Confrontation at the Twin Villages

18/12/44

Pictures of the game

On 16/12/44 Germany unleashed the Wacht am Rhine offensive on the sleepy US defenders in the Ardennes. In the north 1 SS Panzer Korps faced the US 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. The plan was for the 12 and 227 Volksgrenadier Divisions to open a path through the US defenders and to unleash the 1SS and 12SS panzer divisions through the gap. It didn't work out like that. The US defence was tenacious and the Volksgrenadier were just too weak to do the job. On the 17th the 12SS had to reinforce the 277 VGD with the II/25 Panzergrenadier Bataillon and the Jägdpanzer of 12SS Panzerjäger Abt. This wasn't enough, despite some hard fighting, the Volksgrenadier were held up at the twin villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath. The villages and their environs were defended by five US infantry battalions. US tank support was mediocre but there was ample artillery in support. As the Volksgrenadier had failed there was nothing for it but to commit the bulk of the 12SS Panzer Division in an effort to crack the US defences.

On the morning of the 18th the Germans pounced. Panthers forged forward out of the fog and headed for the villages

US wartime map of the Twin Villiages

 

Map and Order of Battle

US Deployment

All us personnel stands, excepting gun crews, are dug-in in foxholes

1/9th, 2/28th and 3/393rd Infantry Battalions are deployed within their respective deployment zone, these are delineated by pink dashed lines

1/38th Infantry Battalion and 38th Infantry RHQ must be deployed within 6" of Rocherath (large grey squares with a black dot in the middle)

3/38th Infantry Battalion must be deployed within 6" of Krinkelt (large grey squares without black dot in the middle)

B Coy 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion; C Coy 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion;  L Coy 23rd Infantry, 38th Regimental AT Company and 741st Tank Battalion must be deployed within 6" of either village.

German Deployment

1 & 3 Kp 12SS Panzer Regt & I & II Btl 25SS Panzergrenadier Regt are deployed in the zone delineated by the pink hashed line. The Panzers may deploy freely in the area. I/25 must be on or south of road H and II/25 must be on or north of road I

I Btl 990 VGR is deployed in the zone delineated by the pink hashed line.

All other German units are reinforcements

6 & 8 Kp 12SS Panzer Regiment arrive turn 2 between points J & G

II Btl 990 VGR arrives turn 3 between points J & K

Start rolling for the arrival of III Btl 25SS PzG Regt on turn 5. It arrives on a 6 (d6). Turn 6 it arrives on a 5-6, turn 7 on a 4-6 and so on. This roll is modified. If in any turn a US 155mm battalion is called in a mission on the table top add one to the dice. This is +1 per battalion per turn. The battalion enters between points J & G. If the German player wishes to wait an extra turn, all or part of the battalion can enter at point F

Start rolling for the arrival of  12SS Pz Aufklärungs Abt turn 6. Roll for the Stabs Kompanie and 2 Kp separately, each arrives on a 6 (d6). This does not improve as the game goes on. The unit arrives within 12" of point E

1 Kp 560 Panzerjäger Abt is a possible reinforcement. The German player may commit it any turn after III Btl 25SS PzG Regt has entered the table. Deploying the Jägdpanther inflicts a VP penalty on the German player. The units arrives along road I or H

Reinforcement Summary

Turn Unit Roll Enter
2 6 & 8 Kp 12SS Pz Auto G-J
3 II Btl 990 VGR Auto J-K
5 (possible earlier) III Btl 25SS PzG Regt 6,5-6,4-6 etc G-J or later F
6 Stabs Kp 12SS Pz AufK Abt 6 12" of E
6 2Kp 12SS Pz AufK Abt 6 12" of E
After III/25 1 Kp 560 Panzerjäger Abt Auto I or H

Terrain

The open ground is fields. There are intermittent low hedges at the field boundaries and along the roads, no more than 6" length and no hedges within 6" of another. These do NOT break LOS on only provide -1 cover for personnel and Class I guns. Any stand on a road with a hedge adjacent is assumed to be adjacent to the hedges on both sides

The green dotted lines is a tree line. This breaks LOS and give -1 cover to all stands

The blue lines are ditches. Personnel and tracked vehicles are not impeded in crossing. Manhandled guns and wheeled vehicles cost a BMA. personal stands (but not towed guns) in the ditch get -2 cover from shooting from outside.

Red lines are roads.

Brown dotted lines are ridgelines. They break LOS and give AFV's the benefit of hull down (-2)

The green dashed lines are trails through the woods. They count as open ground for movement purposes, however they are eligible for personnel stands to travel march down.

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

The large grey squares are 4x4 stone BUA's, the smaller 2x2 BUA's (-3 cover). The smaller BUA's are  farms and can hold 1 personnel or Class I gun stand only. The simple town fighting rules are in effect. The 4x4 BUAs with a black dot within make up Rocherath the others are Krinkelt

Special Rules

The game starts at 7am, and finishes at 7pm. For this scenario the turns are 1 hour long so that's 12 turns

Turn 1 is foggy and max visibility is 2". This improves turn 2 to 6" and from turn 3 onwards visibility is 24"

The German forces engaged are all short of officers and NCO's. Any command infantry in the OB marked (nr), which is most of them, will not be replaced when its eliminated: i.e. when a German command infantry is killed no other stand in the company will take over its command function.

The US 155mm battalions are firing missions off table which are preventing the III/25 Panzergrenadier from arriving in a timely fashion. If any of the 155mm battalions is used for a fire mission on table the arrival of III/25 is speeded up (see above)

Victory Conditions

Rocherath, Krinkelt and points C & D are the German victory locations

For a standard victory the Germans must have exclusive occupancy of 5 or more of the 4x4 BUA's on the table at the end of the game

For a decisive victory the Germans must have exclusive occupancy of 5 or more of the 4x4 BUA's on the table and either point C or D at the end of the game

"Points" C and D are actually 3" radius circles centred on the middle of the road at the board edge

If the Germans chose to commit the Jägdpanther they must get at least one of them to point C or D at the end of the game else the best they can achieve is a standard victory. To achieve a standard victory they will need 6 BUA's rather than 5

The US gets a standard victory if they prevent the Germans making their conditions AND they hold point A: the crossroads. They acheive a decisive victory if they prevent the Germans making their conditions; they hold point A, the crossroads and there are no German stands touching the road A-B

"Point" A is actually 3" radius circle centred on the middle of the crossroads

Exclusive occupancy means the one side has to have a stand in good morale wholly within the circle or BUA and that the other must not have a stand in good morale wholly within the circle or BUA

Good morale means not shaken and not demoralised.

Pictures of the game