Dark December (vs German PO)

[Silvanski]

The line in front of Bastogne is holding and we're even planning a small counter offensive to disturb the German supply lines. The target: Wiltz.

[Silvanski]

The minimap shows turns 6 to 10, that's the evening of December 17 till the afternoon of the 18th and the -apparently- stalled German advance.

[Silvanski]

Evening of the 18th. Turn 11 - Allies move first

We managed to separate the German's thrust towards Bastogne from the one on Gouvy. This might have taken the angle out of the German attack in that sector.

[Silvanski]

December 19 0600, between Warche and Ambleve rivers.
Last night the Germans struck hard. Our hope that we had stalled the offensive was false. We've been forced to withdraw as the German panzer spearheads reached us 5 kilometers east of Malmedy. My unit, 2/23 was split up but by dawn we managed to get everyone back together as we took up defensive positions between Malmedy and Ligneuville. But it's gonna get rough...we lost almost half of our unit and most other units around us are in not much better shape. Things don't look too good as we'll be in the direct line of attack!
Most of the meager reinforcements we have received were distributed along the entire front. It seems we're not to expect anything of significance as early as later tomorrow. This German offensive caught us napping. All we can do is try to hold them up as good as we can until the holidaymakers arrive.

[Silvanski]

I received news from the south. Bastogne is being attacked as the Germans use ferry units to get across the Wiltz...
On a brighter note: via a crappy line we heard that units of the 89th Armoured and 4th Infantry managed to get to the railroad east of Wiltz and that a unit of the 9th Armoured Engineers which got trapped behind enemy lines during the beginning of the German offensive is still able to roam around apparently they're annoying the crap out of the Germans over there. Great spirit!

[cantona]

This is my style of AAR, stroytelling via the game

I thought the clouds added to the general feel of the story and added authenticity as in reality the US Army had little idea of what was going on during the first days of Wacht am Rhine

[Silvanski]

ORIGINAL: cantona

This is my style of AAR, stroytelling via the game

I thought the clouds added to the general feel of the story and added authenticity as in reality the US Army had little idea of what was going on during the first days of Wacht am Rhine

Thanks Cantona... Yeah the cloudcover added to the Allied confusion and hampered air support...

Anyway, here's the latest from the Ardennes front... sad news I fear..

December 19 late evening, Malmedy.

Sgt. Merle Stockman, liaison HQ 2nd Inf. Division.

The German assault is fierce though Malmedy is still holding out.
A medic who managed to scramble from the battlezone brought me tags, especially lots of tags from soldiers of the 2/23rd. Among those pieces of scarred metal a notebook, from a correspondent... A detailed account of these past tense days. The last lines read: "No time to scribble, this is it! We gotta stop them here. If Malmedy is lost they'll be in Liege in not time. Behind us there's nothing..."

[Silvanski]

Malmedy HQ, December 20 0300

Half an hour to eat and rest, that's all I have in this crazy war.
I decided to continue the notes of Sgt Beckett. Whether we survive this or not, I want people to know what happened here.
Thanks to my position here at 2nd Infantry Division's HQ I have a better view of the situation in general but the news is not good. The men are exhausted, lack decent supplies and replacments haven't arrived yet. Various sectors of the front are at breaking point. A German breakthrough can't be ruled out, but we're under orders to hold our positions and wear out the Germans -no matter what!- till reinforcements arrive. Our struggle will decide the outcome of this battle.

The Germans are trying to cross the Ambleve south of Ligneuville, clearly aiming to reach Trois Ponts and Stavelot where important road and rail junctions towards Liege and beyond are situated.

If they capture Malmedy we'll have to fall back across the Warche and towards Francorchamps. The triangle of roads between that town, Malmedy and Stavelot form a 10 mile long race track during peace time. Gee I wish I could have witnessed a race here, but now it looks like it'll be tanks and jeeps making their way around the track...

Sgt Stockman

[Silvanski]

Malmedy HQ, December 20 0300

The Germans also try to force a breakthrough south of Bastogne -another important traffic point- but the town has been turned into a fortress with units scraped together from various divisions and a bunch of paratroopers , especially from 101st.

Maybe the Germans decide to bypass Bastogne which might lead to severe supply problems for our boys there... By the way, how much supplies do the Germans have left I wonder... they are waging war on two fronts... quite different from 1940.

"Stock"

[Silvanski]

The minimap of turns 10-16 clearly shows that the Germans are not making any significant progress... IMHO the German PO could do with a bit more "oomph", maybe by altering the shocklevel a bit.

[Silvanski]

The all important turn 17 has arrived. The Allies will finally receive replacements, and reinforcements from the south are starting to appear, spearheaded by the Patton HQ.
I didn't let a single German unit penetrate my line...

[Silvanski]

ORIGINAL: Silvanski
IMHO the German PO could do with a bit more "oomph", maybe by altering the shocklevel a bit.

Here are some figures and my suggestions

Strategic bias Germans
T1 Berserk
T9 Aggresive (..from turn 16)
T 25 Neutral (..from turn 30-34)
The German PO should at least be given a chance to advance as far West as was the case historically... and even beyond that line.
I managed to contain him a bit too easy, not being a master of the game (yet), I was lucky in places... I believe I'll start to throw him back soon.
I'll continue the scenario (and AAR) to see how it's gonna pan out...


Shock level Allies
T1 60
T2 65
T3 70
T4 100 -->I suggest to put this a few turns back and set a value of 85 in between instead of this sudden jump from 70 to 100.

[Silvanski]

December 20 was a date I was waiting on...

I dug up a map from my collection to compare the situation in the AAR against what actually happened.

Let the map speak for itself... We'll get back to it on the 25th.

[Silvanski]

December 21 - 0300h

Last night the Germans managed to cross the Warche north of Malmedy and break through. This can have dire concequences. The Spa-Stavelot railrailroad is one of our main supply lines.

[Silvanski]

The second danger area is just north of Bastogne where the Germans captured the village of Foi.

Meanwhile we have a continuous stream of reinforcements coming into Luxembourg from the south. These troops have been diverted from their positions in the Alsace. Their objective is to capture Ettelbruck and push the Germans back to the Siegfried line.

Sgt "Stock"

[Silvanski]

Dec 21 0900

Disaster struck this morning as the German assault intensified and we were forced out of Malmedy. The Germans also managed to widen their bridgehead attacking across the Warche.
By 0800 the general order was given to withdraw across the Warche and take up positions to defend the railroad and Francorchamps.

Harmon's 2nd Armoured Division, stationed around the Dutch town of Hoensbroek has been called in as reinforcements. They were last reported to be in Eupen, good! We need them here fast as they'll have to prevent the Germans from linking up with the rest of their forces coming from Elsenborn....

My dream to race across the track here came through, but I never expected it would be in a US army jeep and under enemy artillery fire...

Sgt "Stock"

[Silvanski]

Heavy fighting has been reported around Foi. Apparently the Germans now also control the south side of the village.

[Silvanski]

December 21 noon.

Our guys in the south reacted, and fierce! They beat the Germans back near Bastogne and Foi!
The relief forces in Luxembourg assaulted Ettelbruck.

Here near the Warche river we were delighted to see the first units of the 2nd Armoured arrive. That'll give the boys from 3rd Armoured some respite, they were forced into reorganization.

[Silvanski]

December 21 - 1500

84th Inf. captured Monschau! They stormed in from the northern approach and surprised the German artillery units which had positioned themselves there. They abandoned the town without hardly putting up resistance.
But to say that our situation has improved dramatically would be overstated. V corps will be unable to provide artillery support for the next hours.

The counter attack in the Bastogne sector continues.

[Silvanski]

The animation shows turns 16 to 21, with the German advance around Malmedy, but before the recent Allied capture of Monschau.