make a three pronged attack: (i) 4xINF along the west board edge & light woods of B23 with objective the 3-hex village; (ii) 6xING + M10 along the east board map and light woods of B23; objective the 5-hex village; (iii) 3xHMG + ENG + 2xM4 + 2x81mm along the road (which only begins on B23 due to scenario terrain mods).

Group (i): one INF gets DD'd early and left to its own devices (takes four turns to fully recover). The remaining company makes its way north and becomes the first Americans to engage as they exit the light woods and work through the frosty fields. Heer OF and an artillery strike or two keep another platoon at bay; two platoons get engaged in an assault; take the worst of it (step loss and DD - flee). In the end, it was only by the last two (now night) turns that the American force (including the platoon playing catch-up) can engage and kill the 75mm gun and finish off the 81mm mortar. US holds two town hexes with one contested. Should say here that the US OBA rolled half-a-dozen 6-8 rolls on the 30-col bombardment trying to kill that ATG.

Group (ii): They too suffer some delays with accurate 16-col bombardments (sighted by the spotting from 60-m tree tops on 0716). Eventually, they make their way by turn 12/13 to engage German defenses of the 5-hex town.

Group (iii): Wife's home ... tbc ...

The HMGs move their way north slowly with the M4s + ENG in advance. A strong artillery strike DD's two HMGs (with long term repercussions as these take a while to recover and occupy the one US leader with a morale bonus). The armor and ENG assault and put an end to the Heer road-block position, but one reduced and demoralized GREN step gets pushed back: so here's the title action. With heavy woods and reduced movement, the action proceeds -> US moves adjacent, Gren fails morale, backs up a hex (and is no longer spotted), US advances a hex and this repeats. It takes about 4-5 turns before this inching forward both clears the heavy woods and the GREN eventually recovers. Point being, that the M4's, the ENG, and the one HMG cannot get to the battle until quite late in the scenario; two HMG's never do.

The action at the five-hex town gets hot beginning at 1645 hours as the sun dips low in the sky. The German problem: the jagdpanzer IV would like to kill armor, but the Germans have more town hexes to cover than they have units. So is the tank destroyer's DF fire more of value than its fearsome AT value (coupled with an HMG)? The US have a similar issue: if they move up INF to try to assault and tie up the German armor, they face more dreadful OF. So ... the US risks the INF first approach, the Germans decide there's no point in killing US tanks if the town falls.

But, German OF is devastating (and a few good 16-col bombardments help) so the Germans decide to "switch" the jagdpanzer and a GREN, leaving a town hex free, but hopefully allowing the panzer to provide cover. The US decides to take advantage of the move by the German armor and swarm out of the light woods ... oh, that 75mm ATG is still in spotting range ... so, just wait two activations to avoid the -1 penalty for the US having moved ... when FOG of BLOODY WAR. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (in German).

So great, the US gets initiative, the M10 kills the jadgpanzers and then the 75 kills (both steps) of the M10 (the 20mm gave a nice flank shot bonus with its 0-4 AT value). One M4 now combines with the ENG and one (last) good order US INF to assault the HMG+GREN whilst another M4 claims 2 unoccupied town hexes. The assault over the last two turns is mutually deadly, but the Heer do a bit better with morale and the hex remains contested.

Final Count:

Germany: 16 US steps + 2 towns (x2) = 20

America: 10 German steps + 4 towns (x2) = 18

Contested: 2 towns

Draw (Germans miss minor victory by 1 VP)