"The Dogs Are Loose."

German 17 AM Comments

6PZ Army: I finished off the two surrounded regiments near Hoffen. The drive on Eupen will have to wait. Using Peiper to surround and two German air support, I was able to eliminate the two US units screening in the center. Minimal advances to ensure I have choices about what units to put into reserve on 17PM.

5PZ Army: I pushed hard down the roads to Vielsam and Bastogne. Lehr starts to get into place to swing further south. 2/304 forces the US to think about giving up the 'block' of the 17PM reinforcing armor division.

7th Army: 5/14 gets nasty and surrounds the 4/12 which leads to its elimination.

Overall, the US is in a bind the further south you go. 10 dead units at this stage is excessive and Bastogne will start to feel some heat soon.

Allied 17 AM Comments

Tom's right about the weakness in the Allied position going south. There was no way to block all the open roads and still stop the German block of the US 17PM reinforcements (which requires holding open the Entry D-Martelange-Bastogne road). If I give that up, I can use a single air unit to stop German advance beyond Martelange this turn, freeing up 109 to build the fort in Bastogne.

Next is to block German advances to hexes adjacent to Bastogne, so that the fort can be built next turn. After a lot of head-scratching, I came up with another sacrifice, which is painful given the losses so far. The center and north are more typical. I need some breaks from the dice to avoid more excessive losses. Without that, Tom won't get the opportunity to demonstrate anything beyond the opening stage in this game. We'll see.

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Combat Notes:

1. 0906: 5-1 dr = 1 = 1D2, Eliminated

2. 0806 pz scare 5 = Be very afraid.

3. 0806: 4-1 (-1) dr = 4 = 3 = D3, Eliminated

4. 1412 pz scare 3 = No Fear.

5. 1412: 6-1 (-1) dr = 6 = 5 = D3, Eliminated

6. 402 and 406 support 1310: 4-1(-1) dr = 6 = 5 = D1, Eliminated

7. 333 supports 1614: 3-1 (-1) dr = 2 = 1 = D3

8. 1924: 6-1 (-1) dr = 3 = 2 = 1D2

9. 174 supports 1629: 2-1 (-1). dr = 2 = 1 = D2, Eliminated

Moderator Comments:

Tom appropriately utilized the Peiper breakout to snare two Allied units. The loss of 4/12 in the far South could have been avoided with a different defense but was not easily seen. Veterans of BW play, which include John, know that the Allies can ill afford any errors during the first few game turns. So from here on out, John will have to be particularly careful and pray for no better than average German die rolls until reinforcements show up. Although 9/CCB looks like it's out of position, it does have a viable retreat route. One thing working in the Allies favor this turn is the fact that the Houffallize-Vielsalm-Trois Ponts lateral road net is available to shuttle any badly needed Allied unit to plug the whole. The Allies are going to have a difficult time building a fort in Bastogne - very important to the campaign game.

John had some tough decisions to make this turn. By allowing the Germans to cut the Martelange/Bastogne road and garrisoning Bastogne with an onmap unit, he economized with what he had and still gave himself an opportunity to build the important fortification. German mechanized exploitation has been minimized by the judicious placement of air interdiction and artillery. If Tom wants a flanking attack on 9/CCB he will have to move next to Malmedy and release the Allied unit in Herve. Note that the Germans cannot Angriff attack 28/112 and expect to advance after combat from hex 1612 to hex 1611 because a German mechanized unit did not start the turn next to the river hexside. John has it right in that two units from 7th Armor must immediately move toward the center of the Allied defense. The loss of 4/12 last turn may give the Germans more opportunities in the South than normally expected at this time.

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