Race for Bastogne

[johnasl]

Dec. 16th, 1944, Luxembourg

Orders: Take XLVII PanzerKorp HQ and capture crossings over Clerf river, take Bastogne and strike towards the Meuse (exit).

D1 05:30
At scenario start. First time playing this scenario, so unknow enemy disposition. I'm going through the scenarios (as Germans) in order and have completed #1-5, while only winning #5 "Stuck in the Teeth", with an offer of surrender.
The plan is fairly simple, drive along a more southern route with all emphasis on taking Bastogne. My reinforcements will worry about securing the larger bridge up north, Clervaux.

I.77 to take Hosingen
II.77 to take Pintsche
I.39 & II.39 take Consthum and push on

Unattached some additional infantry/foot units and moved across river as a reserve.

Sorry for the large/wide images but the map is very wide.

Overview of entire plan:

[johnasl]

D1 05:30
Tactical map

[johnasl]

D1 12:18
39th advanced quickly to Consthum on the south most advance. Rolled right over a few defenders with little resistance. Note the I.39 HQ leading from the front. Brave example to his men.

Most of my orders were “Move-Avoidance” with the option to “Attack” turned on. I’m starting to like this combination more and more. It seems like a good mix of speed and safety while reserving some initiative to the local commander.

Overall very little resistance. Hosingen seems to be the most heavily defended and the II.77 HQ decided to help clear the city before continuing his advance. I moved some additional detached infantry south of Hosingen as a reserve, but they were heavily bombarded and now have high fatique. I also started probing up north with some detached infantry since it appears there is little to stop them.

[johnasl]

D1 12:18 Hosingen
Here's is the close up example of the II.77 taking the initiative and delaying his move command to help clear out the city. This type of behavior is why I like this game. Very cool.

[johnasl]

D1 18:01
The day draws to a close and much progress has been made. Enough though? Hard to tell.

The engineers have completed the 2 light bridges across the Our and our armor has poured across. I've taken 1 crossing (light) over the Clerf and am overall pushing hard along the southern advances. I've spotted the 2A.707 which consists of a lone sherman so not too concerned.

2 engineer units managed to take the objective of Urspelt up north. This was unexpected but my guess was correct, there is not much of the enemy this side of the Clerf. I also sent KG Holtmeyer (2 Pz Gren Regt’s and 1 Pz Regt) to move toward Clervaux with the option to “Attack”. Let’s see what’s out there. First though, time to grill up some sausages to continue celebrating July 4th here in the states...

[johnasl]

D2 06:00
Start of the 2nd day. The southern advances are moving along very well. More units continue to move over the Clerf and are preparing to race towards Bastogne. I also decided to advance towards Wiltz on both sides of the river. I sent a some TD's to contest Drauffelt.

A little bit of resistance is up north at Marnach, but I expect to clear it quickly in the morning and then advance on Clervaux with KG Holtmeyer.

[johnasl]

D2 12:00
Major progress in the southern advance. Minimal resistance so the advance has gone past Wiltz and almost to the highway on the other route. I've also manage to take Clervaux and Drauffelt bridge objectives. There is more resistance at those bridges than anywhere else, so I think it was good idea to advance past them to the south. Of course we still have a long way to go.

Also, note once again the "Move-Avoidance" with "Attacks" order is working well for me. I'm using that combination almost exclusively so far.

[Deathtreader]

Hi Stryker,

Nice AAR.....a pleasure to read.

What aggro and loss settings are you using in your "move -- avoidance" with the attack option on??


Rob.

[wodin]

Love this scenario....one of my favourites...be careful though as it can crash with a few mintues to go before the finish....make sure you save often towards the end.

[johnasl]

ORIGINAL: Deathtreader

Hi Stryker,

Nice AAR.....a pleasure to read.

What aggro and loss settings are you using in your "move -- avoidance" with the attack option on??


Rob.

Thanks. Actually just keeping everything the default Norm/Med for all options. I also leave the formation unspecified.

Interesting though that the attack on Hosingen tha AI decided to perform with the II.77 was set as "Left Echelon", Max aggro, ROF Normal, Losses Max, Ammo high, Basics high, Fuel high. I think he really wanted to clear the town quickly and keep moving. Exactly what I wanted.

[johnasl]

ORIGINAL: wodin

Love this scenario....one of my favourites...be careful though as it can crash with a few mintues to go before the finish....make sure you save often towards the end.

Thanks for the tip, but I already learned the hard way to save often! I also turned the "autosave" option on in case I get too involved and forget.

[johnasl]

D2 18:00 West
Once again significant progress was made to the west with the southern advance. The armor units covered a lot of ground as a night starts to fall they begin to push into Bastogne. I capture the American VIII Corp Base before it could withdraw from the city.
This seems to confirm that there is very little resistance currently on the map. I'm starting to think that a major counterattack is in my future.

I also pushed a few units north to cover the highway approach to Bastogne. My line to Bastogne is stretched very thin, but I expect to strengthen it over the next 12 hours.

[johnasl]

D2 18:00 East
Here's the progress back around the Clervaux bridge. A decent litte armor battle has been raging back and forth just north of the objective. The road into the north part of Clervaux is through a narrow gap in the trees. I would not want to be the tank crew in the vanguard for the Americans.

You can also see that I'm sending the 901st to cover another section of the highway. There are a large number of units below the image that continue to stream towards Bastogne.

[johnasl]

D3 12:00
Not much happened overnight so I'm not showing any screen shots from D3 06:00. It was mostly movement to prepare for D3.

I now have most of the current objectives on the map. There is 1 unit, G Coy 110 Inf Regt., that is putting up a stiff defense in Bastogne, but he can't hold out much longer. The Americans put together an armor attack around the village of Mecher just south of Clervaux. It surprised KG von Böhm HQ (and some support units) and he was caught up against the woods and surrendered. I'm not sure what impact, if any, this will have later on.

It seems I've secured Clervaux for the moment. I sent 78 Grenadier Regt to cross north of Clervaux and try and get the Americans caught in a pocket, but they retreated back north of Clervaux.

Wiltz is also secured for the moment.

I've secured a long stretch of the highway, but at this point I have no idea where a couterattack may originate from.

The 2 objectives I own over the Clerf will expire at D3 18:00, and the exit objective just west of Bastogne will open up. This is where it gets tricky since I do not know what objective the enemy has. I somehow doubt I should abandon the bridge defense to exit more troops.

[johnasl]

D3 18:00
The single COY in Bastogne continues to hold out. Give him a medal. The anticipated counterattack has started south of Bastogne as American units stream on to the map. Fortunately I was prepared and blocked his advance.

Also, activity has picked up along the north-east section of highway. I've positioned the 901 to block that advance as well. The exit objective has opened up, but I'm going to wait before sending anyone off-map.

[johnasl]

D4 06:00
I finally captured Bastogne. A few Americans have slipped passed my line during the night, but the AI likes to do this and it often leads to destruction of his out of supply troops. We'll see what happens but I'm not worried about it, yet.

[johnasl]

D4 12:00
An action packed morning on the 4th day. Heavy fighting around Bastogne and back along the highway. Assenois was overrun during the counterattack but is still holding out. The combination of Flak and TD's repulsed more than 1 attack. My first priority is to keep the supply lines open. We still have 2+ days to go and I cannot let my troops in the vanguard get out of supply. My artillary is pounding the Americans, but I have no idea how strong the counterattack really is.

A note on the AI. Anyone that has that played the game will notice this quickly. The AI will make contact and then probe for a way around your defenses. It seems like the attack on Bastogne is starting to move west from initial contact.

[johnasl]

D4 18:00
I bad afternoon for the Americans and their counterattack. Bastogne has held strong and I actually captured a few of the attacking units. KG's Holtmeyer & Gutmann cleared the highway with many more captured units including the VIII Corps HQ.

Also, the paras have entered and are marching towards Bastogne. My initial thought is to use them as my "APer" exit troops. I'm thinking of starting the mass exit on the afternoon of the 5th day.

[simovitch]

Stryker -nice AAR thanks. [:)]

The version that will come out with the patch will be a bit harder for the Germans - more realistic timing of the Our River Bridge construction and a few other tweaks...

[johnasl]

ORIGINAL: simovitch

Stryker -nice AAR thanks. [:)]

The version that will come out with the patch will be a bit harder for the Germans - more realistic timing of the Our River Bridge construction and a few other tweaks...

Thanks. I'll wait until the end to comment if I think it should be harder on the Germans [:)] It would look bad if I said it was too easy on the Germans and then lost!

D5 12:00
Through the morning of the 5th day. Bastogne is quickly turning into a mini Stalingrad. A very strong counterattack has pushed me out. My troops are very fatiqued and are routing much more easily. An incredible amount of artillery is pounding both sides.

Nothing subtle about my strategy at this point. I'm basically sending the entire XLVII Korps into, and through, Bastogne. I'll also try and have the FJ units retake Assenois. The exit objective is worth 15pts, not enough to lose Bastogne (20pts) over.