The Germans kick things off this Turn with a draw of 5 cards, as the US get nothing!
The US then play a Reinforcements card to build up the 1st Infantry which are coming in as reinforcements from Zone A. Another step will see them become a powerful Elite 3-strength unit, so it’s worth investing this in them rather than holding back to repair a different unit later.
This may seem like an uneventful turn for the US, but it involved quite a lot of thinking. In the north, they decide to pull back and invest in a strong defence at Malmedy with their reinforcements, supported to the south by a couple of spaces with Combined Arms. 102nd Cavalry meanwhile peel off to guard Hohes Venn. The Germans start the game with the potential to paradrop onto this space, and should they take control of it without it being contested, they would be able to simply slide their units in Elsenborn past the US defences there.
However, the US still needs to be wary of the powerful German units in Elsenborn Combined Arms. They therefore decide to swap out their 2-strength Green defenders there with the 3-strength Elite 2nd Infantry, shuffling the greater risk to their lines to Monschau as a less important space. As units only gain defensive terrain bonuses up to their strength, this means they have allocated a base defence of 6 to Elsenborn, and only 4 to Monschau, but the latter has Fieldworks (and since those absorb a hit, the two spaces are now roughly equivalent prospects for the Germans to attack).
In the center things look dangerous. Since the decision was made to prioritise guarding the north, where more Victory Point spaces are located, the only 3-strength unit in this area is the 10th Armored. This is deployed to Bastogne. However, given the destruction of US units here, and their reluctance to split their units to the north up, and lose their Combined Arms bonuses, the order of the day here is to create speed bumps to prevent Bastogne being surrounded. Meanwhile, in the south, the US uses the roadways to simple pull back. They need to avoid getting defeated in detail.
Next Week’s Article: German Turn 3 – Searching for the breakthrough.
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
Battle Command: The Bulge After Action Report Part 3 — German Turn 2
Author: Peter Evans
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