Introduction

This is an after-action report portraying a game of Ardennes, scenario 5.2. This scenario covers the German drive on Bastogne and the American counterattack from the south. The game reported was played by e-mail by two members of the "Beer & Pretzels" SCS PBeM Group. Mauro Faina (from Italy) commanded the German forces while I (from Spain) commanded the Americans. We used Aide de Camp 2 to play this scenario, and I must say I was very satisfied with this new experience.

The Assault

It was December 16th. All American officers thought that the war was already won and a lot of them were preparing to live their first and last Christmas in Europe before launching the final offensive into Germany that would produce the definitive collapse. But Hitler had other plans; he dreamt about repeating the successful Ardennes offensive that had caused the fall of France four and a half years before.

Mauro commanded the southern sector of this offensive. His main objectives were Wiltz and Bastogne and he could count on three infantry, one falschirmjager and two panzer divisionen to take those cities. To stop this really scary enemy I only had two infantry regiments from the 28th Inf Div and two combat commands from the 9th Armored. Fortunately I could count on a few guns from those divisions and a 105mm Arty Group.

At dawn Mauro ordered his infantry units to cross the Our river and attack all my first-line infantry battalions while his panzers were in reserve waiting to exploit any breakthrough obtained by the infantrymen. After cleaning this first opposing line, he sent his panzers along the Dasburg-Marnach-Clervaux road, annihilating any resistance they found in their way. At the end of the day I had lost four of my infantry battalions, and the CCA/9 was almost isolated by German infantry. I panicked and I started to think that there was no way to stop the German offensive with the meager troops I could deploy. Nevertheless, after that first moment of panic, I looked at the map. I imagined a lot of American troops starting to move towards my zone of operations and I thought: "Well, what has just happened was unavoidable, but I'll have enough units to defend Bastogne if I can buy enough time to let them arrive." I now had an objective: Time. I needed to stop the Germans until my third turn. If those panzer divisionen were unable to take or isolate Bastogne in three turns, the Screaming Eagles would be able to take defensive positions in the city, thus making the fall of Bastogne a very difficult affair for the Germans.

To accomplish this objective I had a few units (fewer than wished) and some terrain to trade. My lost infantry battalions had done a very good defensive job before being overwhelmed. The 3-109 was attacked by 352 VG division, killing two steps before being destroyed. The 2-109 was dispersed by artillery fire and easily eliminated by 5 FJ Division. Mauro used all 26 VG division to kill 2-110, but he suffered another step loss. During the exploitation phase a mech unit from 2nd Pz assaulted Marnach, defended by my 1-110. My GIs could not stop the Panzergrenadieren, but they were able to make the Germans pay a heavy toll and v.Cochran-A was reduced to one step. My units had been eliminated, but the Germans had suffered heavy losses too, and those lost steps were to be very important in subsequent turns.

After the German exploitation phase, Mauro had his infantry units in my side of the river and 176 VG was threatening CCA/9's line of communications. Lehr Pz Division was deployed in the vicinity of Dasburg while 2Pz had passed Marnach and was flanking the river to attack Clervaux from the rear. I think Mauro committed a mistake not deploying any unit in 24.15, thus allowing my engineers to blow the bridge. With this bridge blown, the supply unit that was to support Mauro's armored spearheads would suffer a very important delay, thus buying me a little more time. My turn had arrived and I had very few but very important moves to make. I decided to abandon Diekirch; there was no use in losing another unit to defend this city, so I moved 1-109 into Ettelbruck. CCA/9th was ordered to deploy in the vicinity of Bastogne to defend this key city, so it started a long and very fast run, finishing this turn near Eschdorf. The Wiltz garrison remained in the city and 28 Inf Divarty was ordered to hold Clervaux for the longest possible time.

I now had to decide how to slow the German advance along the Clervaux-Bastogne road. To carry out this difficult task on I had only one infantry battalion and the 9th Armored reinforcements arriving from the north: three units, four steps to stop two whole panzer divisionen. I easily saw that Margaret village was the best blocking position I could wish. This village, three hexes from Bastogne, blocks the road in forest terrain, which means a three columns shift provided that all German attacking units would be mechanized, at least during the first critical turns. Nevertheless, I could not move all my units into Margaret, as this would allow Mauro to move the 2nd Pz near Noville and Longvilly, thus threatening to attack Bastogne in turn 3, before the 101st Airborne's arrival. As I would have no units to cover this threat until the paras arrived, I had to delay the German panzers farther east.

I thought the little forest in 23.21 would be a good blocking position. Being there, my units would severely hinder enemy movement along the road, while they enjoyed a good position with a two-column shift in defenders' favor; once again the armor effect would be a friend. Who would defend this position? Of course, I could not deploy all my units into that forest as a very fortunate German attack or good surrounding work by German spearheads would leave the road to Bastogne completely open and undefended. I first thought of deploying the 2-110 in the forest while moving the 9th Armored units into Margaret, but I realized that such a small blocking force in the forest could be easily eliminated, thus allowing German reserves to exploit near Noville, and that was exactly what I wanted to avoid. I finally decided to do it the hard way: I didn't like it, but I had to risk my Armored Bde if I wanted to hold the Germans near the crossroads.

I also deployed the Arty unit with the CCR. This way I would enjoy a slight possibility of DG'ing an attacking stack and, more importantly, I would be able to receive a D1r1 without losing the CCR, which would mean one more turn holding that position, and another turn, only another one, was exactly what I needed. Besides, 7 defending factors in forest and with armor effect would attract a lot of Germans if Mauro decided to attack, thus giving the Arty unit in Clervaux a bit of a chance to survive. On the other hand, if the worst happened and my blocking stack was destroyed, I would have 2-110 in Margaret blocking any possible reserve exploitation, giving CCA time to to arrive to Bastogne.

High Tide

Mauro would now have to face a dilemma. Would he attack my blocking force? Would he try to flank it? I don't know if my final decision was tactically correct, maybe not, but it had a great psychological effect. Maybe Mauro saw that he would not be able to threaten Bastogne at the end of the second turn, or maybe he was scared to attack such a strong stack, but the fact is that he diverted some 2nd Pz units to attack Clervaux while the rest of the division almost did not advance and moved into Asselborn and Troisvierges. My blocking force had obtained the best possible result: the Germans suffered a serious delay and both my units were unharmed and ready to retreat into more secure positions. I think Mauro was too conservative here; he allowed my units to retreat into Margaret to prepare a very strong defensive position, one that would become critical for the American success.

Panzer Lehr was also deployed to attack Clervaux with overwhelming forces. As expected, my 28 Divarty was completely annihilated after firing an unsuccessful defensive barrage. South of Clervaux, 26 VG division advanced fast towards Wiltz with one supply unit and 77 KG finished the turn adjacent to the city, so I would not be able to blow the eastern bridge of the city. 5 FJ, 352 VG and 276 VG started their advance towards Ettelbruck, where they were stopped by my 1-109 Inf Battalion. As only one para regiment was able to enter my unit's ZOC, the GIs would be able to retreat further west during my turn. In the German rear, Mauro started to move his artillery units, but they were not able to fire during this turn, as they finished their movement far from my forward positions.

After the German moves, my artillery units demonstrated that they were very, very green, as none of them scored even a DG. Well, at least they started their real-combat training (a little late for 28 Inf Divarty, which was annihilated in Clervaux).

Mauro made no more attacks and he had no reserves, so his turn finished and the German spearheads were still far from Bastogne. This was not going to last, so I had to prepare strong positions to defend the city before the Screaming Eagles arrived.

During my turn CCR/9th and Divarty took positions in Margaret village to stop the German armored force. This freed 2-110/28 to move into 17.28, thus covering the northern approaches to Bastogne. I did not want to see German units flanking my roadblock in Margaret via Longvilly and Noville and occupying the woods north of Bastogne without opposition. My intentions were to deploy part of my paras in those woods next turn, so I had to maintain them or the northern route to the city would have no good defensive terrain to establish a definitive blocking position. And yes, I know that infantry battalion was quite weak for this task, but I had no other force available, as CCA/9th was to be deployed into the city to defend it in case the Germans broke my defending forces and launched some reserves to take Bastogne.

I decided not to defend Ettelbruck. There was too much German infantry to be stopped by a single battalion and I preferred to abandon the city and move into Wiltz. This way I would have 5 defending points in the city; a very hard nut to crack for the 26 VG, the only German infantry division that could attack Wiltz during next turn (of course, he could divert some tanks, but this would make my defensive job in Bastogne far easier). This way I would be able to buy some more time in Wiltz. I knew Mauro would take it sooner or later, but the longer Wiltz resisted, the longer some very needed infantry and artillery would be hold far from Bastogne.

After my units' moves, my engineers worked hard to blow the western bridge of Wiltz. I also tried to blow the bridge north of Eschdorf, but my engineers failed here.

To help defend Wiltz I organized a very heavy bomber attack on 16.17, where three air points combined with my artillery unit managed to damage 77KG. One more step that Mauro would miss some turns later.

As expected, no attacks were made and I had no reserve to exploit with. Once more, I rolled very high when rolling for weather, so turn 3 would be partly cloudy 1. Unfortunately, I rolled for no air points, but clouds were severely diminishing and this would be great for later turns.

Turn 3 had arrived and this was to be, in my opinion, the most important moment of the battle. Heavy American reinforcements were being sent to the operations zone and two full divisions would arrive during the Yank turn, so, if my units could resist this turn without letting Bastogne be conquered, or even surronded, by the Germans, my paras would be able to severely hit the armored spearheads, so Bastogne would be safe.

I'm sure Mauro knew this, so he threw everything he had against Margaret. Very heavy panzer forces from 2nd Pz and Lehr divisions were deployed to attack the village. Unfortunately, my artillery barrage was completely useless, so my 9th Arm troops had to face 10 German units with 46 attacking factors. This meant a 7:1 attack reduced to 4:1 due to the excellent defensive terrain. The German units did not manage well in such terrain and this combat's result was A1D1. I had to flip my CCR, an important loss, but Mauro had to lose his best unit in the game, von Cochran-B, to satisfy this result. Besides, its sacrifice was not enough to open the road, so my strategic objectives had been brilliantly achieved.

Other Sectors

It's time now to take a look at other sectors of the front. Mauro saw the arrival of my 10th AD via the Ettlebruck-Diekirch road, so he decided to block my advancing units as south as possible. To achieve this, he sent 13th FJ regiment to hold Mersch. To avoid the flanking of this village he deployed 916/352 VG, which was already reduced, in 03.09. Behind this advanced line, 276 VG division was deployed forming a solid line south of Ettlebruck. The remaining units of 352 VG division were deployed into this city while two Fallschirmjager where sent towards Wiltz, accompanied by a supply unit. They managed to take the bridge north of Eschdorf during this turn and they were to arrive near Wiltz next turn to support the 26 VG, which was starting to siege the city, but was not able to attack with guarantees until some more forces arrived.

German artillery units went on approaching my units, but were still too far to fire. Things would soon be different. To finish his turn Mauro moved his few reserves: v. Boehm recon KG and 2 Pz Arty regiment. V. Boehm was sent to probe the Houffalize-Bastogne road, but it finished its movement in Noville, as Mauro thought my blocking force in the woods was strong enough not to be attacked by just one unit, and I must agree with him as a 1:1 attack would have surely killed his unit.

Stopping the Panzers

The trading turns had come to an end. I had bought the time I needed and I had not paid more terrain than I was inclined to lose. I saw my reinforcements entering the map and I decided to concede not even one more hex near Bastogne. To achieve this, I reinforced my position in Margaret deploying CCA/9th into the village along with the units already deployed there. Two recently arrived airborne regiments were sent to Bastogne to fortify the city while 506th Rgt blocked the Bastogne-Wiltz road in 14.25 and 327th blocked the Houffalize-Bastogne road in 17.28, thus freeing 2-110/28 to move into 17.27 making German flanking movements more difficult. Reinforcing artillery units were deployed with the airborne regiments blocking the roads.

I decided to give my 10th Armored a search and destroy mission. I would use this unit to kill the maximum number of German infantry steps in order to clean the southern roads of any possible roadblocks that could stop my future reinforcements in their struggle to retake Wiltz. I was inclined to lose up to two steps in this cleaning mission. The 10th's first objective was the 352 VG reduced unit in the woods west of Mersch. I thought the units entering via entry hex F would be enough to carry on the mission, so I sent CCB/10, entering via entry hex G, to reinforce the 9th AD near Bastogne. This way, my offensive options would be interestingly increased. At the end of the turn CCB was stacked with the surviving infantry battalion in hex 17.27.

My last decision was to resist in Wiltz the longest possible time. As I foresaw no heavy artillery attack during the following turn, I decided to leave the whole garrison in the city to reduce combat odds to a minimum. A hodge-podge made of infantry troops, tanks and howitzers would have to resist a fierce German infantry assault.

At the end of my movements, my gunners could demonstrate that their skills were improving and one heavy German stack was disorganized near Margaret. This would severely hurt Mauro's efforts to open the road to Bastogne. In the combat phase I was not so lucky and my 10th Armored suffered heavy losses attacking the German troops. I had to satisfy an A2D1 result, so CCR was reduced and TD unit was eliminated just to kill one infantry step. Bad deal: I reached the loss limit in just one attack so I surely would have to revise the 10th Armored's orders next turn.

Fortunately I rolled high when determining weather again. Turn 4 would be partly cloudy 2 and 5 Air Points would be available. Marvelous!!!

The German offensive was losing momentum and the DG stack prevented the attack of too many units while my air points were an excellent defensive shield, so Mauro preferred not to attack my defenses in Bastogne and he started a flanking operation deploying a couple of units south of Longchamps and blocking the roads to Houffalize, Longvilly and Wiltz. Mauro brought a supply unit up to Longvilly and both panzer divisionen artillery units took positions to barrage my defenses next turn.

Near Wiltz, Mauro decided not to attack either. I think my planes were scaring enough to prevent any attack, so he proceeded to surround the city with 26 VG and 5 FJ units while heavy arty units could be moved within range of the city to soften the defenders before his next turn's assault.

13/5FJ remained in Mersch while the whole 276 VG Division was deployed in the woods to hinder my 10th Armored's advance. Meanwhile, the AG Bn attached to 5 FJ occupied the woods near Bigonville and threatened to take Martelange next turn.

My defensive barrages near Bastogne and Mersch were absolutely useless, scoring no effects or useless DGs. More interesting was a DG scored against a Fallschirmjager unit near Wiltz, which would eliminate any remote possibility of seeing the Germans attacking Wiltz this turn. I was already thinking about my counteroffensive in Bastogne when Mauro's guns achieved a miracle. Lehr Division's artillery firing at terrifically low odds managed to DG all my 9th Armored units in Margaret (damned 12!!!). This way I would not be able to attack during this turn as 10 strength points (bad) and 8 barrage points (worse) would be useless. 101 Abn was not strong enough to severely damage the armored spearheads, so the Yank turn 4 would see no important action. After all, I would have plenty of time when my turn 7 reinforcements arrived, so I chose to take defensive measures during this turn.

My first decision was an easy one: I could not allow Mauro to take Martelange, so I sent 2-110/28 to take positions into the city. Yes, I know, one step units are not a secure blocking force, but I needed all the stronger units in Bastogne to block Mauro's panzers. I trusted Mauro would not sacrifice more units in low-odds overruns as he was starting to be short in manpower. I thought Mauro's threat to attack Bastogne from the west was not important enough, as an overrun would not clear the city and an ordinary combat could be easily disorganized with very heavy barrages, so I decided to retreat one para regiment from the city and deploy it along with the 327 in the woods. I moved two artillery units into the city to strengthen my position (not in force, but in number of steps) and reduced CCR moved to reinforce CCB/10th. I weakened my Margaret position, but I would be able to launch terrific barrages to defend it, so I did not worry so much about the village's security.

Things in Wiltz were quite different, as the city would be unsupplied at the end of my turn and heavy artillery attacks were expected next turn. Whatever my defensive strength, Mauro would be able to reach the maximum combat column (reduced to 5:1), so I saw no use in sacrificing all defending units. I left 1-109 and the arty group as a garrison and I let the 707 Tk abandon the city and take positions in the woods. This way, the tanks would be supplied and, if attacked, they could inflict some losses before dying.

My 10th Armored force near Mersch was not strong enough to attack the German infantry without heavy risks, so I decided to abandon the search and destroy mission and sent the force towards Eschdorf flanking the German infantry. My plan was to move west up to 03.17 and to take the road there. My units finished their movement in 02.13 due to EZOC costs. During my barrage phase, my artillery units demonstrated again how green they were, so I got no hits. Fortunately, the USAAF boys were better trained and they managed to DG an armored stack again. No attack was made and my turn was finished leaving Wiltz garrison unsupplied. Weather did not change and my air force was reduced to one AP for next turn. During fifth turn Mauro decided that the western threat to Bastogne had no future and he abandoned his try, deploying all his units near my defending positions, but not threatening any of them with heavy attacks. I thought Mauro was forgetting Bastogne and starting a retreat in good order, but I was wrong, as will be seen.

Wiltz was to be attacked this turn by 26 VG and the paras, so Mauro prepared his Nebelwerfers. South of Wiltz, two AG units and one FJ regiment were deployed to attack my 707 Tk and the German threat against Martelange was abandoned. Finally, Mauro did not want to see my 10th Armored advancing towards Eschdorf, so he deployed 276 VG blocking all possible approaches. Another bad day for my gunners and once again the defensive barrages scored no hits. Mauro took advantage of this and assaulted Wiltz at 3:1 final odds (fortunately his rockets fell short of the city). The gallant defenders managed to retain the city one more turn, as Mauro rolled an A1D1. Wiltz's garrison was reduced to the Artillery group, but Mauro had to lose another infantry step. His infantry units were suffering terrific carnage and this would be crucial in the end turns.

707 Tk was also attacked and eliminated, but my tanks killed some paras before being knocked out.

My fifth turn was a quiet one. I redistributed my defending units around Bastogne and moved 10th Armored towards Martelange, as the southern approach to Wiltz was closed by Mauro's infantry. I was not strong enough to launch offensive operations so I decided to await my reinforcements to take the initiative.

The Last Try

Unfortunately my gunners managed to roll a double one when firing on a very high table. This would allow Mauro to launch a last attack against Margaret, and this is exactly what he did under the clear sky of the sixth turn. It was a courageous attack, and I surely would have done the same, but seeing its development I think this was a dramatic loss of German resources, which would be extremely needed from the next turn on to defend Wiltz. Mauro deployed all the remaining units of 2 Pz and Lehr divisions to attack Margaret while two AG Bns were deployed in Noville and south of Wardin to avoid my Paras surrounding his panzers during my turn. The only armored unit not used in this operation was Recon/2Pz group, which was sent to the woods north of Martelange to stop my 10th Armored. The bulk of Mauro's infantry was deployed either against Wiltz (which would fall this turn) or cutting all approaches to the city. This way, my 10th Armored would be almost useless until reinforced.

Before the panzer assault, my artillery units demonstrated, at last, that their training was finally complete. A barrage against an important armored stack disorganized it while killing a mech step. Great defensive work. Nevertheless, Pz artillery units were also effective and my surrounded Margaret battlegroup was also DG'd. The final assault would be rolled in 4:1 column, and Mauro was quite unsuccessful rolling a 13. PJ/2Pz was killed and one mech unit was reduced while reducing my CCA/9. The armored assault had failed, Margaret was still in my hands, and some German units were deployed in clear terrain: just the perfect situation to punish them heavily.

The Screaming Eagles Counterattack

I had plenty of options for killing German units, and some of these options were really interesting, though a bit risky if the goddess of fortune was not with me, so I decided to make a conservative and limited attack. My objectives were, in this strict order: not to risk Bastogne, to open a supply line to Margaret and to kill some Germans. I deployed my arty units in Bastogne along with the TD reinforcing unit. The 506th Para Rgt was sent to Margaret via the only hex not occupied by the panzers while CCA/9 abandoned the village and took defensive positions in the woods.

The 502 Para and 327 Gld were deployed south of Margaret to attack one reduced mech unit while 501 Para and CCB/10th would help the 506th in opening the supply line attacking 16.26. Artillery support was outstanding and the mech unit in this hex was reduced and DG'd. Both attacks were extremely successful and both enemy PG groups were eliminated without friendly losses. Margaret was again in supply and I had massed a very strong mixed force to resist any future assault launched by Mauro's heavily battered panzer forces.

10th Armored was not so fortunate and its attack against an already reduced infantry unit near Bigonville was a great disaster. I had to lose CCR and reduce CCA to kill that step. I was slowly losing an armored division just to kill a few infantrymen.

Mauro faced now a bitter task. He had not taken Bastogne and the cream of his forces was in very bad shape. On the other hand, I would receive very important reinforcements during the seventh turn, clear skies would allow extensive use of my planes, and my artillery strength was to grow beyond all sustainable limits. Mauro had very few alternatives, so he was obliged to call off his offensive and he started to build an hedgehog position around Wiltz to obtain, at least, a draw.

I see no interest in a detailed explanation of these turns, so I'll give a brief description of the rest of the game.

The End

As explained, Mauro started to retreat towards Wiltz, while his recon unit north of Martelange remained there, unsupplied, to hinder my forces' advance. I used the seventh turn to plan my assault against Wiltz. I decided to make a concentric assault against the city. 4th AD and part of 10th AD were to advance into Eschdorf to attack the defending units guarding the bridge and closing the way towards Wiltz. 26 ID was to follow the main road, sweeping all enemy resistance and passing through Ettlebruck, Diekirch and Consthum to attack Wiltz from the rear; 5 ID was to support this advance when entering the map from the east. Finally, the Screaming Eagles and 26 ID (after cleaning Martelange-Bastogne road) would advance through the woods southwest of Wiltz to beat Mauro's main defensive effort and launch the final assault on Wiltz in coordination with the rear-side attack. A token force would guard Bastogne and clean any German unit north of river Wiltz.

During subsequent turns, Mauro's perimeter was thrown back at great cost and German units fought as lions defending every inch of terrain. I have not counted the total losses, but I'm afraid that every German step eliminated cost me an even more expensive toll. Fortunately, I could afford these losses, but Mauro could not; steps killed at the start of the game were now paying their dividends.

After a bitter fight, my forces could finally break the German front during turn 9 and CCB/10th deeply penetrated in Mauro's rear area during the exploitation phase to kill his last supply unit. His fate had been definitely sealed. He tried to fortify Wiltz with everything he could, but his unsupplied and heavily overwhelmed forces surrendered at the start of turn 11.

Lessons

I learned a few lessons from this game. Not panicking, though sometimes difficult, is absolutely essential to win games, and this scenario is the best example, as tears come to your eyes when you see your situation after the first German turn. Another interesting subject I've experienced is the balance you have to find between time and terrain and the relative importance you give to each one of them. If you can maintain the balance, you'll be able to win this game, as reinforcements will give you the tools to smash the Germans. This is the reason the German commander has to forget about secondary operations and throw his units at great speed towards Bastogne.

I think Mauro lost some precious movement points in the early turns, so when he attacked Bastogne's defenses he could not arrive in time to beat them and occupy the city before the 101st arrived. The only possibility for a German victory is to storm Bastogne before turn 3 and then establish a strong defensive circle around the city. Infantry units, meanwhile, have to take Wiltz and prepare its defense. If Bastogne has not been conquered by turn 3, I think the Germans will have to forget this objective to avoid suffering heavy losses and establish a terrifically strong perimeter around Wiltz to get a draw (or a victory if the Yank player is not careful enough to avoid unexpected counterattacks). Yes, I know this is hard to do when you see your Pz divisionen in good shape, but Mauro tried to push the accelerator going for all the marbles and he lacked the strength to defend Wiltz after being defeated around Bastogne. Result: American victory.

This has been my first experience with this scenario and I must say that it's great. Both sides attacked and defended without mercy, the situation was very fluid, and I often had to take critical decisions. I cannot ask more from one game.