Below you will find the first in a series of After Action Report articles written by players participating in The Last Hundred Yards ladder play on BGG. If you would like to participate in the LHY ladder play, please contact Mark Buetow through the LHY Facebook page or on BGG. Enjoy!
Mission 9: A Tough Nut to Crack
December 1944: The American forces fighting around the small farming village of Kesternich, 15 miles southeast of Aachen, in mid-December 1944 were in disarray. Commanders in the area in many cases had little clue as to the situation at hand. Units of the 78th Infantry Division, under Major General Parker’s command, attacked this small town before daylight on Wednesday, December 13th, but made little headway as command and control broke down.
Mission Objective: Mission ends if at the end of the game turn the American player controls all Urban Road hexes, or when either side exceeds its Casualty Differential Limit, or when the Final Score is ≥ 56.
Forces:
American: Baker Infantry Co., and Able Tank Co., 1st Tank Plt. (4 Sherman’s), supported by two MG sections and one 60mm mortar section.
German: 2. Kp., 3rd Infantry Plt., and 1st Assault Gun Plt. (2 StuG IIIg),supported by two MG sections, one LATW section, and one 8cm mortar section
After Action Report by Marc Rivet (Americans)
Our plan was to attempt a pincer movement, approaching the village from both flanks with a reserve platoon along with the tank platoon in the center. The tank platoon was tasked with covering the eastern advance and it soon became apparent that there was no enemy armor on this flank.
With little misdirection, along with smoke thrown into slow German’s response, he slowly withdrew from their forward positions rather than risk an assault. The center now was committed to begin taking the town block by block. The hope being the Germans would elect to find refuge further within the town rather than stand.
Smoke was used again to blanket the approach while the advancing infantry moved forward with the tanks. The terrain and sight lines on the east didn’t allow enemy armor to engage. After a single sharp exchange, which proved to be inconclusive, the one defending StuG pulled back to the last buildings on the northeast edge of the village. Our LATW team, to get a shot at the retreating StuG was quickly disrupted and forced to withdraw. Out tanks, operating in pairs remained close to provide support to each other.
Up to this point, casualties were suffered by both sides due to the difficulty assaulting in Urban Building hexes. Our progress, although slow, was steady until the German 8cm mortars entered the fray. Our first attempt to dislodge the defenders at the crossroads failed and we no longer had any smoke available to screen our advance.
Having survived the German mortar attack and a loss of initiative, our envelopment of and a heroic action by one the 1st platoon squads, galvanized our assault against the German infantry and StuG occupying the buildings at the northeast edge of the village. The Germans were forced to retreat at great loss and the Americans won the mission due to the Germans exceeding their Casualty Differential Limit.
Take aways…
We were able to minimize the number of small arms engagements by using the terrain and smoke to screen our approach, allowing us to close with minimal casualties. Our armor was primarily used in support of our infantry against enemy strong points and in general avoided engaging the German armor.
Author: Mike Denson
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