Scenario 7 Buchholz Station (SQLA Tournament)
Scott B
BUCHHOLZ STATION
SCENARIO SEVEN, SQUAD LEADER
AFTER ACTION REPORT
Map link and without pop-out link.
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The Sixth Panzer Army had begun the Ardennes counteroffensive with two distinct missions in hand: the first, to cross the Meuse River between Liège and Huy as a prelude to the seizure of Antwerp; the second, to wheel a cordon of divisions onto a blocking line extending due east of Liège to cover the depth of the advancing army and to deny incoming Allied reinforcements the use of the highway complex southeast of Liège.
The attacks by the Sixth Panzer Army's infantry units in the north fared badly because of unexpectedly fierce resistance by the U.S. 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. Kampfgruppe Peiper, at the head of Sepp Dietrich's Sixth Panzer Army, had been designated to take the Losheim-Losheimergraben road, a key route through the Losheim Gap, but it was closed by two collapsed overpasses that German engineers failed to repair during the first day. Peiper's forces were rerouted through Lanzerath.
To preserve the quantity of armor available, the infantry of the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division, had been ordered to clear the village first. A single 18-man Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon from the 99th Infantry Division along with four Forward Air Controllers held up the battalion of about 500 German paratroopers until sunset, about 16:00, causing 92 casualties among the Germans.
This created a bottleneck in the German advance. Kampfgruppe Peiper did not begin his advance until nearly 16:00, more than 16 hours behind schedule and didn't reach Bucholz Station until the early morning of 17 December. Their intention was to control the twin villages of Rocherath-Krinkelt which would clear a path to the high ground of Elsenborn Ridge. Occupation of this dominating terrain would allow control of the roads to the south and west and ensure supply to Kampfgruppe Peiper's armored task force.
The stiff American defense prevented the Germans from reaching the vast array of supplies near the Belgian cities of Liège and Spa and the road network west of the Elsenborn Ridge leading to the Meuse River. After more than 10 days of intense battle, they pushed the Americans out of the villages, but were unable to dislodge them from the ridge, where elements of the V Corps of the First U.S. Army prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west.
RESOURCES
“Buchholz Station.” SQUAD LEADER. Baltimore, MD: The Avalon Hill Game Company, 1977.
https://storage.googleapis.com/archivesqlt/AAA00007A.pdf
Cole, Hugh M. “The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge”. Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Washington, D.C. 1965.
https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_5.htm#p83
“Battle of Lanzerath Ridge”. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lanzerath_Ridge
“Battle of the Bulge”. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge
INITIAL SETUP
The Axis player is Howard.
The US player is Monty.
Game 4 of the SQLA Buchholz Station Tournament.
US Comments
This scenario starts with a fixed setup which eliminates all the initial decisions needed for the defense. After the start, I intend to fall back with my surviving troops to form a flexible defense. My thinking is that the Americans will fall back and create gaps for the Germans to run through on their advance. If these gaps are covered with enough MGs and troops, the German casualties will mount up. However, luck always plays a significant role.
German Comments
To win the Germans need to get a large percentage of their squads to exit South of the map. Unfortunately there is a lot of open ground (no smoke is allowed) and the Americans can sit back and wait.
TURN ONE
US Comments
The first contact went to the Americans. As the stack with the 9-2 advanced into the woods, it was broken by the American stack. They routed away leaving the GIs to spread out. The rest of the Americans unstacked as well and covered lines of advance for the Germans. In the town, two leaders, two crews and the jeep moved to get the 50 cal in the two story building. The Germans split into two groups. One group tried to come straight into the American positions. The second group circled around to enter the town. The Americans countered by moving the halftrack into position to harass the German Advance.
German Comments
The first objective was to get across the Y column gap into the woods, but this was thwarted initially by the breaking of the 9-2 and his team. Ultimately these guys never got back into the fray.
TURN THREE
US Comments
By Turn 3, the Germans had made it to the woods north of the village. One American squad has been lost to clear their way. Unfortunately, The halftrack was very successful and kept the broken Germans from getting back in the fight. They continue to be DM. The two German heavy MGs have been trapped in the woods behind them and their fire against the halftrack has been ineffective. Several of the broken German units are lost due to double breaking. That was not the worst of it. As the first German stack pushed through the woods to the northwest of the village, they exposed themselves to the 50 cal. That gun commenced firing with a KIA that took out a German stack and leader there. German losses are high now and their advance is stalling.
German Comments
Having got across the gap the next aim was to a) support the flank attack in the East, and b) keep options open in the West but to do that they first needed to silence (suppress) the 50 cal. Which became a total disaster when yet again the Americans scythed through the German forces.
GAME END
US Comments
The Game was in Turn 5 when it ended with the Germans conceding. There are only 5 good order German squads on the board and no way for the Germans to meet the victory conditions for exiting units. Losses were 8 German units versus 1 American unit. The combination of the 50 cal in the two story building and the halftrack did the trick. Those two units generated all the German losses. Luck was a major factor. American fire was always accurate and deadly. German fire seemed to be mostly ineffective. It was a good game. I am sure that Howard will win next time.
German Comments
The Germans having lost so many men and not having made as much as a pin prick dent into the Americans, withdrew as they couldn’t achieve a victory. This is a difficult scenario for the Germans with lots of open ground and powerful American units. It results in bunching of squads with the potential (as I found) of being on the receiving end of disastrous low dice rolls. There are limited routes going South, hiding behind the hill from the 50 cal is not easy as the Americans are fairly fluid and again there’s little cover, hence the attempt at a two pronged approach which could work providing not too many KIAs!