American Situation
by LTC John Gordon
It is 15 November, 1944. Your unit is Task Force Brown from the 4th Armored Division. Over the past week your unit has slowly advanced toward the German border against increasing German resistance. Last night your Combat Command commander briefed you that your mission will be to attack and seize two small villages, Rambouillet and Danville, as well as a ridge to the east that dominates the villages. Intelligence reports indicate that the Germans to your front are elements of the 25th Panzer Grenadier Division. The 25th Panzergrenadier is a vetemn of the Russian Front, but has taken very heavy casualties during the past two weeks in its fights with various elements of the U.S. Third Army. Best estimates are that the two villages are held by a very much understrength Panzergrenadier Battalion (100-200 men), possibly with some supporting armor. Mission: You will advance to seize both villages and the ridge that dominates them to the east. Following your seizure of this area, the Combat Command Commander plans to immediately exploit your penetration by passing the rest of the Combat Command through your unit for a quick advance to the German border, another 10 miles to the east. Organization: Company A, 37th Tank Battalion:
12 M-4A1 (three platoons of four each) Company A, 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion (less one platoon):
Two rifle Platoons, each with:
3 Rifle Squads-1 NCO w/SMG, 2 EM w/SMG, 6 riflemen, 1 BAR, 1 M-3 halftrack One Weapons Platoon: 57 mm AT gun, 1 NCO w/SMG, 6 riflemen, 1 M-3 halftrack M-4 halftrack w/81 mm mortar, 1 NCO w/SMG, 6 riflemen NCO w/SMG, 2.50 cal HMG, 8 crew, 1 M-3 halftrack 4th Armored Recon Battalion-One Platoon:
1 M-8 75 mm Stuart support tank 4th Tank Destroyer Battalion-One Section:
Two Engineer Squads:
Fire Support: One four-gun battery of M-7 105mm howitzers-off board. The ONLY sources of calls for fire for the battery are:
Tank Company XO FO with the Armored Infantry Company Cdr Air Support:
Notes: On turn one, roll a six sided die. That is the turn that two P-47 fighter bombers arrive. Each P-47 is armed with two 500-lb bombs, plus machine guns. When the aircraft arrive, they can remain on station for six turns. The P-47s can either search the board for targets of opportunity, or they can be directed to a specific target by the Tac Air Control Party.
Task Force Brown: The Approach to Germany A Battalions in Crisis Scenario Task Force Brown Scenario Write-Up Back to Table of Contents -- Combat Simulation Vol 1 No. 3 Back to Combat Simulation List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Mike Vogell and Phoenix Military Simulations. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |