Disaster in the Loshiem Gap

[MikeJ19]

Well, I had a good plan - I thought - but it failed!

I will post the results of my plan and some of how the battle went and then a slide on what went well (not much) and what went wrong (lots)

Planning

Things to consider

Flank protection - Where are US reinforcements coming from?
North - unlikely
West – most likely
By passed US forces along Schnee Eifel (woods)

Grouping - It looks like for the most part the Inf guns have already been detached to the Bns
I need to ensure that this is true

Intelligence
I need to take time to look at what the US forces are doing?
How they are organized
When and where their reinforcements arrive and how they get deployed


Enemy Forces
15 Coy sized forces along the Schnee Eifel rigde (woods. They are already dislocated by the initial deployment of my forces. It would be very nice to trap these units

Screening force to the North

Most powerful known US units are the two US Assault Gun Companies. Need to deal with them

Screening force along the South

It would be nice to be able hit the Arty Bns early to take them out of the game


Friendly Forces – On Map

North
Two Regts from the 18 VGD
294 Regt with 2 Bns
295 Regt with 2 Bns
An Eng Coy
A STU Coy
A mix of Arty units (6 Bns)

Middle
A Bn watching the Schnee Eifel ridge

South
293 Regt (18 VGD) with 2 Bns
190 Regt (62 VGD) with 2 Bns
A mix of Arty units (7 Bns)

Friendly Forces – Reinforcements

Arriving in North
3 FJD Bn – morning D1
244 Stu Regt – morning D1
18 VGD HQ – early afternoon D2
FB Brigade – D4 between 0530 and 2030
3 Bns and has some tanks

Arriving in South
62 VGD
164 Regt (2 Bns) – between D1 0900 – D1 1600
183 Regt (2 Bns) – between D2 0900 – D2 1200

Here are the Objectives

[MikeJ19]

Mission Analysis

Superior Commander’s Intent

Swiftly secure St. Vith to cut the main North-South highway and secure northern flank for drive onto Bastogne.

Assigned Tasks

18 VGD
Seize crossing at Andler
Seize crossing at Schonberg
Prevent US forces along Schnee Eifel from withdrawing

62 VD
Secure crossing at Steinebruck

Subsequent Obj
Secure road junctions around St. Vith

Implied Tasks
Deal with the two Assault Gun Companies

Main Effort

Securing the crossing sites over the Our River (Andler, Schonberg and Steinebruck)


Terrain

Major River (the Our) runs horizontally across the front
Three main crossing sites
Andler
Schonberg
Steinebruck

Hilly and covered ground
Some trails and roads
Large number of small towns
Two potential Infantry crossing sites near Rodgen - These sites could be important to permit me to dislocate or disrupt US defence


US options

1. Defend in place
Try to hold the Schnee Eifel
Reinforce to hold key bridges and supply lines

2. Withdraw to Our River
Try to save forces along Schnee Eifel, by falling back quickly and defending along river
Would need to hold corridor between Andler and Schonberg open for this to be successful

3. Block in South while falling back in North to the Our River


Thoughts

Need to do something about the Assault Gun companies - Could try to fix them in place

Need to plan/account for 164 Regt that arrives early on the first morning

I think the US will likely select Option 2 - This means that if I move quickly to seize Auw and Radscheid I should be able to destroy the withdrawing US forces.

German Options
1. As ordered
2. Encirclement
3. Dislocate West

Option 1

[MikeJ19]

Option 2

[MikeJ19]

Option 3

[MikeJ19]

Discussion

The three options are similar, the differences are in the way the force is applied in the south

If the goal is to encircle the US forces on the Schnee Eifel
Then Option 2 is the best
Better chance to contain US forces
Better chance to seize the two Eastern crossings

If goal is to capture Our River crossings
Then Option 1 and 3 are better

I like the idea of encircling the US forces to remove them from the game

Decision

[dazkaz15]

Sounds very professional Mike.
I can tell you have done this kind of thing before [:)]

[Phoenix100]

Yeah. Love it, Mike. Await the results with interest.

[MikeJ19]

Thanks for interest and kind words.

As you will see, this battle did not turn out well for me....

Here is a screen shot from about 3 hours in.

[MikeJ19]

The 164 Regt arrives and my frustration mounts with the Bn COs in both the 293rd and 295th Regts.

In retrospect, I should have jumped in here. The lack of movement for the 293rd meant that they got pounded by the US Arty for a long time. Also, I probably should have moved my Arty forward earlier in the day - they had no ammo so could not do any damage to the US forces, so moving them forward would have at least meant that when they got ammo they could reach out farther....

[MikeJ19]

D1 1700

Progress remains slow, but they were good things - captured bridge in the North.

[Phoenix100]

What is holding the 293rd? Can't see what would be stopping them? Are they on a Probe or Move order, with attacks checked or not? What does the HQ log say is happening? They don't seem to have moved for 12 hours. I would like to see the counter corner boxes showing orders, maybe, instead of combat strength? But are you sure this isn't a lock-up bug, instead of something legit? What does the log say? If it's a bug, Mike, the log might typically have no entries at all to explain what is going on.

[MikeJ19]

Phoenix,

Good questions. I went back to a save around this time. It never occurred to me to look - I need to start doing that.

Looking farther back than what can be seen below, 2nd Bn HQ 293 started taking casualties at 0902 - mainly from Arty fire, and routed at 1108. It had been given a defend task in Muhlenberg.

As for the 1st Bn, it was tasked to move to Alferberg. At 0858 is was absorbing independents - this took until 1103 when it started engaging. At 1137 is started to be bombarded and then retreated at 1211. For the next two hours it was changing formation - and then it is visible below.

I have no idea if this is a bug - I just figured that the Bn COs were just not very good.

[Phoenix100]

I don't think it's a bug, Mike. Not sure, but I just ran it and gave the 293rd a similar route to yours. It has been bogged down unable to form up for many hours now, the log recording the reason - continual bombardment and casualties. that bare heath south-east of Muhlenberg seems deadly. It can't get through the bombardment, basically. the log for mine is full of entries about casualties and bombardment. So maybe that's it.

[MikeJ19]

Wow! Thanks for checking, I really appreciate that. I'm going to try this battle again soon. I think I will try to swing these two Bns west a little more - hoping to shake them loose right away.

Have a good day,

Mike

[dazkaz15]

I had exactly the same problem on my first run through, its one of the scenarios that made me never feel guilty about decimating the enemy with my player controlled artillery.
That bare slope as you leave the Hockelinie and descend towards the river is a kill zone.
I cracked it in the end by micromanaging the lead Coy's from cover to cover, and infiltrating them through in order to spot for my own artillery, and block key routes.
I then attacked through with my second Bn that was resting all day at last light, in a night attack.
I also had a lot of problems with the AC platoons in the north.

[MikeJ19]

Daz, thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely try that in my next attempt.

[MikeJ19]

Launching Reserve

I was getting frustrated with the lack of progress - so decided to try and speed things up...

[MikeJ19]

Day 2 - Nearing dawn

[MikeJ19]

Day 2 - Dawn arrives

[MikeJ19]

Us reinforcements start arriving