Rocherath Pictures

 This game was the third of three played in a week, on Friday 12th June 2009. Chris & I were playing the Germans and Dave N the Americans. The German kit was mostly mine with Dave providing the balance of the infantry. The US forces were a mix of Dave's and my Americans

12SS in their initial position son the road to Rocherath. Panthers are all Matchbox

Rocherath in the distance - not that it could actually be seen in the game, the first few turns were foggy

Commander of the 25SS Panzergrenadier Regiment orders the advance. Esci SdKfz-250/1

I Bataillon 990 Volksgrenadier Regt advances through the woods

12cm GrW-42 (Pegasus) supports the 990 VGR

3rd Bttn 28th Infantry defending Krinkelt

612th Tank Destroyer Battalion in reserve behind the twin villages. The outside M10's are SHQ, the middle is a Britannia hull with a HAT turret

Off table the Americans have masses of artillery support. SHQ 105's

3" Gun (FAA) to the south of Rocherath defending the gap between the villages. Its tow is an Italeri M3

741st Tank Battalion on the ridgeline to the north of Rocherath. Corgi Shermans. Its a good job they couldn't see the Panthers for the fog

Encounter in the woods. I Btl 990VGR smash into 3rd Battalion 393rd Infantry. Although the Volkgrenadiers killed the 57mm they really struggled to remove the Americans. It took many turns and the help of the Panthers to make headway.

12SS pushes forward. As infantry was in short supply the German tactic was to push a platoon forward to provoke the US forces into firing. Once the US forces had been spotted the panzers shelled them in to submission. This proved an effective tactic, and kept down the German losses. However it was not quick as the US troops were not easily provoked.

M10s move to defend the gap between the Twin Villages after the German artillery destroyed the AT guns

Panzers advance on Krinkelt

North of Rocherath the Shermans pulled back behind the ridgeline afraid to confront the panthers frontally

Rather than risk the fire of the M10's the PzKfw-IV lead by the recce Panther try to outflank the US positions through the wood to the south of Krinkelt. PzKfw-IV by Fujimi

SdKfz-250's of the 12SS Aufklärungs Abt arrive. Left SdKfz-250/1 by Grubby tanks the right by Esci

A single M10 moves to confront the outflanking force

In the centre the remains of 1st Battalion 9th Infantry moved back to Rocherath allowing the Panzergrenadiers to swarm through their positions

The 8 Kp 12SS Panzer Regiment follow 6Kp around the flank lead by the Abteilung Stab (Bttn commander)

Recce Panther pushes up towards Krinkelt from the south. Although the 57mm missed their comrades destroyed the Panther with a lucky bazooka shot to the side

III Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Bataillon belatedly arrive. They had only a few turns to reach the villages and capture them, which lead to a fast, incautious, advance

SdKfz-251/17 (Milicast) of the lead Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Kompanie

2 Kp moves towards Krinkelt

PzKfw-IV debouch from the woods south of Krinkelt

Elements of 25SS Panzergrenadier Btl and II Btl 990 VGD assault Rocherath

A Coy 741st tank battalion moves to fend off the increasing pressure on the US southern flank

11Kp 25SS Panzergrenadiers moves to the southern flank

This move attracted a storm of US artillery fire and a couple of halftracks were delayed. Time was running out for the Germans and this delay pretty much removed these tracks from the battle

Germans move up to Krinkelt. The halftracks had no choice but to push over the open terrain in front of the M10's if they were to reach the village by the end of the game. This meant many were shot up by the tank destroyers

The remaining Panzergrenadier assault Krinkelt, however the US forces are strong in this sector and the assault doomed to failure

US armour lines up to slay the 251's. The tanks attract a great deal of German heavy artillery fire, including the nebelwerfer, but it all proves ineffectual.

A combined arms assault on the south of Krinkelt. This area was much more thinly defended, but the Germans only had a couple of turns completely clear the area.

The advance to Krinkelt took a heavy toll on the thin skinned PzKfw-IV

In the centre the dregs of I Btl 990 VGR push in to Rocherath supported by Panthers. However there is just too much US infantry and victory is denied the Germans

Fearing their inability to take the villages, the Germans make a stab for the crossroads north of Rocherath to force a draw. By the late part of the game the crossroads were almost undefended. If only the German commanders had realised a turn earlier, the Panthers got this close on the last turn

The game resulted in a US victory, the Germans failed to make their victory conditions, though they should have forced a draw if they'd been paying attention. Perhaps a little more agression in the early part of the game may have given them more time to take the villages and they would have definitely befitted if the halftracks had arrived a turn or two earlier. Having said that the US forces fought a skilful defence.

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