Heiderscheid, the Battle on Christmas Eve

24/12/44

v1.1 - upped US morale ratings & victory condidtions

"The biggest problem faced by Oberst Hans-Joachim Kahler’s Führer Grenadier Brigade, is that it was committed piecemeal and unable to launch a full-scale counter-attack against either of the American III Corps’ division it ran up against, the 26th in the west and the 80th in the east. Called out of OKW Reserve on 22 December the brigade was originally intended to cross the Sûre at Ettelbruck and then head directly to the support of 5 Fallschirmjäger Division  around Martelange but the threat posed to Ettelbruck by the arrival of the US 80th Infantry Division caused this to be amended. Kahler put one company of Füsiliers apiece into Eschdorf and Heiderscheid and sent two south with a platoon of Panthers to Grevils-Brésil hoping to establish contact with the leading Regiment of the Volksgrenadier Division 352."

(from: http://www.lonecanuckpublishing.ca/WACHT%20AM%20RHEIN.htm)

The FGB was kicked out of Heiderscheid on the 23rd and an evening counter-attack failed to remove the 2nd Battalion 319th Infantry

"Task Force Hamilton, meanwhile, was assigned the mission of seizing the heavily defended town of Eschdorf, which dominated the approaches to the Sure River. Advancing up the road to Eschdorf, Companies E and F of the 328th Infantry encountered strong enemy resistance at the tiny village of Hierheck. The enemy pinned our infantry down with intense rifle and automatic weapons fire. Tanks of the 735th Tank Battalion entered the battle, endeavoring to engage the enemy while the infantry infiltrated forward."

(from http://yd-info.net/page2/index.html )

TF Hamilton hadn't taken Hierheck by the start of the 24th

"On the morning of the 24th the Fuehrer Grenadier Brigade, still without artillery and with half of its tanks and infantry still east of the Our River, stood opposite the inner wings of the American 26th and 80th Divisions. ...The LXXXV Corps commander decided to use his incoming reinforcements - infantry of the 79th Volks Grenadier Division - in a counterattack to regain contact with the FGB companies somewhere around Eschdorf. This would be followed by a pivot to the east, intended to strike the Americans in the flank at Heiderscheid. For this manoeuvre Col. Alois Weber, commanding the 79th, had available one regiment, the 208th"

(modified from: http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_21.htm )

The scene was set of a concentric attack on the Americans in Heiderscheid, though the forces of the FGB in the east would be delayed by an encounter with the 1st Battalion 319th Infantry near Kehmen. At the same time to the west Task Force Hamilton was still struggling to remove the grenadiers from Hierheck

Map and Order of Battle

US Deployment

US forces are deployed as indicated on the map within the pink hashed deployment zones

G Company starts off table to the north. On any turn the US player wishes G company can be placed in column on road B, within 6" of the entry point. The company is assumed to have made a full advance

I Company starts off table to the north however it is not under direct command of the HQ's on table. On any turn the US player wishes I company can be placed in column on road B if a roll of 5 or 6 is made on a d6. It arrives within 6" of the entry point. The company is assumed to have made a full advance. I company cannot be called at the same time as G company arrives

German Deployment

Most German units start on the table in the areas shown on the map. 4 Kp FGB's stands must be deployed within 6" of Hierheck. One stand must occupy the BUA.

The Regiment Stab 208VGR is a reinforcement entering turn 2 down road A

The Gepanzerte Kampfgruppe FGB is a reinforcement arriving turn 4. It arrives anywhere between points C & D

Terrain

The map represents an 8ft x 5ft table if playing at 1" = 50m

The open ground is very open. Fields with no cover at their boundaries. However there are small stands of trees dotted around and the open ground undulates more than the ridgelines suggest. LOS should be limited to 24" unless either the observer or target is touching a ridgeline when LOS extends to 36"

Red lines are roads.

Brown dotted lines are ridgelines. They break LOS and give AFV's the benefit of hull down (-2). Many of the roads run along the ridgelines. Where the ridge is adjacent and parallel to a road it is assumed that all stands on the roads can be seen from both sides. Stands moving along the road do not get the -2 cover bonus

The green areas are forest, impenetrable to vehicles and man-handled guns, 1/2 speed for personnel stands. Light cover (-1). All roads and trails through the woods: visibility along them is max 6" and all stands on them count as light cover (-1)

The green dotted line is a trail through the woods. It counts as open ground for movement purposes.

The green dotted lines are tree lines. The tree lines break LOS and give -1 cover

The large grey squares are 4x4 stone BUA's, the smaller: 2x2 BUA's (-3 cover). The smaller BUA's can hold 1 personnel or Class I gun stand only. In the 4x4 BUA's The actual buildings are well spread out so may be entered by vehicles which may fire normally. However Vehicles only get -1 cover within

Air Support

Both the Luftwaffe and the USAAF were active over the battlefield, though Luftwaffe support was limited to nuisance strafing runs

Each turn the US player rolls 1d10: 1-8 nothing, 9 P-38 Lightening fighter, 10  P-47 Thunderbolt ground attack

Each turn the German player rolls 1d10. On a 10 a Bf-109G fighter is received

Special Rules

The first turn of the game is daybreak. Visibility is limited to 6".

The game lasts 12 or 13 turns. At the end of turn 12 roll d10, on a 1-5 the game ends. Otherwise turn 13 is played

79VGD is mostly rear area personnel given scanty training and then thrust into the front line. However many NCO's and about 10% of the personnel are combat veterans. If any company that has lost all stands bar one, the last stand is rated as experienced, not trained.

The yellow area is a "no go" area for the Americans until turn 5 after the KG FGB has arrived. No US or German stand may voluntarily enter the area (except KG FGB). Forced back stands and stands that have retreated due to bad morale may enter the area but must move out as soon they are able. HQ units may enter to rally shaken or demoralised troops but must leave as soon as the job is done.

Victory Conditions

The following are worth a point to both sides: each BUA in Heiderscheid and Eschdorf

The US start with 2 points the Germans with 0

A, B & C are worth a point each to the US side

E is worth a point to the Germans

G & I Coy are worth a point to the US side as long as they remain off table and are never called on to it

The side with the most points, at the end of the game, wins. However the US side can get no better than a draw unless they occupy at least one BUA in Eschdorf, or occupy at least one of points A, B  or C

To gain the point for A, B, C or E one side must have the only stands in  good morale within 6" of the point where the road leaves the table (measured from the centre of the road)

To gain a point for a BUA one side must have the only stands in good morale wholly within the BUA

References

26th Infantry Division (Task Force Hamilton): http://yd-info.net/page2/index.html 

80th Infantry Division Morning Reports: http://www.80thdivision.com/WebArchives/MorningReports.html 

79VGD: http://www.reenactor.net/units/ir226/3-79_hist.html 

319th Infantry Regiment: http://www.80thdivision.com/UnitHistories/319thInfReg_UnitHistory_DEC44.pdf

610th Tank Destroyer Battalion After Action Report: http://www.tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs/610th_TD_Dec_1-31_44_S-2_AAR_Opt.pdf  & http://www.tankdestroyer.net/images/stories/ArticlePDFs/610th_TD_Dec_1-31_44_S-3_AAR_Opt.pdf

702nd Tank Battalion After Action Report: http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p4013coll8/id/3446

Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge: Hugh M. Cole: http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_21.htm 

Centre de Recherches et d'Informations sur la Bataille des Ardennes, My Regiment in the Bulge: http://www.criba.be/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=441:my-regiment-in-the-bulge&catid=1:battle-of-the-bulge-us-army&Itemid=6 

Map showing FGB movements photographed at the National Museum of Military History, Diekirch

Panzer Archiv Forum on 79VGD: http://forum.panzer-archiv.de/viewtopic.php?t=3851&highlight=heiderscheid

Panzer Archiv Forum on FGB: http://forum.panzer-archiv.de/viewtopic.php?t=6609&highlight=heiderscheid

S-2 Journal: 702nd Tank Battalion December 24: http://www.thetroubleshooters.com/ww2/ptbulge17.html