Battle Command: The Bulge After Action Report Part 5 — German Turn 3

German Turn 3 – Searching for the breakthrough.

Card draws are the same on Turn 3 as on Turn 2. The Germans get a lot of fuel to power their advance, particularly for 5^th Panzer Army (yellow), whilst 6^th Panzer Army get a valuable Force March. Importantly, the US gets another Garrison, 2 Replacements, and 2 Engineers.

More US units stream onto the battlefield, including three Elite 3-strength formations (20^th Infantry, 82^nd Airborne, and 101^st Airborne. There won’t be any US reinforcements next turn, however, so these will need to be positioned wisely.

When reinforcements come in they can be deployed anywhere along the road network, but after that their mobility is more restricted, particularly for Infantry who can only move 2 along unoccupied roads compared to spaces for Armor. Before these can be deployed however, the Germans act!

*The US receives powerful reinforcements on Turn 3.*

*The Germans only get one reinforcement unit, but it’s a fierce one.*

The Germans open the turn with a Force March card to push 2^nd Panzer over the river north of Lallange. These cards allow a single unit to move like Infantry (1 space, or 2 along a road). This allows them to safely secure the bridge north of Bastogne, and threatens Baraque de Fraiture, creating the chance for the Germans to open a westward route between the American lines.

*German 2nd Panzer pushes up to secure the bridge north of Bastonge.*

The US then play their Replacements cards to further strengthen the northern sector.

They also use a Garrison card to place a unit blocking La Roche, and its important bridge. Without this unit here, the German 2^nd Panzer could spend a Fuel card to capture that bridge, and either attack Marche or take the important crossroads at Champlon.

*The US player invests in a Garrison unit to block the German advance. Champlon is the space behind the card.*

However, the Germans have a different plan, and one that surprises the US. Using a Fuel card they drive the 2^nd Panzer south, hitting the US 9^th Armored brigade in Sprimont! Meanwhile, the Panzer Lehr division and 26^th Infantry converge for the obvious Combined Arms attack on Bastogne. However, even with a re-roll, the Germans only push the 9^th Armored back from Sprimont to Sibret.

*The Germans strike hard in the center!*

With Elite and Artillery advantage on top of 7 strength-points, the Germans muster 9 to a US defence of 6, or +3 to the German side. A roll of 6 to 4 becomes 9 to 4, inflicting two hits, plus one more from Combined Arms. With no Fieldworks in the area the Garrison falls, and the US elect to withdraw the Armor after suffering a step loss on 10^th Armored.

The Germans gain 1 VP (rare in this game, so worth having!), and place a Garrison in the space. They then roll for captured fuel. A 7+ will give them a chit they can discard instead of using a Fuel card, but they fail that roll.

Note the US chose to fall back here rather than hold on in Bastogne because the Germans will get a Breakthrough turn, and 1 strength point was certainly going to be destroyed in that phase anyway. Skipping right ahead to the Breakthrough phase in the center to show you what happened next, 2^nd Panzer and 26^th Infantry converged to strike Sibret, but with support from Artillery and Combat Engineers the Americans were merely pushed back.

*2nd Panzer and 26th Infantry push forward in the Breakthrough phase.*

Moving back to the initial Combat phase however, let’s see how the Germans fared elsewhere. First, the rest of 5^th Panzer Army moved to attack Vielsam, in order to surround the US in St. Vith and hopefully eliminate one of the units there. However, a strong roll by the US player put paid to that effort, and both US regiments are able to withdraw westwards to Trois Ponts.

*The US rolls well in Vielsam, allowing an orderly withdrawal to Trois Ponts.*

The jaws of the trap now shut, the Germans attack St. Vith, but don’t roll well enough to inflict damage on the US beyond stripping their Fieldworks. This is not such an issue for the Germans however, as they were mainly concerned with bringing their slow-moving infantry forward. All things going well, the units in St. Vith can simply be bypassed.

Further north, the Germans meet better fortune, with an attack in the difficult terrain of Elsenborn pushing the US back. The Americans opted to withdraw here rather than be left with a depleted unit that wouldn’t be able to take full advantage of the defensive terrain and would no longer be Elite. Whilst this exposes Marche to an attack across a non-river border, that space is very well-defended, and it was unlikely the US would draw more Replacement cards for a few turns.