House of Cards

Grunewalde, Germany, April 14, 1945: As the American Army closed in on the Elbe River 
in the spring of 1945, the race to be the first division into Berlin was intense. At 
Barby, the 83rd Infantry Division had arrived to find the bridge blown but no opposition. 
Meanwhile, 15 miles northwest at the town of Westerhusen, the 2nd Armored Division had 
also established a bridgehead. On the night of April 13th, 3 infantry battalions had 
quietly crossed the river on DUKW's and formed a perimeter around the bridging site. 
Bridging equipment was immediately brought up. But constant German shelling had so damaged 
and disrupted the site that no armor or artillery could be taken across until a bridge was 
built. Brigadier General Sidney R. Hinds, commander of Combat Command B, fretted that 
without heavy support, the bridgehead could easily be erased by a German armored counter-
attack. Around dawn on Saturday the 14th, German artillery obliterated what was left of 
the bridge site. Simultaneously, German tanks appeared all around the American perimeter.

Game length: 7 turns

For the Americans to win they must hold the town
For the Germans to win they must take the town

Americans: Squads, HMG, MMG's, BAZ's, OBA
Germans: Squads, MMG, LMG's, PSK, AFV's

Boards: #10, #16

Aftermath: The forces which attacked the American bridgehead were not really units at all. 
General Walther Wenck, commander of the German 12th Army, formed a group of young but 
eager training cadets and the last of his armor into mobile assault teams and counterattacked. 
The combination of the eagerness for glory of his young troops and armor support proved 
too much for the isolated American battalions. Gradually, the Germans cracked the perimeter 
and those GI's not killed or wounded began to fall back or were captured. Artillery support 
from the west bank and sporadic air strikes proved too little and too late. At noon, General 
Hinds grudgingly ordered the survivers of the bridgehead withdrawn. Meanwhile, 15 miles to the 
southeast, the 83rd Infantry Division had completed its bridge and forces were pouring across. 
But it would not matter. The next day, Eisenhower ordered all movement towards the German 
capitol to cease. By a political decision, Berlin would be left to the Russians.

Source: Scenario OTT 2 (version 1.11) House of Cards by Dan Preston


