Bitter Woods
Played a game with Terence, and it was a blast. We played the 2nd Ed Tournament Scenario. I played the Germans and Terence took the Americans.
My objective was to secure at least four victory points. Specified terroritorial objectives gave me one point each, and elimination of 18 American units gave me another one. Lastly, avoiding the loss of more than three mechanised units would bag me another. In total, eleven VPs were up for grabs.
On 16AM, I tried infiltrating the German infantry into the northern American positions instead of trying to concentrate for a few high odds attacks. The idea is to hinder the American retreat, and set them up for killer blows in the evening. In the centre, American artillery wreaked havoc on my attacks, but my lucky rolls blew away most of American 106 Division, opening the way for an armoured breakout. To the south, most of my 7th Army attacks had no effect, although the 29th Division managed to force a crossing at Clevaux and repairing the bridge. I generally spreaded the weak infantry units around to absorb any (un)fortunate firefight (FF) results. As long as I have weak 3 factor units to take the hits, FF results favour the Germans.
Terence pulled back his forces, and managed to plug all major routes of advance. He was even able to keep some units in their initial hexes to take advantage of the Improved Positions. To do this, he had to use some of his artillery pieces in blocking positions. In retrospect, we figured this was a mistake as it allowed the Germans to swarm and kill the units in IP. They acted as speed bumps, but during the first few turns, the Americans cannot afford to lose units recklessly as there is a real danger of the American line shattering if even one too many is lost.
On 16PM, I committed the 12SS against Monchau. The 1SS smashed against elements of the 2ID trying frantically to pull back into position. I toyed with the idea of putting Peiper into reserve, but figured his 15 AF and elite troop quality was too valuable to waste. The ploy worked as I eliminated 3 units, and further reduced two units, including one of the elite 2nd Division regiments. In the centre, I put parts of the 2nd Pz into reserve, but it had no where to go when a well-planned high-odds attack by Pz Lehr spluttered on a 1/6 chance. (I needed to force a retreat of 2 hexes, but only managed a D1.) 116 Pz was redirected towards Clerve, where it succeeded in driving the Americans back. In the south, I caught and destroyed an armoured regiment (9/CCA) that was positioned too far to the east. Things are not looking good for the Americans, but Terence did manage to get a unit into Bastogne.
On 17AM, I unleashed Pieper and 150 Bde, attempting to bypass a single line of American ZOC. 150 Bde got stuck, and was reinforced with the grenadier regiments of 1SS and assorted units in an attack that reduced an American regiment. Pieper managed to evade American pickets and sped into the rear, even capture a careless General Hodges as he sought to hold together the disintegrating American line. Pieper then rushed for the fuel dump at Francorchamps, but was unable to locate it. Fortunately, Terence had no units there, so was unable to make any demolitions. An infantry force moving towards Eupen was halted by an artillery regiment. In the centre, a couple of well-placed air interdictions interfered seriously with the advance of the better parts of two panzer divisions (2 Pz and Pz Lehr). Declining to take risks with my valuable armoured spearheads challenging the interdictions, I had to make detours, and could not cut off the enemy. Consequently, the attacks only forced the American units back instead of eliminating them. 116 Pz, backed by infantry of from the 7th Army made probes toward Bastogne, but was still very far from it when Terence ordered his GIs to make it into a fortress, at the same time stuffing another unit and the leader into it. Artillery was positioned further to the rear, but can make things really hairy. In the north, Terence dressed his lines, and sent one of the bridges in front of St Vith crashing in a cloud of smoke.
17PM saw my central/southern forces reaching the outskirts of Bastogne. A large part of 7th Army had to be detached to screen against American reinforcements. Terence opted to save his air units for close support. In the north, my forces got into a slugging match with the American troops. The American line got pushed back, but held, and no breakout developed. The forces advancing against Eupen were thrown back. Pieper continued to search for the location of the fuel dump, but failed again. I have covered 6 out of 7 hexes, so I knew the exact hex it was located in. But I was wary of placing him in an exposed position with an American armoured division lurking in the vicinity, so withdrew him into a more defensible position at Stavelot. From there, he held open the route for attacks on Trois Ponts and Stourmont. During his turn, Terence moved forces into the fuel dump hex I missed, but luckily for me, the demolition attempt spoofed. He also had forces placed in Trois Ponts and shielded Stourmont and Spa.
On 18AM, my Germans enveloped Bastogne with three valuable American units in it. I elected to not attack, and contented myself with bottling up these valuable American units. Attacks on the artillery units, destroyed one, and pushed back the other. I also managed to capture Neaufchataeu, as well as the Ourthe river crossing point. Further north, an attack on Trois Ponts succeeded in taking the town.
At that point, we decided to call the game. I had one turn, in which to throw an infantry screen that will insulate my 3 VP spaces against American reinforcements, most notably the 82AB and 101AB. I also had VPs for 18 American units killed and the capture of fuel dump. That gave me 6 victory points out of the 4 needed.
I figured that the trick to attacking with the Germans in the early game is to be selective, and make attacks that will contribute to eliminating American units. This means the American units must be cut off from retreat, as direct elimination requires very high odds. I think there are more subtle strategies in Angriff attacks that we have not explored yet.
Overall, an enjoyable experience. I think this will hit the table again soon.