Bulge 16.01s alt

[Plain Ian]

Turn 50 Allied 2pm 21st Dec (Mud) - Martelange



Last map hooray.

26th making there slow way north, well its actually pretty quick as its a Primary road. If it was a Secondary road then they would still be at Leglise.

80th Division making some moves. A few bridgeheads, some more concentration at Martelange, and the 319th moving north towards rest of the Division.

All quiet on XII Corps front.

CCA/9th AD waving goodbye to XII Corps and starting its long journey north towards its Division HQ and VIII Corps. (Neufchateau now)

[Plain Ian]

Turn 51 German 4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud

German player gained 22 VP's this turn and inched up to 12,297 VP's. US loss rates fell again mainly due to the fact that he made no more major advances.


I'll post pictures as soon as the site is fixed. I can upload but cannot link anything?



Michael my opponent is again saying that he has reached his limit in advancing. Supply is a major problem for him. He doesn't know how many more turns he can play before surrendering? So unless I can find a replacement the game may not be lasting much longer. 

I guess I can advance my counter attack a few days and start it tomorrow on the 22nd. I'm sure US body count will climb and it might make it a bit more interesting for him?
I find it strange that he thinks he is beaten when I haven't really done much to fight back yet? Any German Bulge players out there following this think the German can fight on for a Draw given what they can see from the allied side?

[Indragnir]

Turn 51 German 4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud

German player gained 22 VP's this turn and inched up to 12,297 VP's. US loss rates fell again mainly due to the fact that he made no more major advances.



I'll post pictures as soon as the site is fixed. I can upload but cannot link anything?



Michael my opponent is again saying that he has reached his limit in advancing. Supply is a major problem for him. He doesn't know how many more turns he can play before surrendering? So unless I can find a replacement the game may not be lasting much longer. 

I guess I can advance my counter attack a few days and start it tomorrow on the 22nd. I'm sure US body count will climb and it might make it a bit more interesting for him?
I find it strange that he thinks he is beaten when I haven't really done much to fight back yet? Any German Bulge players out there following this think the German can fight on for a Draw given what they can see from the allied side?

Hi,
If I can take a look at his files... But IMHO he should be able to battle to a Draw given force disposition, casualties and recovery. Also you're not playing with explicit supply up... A big big question is how fatigued are his units, if he must rest front lines for a day or two... then...

Bests

[Plain Ian]

Turn 51 German 4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud

German player gained 22 VP's this turn and inched up to 12,297 VP's. US loss rates fell again mainly due to the fact that he made no more major advances.



I'll post pictures as soon as the site is fixed. I can upload but cannot link anything?



Michael my opponent is again saying that he has reached his limit in advancing. Supply is a major problem for him. He doesn't know how many more turns he can play before surrendering? So unless I can find a replacement the game may not be lasting much longer. 

I guess I can advance my counter attack a few days and start it tomorrow on the 22nd. I'm sure US body count will climb and it might make it a bit more interesting for him?
I find it strange that he thinks he is beaten when I haven't really done much to fight back yet? Any German Bulge players out there following this think the German can fight on for a Draw given what they can see from the allied side?

Hi,
If I can take a look at his files... But IMHO he should be able to battle to a Draw given force disposition, casualties and recovery. Also you're not playing with explicit supply up... A big big question is how fatigued are his units, if he must rest front lines for a day or two... then...

Bests

Sorry for delay. I'm off on holiday for short break and internet isn't great. My opponent hasn't given up but is hinting that he may have to give up. If he does then I'm more than happy to ask him to email the password to you.

I played my turn on Thursday/Friday and sent it back to him Saturday. (5th) I will post pictures shortly of Turn 51 showing the German and Allied turns. During my turn I've actually made some aggressive moves so this may have made him more likely to give in. I hope he doesn't as I have enjoyed the battle with Michael so far.

I can only see the US position but I think Michael may be right. If he loses Spa and then Bastogne which are the two most vulnerable positions then he loses 1,500 points and slips down towards the 10,000 VP level which he needs to stay above to keep a Draw going. Houffalize would be the next logical target worth 500 VP. If he drops below 10,000 then its a Minor Defeat.
The rest of the VP hexes are difficult for the US player to recover as he just needs to do what I am doing and pull back 1 hex a turn through Woods when facing overwhelming odds.

[Plain Ian]

Turn 51 German 4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud





I tried to add these pictures to my previous post.....and gave up. So I'll just post as a new post. 

German player increased his points tally by 20 (not 22 as I posted above) 

I'll post the VP totals for the end of the Allied Turn next.

[Plain Ian]

Turn 51 Allied4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud



Sorry no fancy spreadsheets at the moment. This is my lap top. German VP total now 12,236 so has dropped 61 points from end of German turn. 

I inflicted - 440 men
                 7 guns
                 4 vehicles

I lost -       70 men
                 0 guns
                 1 tank

German casualties exceed US for the turn plus I've held my position at Spa and threatened his flanks there. Hence why I think he may be further demoralised.

Will post pictures after my 5 mile hike to Loch Eilein.

[Plain Ian]

Turn 51 4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud

Not much to see. 



He moved up a Pioneer unit to support his SPG and barraged the 25th Cavalry. Those Armoured Cars (M8's?) must be tough as they took no losses. Defense strength of 10 makes them better than M10/M36 Tank Destroyers.

Patrols show that Panzer Lehr armour still north of the river by Boevange. 



I use artillery to counter barrage his Pioneers and it has dropped down to a XX sized unit now. I tried a few rounds against his SPG but it was too tough.

319th begins a minor operation. 4th CE tags along but its Fatigue 198 and is just really a trip wire....I'll pull it back as this is pretty gamey.

I've almost 100 tanks/tank destroyers at Martelange. However its the good old M4 tank which I need for its soft attack factors and I only have 33 of them. There are 100 M4's of 4th Armoured sitting down by Boevange twiddling their thumbs which I will have to make better use of now. If Michael has given up and gone over to defensive it will be safe to move them.

[Plain Ian]

Turn 51 4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud



A 326th VGD Pioneer unit (E) replaces the AA unit I destroyed last turn. IT loses 3 men moving in but calls down some artillery on the 1-394th which slips into yellow fatigue and is Disrupted.

The 1-23rd has to stand and take it from the 12th SS armour group, plus a lot of artillery fire. (50% losses due to direct fire) My artillery hits the 277th A/T unit and takes out a gun and Disrupts it. Not sure why direct fire losses were on the low side, possibly he is low ammo?

My southern line comes under direct fire pressure, plus also some artillery. My return fire does score some satisfactory hits though. He reinforces the line (A/B/C) with more units though and things look grim for next turn. Only the 2-38th is not exhausted.



Well no option really. I fall back again. The 1-47th falls back on the fresh 1st Combat Engineers (I forgot to label the unit), the 3-38th are the 'fall guys' and have to stay put because the hex they are in, also contains the 39th HQ which is STUCK in the Swamp hex and cannot move. I thought about 'bugging out' the 3-38th as well and leaving the HQ behind to delay him but decided to stay put.

V th Corps artillery is just about all back and on line again and it did make quite a few hits on the enemy. I searched out all the VGD units and targeted them.

Will he continue his push through the Hoes Venn?

[Plain Ian]

Turn 51 German 4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud - Spa 



Here is the German action from Spa.

A unit from KG Hansen (A) moves adjacent to the 1-119th.

A 62nd VGD Bn reinforces the A/T screen (B). The uS  2-36th Bn (3rd Armd Div)  receives some artillery fire (-7) then comes under severe ground fire from the stacked A/T group. (further 36 men lost) However return fire and artillery fire does take out some of the enemy, plus a small mobile AA unit (37mm?) of 2 vehicles is eliminated. 

At Spa the Germans content themselves by targeting the towed TD unit (B/643rd) and destroy 4 guns. 

They also reinforced south of Spa by putting two FJD Bn's into the gap. Group D.

Apart from that there were no attempts to fire by any of the units in this area? I can only assume that Groups E and F are moderately Fatigued and he is frightened of return fire? 

The main group C at Spa I can't see why he doesn't use? Unless he wants to conserve fatigue and maintain morale, but my return fire is unlikely to dent Panthers and King Tigers? 

Will post my 'riposte' tomorrow. 

Night.

[Plain Ian]

Turn 51 Allied 4 pm (Dusk) 21st Dec Weather mud - Spa 




Sorry but the map is a bit busy this turn but I’ll try to explain.
 
The 517th Airborne push forward to threaten the Franchorchamp road. They meet their old friends from the 62nd VGD again plus elements of 1st SS. (Groups A and B) 30 Division artillery is dialled up and brought down on the VGD units. Some VII Corps artillery is also brought into play. 3rd Armoured reinforcements (1-33rd/2-33rd/23rd Arm Eng) are fed into the line behind the 517th.
 
The 1-119th has orders to rest, and KG Hansen receives some defensive artillery.
 
The 743rd Tank Bn (organic tank unit for 30th Div) is sent forward to probe and finds a Disrupted German Pioneer unit holding the line. The 743rd has fatigue 88 but should be safe as Michael very rarely targets armour with artillery when there are infantry targets available.
 
Corps and Divisional artillery is used against the 62nd VGD Bn supporting the enemy PAK group at Spa and also against the KG Hansen recon unit at the southeren end of the line.
 
The 2-36th follows up the artillery and exacts some revenge against the 62nd unit for last turns losses.
 
At Spa the 1-36th and 1-117th duel with the enemy infantry support at SPA (150th Bde/ KG Hansen) and the plucky B company 643rd TD Bn attempts to bag a Panther in Spa again.....unfortunately it misses and is disrupted by return fire.
 
South of Spa an enormous fire fight develops. The two FJD Bn’s which entered the lines this turn are pretty badly beaten up by 3rd armoured M4’s.
 
Its a pretty bloody turn. I should have put the 1-119th on Patrolling to get some more intel on what he has behind the front lines. However I’m half expecting him to withdraw under cover of artillery next turn?