German Turn 2 – Schwerpunkt.

The turn begins with cards being drawn. The Germans maintain a strong advantage here through much of the game, starting with a draw of 9 cards. The US draws 7 to begin with, but the hap will be larger during their own Admin phase.

Neither side knows what the other has drawn. The Germans have a decent mix of combat cards and echelons (colors corresponding to the different Armies), but few Engineers. However, they do have the Engineer that really matters – 6^th Panzer (yellow), which will allow them to repair the bridge into Marnach, and thus can strike over the river into Lullange this turn if they want to.

The US hand is OK for Turn 2. The amount of Artillery might be useful, but will need to be played in the right circumstances, as paired against two German artillery they will count for nothing. Given they lost a Garrison on Turn 1, though, they would have preferred to have drawn a second Garrison. Also, given how many contested spaces they are in, more Engineers would have been welcome in order to allow them to construct Fieldworks – and Fieldworks are one of the most important elements of this game, as they allow players to absorb an extra hit on defence.

The next thing to consider at the start of turns is reinforcements. The US has a lot of these which will come into play over time, whilst the Germans have fewer units, though not an insignificant amount.

No German reinforcements enter on Turn 2, so we can proceed to the German Admin phase. First, event cards can be played by the Germans, then the US. Then, the Germans can play any Engineers followed by the US. This time, the Germans repair the Marnach bridge, but the US decide to hold back until they have a chance to see how the German advance takes shape.

Heading into the German Movement phase, they decide to adopt a fast tempo. Two fuel cards are allocated to 6^th Panzer Army to allow the 1^st SS Panzer division and Kampfgruppe Peiper to move three spaces each (off-road movement) and crash into the Allied lines to their west.

Meanwhile, the 277^th Infantry shift north to help defend the end of the line. Then, with the road cleared, the 12 SS Panzer Division can road move two spaces, heading into Bucholz. Infantry units and Armor moving no fast than Infantry can always move one space without needing a Fuel card, or two spaces along a road as long as there aren’t any other non-garrison units in those spaces.

In the south, the Germans push up the 276^th into Beaufort. As you cannot move from one contested zone to another, the Germans are unlikely to make rapid gains here, but they are holding up US units and by remaining in contested spaces they can keep pressure on the Americans not to withdraw.

Finally, in the center the Germans launch their assault across the Clerf river. 28^th Infantry move into Wiltz, 116^th Panzer crosses the river further to the north supported by the 560^th Infantry, and the 2^nd Panzer move into Lullange. The US get a chance to blow the Lullange bridge on a 4+, but they fail, and with the bridge intact the Germans follow up by playing a Fuel card on the Panzer Lehr division moving them up into that space as well. If the bridge had gone this would not have been possible, as moving across an unbridged river takes an entire movement phase.

The US player starts to wonder if they should have taken the opportunity to blow this bridge with their Engineer card at the start of the turn (answer: yes), but at least the Germans are diluting their draw deck by playing Fuel (these cards are shuffled back into the deck at the end of the Turn).

With movement over the Germans now move to their Combat phase, beginning again with the combat they consider the most important to their advance so they can see whether they will need to their re-roll there. This means kicking things off in Lallange. 8 Elite German strength points face 2 US on a river crossing, giving 7 to 2. With only one German Artillery committed the US are able to negate any artillery bonus with a card of their own, and the US also commit an Engineer, for a +1 defensive modifier, meaning the final tally is 7 to 3. The dice are rolled.

It’s good news for the Germans! The Allies roll a 1. However, they only roll a 3, meaning they will inflict 3 hits. That’s enough to push the Allies back but not enough to destroy a unit. The German player considers using their re-roll, but decide not to, as they only have a 1-3 chance of improving on this result (since hits are generated from each 2 difference, they would need a 5 to score an additional hit). The US pulls back, but not before inflicting a hit from their Combined Arms bonus! This Combined Arms hit is the price the Germans must pay for moving to attack this turn and provides the US player with something of a consolation prize.

Next, the Germans pick to resolve combat in Weiswampach, committing two Artillery cards to no US cards, leaving them with a +4 advantage, but a roll of 1 to 3 becomes 5 to 3, inflicting merely 1 hit in addition to their Combined Arms bonus hit. Seeing a chance to destroy the US regiment the German player elects to use their re-roll, but only get a 2, and the US is fortunate enough to escape. Things go better for the Germans in Wiltz, though, and the Garrison is destroyed.

Attention then turns south, to an attack the Germans have cued up in Beaufort. They invest 3 cards in the combat (you can play one Artillery per unit on the attack, plus up to one combat card), and rolling a 3 to a 2 this is enough to create a final tally of 8 to 2. The resulting 3 hits means the US unit is destroyed. Suddenly, the southern flank is opened up as the US will have to pull back from the two adjacent spaces in order to avoid being cut off.

Up in the north, the Germans fare poorly well. Combat in Bleialf inflicts a hit on the US 106^th regiments there, but fail to destroy them. This unit represents two regiments that were historically split and cut off from the 424/106^th we encountered on Turn 1, and are therefore represented by a specific 2-strength unit. In Elsenborn, the US Fieldworks are removed, whilst in Ligneuville the B Brigade of the 9^th US Armored is forced back to Vielsalm by the German Combined Arms bonus in that space, but only after trading hits with Kampfgruppe Peiper.

All in all, it wasn’t a spectacular Turn 2 for the German player, but the victories on the southern flank added up to create a great rift in the US lines south of Bastogne. Unfortunately for them there isn’t a Breakthrough Phase this Turn due to mud clogging everything up (a set weather effect). Also, the advances in Weiswampach and Ligneuville are putting considerable pressure on the Americans, who may need to withdraw from St. Vith or risk getting surrounded.

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Next Week’s Article: U.S. Turn 2 – Discretion is the better part of valor…

Previous Articles:

Battle Command: The Bulge After Action Report Part 1 — German Turn 1

Battle Command: The Bulge After Action Report Part 2 — U.S. Turn 1