Stolberg Corridor - Day One

It has been a long term aim to replicate the Command Decision Stolberg Corridor scenario for Rommel.  The biggest challenge was to not give in to bright ideas and keep things as close to the Rommel rules as possible.  The only new rules were for pillboxes and dragon's teeth.

Pillboxes function like Prepared Positions (Page 50) but are not removed after absorbing the first hit. They are removed when the position is occupied by the US.  

Dragons Teeth block supply, but do not cause isolation.  They are in a hex but line a hexside and only affect units crossing that hexside. They are ignored by non-motorised, but other units must stop on reaching them.  If a motorised/armoured unit starts adjacent it can cross but is tipped. They can attack across, but are vulnerable and do not provide armour benefits (i.e. tank shock), and if it advances across the hexside (as it must) then it is tipped. Dragon’s Teeth can be removed by engineering (Page 78-79). Place a marker next to the Dragon’s teeth in a US Marker Step provided a US unit is in the hex containing the Dragon’s Teeth.  Remove the Dragon’s Teeth in the subsequent US Marker Step provided the US are still adjacent.  The assumption being that enough explosive is on hand to blow a gap or engineering equipment to bridge a crater. (I'm still perfecting the wording.)

The map for the first day:

Please note the following images are taken from the German perspective.

The above map is orientated from the US perspective.

Simon and Stephen were CCA and CCB of the US 3rd Armoured Division respectively while I was the German commander and adjudicator as required (which was mainly just looking up a rule to confirm how it worked, the downside of only playing Rommel a few times a year).

This image doesn't do the initial deployment justice.

There are wall to wall Yanks with more on the way.

and not enough Germans to man the defence lines.

After moving up, CCA starts to attack what just happens to be the best German troops.

The single battalion of Pz Grenadiers are not enough to hold the wooded area near Aachen.

and the US troops are soon breaking through.

(each hex is about a square km and each stand around 200 men)

CCB starts to isolate Schmidthof.

It will take time as the pillboxes absorb the first loss in each combat.

The various battalions of the German 353rd Division arrive surprisingly quickly.

A promising counterattack however ended in disappointment.

This was the one and only German attack.

CCB still trying to isolate Schmidthof.

CCA launches another attack on the Pz Grenadiers.

CCB makes a direct assault on Schmidthof.

US attacks at both ends of the German line.

CCB pressing on with its attacks.

The Germans withdrew from Schmidthof.

The defence of the German left-hand side of the corridor now rest on the hills.

CCA attacks on the other side of the corridor, by passing Aachen, 

the outskirts of which can be seen on the right-hand side of the above image.

CCB have now broken through, and the Germans are at risk of being surrounded.

The Germans withdraw.

The US forces don't want to miss their chance to trap the Germans and surge forward.

Attacking at multiple points in the line.

but night is falling, and the bulk of the Germans slip away to the next defensive line.

The US content themselves with mopping up.

The exercise completes in the first turn of the second day.

Always tricky to know how a scenario will play out.  I was pleasantly surprised about the different challenges this one presented so far.  The pillboxes and dragon's teeth worked fine.  We had to move the mat once to gain an extra two hex rows, but that went smoothly.  The nighttime phase, out first in a Rommel game, worked surprisingly well, with the Germans taking full advantage to break contact and rebuild.  

The first turn of Day 2 saw the US mop up the Germans who were left defending the dragon's teeth (hex row 5). This meant the Germans could use their first turn to complete consolidating on the Stolberg defensive position, hex rows 13 to 15.  The US will start in hex rows 10 to 11 for their second turn of day 2. There is a small forward force of Germans in hex L11 near Zweifal and the US will be set up one hex back from that position. Both sides have 2 Ops dice to start with.

The map for Day 2: