Sturmbannfubrer Otto Skorzeny As part of the preparations for the "Wacht am Rhein" Operation, you were personally ordered by the Fuhrer to form a specialized unit to operate behind American lines. Impressed by the activities of an American Ranger unit in the Aachen battles which served in German uniforms, Hitler had decided to pay the Americans back in a similar manner. He hoped that such a unit, raised and trained by you could make the final dash to take bridges across the Meuse by surprise. Your attempts to form the unit have not been very successful. Serviceable American vehicles have been difficult to find, though you have been offered all of the Russian equipment that you could ever use. Those officers who had boasted of their captured American vehicles before suddenly could not remember having any, once your call for them to be turned over to you went out. The uniforms that arrived were American summer issue, which made them next to useless. In the end you repaired what you could, and modified those German vehicles you had to look American, though in most cases all you could do was to paint them green, with the addition of the white Allied star. The men assigned to your brigade are a most interesting mixture of Army, SS, and Luftwaffe Parachute commands. You placed your best English speaking elements in the "Einheit Stielau", the commandos designed to led the way and sow confusion behind the American lines, and then organized the remaining elements into the 150th Panzer Brigade, sub dividing them into three battlegroups. You took up positions in the 2nd Wave of the German attack, so as to exploit though the gap when it was created, but that never happened. Now, four days after the attack has started, your brigade has not been committed to action, and you realize now that your hopes of a breakthrough with the 150th are doomed as well. The Americans have been stirred up only too well by the success of the "Einheit Stielau", and are no longer trusting to careless and quick identification checks. Elements of the 1st SS Panzer Division under the command of Oberstrumbannfuhrer Peiper have pushed deep into the American lines, and have been cut off. As part of the planned operation to relieve his command, it will be necessary to capture the town of Malmedy and the bridges there over the Warche River there. Your brigade is to be assigned this task. Currently your Brigade Headquarters, and Battlegroups X and Y are at Legionville, off the board to the south. These commands can start entering the south edge of the board no sooner than the 0300 turn. In addition, Battlegroup Z can enter the board from either the south or east side a D10+4 turns after 0300, depending on their orders. It will not be possible to know exactly when they will arrive until after all planing has been finished and the game has started. All units entering on a edge do not have to enter on a road, but may enter anywhere along the edge. Enemy forces are estimated as a battalion of infantry, supported by engineers. Your mission is to clear the town, as well as capture the bridges over the River Warche. A breakdown of the 150th Panzer Brigade is as follows: 150th PANZER BRIGADE Sturmbannfuhrer Otto Skorzeny BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS Veteran, Morale 9 1 Command Stand (Elite, Morale 7) 1 Kubelwagon 1 Staff/Radio Truck 1 Motorcycle Recon Stand PANZERGRENADIER COMPANY: Veteran, Morale 9 1 Command Stand 3 Panzergrenadier Stands 1 Weapons Stand 2 WzB/Infantry Stands 1 M3A1 HTMC with MG* 1 SdKfz 250/10 1 SdKfz 251/1 1 SdKfz 250/1 1 Medium Truck ARTILLERY BATTERY 2150 Experienced, Morale 9 1 Command Stand 1 Kubelwagon 1 10.5cm howitzer 1 Gun Crew (DS) 1 Medium Truck ANTIAIRCRAFT BATTERY Trained Morale 9 1 Command Stand 1 Kubelwagon 1 88L56 AA Gun 1 20L113 AA Gun 2 Gun Crew Stands (DS) 2 Heavy Tractors BATTLEGROUP X Strumbannfuhrer Willi Hardieck Experienced, Morale 9, except for armored units, which are Veteran, Morale 9. BATTLEGROUP HEADQUARTERS 1 Command Stand 1 Kubelwagon 3 MOTORIZED INFANTRY COMPANIES, each with; 1 Command Stand 1 MMG Stand 3 Motorized Infantry Stands 2 Medium Trucks 1 MOTORIZED WEAPONS COMPANY 2 MMG Stands 1 81mm. Mortar Stand (DS) 2 Medium Trucks 1 TANK COMPANY 1 Command Pz V Tank 2 Pz V Tanks 1 Pz V Tank disguised as a M10 GMC 1 ARMORED CAR COMPANY 2 Recon SdKfz 222 Armored Cars 1 Recon M8 Armored Car* BATTLEGROUP Y Hauptmann Scherff Experienced, Morale 9, except for armored units, which are Veteran, Morale 9. BATTLEGROUP HEADQUARTERS 1 Command Stand 1 Kubelwagon 3 MOTORIZED INFANTRY COMPANIES, each with; 1 Command Stand 1 MMG Stand 3 Motorized Infantry Stands 2 Medium Trucks 1 MOTORIZED WEAPONS COMPANY 2 MMG Stands 1 81mm Mortar Stand (DS) 2 Medium Trucks 1 STUG COMPANY 1 Command Stg IIIG Assault Gun 3 Stg IIIG Assault Guns 1 ARMORED CAR COMPANY 3 Recon SdKfz 222 Armored Cars BATTLEGROUP Z Oberstleutnant Wolf Experienced, Morale 9, except for engineer units, which are Veteran, Morale 9. BATTLEGROUP HEADQUARTERS 1 Command Stand 1 Kubelwagon 2 MOTORIZED INFANTRY COMPANIES, each with; 1 Command Stand 1 MMG Stand 3 Motorized Infantry Stands 2 Medium Trucks 1 MOTORIZED WEAPONS COMPANY 2 MMG Stands 1 81mm Mortar Stand (DS) 2 Medium Trucks 1 MOTORIZED ENGINER COMPANY 1 Command Stand 1 Weapons Stand 2 SMG Engineer Stands 1 SMG Engineer Flamethrower Stands 2 Medium Trucks 1 MEDIUM BRIDGE COMPANY 2 Engineer Stands 2 Light Trucks 1 Medium Truck with Trailer 1 Medium Bridge (carried by truck and trailer) * Captured American equipment. Also several of the trucks should be of American make. All vehicles whether German or American should be painted Olive Drab and have large white stars on the side. The troops should be in mainly in German uniforms, though a number will have American helmets or hats. A number of German soldiers wore American uniforms, though in most cases it was due to the fact that the American clothing was warmer than the German clothing, rather then in an attempt to deceive the American defenders. Battle of Malmedy December 21, 1944 Introduction American Briefing German Briefing Referee Information and Map Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter #3 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1990 by Greg Novak. 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