Last Blitzkrieg - 16 Dec 1944

 I am participating in a multi-player LB CB that is being run by Bill Durrant.  Bill is posting an overall AAR of the CG - but I thought it might be nice to supplement that with a more detailed AAR of the units that I am commanding.   In this CG, I have the pleasure of running the Axis Northern units as shown below

The activation sequence is being set randomly by Bill for all players and my first formation to activate was the 12th SS Pz Division.   Technically, this is a second activation as this formation begins the day in a used status.  I should note that we are also playing with the Optional Orders rules where players must set the orders for their formations as part of the Pre Turn phase.  

12th SS Pz

My orders for 12th SS are to move the HQ to Harperscheid - C48.32 and to also bring up the Combat Trains to a location 5 hexes away.  The formation will attack down the main road from Harperscheld turning south at the Heartbreak Crossroads with the eventual goal of reaching Krinkelt. Unfortunately, the Erz unit from the 326 VG is clogging up the main road adjacent to the enemy.  

12th SS was successful with its 2nd Activation die roll and was able to achieve a Full activation.   A double-tap (DT) objective is placed on top of the 2 battalions from the US 2nd ID in 42.30. The first unit to activate is the 560 PJ battalion which moves into the hex with the Erz unit from the 326 VG division. This results in coordination for both the 12th SS and 326 VG formations.  The plan is for the Pz Jg unit to engage and drop the support allocated to the two battalions of the US 2nd ID, and then move back away from the front to free up the hex, allowing another 12th SS unit to come in and make a subsequent attack.  However, it is often said that no plan survives enemy contact and that is the case here as the first attempt was No Result forcing the Jaegers to use their second fire event to try again.  This attempt was successful, both dropping support and causing a step loss in the process.    Exhausting both fire events Stops the unit and due to stacking limitations, no other attack can occur from this hex. 

Next, III/26 mount up in their half-tracks and move down the road these guys have just enough movement factors to enter the woods in 43.32 north of the two battalions that were just engaged by the Pz Jg unit.  Note that the Pz Grenadiers with the Tac MA are not impacted by the ZOC of the now unsupported enemy infantry. 

The PzG unit makes a Regular Attack, with an assist from the PzJg unit, and rolls well enough to inflict a step loss and force the two units to retreat back to the HQ.  Note that since the US 2nd ID is not in prepared defense, even a D:Situational would have forced a retreat, which is the goal here, but a D:Sit incurs traffic which limits the capability to move through the hex.  Key to this result is that no Traffic was incurred, which allows the attackers to move through this hex subsequently.  The PzG unit takes the required advance into the now-vacated hex and is finished. 

Now we bring up the 1,3/I Panzer battalion,  it joins the Pz Gr unit in 43.31 and successfully drops support for both adjacent stacks and Stops.  1/25 PzG moves next but due to the special "getting out o the gates" rule of 16-Dec lacks the movement to enter the woods in 44.30.   The Pioneers, who are unable to attack on their deployed side move next and join 1/25 in 45.32. 

KG Bremmer is next and with its Tac MA is able to drive past the non-support enemy units ending its move in 42.31 on top of the II/752 - 326th.   It is Stopped but not yet finished and will attack later. 

II/25 moves next and has enough movement allowance to enter the woods in 44.30 adjacent to the units from the US 99ID.   It takes a Regular Attack against the two enemy units in 42.30 and decides to use 3 artillery points and hammer the enemy with a destruction mission.  The artillery inflicts two steps losses on each of the defenders, but the resulting attack is not successful and the II/25 suffers two step losses in the process. 

12th SS has 3 artillery points left and decides to use them against 41.31, 42.30, and 44.29 with decent success.  

The rest of the formation moves up and takes positions on the main road.   The critical fatigue die roll is made and 12th SS loses its Fresh status. 

1st SS Pz

1st SS Pz was next to attempt a second activation as they started used as well.  They failed their second activation and will start Fresh on the 17-December. 

326th VG

In the North, 326th VG despite being fatigued and having coordination was able to achieve a full activation.  These guys were under No Orders and simply were looking to continue the attack, and get out of the way of 12th SS Pz so as to help avoid coordination on 17-Dec. 

The DT was placed on 42.30 and the units moved around to achieve optimal placement.  The decision was made to not make any regular attacks (RA) but instead to take two1-shot artillery pop shots against adjacent US 2nd ID units.  Not making a RA would reduce the chance of fatigue  by 15% as well.  The artillery missed against 2ID dual recon unit but did reduce the 1/9 batallion to its last step.  Unfortunately for the 326th VG the fatigue dr was not kind and their fatigue increased to level 2.  

Somewhat miraculaeosly, 326 managed a second full SNAFU activation and this time launched an unsuccessful RA against the one step 1/9 battalion suffering 2 step losses in the process. 

Here are the final positions for 326 VG 

277th VG

Now it was time for 277 VG division to make its attack.  This formation is Fresh, has Red Support but poorly motivated AR 2 infantry units.  It was under No Orders as well and will simply push the attack West. 

The formation achieved a Full SNAF activation and placed its DT on 45.26 which put 3 enemy units within the Objective Zone.   The first RA was an exchange with the US 99ID 324 Engineer battalion the I/989 Infantry battalion both suffering a step loss.  The second RA was less successful, with no losses on the US unit and a step loss on the II/991 Infantry battalion.  The Third RA was another exchange with a step loss for both the 1/393 Infantry and the II/989 Infanty battalions.  The formation was able to avoid fatigue and achieve a second activation by mercy of its +1 mod for being Fresh. 

The second activation was only a Partial but the lone attack was more successful inflicting a second step loss on the Engineer battalion and forcing it to retreat unit back to its HQ.   Once again the formation avoided fatigue and is still Fresh. 

Here are the before and after views of this formations positions. 

 

KGP

Pieper had the advantage of going last after everyone else in his area.  Similar to the other Panzer formations, KGP begins the CG game used, but will achieve a second activation on anything other than a 1.  Fortunately for Germans, Pieper was successful with the 2nd A dr and then achieved a full SNAFU activation result.   Pieper also has a Tiger unit and therefore must perform a Mechanical Reliability check with each activation, in this case the Tigers were all still operational and no step losses were recorded. 

Piepers orders were to attack through the Losheim Gap and the DT was placed on top of the US 99 ID battalion occupying the crossroads in 44.20.  The first unit to activate were the 1,2/I  Pz battalion which moved up adjacent to both defenders, engaged and dropped their support, and caused a step loss on the 99ID AT Support in the process.  Next up KG Spitze, which is a prized Dual unit, moved into position and took two Attack By Fire shots at US 99ID 3/394 battalion inflicting two step losses.  This was followed up by a RA against the US 99ID 1/394 battalion which was supported by the Panzers and a Suppression mission.  This was very successful and inflicting two step losses and an Automatic Retreat to the Division HQ.  Spitze occupied the vacated hex.  Key here again is the lack of Traffic in the result which will allow subsequent units to drive through the hex unencumbered. Which is exactly what the 9,12/2 and 11,13/2 Pz Gr battalions, with the Tactical MA do next, moving into 43.21 where they make a RA against US 99ID 3/394.  This attack is very successful and drops two more steps from the defender and forces it to retreat back the HQ.  One of the Pz Gr units makes the required advances into the vacated hex. 

The remainder of the column falls in behind the HQ including the Combat Trains which are now Ghost.  Pieper rolls for but does not suffer any fatigue and remains fresh.  Details of the before and after combat area are shown below. 

I hope that you enjoyed reading this AAR report as much as I did writing it, stay tuned for additional reports as the action continues. 

Gary Bartlett