The encirclement of Aachen – the first significant German city reached by the Western Allies – began in earnest on 2 October when the city’s suburbs were attacked from both north and west. After five days of combat, the 30th, attended by tanks of the 2nd Armored Division, had pushed five miles past the West Wall. Progress was so swift that General Hobbs, the 3oth’s commander, declared, “The job is finished as far as this division is concerned.” But scattered German counterattacks began and took the wind out of the advance in front of Aachen, devolving into a series of hostilities among the coal mining villages north of the city.
Attacker: German (Elements of Kampfgruppe von Fritzchen)
Defender: American (Elements of 3rd Battalion, 117th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, and 743rd Tank Battalion)
6 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:10.5 D:7.5
AFVs: A:4
PzKpfw VIB StuG IIIG x 2 SPW 251/21
AFVs: D:2
M4A1(76)W M4A3(75)W
Guns: A:0 D:0
Misc Rules:
Bore Sighting and pre-game HD Manuever attempts are NA. A: StuGs have Schuerzen
Shermans hid for the most part as the Germans gradually pushed the Americans back. The Tiger destroyed both Shermans on turn four. Game was over after five.
2022-02-24
(A) Øyvind Jacobsen Bjørkås
vs
Jim
American win
Jim's tanks defended in the middle of the village, and did very well in killing off the German tanks, including deliberately immobilising the King Tiger to conclude the scenario. Very enjoyable!
2022-02-24
(D) Andy Bagley
vs
Luca Martini
German win
Very interesting scenario, partly because of the VCs which require the Germans to clear all American MMCs from quite a large area at the centre of the board 68 village. And the Americans have the last player-turn, which means they could move/advance back into the VC area with the Germans having a chance to stop them. Being able to hide American leaders and SWs as if it were night adds yet more spice!
Given this my plan was to deploy as much as possible and keep units hidden/concealed, hoping that the Germans wouldn’t be able to eliminate everyone. Things started well, with the German halftrack forced to withdraw by a sniper shot, and an unusually brave American squad inflicting casualties with its MMG. But the Germans pressed forward relentlessly, aided by their flamethrower, superior morale, and of course the King Tiger which is virtually invulnerable. I managed to win a Gun Duel to knock out one StuG, but by the time I got the second with a bazooka shot, both my tanks had been destroyed and my infantry was being chased far from the village. (Good tactic – chase the broken Americans far away so that they can’t get back to the village even if they do rally on their last turn!)
My last chance was to get a deliberate immobilisation on the King Tiger with a bazooka, and when this failed on the last German player-turn I conceded. Good fun though.
2022-02-19
(D) Simon Staniforth
vs
American win
Americans largely hunkered down in the village and didn’t strongly contest the orchard hexes around the VC wood given low TEM vs US moral. As the Germans were forced to attack into the village the American firepower told with a series of German squad breaks, a StuG KO and the the Tiger immobilised. With time against him the German player conceded.
2021-12-08
(D) Indy Lagu
vs
Rob Oler
German win
Rob made his typical slow but methodical progress and wiped the US out.
The Germans have a few options on where to come in and how to attack. The US force is brittle on the defense (as they always are with a ML of 6).
2021-11-21
(D) Dave Mareske
vs
Craig Renier
American win
Craig and I switched sides and played again. The Germans were tentative in their first two turns advancing concealed using armored assault. While effective, it slowed down the attack and made the Germans take risks in the later turns. Still, the game was close, but the Americans had too many half squads left within three hexes which forced to Germans to divide their attack on the last turn, falling short of victory.
2021-11-12
(A) Dave Mareske
vs
Craig Renier
German win
Came down to the last half turn when I had to shoot into a Melee to break the last American unit. It was touch and go for awhile as I lost the Tiger to a CH and malfed one of the Stugs. The halftrack was recalled from a sniper attack, but the German infantry held on to the bitter end. After I fixed the MA on the Stug, the options opened up and the Germans were able to maneuver. A good game, the Americans had a good defense.
2021-11-12
(D) Craig Renier
vs
Dave Mareske
German win
The German attacked directly into the American defense. Two German MMCs positioned on a level 2 hill preventing the Americans from being able to shift forces without loosing concealment and often without crossing open ground. However, the Americans took out the King Tiger with a CH and the halftrack with a sniper before the end of Turn 2 and was able to hold their ground. But as the battle wore on, the Americans began to take losses. At a critical juncture, the Americans decided to hold their position rather than fall back. This was likely a key failure which allowed the German forces to envelope the Americans. The defense collapsed as the Germans attained multiple CHs against the infantry eliminating the American 9-2 leader and breaking few remaining forces. The only hope lay in a CC fight. If the American MMC could hold out, they would have barely met the Victory conditions. But a shot into the melee on the final turn closed the book on the battle.
2021-11-11
(D) Rob Schmitt
vs
James Treu
German win
I played American Defender. I set up main forward defense with slow withdrawal to Victory Hex planned. Two tanks set out of site for response to attack location. I was able do some good damage to his supporting infantry stacks early, but my two Sherman tanks fell quickly afterwards to his King Tiger and a Stug. Without the armor support I was not able to counter his tank movements and attacks. He managed to keep all his tanks in safe distance from my Bazooka teams till the end when I only had a couple squads left. He managed to lose the use of the King Tiger due to a malfunction during start movement, but by that point game was decided. Turn 5 I conceded.
2020-12-05
(A) Rich Weiley
vs
Neil MacPherson
German win
Paddington Bearz - December 2020
2020-11-10
(D) Chuck Dye
vs
KevinKilleen
American win
His dice sucked. Malfed and recalled two of the AFVs, I immobilized the Tiger, so he had to keep the other AFV back to avoid the victory condition. His squads refused to pass morale checks in the endgame.
2020-10-21
(D) X von Marwitz
vs
David Wallace
German win
This scenario has interesting setup instructions which allow you to keep your SW and Leaders noted on a side record for some extra fog of war.
The Germans need to cross some unfavorable ground to get into the built up area, and this is when they need to be delayed. Unfortunately, in our game, where I had the defending Americans, I could not even Pin anyone, which allowed it the Germans to enter the town in force pretty soon. I lost one of the BAZ very early in the game and malfed one of the MMGs when attempting to prevent the Germans to enter the village, which did not help.
As long as the King Tiger is alive and kicking, it inhibits the use of the US tanks as it can basically drive up to them, stop, and blow them to Kingdom Come (watch for Deliberate Immobilization, though). The StuGs can provide SMOKE along with sN and sDs that the German vehicles have.
Despite I managed to rally the broken US squads under DM with DRs of 5, taking optimal advantage of the opportunities provided by bad initial American shooting, it became soon clear that I would not be able to bring this home.
German win after the US conceded at the start of US Turn 4 having lost 3.5 squads already and another one broken (out of 7.5) with the Germans lodged in numbers in the central area.
2017-03-10
(A) Paolo Cariolato
vs
Giancarlo Dell'Aquila
German win
2015-04-17
(D) Gordon Jupp
vs
Nick Holmshaw
German win
Fun game which went to the the last turn. I used my AFV's poorly and Nick his well so that he was able to run all over me at the end.