Written by Kevin Shewfelt
Edited by Bruno Sinigaglio
A Time for Trumpets is a very big game. It’s a tour de force from the designer and certainly wins the award for diligence of research and accuracy. You get a lot of bang for your buck when you see how much is packed into this 3” thick box. The Order of Battle is state of the art; taking what we knew before to new levels of detail on what the Germans had when, and what the US Army could counter with. The game is rightly considered a MONSTER (at over 2000 counters and 5 full size maps) and as such runs the risk of all other monster games of presenting so much to you, the gamer, all at once that it can get overwhelming if you’re not careful. The following pages are meant to take some of the sting out of the sheer size of this game (and will go so far to call it a simulation) by focusing on the first few turns in one sector to demonstrate the basic flow of play. This is done mainly for the benefit of those wanting to see what the game is all about and how the basics work. Many of the rule sections will not be applicable for this situation, so it is a chance to get to terms with the core mechanics which will be used on every turn, in nearly every Corps. And once you understand the basics of running a Corps, you can see that running an Army is just a series of Corps operations one after the other. I hope the following pages are useful if you’ve considered the game and wanted to know a bit more. I am indebted to John Rainey and Steve Bradford who made the Vassal Module for the game which I used for all the screenshots of this article. I am also indebted greatly to the designer himself, Bruno Sinigaglio, for taking the time to check my execution of the game was correct per the rules.
December 16, 1944 05:30
We begin our playthrough by focusing on a small slice of the overall situation on Day 1 of Wacht am Rhein. A Time for Trumpets (ATFT) is played by activating Armies which in turn activate a number of Corps. Each Corps is then played one at a time, which breaks down what could be an overwhelming task into smaller bite-size operation which are quite repetitive, like move and fight…then move another Corps and fight. This can mean the German side can have three players (one for each Army) getting on with the job at Corps level before handing over to the US player(s). For this learning demonstration, we will look at the action of the XLVII Panzer Korps for the first three turns, but you could set up the game and learn it by picking another German Korps and start playing Turn 1 to learn the mechanics.
The situation at the start of December 16 along Skyline Drive (the north-south road running parallel to the German border) is as per the Our River Setup Charts. All pieces unrelated to this small playthrough are removed from the map. In the actual game, the sectors north and south of the XLVII Panzer Korps are occupied with Corps doing similar things.
On the US side, we have most of the 110th Infantry Regiment, with a few reserves in Wiltz, Weiswampach, and a large reserve of 9/CCR in Troisvierges. All units which are not released or cannot move till 16AF or later, are marked in with a colored box. On the German side, you have the whole enchilada including all the supporting artillery, engineers and bridges. The Panzer Lehr division is in Reserve and we will later see the progression of these troops toward the breakthrough in the Exploitation Phase.
For the playthrough, the southern playable boundary will be the natural boundary of the 5Pz Army/7 Army line running along the minor road which you see at the bottom of the map. Along the north edge, we won’t play further north than Heinerscheid.
Turn 1: 16MO Mutual Player Segment
Much of the Mutual Player Segment will not be relevant for this playthrough so it’s an easy place to start not having all this to worry about.
The ground is Firm on 16MO per the turn record track. A die is rolled for Atmospheric conditions resulting in a 4 which is Fog. Both of these conditions are important to know for the purposes of movement, ZOC, and combat.
Per the rules, all HQ and combat units are Active on 16MO, 16AF, and 16EV. We really don’t need to worry much about resting and exhaustion on the first day of the offensive. Per the 5Pz Army Scenario rules, we know that all German units are In Communication, and In Supply on 16MO, 16AF, and 16EV. US are also In Supply on 16MO, 16AF, and 16EV and In Communication on 16MO.
There are no air sorties per the turn track for 16MO, 16AF, and 16EV so we can disregard the air rules and finally there are no German Fuel Shortages yet.
So we can basically get on with the fun stuff which is the movement, combat and a little bit of strategy.
16MO Individual Player Segment – German Turn
XLVII Panzer Korps is made active through the normal chain of command being part of the 5th Panzer Army. A Random Event roll is made upon activation of the Korps but results in no effect. Now let’s skip to the step in the process which is Fording Preparation. Understanding the Fording chart is important and from this we can see that some units need assistance from Engineers during certain ground conditions. In Firm ground, cross country units can simply cross themselves, while medium AFV’s and truck units need assistance. We decide to mark both available Engineers to assist at each ford in case they are needed.
Next is Bridge Construction and this is critical on December 16th! The beginning of the bridge building process is to place a Bridge Begin marker. Later in the turn, we get to see progress being made.
In the movement segment all units of the Corps can move which do not have a colored box over the counter. Many of the German units at start of 16MO such as the artillery cannot move. Starting with the 26VG Division, we make the following moves toward attacking the American outposts along Skyline Drive in the hopes of breaking the defences and making an advance after combat. The infantry of 26VG surge forward through the fog, spreading out the placement of the two Assault companies as they get bonuses during Artillery Support given their knowledge of US dispositions.
Now, we move the eligible units of the 2nd Panzer Division. First, the Divisional HQ mobilizes, moves forward, and then deploys again. 304/I moves from Daleiden toward the river with the intention of crossing by foot next turn. This Infantry Bn is unique for the division as it the only foot unit and can move across streams, rivers, and forest. This move is made because the other motorized or mechanized elements engaging from the forest hex to the NE of Marnach may be delayed by a protracted battle for that town. Cross-country units with three wheels can enter and exit forest hexes but truck units can only enter and exit forest using roads so if Marnach takes a long time to clear, these units will not be able to put pressure on Heinerscheid or move toward Clervaux. 304/II will put some pressure on Marnach on 16MO. Meanwhile, 2 Recon Bn has just enough movement points to get across the ford south of Dasburg. They move from Dasburg one hex along the road (2MF), then cross the ford (4MF) and enter the broken terrain beyond (2MF +1 in fog = 3MF) for a total of 9MF. The Recon is cross country so doesn’t need assistance at the ford when ground is firm, as we can see from the chart:
2/II motorized infantry is ferried across the ford by the engineer but with a +4MF cost to cross so it can only move one hex. It is very important to understand in the game that a unit must have enough MF to enter a hex or it cannot. There is no golden “one hex” minimum move as with other games. The exception to this is if a unit is suffering a MF penalty (such as being Disrupt 1 or Low Fuel) it may always move one hex into an adjacent hex it could legally enter if it had full MF.
The rest of the Division’s armor shunts along to totally clog the road and wait for the bridge to be finished next turn. The 2/I armored infantry unit moves to the ford. It can just reach Marnach to attack on 16AF if the town is still a bottleneck. [Armchair generals will argue we should have moved the 38 Engineer to help with the attack on Marnach since they gain an attack advantage…]
General Cota in Wiltz is too far away from the action to react to these events, so there is no Reaction Interlude before combat. That’s all we can move this turn. Let’s attack!!!
The German is planning four attacks in the position below. We need to remember that Surprise has been achieved this turn and will affect all the battles, so we put a marker out.
Now, let’s plan the artillery supporting each battle using the Artillery Park card for XLVII Panzer Korps. We also have two Army artillery assets shown on the map, and will add these to the cards. Note that each divisional artillery unit can support only attacks by its division, but Corps artillery is free to support any of the battles. The exception per the scenario is that Lehr artillery are supporting 26VG Division until the Gemünd bridge is repaired. Also, all the Bn’s of the Nebelwerfer (NW) Brigade must support a single battle. [This is an interesting rule in the game and must support the doctrine of these units for massing firepower against a single target] We are not using the German Artillery Substitute counters in this playthrough, so these are marked out. We must be careful not to allocate an artillery unit as support to attack a hex which is out of its range. For example, the 5 NW Brigade has some very short range Bn’s which can only reach Hosingen (Battle 2) so this is where we will use them. On the other hand, some of the heavier artillery units at Corps and Army echelon have ranges of up to 15 miles!
Here is the artillery plan with battle numbers allocated in yellow. Note that in actual practice a player plans all the Corps’ battles at one time but can arrange the order of those attacks as desired.
Artillery support is often affected by the terrain and atmospheric conditions it is firing in, which can halve or quarter its effectiveness and the game is very detailed on this topic. Using the tables provided, the end results for the four battles are:
Battle 1 support: 19 FA ( ¼ CF on 16MO) vs Fort = 5 Combat Factors (CF).
Battle 2 support: 32 NW ( ¼ CF due to Fort) = 8 CF
Battle 3 support: 44 FA ( ½ CF due to Fort, but not ¼ because of the 26 VG Assault Co on 16MO rule) = 22 CF
Battle 4 support: 12 FA ( ¼ CF on 16MO) vs Broken terrain = 3 CF
On the US side, we have 28/109 (3CF) and 174/969 (4 CF) within range to provide support as they are in battery. The 9/73 (4CF) is also in range and even though it is from another division, it is a Corps asset (as is the entire 9AD) so can assist any unit in 8 Corps.
BATTLE 1 resolution:
German: 6 CF plus 5 artillery CF = 11 CF
US: 5CF plus 2 artillery CF (9/73 ½ CF due to Fog) = 7 CF
= 3 to 2 odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: The Americans get + 1 drm for having a higher ER (6 due to fort)
Terrain modifiers: +1 drm village
Weapons Effects modifiers: 1R Surprise
Defensive Positions modifiers: 2L Fort
So, the final CRT column is 1-1 with a +2 drm
White die = 2, Red die = 1. (The white die determines the combat result, and the red die is used to determine attrition to the attacker) Both of these dice have a +2 applied. The combat result is Engaged and the German suffers a step loss due to the red die roll. Not good!
BATTLE 2 resolution:
German: 13 CF plus 8 artillery CF = 21 CF
US: 3CF plus 2 artillery CF (174/969 ½ CF due to Fog) = 5 CF
= 4 to 1 odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: The Americans get + 1 drm for having a higher ER (6 due to fort)
Terrain modifiers: +1drm village
Weapons Effects modifiers: 1R Surprise, +1drm defending Engineer, -1drm attacked from 3 hexes (also known as flanked)
Defensive Position modifiers: 2L Fort
So, the final CRT column is 3-1 with a +2 drm
White die = 1, Red die = 3. Both of these dice have a +2 applied. The Combat result is DR1 (Defender Retreat 1 hex) and the German suffers a loss which must come from the Assault Company due to the Scenario special rule. 77/II advances after combat into Hosingen. This was a lucky roll but it also serves to cut off the potential for big gains in an advance after combat in battle 3 now the advance lines can be blocked by American Zones of Control. It would have been better to fight battle 3 before battle 2 but Hosingen is cleared and this will have an impact on the battle for Marnach next turn.
BATTLE 3 resolution:
German: 12 CF plus 22 artillery CF = 34 CF
US: 2CF plus 2 artillery CF (28/109 ½ CF due to Fog) = 4 CF
34 to 4 = 7 to 1 maximum odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: The Americans get + 1 drm for having a higher ER (6 due to fort)
Weapons Effects modifiers: 1R Surprise
Defensive Positions modifiers: 2L Fort
So, the final CRT column is 6-1 with a +1 drm
White die = 2, Red die = 5. Both of these dice have a +1 applied. The Combat result 1DR2 (Defender loss of 1 step and retreat 2 hexes) and there are no attacker losses. The 28 Infantry detachment is eliminated. With a DR2 result against a fort this allows the German a basic advance of 2 hexes and they make decent progress. In the end they were not blocked by the US troops retreating from Hosingen.
BATTLE 4 resolution:
German: 6 CF plus 3 artillery CF = 9 CF
US: 1 CF
=7 to 1 maximum odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: The Americans get + 1 drm for having a higher ER (6 due to fort)
Terrain modifiers: 1L Broken
Weapons Effects modifiers: 1R Surprise
Defensive Positions modifiers: 2L Fort
So, the final CRT column is 5-1 with a +1 drm
White die = 3, Red die = 4. Both of these dice have a +1 applied. The Combat result is DR3 and there are no attacker losses. The defending unit retreats south along the road and off our map. 39/II advances to join the rest of the 39th regiment. The situation after these advances shown below. A path has been cleared from the bridge at Gemünd to the west once it is repaired. This will pay big in the turns to come!
All artillery units are marked Fired and next is the Exploitation segment. Normally, Reserves could be released by leaders, but there are many units in reserve at the start of 16MO per the scenario rules and these can all be moved during Exploitation without a leader being needed. The situation map shown below is after these Reserves have moved and the end of the German player turn segment.
When playing full scenarios, it will be at this point that the German player would then switch to the next Corps of his Army and do the same steps over again in that sector of operations. After all the Corps and Army echelons have taken their turn it will be the end of the German player turn and the US will take over and do the same with his Corps.
At the German End of Turn Segment, the Fired markers are then removed from the US artillery units. These have the ability to fire offensively and defensively each turn; a bonus based on superior US supply of their artillery during the campaign.
The two bridges are now advanced to Construct 1 in this Segment. At the end of 16AF, construction will be finished and the rest of the Panzer Korps will drive forward giving the Germans much more leverage in their battles.
16MO Individual Player Segment – US Turn
The US player admittedly has almost nothing he can do this turn! In our playthrough, the 8 Corps is activated which activates 28th Division and other Corps echelon units. Artillery could be used for an attack but that’s out of the question. Therefore, the only thing which he can do is reposition the troops that retreated from Hosingen. As the full weight of the Panzer Korps is still bottled up beyond the bridges, they take up a blocking position between Consthum and Munshausen. Everyone else stays put.
16MO Mutual End of Turn Segment
In this Segment all of the Fired markers are removed from the artillery of both sides.
That’s it, the end of the first turn ?
Turn 2: 16AF Mutual Player Segment
Ground conditions continue as Firm and the atmospheric conditions are Clear with no die roll. This will have big implications on movement and artillery fire. On the whole, things are going to get a lot more sinister for the American forces holding out along Skyline Drive.
16AF Individual Player Segment – German Turn
XLVII Panzer Korps is active once again and most of the artillery is free to move this turn. A Random Event roll is made upon activation of the Korps but results in no effect. The Germans shuffle their artillery around to put their best pieces within range of targets. Only the two NW Bn’s with a range of 3 will miss out this turn so they are packed up and heading toward the Gemünd bridge. This time the German will use the 2/38 Eng unit for attacks and not help at the ford since the bridge at Dasburg will be completed at the end of this turn. However, 26/26 Eng continues to ferry and even though the unit is a truck unit, an Engineer can always ferry itself across the river!
Most of the 2nd Panzer is stuck waiting for the bridge to complete but the infantry, engineers and Recon Bn prepare to assault Marnach with as much artillery as possible. 304/II is still Engaged but will get a lot more help in attacking this turn. The German units which started west of the Our River near Dasburg make a sweeping horseshoe manoeuvre to attack Marnach from the S and SE. Notice how the 2/II infantry in trucks has just enough movement points to enter the woods from the south to get an important position to attack from. Lehr/130 Recon is attached to 26 VG Division this turn, so can stack with the 26 VG Recon Bn.
There are three big attacks planned this turn, two of which will use all the artillery support. This time the first battle will be at Munshausen in the hopes an advance after combat will encircle Marnach before the big attack. The Artillery Plan this turn:
Artillery support is more effective in Clear weather. Using the tables provided, the end results for the three battles are:
Battle 1 support: no support
Battle 2 support: 22 NW ( ¼ CF due to Fort) = adds 6 attack factors; plus 33 FA ( ½ CF due to Fort) = 17 attack factors; so that’s 23 attack factors in total.
Battle 3 support: 41 FA (Full CF due Clear weather against Woods) = 41 attack factors and also gains a roll on the Bombardment Shock Table. Potentially devastating!
On the US side, we still have 28/109 (3CF) and 174/969 (4 CF) on map to provide support but let’s assume 9/73 is busy supporting units elsewhere on this turn. The US is going to try to salvage the situation at Marnach and Munshausen.
BATTLE 1 resolution:
German: 12 CF
US: 1CF plus 3 artillery CF (28/109 Full CF) = 4 CF
= 3 to 1 odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: The Americans get + 1 drm for having a higher ER (6 due to fort)
Terrain modifiers: +1drm village
Weapons Effects modifiers: none
Defensive Positions modifiers: 2L Fort
So, the final CRT column is 3-2 with a +2 drm.
White die = 2, Red die = 1. Both of these dice have a +2 applied. The Combat result is 1 Step loss to the defender. The red die results in a loss for the attacker. In advance after combat, the attacker is awarded a basic advance of 1 hex. Munshausen falls but at a cost to the 77 Regiment as one of its Bn’s takes a loss.
BATTLE 2 resolution:
German: 24 CF plus 23 artillery CF = 47 CF
US: 5CF plus 2 artillery CF (174/969 ½ CF) = 7 CF
= 6 to 1 odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: The Americans get + 1 drm for having a higher ER (6 due to fort)
Terrain modifiers: +1drm village
Weapons Effects modifiers: attacking Engineer -1drm, Defender flanked -1drm
Defensive Positions modifiers: 2L Fort
So, the final CRT column is 4-1 with no drm.
White die = 1, Red die = 6. The Combat result is 1DR1 which is one step loss for the defender and retreat one hex. The step loss priority for the US is to lose the front line infantry before the combat support unit (28/630AT). The red die results in a step loss for the attacker and 2/II takes a loss. Marnach falls! The advance after combat against a fort is always at basic rate, so the 2Pz Recon Bn can’t make more of this other than to occupy the town. Importantly, the 28/630 AT unit survives the battle and retreats toward Clervaux. In this broken terrain, they can stage a last gasp defence before the town can be threatened.
BATTLE 3 resolution:
Since the Germans have 41 Artillery factors they roll on the Shock table vs Defenders using the 41-45 column. A 5 is rolled with two dice which results in CF+S, meaning the 41 attack factors are added to the combat as normal, but the defender also suffers a Shocked result and has his combat factors halved. This also negates the defending engineer +1drm. A Shock marker is put on the defenders.
German: 23 CF plus 41 artillery CF = 64 CF
US: 3CF halved due to Shock = 2 CF
= 7 to 1 odds max before modification (Though the odds were still in excess of 10-1 originally during movement, an overrun was not possible against this hex as it is forest, there were no attacking tanks, and also because the US had more than one step)
Efficiency Rating: The Germans get – 1 drm for having a higher ER
Terrain modifiers: Forest 1L
Weapons Effects modifiers: none
So, the final CRT column is 6-1 with a -1 drm.
White die = 5, Red die = 3. Both of these dice have a -1 applied. The Combat result is DR4 and there are no step losses for either side. The US retreats west onto the secondary road and then turns north toward Drauffelt. With a DR4, the Germans have achieved a stunning advance! This opens up many possibilities and if the attackers contained AFV’s, then they could have potentially overrun the 28/109 Field artillery unit who is alone just east of the Clerf river. Fortunately for the US player, the German recon Bn’s are not considered AFV units. Both recon units qualify for an advance of up to 8 hexes though they cannot exceed their printed movement factors when advancing. The German infantry qualifies for a basic advance of 4 hexes.
39th Regiment advances two hexes through dense forest, while the 26 Recon is able to move one hex further toward the Clerf. Lehr/130 is not hindered by any enemy ZOC and skirts to the north.
The implication of this move is the 26 Recon will prevent the 28/109 FA Bn from being able to redeploy to safety in the US turn. This is because units cannot move from the one hex to another when both hexes are in the ZOC of the same unit.
All artillery units are marked Fired and next is the Exploitation segment. The Germans moved their Reserves their full MF last turn during Exploitation, so there are no longer any Reserves for this phase.
At the German End of Turn Segment, the Fired markers are then removed from the US artillery units. Also, the Broken Engineers and Infantry which retreated are converted to Disrupt 2.
The Dasburg and Gemünd bridges are now advanced to Construct 2 in this Segment and are finished! Next turn, the panzer troops will be flooding over these bridges and the Americans will have a developing crisis on their hands.
16AF Individual Player Segment – US Turn
The 8 Corps is activated which activates 28th Division and other Corps echelon units. However, there are a few new units which are released per the scenario rules. This includes the 28 Recon company and the two tank units of the 707 Bn in Wilverwiltz and Clervaux. Looking at the situation at the end of the German turn, things are pretty bleak. There are four bridges across the Clerf River which the Americans must defend. The least important of these four is at Kautenbach as it is the most remote and the secondary road must pass through Wilverwiltz anyway. Ideally, it would be useful to continue to hold Consthum but given the shortage of troops the infantry unit there packs up and heads to Kautenbach instead.
The 28/109 Artillery is doomed as all retreat routes are cut off and there is nobody who can come support them. However, they will serve as a speed bump to interfere with German plans to attack Wilverwiltz. Being in a fort initially the 447AAW is in a strong position but is in real danger of having its retreat routes cut off if they stay on the east side of the river. They play it safe and give up the fort to move to Drauffelt where they are joined by the disrupted Infantry. The disrupted engineers join the 707 tanks to defend Wilverwiltz.
The 2nd Panzer is bearing down on Clervaux but the 28/630 AT still holds the heights to the east of the town. Looking at the map, a ZOC extending out of this hex is going to bottle up much of the advancing panzers but they run the real risk of an overrun at night, which the 2nd Panzer is capable of doing. But if two steps are put in the hex, this will prevent an overrun and put the brakes on the division during the movement phase, so the 707 Bn tanks in Clervaux join the anti-tank guns and the Recon company from Wiltz joins the 28/110 Command Post in town. This is to prevent a nasty overrun of the lone HQ if/when the Germans break-through in the night.
To the north, the outposts in forts continue to hold but brace themselves for upcoming battles. The Americans are buying time till they get the 110/II Infantry Bn released on 16EV as well as the detachment of Stuarts in Weiswampach. The much larger 9/CCR units at Troisvierges are released on 17MO unless the Germans cross the Clerf.
The stretch of river between Drauffelt and Clervaux is risky to leave unguarded, but the 77th Infantry Rgmt doesn’t have enough MF to cross it. General Cota moves to a remote location behind Eschweiler but within four hexes of two of his most important bridges in case he needs to issue a Hold at all Costs order.
16AF Mutual End of Turn Segment
In this segment, the Disrupt 2 American units are downgraded to Disrupt 1. All artillery Fired markers are removed.
Turn 3: 16EV Mutual Player Segment
Ground conditions continue as Firm, and the atmospheric conditions are Clear with no die roll. It is also a night turn which favors the defence though the 2nd Panzer Division gets bonuses when fighting at night due to the veteran status of the division.
16EV Individual Player Segment – German Turn
XLVII Panzer Korps is active once again. A Random Event roll of 6 is made upon activation of the Korps. There is a +1 drm due to US units still holding Heinerscheid resulting in Event F Bottlenecks at Dasburg and Gemünd. There will be a +2 MF cost for units using these bridges this turn!
General Manteuffel, concerned by the stubborn resistance to the east of Clervaux decides to place some of the 2nd Panzer units into Reserve so they can move during the Exploitation Segment. Leaders who are capable to designating Reserves can do so on any turn, but Division/Brigade HQ can only do so on Predawn turns. He is within range of a stack of panzers and StuGs from 2/II Pz Bn and puts them into Reserve. Now the Germans move all their units and plan the battles for the turn. On night turns most off-road movement will cost an extra MF per hex so progress will be more restricted. The 77th Regiment lacks enough MF to get across the river or to reach the outskirts of Clervaux so they will concentrate on the attack at Drauffelt.
Two factors have significantly hindered German movement: the extra +2 cost at the bridges has prevented many units from joining battles this turn such as at Kautenbach. And secondly, the stubborn defence east of Clervaux has denied freedom of manoeuvre to 2nd Panzer and Panzer Lehr. It has not been possible to use the road running through Munshausen to Drauffelt, meaning the odds of the attack on that village will be lower.
There are several attacks planned for the turn, and once again artillery will be amassed at key points as much as possible. However, many of the battles are beyond artillery range and several Bn’s are in transit.
The Artillery Plan for this turn (designating only those Bn’s which are in-battery and within range):
Using the tables provided, the end results for the three battles are:
Battle 1 support: 4 FA ( ½ CF due to Fort) = 2 attack factors
Battle 2 support: 29 FA ( ½ CF due to Broken) = 15 attack factors
Battle 4 support: 15 FA + 22 NW ( ½ CF due to Broken) = 19 attack factors
On the US side, we still have 174/969 (4 CF) and 9/73 (4CF) to provide support. 28/109 FA has enemy units adjacent so cannot provide any support as they will be fighting for their lives!
BATTLE 1 resolution:
German: 6 CF plus 2 artillery = 8 CF
US: 1CF
= 7 to 1 maximum odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: The Americans get + 1 drm for having a higher ER (6 due to fort)
Terrain modifiers: none in Broken (as 2nd Pz Division has night combat superiority. Essentially, Broken 1L is cancelled by 2nd Pz 1R)
Weapons Effects modifiers: none
Defensive Positions modifiers: 2L Fort
So, the final CRT column is 5-1 with a +1 drm.
White die = 2, Red die = 2. Both of these dice have a +1 applied. The Combat result is defender retreat 4. No attacker losses. The 28th detachment takes a winding road away to the northwest while 304/I moves next to Heinerscheid to cover the flank of the advancing division.
BATTLE 2 resolution:
German: 16 CF plus 15 artillery CF = 31 CF
US: 6CF
= 5 to 1 odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: equal, no modifier
Terrain modifiers: 1L and +1drm village, 3L River
Weapons Effects modifiers: attacking recon -1drm, Light AA/AW 1L
So, the final CRT column is 1-1 with no drm.
White die = 6, Red die = 5. The Combat result is Attacker retreat 1! No attacker losses. Attacking a defence which includes Light AA across a river at night is a difficult proposition without tanks. Lehr takes the road hex, so the 77th Regiment must retreat along the river, which will be a beneficial thing for next turn.
BATTLE 3 resolution:
German: 39/I and the 39 Assault Co = 7 CF
US: 1CF
= 7 to 1 odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: The Germans get – 1 drm for having a higher ER
Terrain modifiers: 2L Broken
Weapons Effects modifiers: 1R no Front line units
So, the final CRT column is 6-1 with a -1 drm.
White die = 5, Red die = 3. Both of these dice have a -1 applied. The Combat result is Defender retreat 4 hexes. No attacker losses. 28/109 is unable to retreat to a hex which is not in the ZOC of the same enemy unit and so is eliminated. Both attackers advance into the hex and lack MF to advance any further.
BATTLE 4 resolution:
German: 30 CF plus 19 artillery = 49 CF
US: 6 CF plus 4 artillery (174/969 and 9/73 both ½ CF) = 10
= 4 to 1 maximum odds before modification
Efficiency Rating: equal, no modifier
Terrain modifiers: none in Broken (as 2nd Pz Division has night combat superiority)
Weapons Effects modifiers: 1R Tankswith Infantry vs tanks without infantry, -1 drm Engineer, -1 Flank, -1 Recon
So, the final CRT column is 5-1 with a -3 drm.
White die = 2, Red die = 1. Both of these dice have a -3 applied. The Combat result is 1DR4 Defender takes one loss and retreats 4 hexes. No attacker losses. The loss priority is for a front-line unit to be lost first so the 707 Bn tanks are lost. The 28/630 will then retreat 4 hexes toward the Bastogne highway. A D4 result on the Advance after Combat Chart gives all units a basic advance of 4 hexes, but the armored infantry and panzers get a road advance of 8 hexes and the Recon also gets 8 hexes. After entering the defenders hex of battle 4, units proceed as follows. The 2 Recon travels down the Munshausen road and occupies the hex retreated from by Lehr’s 130 Recon. 2/I advances toward the river south of Clervaux while 38 Eng advances north. The Panthers move next to Clervaux and Heinerscheid.
BATTLE 5 resolution:
German: 18 CF
US: 2 CF
= 7 to 1 maximum odds before modification, but this will be nasty at night.
Efficiency Rating: The Germans get a -1 drm for having a higher ER
Terrain modifiers: 1L Woods, 3L River, 1L and +1 drm Village
Weapons Effects modifiers: -1 Recon, (Engineer does not qualify across a river)
So, the final CRT column is 2-1 with a -1 drm.
White die = 4, Red die = 5. Both of these dice have a -1 applied. The Combat result is CA Counterattack. The red die results in an attacker loss which is taken from the Fusilier Bn.
All artillery units are marked Fired in the following Exploitation segment. Manteuffel decides to activate his Reserves and 2/II Pz Bn move into combat positions for next turn. Manteuffel is spent.
At the German End of Turn Segment, the Fired markers are then removed from the US artillery units.
16EV Individual Player Segment – US Turn
The 8 Corps is activated which activates 28th Division and other Corps echelon units. Two new units are released on 16EV: 28/110/II Bn and the 28 Stuart tank detachment in Weiswampach. These desperately needed troops are used to help shore up the line around Clervaux. The 174/969 FA Bn is also released and is moved further behind the front where it joins General Cota and the CP of the 110 Rgmt. If a Hold at all Costs order is needed at Drauffelt or Clervaux on the next day, this will enable that.
At Kautenbach, the CA result means the defender must either Withdraw or Counterattack, which is out of the question in this situation. The infantry withdraws one hex toward Wilverwiltz.
16EV Mutual End of Turn Segment
In this segment, the Disrupt 1 markers are removed and all artillery Fired markers are removed. Manteuffel is flipped back to fresh.
And so December 16th draws to a close. 9AD/CCR is still the premier reinforcement for the Americans and will be sorely needed to defend the road leading to Bastogne. Clervaux is held firmly but the flanks are terribly thin. The 28th Division is holding on…but just barely!
Author: Kevin Shewfelt
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