The Green Hell Tourney-Final Results

[TheBigRedOne]

Battle of Hürtgen Forest

From Wikipedia

The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (German: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) is the name given to the series of fierce battles fought between U.S. and German forces during World War II in the Hürtgen Forest, which became the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought in its history. The battles took place between September 14, 1944, and February 10, 1945, over barely 50 mi² (129 km²), east of the Belgian–German border.

The U.S. commanders’ initial goal was to pin down German forces in the area to keep them from reinforcing the front lines further north, between Aachen and the Rur River, where the Allies were fighting a trench war between a network of fortified towns and villages connected with field fortifications, tank traps, and minefields. A secondary objective may have been to outflank the front line. The Americans' initial objectives were to take Schmidt, clear Monschau, and advance to the Rur. Walter Model intended to bring the Allied thrust to a standstill. While he interfered less in the day-to-day movements of units than at Arnhem, he still kept himself fully informed on the situation, slowing the Allies' progress, inflicting heavy casualties and taking full advantage of the fortifications of the Germans called the Westwall, better known to the Allies as the Siegfried Line.

The Hürtgen Forest cost the U.S. First Army at least 33,000 killed and incapacitated, including both combat and noncombat losses; Germans casualties were 28,000. Aachen eventually fell on October 22, again at high cost to the U.S. Ninth Army. The Ninth Army's push to the Rur River fared no better, and did not manage to cross the river or wrest control of its dams from the Germans. Hürtgen was so costly that it has been called an Allied "defeat of the first magnitude", with specific credit being assigned to Model.

The Germans fiercely defended the area for two reasons: it served as a staging area for the Ardennes Offensive (what became the Battle of the Bulge) that was already in preparation, and the mountains commanded access to the Schwammenauel Dam at the head of the Rur Lake (Rurstausee) which, if opened, would flood low-lying areas downstream and deny any crossing of the river. The Allies only recognized this after several heavy setbacks, and the Germans were able to hold the region until they launched their final major, last-ditch offensive on the Western Front, into the Ardennes.

Other good Links:

http://www.usarmymodels.com/MODEL%20GALL...story.html
http://www.5ad.org/hurtgen_joe.htm
http://www.olive-drab.com/od_history_ww2...urtgen.php
http://hurtgen1944.homestead.com/
http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-hurtgen-forest.htm

[TheBigRedOne]

Standings:

tallin 140
yorick 130
fastphil 115
cazart! 105
kolc 105
paulinski 105
Rabbit 100
Fatih 95
pkpowers 90
Landser34 90
KG_RangerBooBoo 90
kulmud 90
Outlaw Josey Wales 80
Laza 75
NikB 70
Mad_Dog 70
scot greys 70
barnaclebob 70
Riley D Smith 60
hero_33 55
jmlima 50
cyrano 50
Checkmate King 2 10
red bird 50

Scenario Scoring:

25 = Major Victory
20 = Minor Victory
15 = Draw
10 = Minor Loss
5 = Major loss

Tourney Bonus Points:

1st Place -- 100 points
2nd Place -- 75 points
3rd Place -- 50 points
All Others -- 25 points

The tourney, ideally, should be played as a simultaneous mirror in order to 1) aid in getting the scenarios finished in a timely fashion and 2) avoid potential advantages given if the games are played back-to-back. It's up to each pairing as to how to play, of course. Timeliness is the crucial part here. I'm hoping for a 6 week turnaround on the games, which is around 3 turns a week. This is more than reasonable for most players.

Optional Rules to Use:

Vehicle Fire Over
Quality Loss Modifier

Use only these two rules for all scenarios.

[TheBigRedOne]

The Green Hell Tourney Round One:

18 SEPTEMBER 1944, KALL VALLEY, NEAR KOMMERSCHEIDT: One GI company from the US 9th Infantry Division assaults the German trenches overlooking the Kall Valley in order to open the way for the
advance on Kommerscheidt. Dug-in infantry from the German 89th Infantry Division awaits them.

Optional Rules to Use:

Vehicle Fire Over
Quality Loss Modifier

Use only these two rules for all scenarios.

Matchups:

(US v German)

kolc (5) vs fastphil (25 Major Win)
fastphil (5) vs kolc (25 Major Win)

yorick (25 Major Win) vs hero_33 (5)
hero_33 (25 Major Win) vs yorick (5)

paulinski (15 Draw) v tallin (15 Draw)
tallin (25 Major Win) v paulinski (5)

Laza (5) v Landser34 (25 Major Win)
Landser34 (5) v Laza (25 Major Win)

Riley D Smith (15 Draw) v Mad_Dog (15 Draw)
Mad_Dog (5) v Riley D Smith (25 Major Win)

red bird (25 Major win) v Outlaw Josey Wales (5)
Outlaw Josey Wales (5) v red bird (25 Major Win)

kulmud (5) v scot greys (25 Major Win)
scot greys (5) v kulmud (25 Major Win)

cazart! (25 Major Win) v NikB (5)
NikB (15 Draw) v cazart! (15 Draw)

Rabbit (25 Major Win) v barnaclebob (5)
barnaclebob (5) v Rabbit (25 Major Win)

KG_RangerBooBoo (10) v cyrano (20 Minor Win)
cyrano (5) v KG_RangerBooBoo (25 Major Win)

pkpowers (5) v Fatih (25 Major Win)
Fatih (10) v pkpowers (20 Minor Win)

[TheBigRedOne]

The Green Hell Tourney Round Two:

09 OCTOBER 1944, GIESENHECK - MAUSBACH ROAD, HÜRTGENWALD:

During the advance on Schmidt, US forces had to rely on narrow forest tracks scattered along the Kall Valley. Providing excellent opportunities for ambushes, German troops utilized the terrain for counter-attacks. On 9 October, a column from the US 9th Infantry Division encountered a German blocking position near Mausbach. Both sides rushed reinforcements to control the narrow track.

Optional Rules to Use:

Vehicle Fire Over
Quality Loss Modifier

Use only these two rules for all scenarios.

Matchups:

(US v German)

Rabbit (20 Minor Win) v jmlima (10)
jmlima (10) v Rabbit (20 Minor Win)

cazart! (20 Minor win)v RDS (10)
Riley D Smith (15 Draw) v cazart! (15 Draw)

tallin (25 Major Win) v Fatih (5)
Fatih (5) v tallin (25 Major Win)

KG_RangerBooBoo (20 Minor Win) v Laza (10)
Laza (5) v KG_RangerBooBoo (25 Major Win)

Landser34 (20 Minor Win) v kulmud (10)
kulmud (15 draw) v Landser34 (15 draw)

hero_33 (10) v kolc (20 Minor Win)
kolc (25 Major Win) v hero_33 (5)

scot greys (5) v yorick (25 Major Win)
yorick (25 Major Win) v scot greys (5)

fastphil (15 Draw) v cyrano (15 Draw)
cyrano (10) v fastphil (20 Minor Win)

pkpowers (15 draw) v Mad_Dog (15 draw)
Mad_Dog (5) v pkpowers (25 Major Win)

paulinski (25 Major Win) v NikB (5)
NikB (15 Draw) v paulinski (15 draw)

barnaclebob (25 Major win) v Outlaw Josey Wales (5)
Outlaw Josey Wales (10) v barnaclebob (20 Minor Win)

[TheBigRedOne]

The Green Hell Tourney Round Three:

07 NOVEMBER 1944, KOMMERSCHEIDT, 2 KM NORTH OF SCHMIDT:

With November the slow and costly American advance towards Schmidt was stopped by the strong German resistance. Isolated and low on supply, the leading 28th Infantry Division switched to defense. On 7 November, the 116th Panzer Division launched an armored attack to capture the town of Kommerscheidt which was controlling the road between Schmidt and the Kall Valley.

Optional Rules to Use:

Vehicle Fire Over
Quality Loss Modifier

Use only these two rules for all scenarios.

Matchups:

Link for the game files: http://www.box.net/shared/n9meknzyak

(US v German)

Rabbit (5) v tallin (25 Major Win)
tallin (25 Major Win) v Rabbit (5)

KG_RangerBooBoo (5) v yorick (25 Major Win)
yorick (25 Major Win) v KG_RangerBooBoo (5)

cazart! (5) v kolc (25 Major Win)
kolc (5) v cazart (25 Major Win)

pkpowers (25 Major win) v Landser34 (5)
Landser34 (25 Major win) v pkpowers (5)

fastphil (25 Major Win) v Checkmate King 2 (5)
Checkmate King 2 (5) v fastphil (25 Major Win)

paulinski (20 Minor Win) v barnaclebob (10)
barnaclebob (5) v paulinski (25 Major Win)

kulmud (25 Major Win) v cyrano (5)
cyrano (20 Minor Win) v kulmud (10)

hero_33 (5) v Fatih (25 Major Win)
Fatih )25 Major Win) v hero_33 (5)

Laza (5) v NikB (25 Major Win)
NikB (5) v Laza (25 Major Win)

Mad_Dog (5) v scot greys (25 Major Win)
scot greys (5) v Mad_Dog (25 Major Win)

Outlaw Josey Wales (20 Minor Win) v jmlima (10)
jmlima (20 Minor Win) v Outlaw Josey Wales (10)

[TheBigRedOne]

Gents,

The final tally is in, just in time for the New Year!

tallin 140
yorick 130
fastphil 115

Here are your top three!

The bonuses will be awarded in due time. I have a date with some lamb stew and a nice bottle of bubbly to celebrate New Years with my family.

Thanks to all the participants for another fantastic tourney! Nice work, gents!

[Nikb]

Congrats Tallin. Excellent win.

[Mad_Dog]

Nice job Kevin! Thanks for the tournament Alan, it was a lot of fun, and thanks to Oz for some great scenarios.

[TheBigRedOne]

Ozgur certainly deserves a huge amount of the credit for making this a great tourney. I only kept the books, he provided some excellent scenarios for you guys!

[tallin]

Thanks for the Congrats and thanks to Oz for creating his fantastic scenarios that were used in the tourney. All three were nerve racking and very balanced.