Herbstnebel vs the AI

[wulfir]

In this battle I used the Venhola program to build a map of Höfen/Monschau/Kaltherberg. Interestingly the 200x160 also includes the Wahlersheid crossroads – an American objective just prior to the start of the German offensive.

I selected and deployed the American force I later played against. I set up one American 105mm Artillery battalion on map with ammo bunkers to arrive as reinforcements on turn 10 – this to symbolize loss of comms immediately after the German opening barrage - and three off map 155mm batteries (with no reinforcement delay).

The American force was made up of one infantry battalion (green troops, the 3rd Bn, 395th Infantry) defending HÖFEN and one Cav Recon Company (Co C, 38th) along with one light tank company (Co F, 38th) defending MONSCHAU. The Cav behind extensive entrenchments and obstacles (wire) as some sources claim the Cavalrymen were well dug in.

American reserves included one engineer company and one Tank Destroyer platoon.

One company's worth of 3in AT-guns were deployed in the area of the infantry battalion (i.e. Co A, 612th Tank Destroyer Bn).

A few log bunkers were deployed in the American zone along with some minor minefields. Other than that I did not add any of the Siegfreid line bunkers or obstacles...


The German Campaign core force was made up of:

Stab
VB
Stabskompanie GR751 (one Bike Recon Plt, one VG Engineer Plt)
I Btl/GR751 (three VG companies, one VG heavy company)
II Btl/GR751 (three VG companies, one VG heavy company – heavy company has 7,5cm Howitzers instead of infantry guns.)

13./GR751 (infantry gun company, with 7,5cm IG and 12cm GrW).
(14./GR751 – AT-company, assumed to be the inf-at teams already attached to the VG rifle platoons)

AA Platoon – two 3,7cm sfl-FlaK from the 3/PzJgAbt 326.

AT-Gun Platoon – four 88mm Pak43/41 guns (no transport) from PzJgAbt 683(mot).

Sturm-Mörser-Kp 1001 – four Sturm-Tigers.
1/StuG-Brig 902 – one StuG company.

Aux forces for this battle:

I/GR752 (4 VG companies, one VG heavy company)
1/PiBtl 326 (Engineer company)
Artillerie-Regiment 326 (Four battalions – off map)
Volks-Artillerie-Korps 405 (Five battalions – off map)
schwere Artillerie-Batterie 1100 (24cm battery).
Volks-Werfer-Brigade 17 (four Nebelwerfer batteries)

(The German side had no ammo units.)


Reality vs Fiction

I based the German forces on Timm Haasler's very detailed book Die 326. Volksgrenadier-Division in der Ardennenoffensive 1944/45.

Historically the attack on Höfen was made by three weak battalions of the 326th Division without any AFV support. For some reason each regiment of this division was tasked with forming a small reserve battalion without heavy weapons which drained manpower strength even before the attack began. The real attack was however supported by more artillery than used in my setup – I used two batteries of Nebelwerfers from the 88. Werfer-Regiment, and two batteries of Nebelwerfers from the 89. Werfer-Regiment. In reality the 88. Werfer-Regiment fielded thirty-six 15cm and eighteen 21cm Nebelwerfers, while the 89. had thirty-six 15cm and eighteen 30cm Nebelwerfers). The real battle also saw the four artillery battalions of the 272. Volksgrenadier-Division added to the weight of the attack.

The attack went in in the early morning of December 16 - in poor visibility. I turned up the visibility to
15 hexes in order for the AI to make its long range weapons more dangerous.

In reality the German attack failed to make much of a dent in the American lines at Höfen and American artillery caused heavy losses among the attacking German infantry. The heavy German artillery on the other hand didn't do all that much against the dug in Americans.

Observations

When playing the battle the rather heavy artillery fire on Höfen killed one American AT-gun and maybe the odd bazooka team. As long as the American units remained dug in the artillery appears to not have done too much damage – which echoes reality IMO. Many times the artillery was unobserved. However, it seems unlikely that even a human American player would not have been able to maneuver the (green) infantry much under that weight of artillery fire with out substantial risk of casualties and routed units. The German attack was limited by the slow going of the leg infantry moving under winter conditions/winter fields. A human American player could probably have delayed the infantry advance more through use of the armoured cars and especially the light tank company than was the case in my game. I thought the ammo supplied 105s were going to be more devastating than the 155s overall because of the length of the game (88 turns) but really the most losses were due to heavy American off-map artillery.

At games end (turn 88) Gren-Rgt 751 was in possession of HÖFEN and had two footholds on the western side of the Perlenbach. A small platoon size force made it to KALTHERBERG.

MONSCHAU and MÜTZENICH remains in American hands, i.e. no clean German breakthrough.

The Sturm-Tigers were pretty useful for bunker busting work. Don't ever remember having played a game with this unit before...

[wulfir]

I. SS-Panzerkorps

Commanded by the experienced SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Priess, the 1. SS-Pz. Korps was expected to achieve the decisive breakthrough in the Ardennes.

Organisation:

4. Volkswerfer-Brigade (51. und 52. Werfer-Rgt)
9. Volkswerfer-Brigade (14. und 15. Werfer-Rgt)

Volksartillerie-Korps 388
Volksartillerie-Korps 402

schwere SS-Artillerie- Abteilung 501


1. SS-Panzer-Division "LAH"
12. SS-Panzer-Division "HJ"

SS-Panzer-Brigade 150

3. Fallschrimjäger-Division
12. Volksgrenadier-Division
227. Volksgrenadier-Division

[wulfir]

227. Volksgrenadier-Division

The 227th had gone through the grinder at Falaise and been rebuilt as a Volksgrenadier-Division. By the time of Herbstnebel it was at roughly 80% strength. (One Bn not availiable for the initial attack).



The commander of the 227th, Oberst Willhelm Viebig, a combat proven officer with background in the artillery.

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Dice Rolls – 227. VGD

Forgo prep artillery due to American positions unobservable in the woods west of HOLLERATH. Repeated request by I SS Panzer-Krops to Armee – 1, 2, 3, 4. Roll 1 – Approved.

(Armoured elements to support initial attack by 277. VGD and 3. FJD due to insufficient strength – already approved)

Full complement of Jagdpanzer 38(t) for the Panzerjägerkompanie 1277. Dice roll 1,2. Roll 5 – denied.

Missing infantry battalion relived in time for the initial attack. Dice roll 1, 2. Roll 4 – denied.

Sturmgeschutz-Brigade arrives on time. Dice roll 1, 2. Roll 2 – approved.

Sturmgeschutz-Brigade is at full strength. Dive roll 1, 2. Roll 3 – denied.

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Combat task – 227. VGD:

Division breaks through enemy defences and opens up Rollbahn A and B/C.
GR989 captures ROCHERAT.
GR990 captures KRINKELT.
Reichstrasse to be cleared of enemy between Hollerather Knie and Weisser Stein.
GR991 in reserve – to reinforce either GR989 or GR990.

Once 227. VGD has breached the enemy lines 12. SS-Pz Div organised in Kampfgruppen is to spearhead the advance west.

227. VGD ready to continue advance over ELSENBORN and SOURBRODT in the direction of VERVIERS and protect the flank of 12-SS Pz Div.


Viebig's battle plan:



Division Schwerpunkt on the right under Fieger's command. GR989 and the entire schwere-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 560 is concentrated here.

On the left – GR990 under the competent and highly decorated Major Bremm – commanding the other AFVs available to 277. VGD - the six Hetzer's of Jagdpanzer-Kompanie 1277 and the five StuG IIIg's of the heavily understrength Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 667.

In reserve – Jaquet's GR990 - lacking one full battalion, and also has no engineer or AFV resources.

Main departure from history:

In reality the Division Schwerpunkt was in the south with GR990 – which was also later reinforced with GR991, once the initial attack bogged down. Some sources (Hubert Meyer and Micheal Reynolds argue that the objective of GR990 was in fact MÜRRINGEN and not KRINKELT. Wingolf Scherer/Ernst-Detlef Brock claims the Angriffsziel of Bremm's GR990 was KRINKELT.

The sPzJgAbt 560 was in reality assigned to the 12. SS-Panzer-Division as it's second tank battalion.

StuG support was promised to 277. VGD but none arrived in time. Only the division's own Hetzers gave support. Sources differ on how many actually were at hand December 16. I have found no sources on the actual use of VAK 388 or the Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4.

[wulfir]

I made a map of Hollerath using Venhola, and split it in two because of the size of the attacking forces - and played through both against the AI - the AI taking on the role of parts of the US 99th Infantry Division (deployed by myself).

The first attack on Hollerather Knie was made by Gruppe Fieger:

Gruppe Fieger

Grenadier-Regiment 989

I. Zug/1Kp/PzJgAbt 227 (three Pak40)
I. Zug/3Kp/PzJgAbt 227 (three 3,7cm Flak sfl)
1./Pi.Btl 227
sPzJgAbt 560 (14 Jagdpanther, 28 Jagdpanzer IV, 4 Flak sfl)

I/AR 227 (three batteries 7,5cm)
II/AR 227 (two batteries 10,5cm)

III/VAK 388 (three batteries 10,5cm)
IV/VAK 388 (two batteries 12,2cm)

Heeres-Artillerie-Batterie 1098 (three 30,5cm Mörser)

I/Werfer-Regiment 51/Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4
II/Werfer-Regiment 51/Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4
III/Werfer-Regiment 51/Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4



The attack was successful, but slow to develop. The result is judged to be an American fighting withdrawal. No clean breakthrough.

Some snapshots of the game:



5./GR989 infiltrate into Dreiherren woods.



7./GR989 with Jagdpanzer IV from the 2./sPzJgAbt 560 advancing.



7./GR989 got stopped by American defences near Ramscheider Höhe and fell back before a Nebelwerfer Abteilung salvo was called in.



Aftermath of the Abteilung salvo.



Near the Hollerather Knie road-bend Feldwevel Vogel's Jagdpanther 122 burns after being hit by American fire.



War booty, a captured Bofors 40mm.



The other attack against Weisser Stein was made by Bremm's troops. And met a similar fate. Slow going, no clean breakthrough. Bremm's support included one battery of "rocket half-tracks".

Gruppe Bremm

Grenadier-Regiment 990

Panzerjäger-Kompanie 1227 (six Jpz 38(t) Hetzer)
II. Zug/1Kp/PzJgAbt 227 (three Pak40)
II. Zug/3Kp/PzJgAbt 227 (three 3,7cm Flak sfl)
2./Pi.Btl 227

Sturmgeschutz-Brigade 667 (6+1 StuG III)

III/AR 227 (two batteries 10,5cm)
IV/ AR 227 (two batteries 15cm)

I/VAK 388 (three batteries 7,5cm)
II/VAK 388 (three batteries 8,8cm)

V/VAK 388 (two batteries 15,2cm)
VI/VAK 388 (one bty 21cm, one bty 17cm)

I/Werfer-Regiment 53/Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4
II/Werfer-Regiment 53/Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4
III/Werfer-Regiment 53/Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4

22. (Sf) Batterie/Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4




Gruppe Jaquet (in reserve, not committed to battle).

Grenadier-Regiment 991(-) (one batallion bound in other direction)

III. Zug/1.Kp/PzJgAbt 227 (three Pak40)
III. Zug/3.Kp/PzJgAbt 227 (three 3,7cm Flak sfl)

Divisions-Füsilier-Kompanie 227