221 The Fog of Huertgenwald - Tide of Iron

Details: Written by: Cipheron; Category: Western Front; Published: 18 January 2021; Last Updated: 25 May 2023; Hits: 643

Victory Results:

100 %

0 %

Total plays 1 - Last reported by pino on 2023-05-30 00:10:57

The Battle of Huertgenwald (September 19, 1944 to February 10, 1945) has become the longest single battle the U.S. Army has fought in its history.
Extended supply lines slowed down the unexpected fast progress of the U.S. Army from the beaches of the Normandy towards central Germany.
The dense Huertgenwald (better knwon as "Hurtgenwald") northeast of the German-Belgium border became place of some of the most brutal and intense battles between the advancing U.S. Army and the shattered defending troops of the German Wehrmacht.
This scenario depicts the U.S. 9th Division and 28th Division trying to secure an area leading to the strategic important village Schmidt in Huertgenwald.
During the foggy night of November 1st, 1944 an engineer unit of the 9th Division was captured by the german defenders. The U.S. Army sends more troops from the 9th and 28th Divisions to free the pow and gain control of the important area.
The fortified German defenders of the 89th Infantry Division request help from the 116th Greyhound Panzer Division to repel the american attack.

	American	German
Division 1	3 Squad Bases (9th US Division) - 9 Regular Infantry - 2 Elite Infantry - 1 Officer 1 M3A1 Half Track 1x Engineer 1x AntiTank	3 Squad Bases (89th Infantry Division) - 6 Regular Infantry - 3 Elite Infantry - 1 Officer - 1 Machine Gun Crew 1x Concealed
Division 2	4 Squad Bases (28th US Division) - 9 Regular Infantry - 2 Elite Infantry - 1 Officer - 1 Mortar Crew - 1 Machine Gun Crew 1x Medic 1x Flamethrower	2 Squad Bases (116th Panzer Division) - 4 Regular Infantry - 1 Elite Infantry - 1 Officer - 1 Mortar Crew 1 Panzer IV Tank
Strategy Decks	Ground Support 1	Morale 1 (Remove the two "Take down the beast" cards)
Starting Strategy Cards	2	2
Operations Cards	005 Clear Mines 002 Heavy Fog (shared)	002 Heavy Fog (shared)
Deployment Zone	Any hex with a green border. The 9th US Division (Div. 1) must place a squad containing four regular infantry and the engineer specialisation token in the house next to the hill containing entrenchments in the central of the board. Then place a disrupted token next to this squad (see special rules of the mission details).	Any hex with a grey border. The 89th Infantry Division may place up to two units on the central three-hex-hill in the middle of the board (white shaded hexes). Special Rules During setup, place one of the three victory counters next to the german Panzer IV tank. Whenever the Panzer IV moves, also move the victory counter with the Panzer IV to represent that this german tank is one of the three "victory objectives" for the Americans.
Starting Initiative
Objective	The Americans win if they score two of the three possible victory points during the command phase before the end of round 6: control the Victory marker hex on board 8B. control the Victory marker hex on board 6A. destroy the German Panzer IV tank.	The Germans win if the Americans are unable to fulfill their objective by the end of round 6.
Rounds	6
Actions per turn	2	2
Reinforcements	-	-
Special Rules	During setup, place a disrupted token next to the 9th US Division engineer squad in the white shaded hex containing a house in the middle of the board. This disrupted token cannot be removed by any circumstances (you don`t flip it to its pinned side during the status phases), unless an American officer of one of the two Infantry Divisions is in that hex during a status phase. The Germans are not allowed to fire at the engineer squad as long as they are disrupted for the first time. This squad represents unlucky pow (prisoners of war) of the 9th US Divison, who were captured by the germans before they reached their destination, the vital bridge leading to the village Schmidt in the northeast of the board.

Discuss this article in the forums (3 replies).

Posts in discussion: 221 The Fog of Huertgenwald

alecrespi replied the topic:

#1064

1 year 3 months ago

Let's start talking about the German tank (as it is one of the Victory objectives).
Panzer IV has Armor Value = 4.
If it hides in the forest it gets +2 defence dice.
With the "Heavy Fog" card it also gain 1 more defence die (for being in OP fire and so no fatigued).
This sums up to a total of 7 defence dice!
I would say "unaffordable" for the US Halftrack and quite hard even for the Antitank infantry (because they have to come colse with a fire & move action).

If we add to this that the Germans can safely reach the building to the west, surrounded by the forest, in op fire waiting for the enemies, away from the enemy's mortar threat, with 2 squads containing at least 4 elite infantry, well I would say that the second objective also becomes really hard (even facing the US flamethrower, because of the german machine gun in Op fire that sees nearly all the map).

The Americans just have to run straight to the bridge and hope they don't blow up (which happened in the last game). :-)

Don't forget that in this scenario the Germans can easily leave the initiative to the Americans, focusing on the moral deck which contains cards such as "take cover", "go to ground" and "all or nothing"...

Final result: 0 objectives captured by the Americans.

pino replied the topic:

#1063

1 year 3 months ago

Played this scenario with my friend Ale after the corrections found on the old FFG forum.
The result was an incredible victory for the German player (3 victory points owned at the end of round 6).
The American player fought really hard 'till the end of round 6, but the two minefields and the well protected Panzer IV in the forest near the pond on board 6A were too difficult to pass or destroy mainly due to the lack of firepower and mobility.
I think that the substitution of the MG unit with a 2 regular + 2 elite (or a 4 regular unit with SMG spec) infantry unit could increase mobility and firepower enough to guarantee a better balanced scenario.

alecrespi replied the topic:

#1025

1 year 3 months ago

I tried this scenario yesterday with a friend of mine and during the game some doubts arose mainly related to the fact that the Allies could easily take 2 of the 3 objectives and that there were specific command points in opposite areas of the map.
I did a quick search online and luckily found an old FFG forum (dated 2010) where the author reported an error swapping deployment hex colors.

Both on the website and inside the Vassal module you will find the correct version.

Here are some of the author's comments regarding this scenario:
Since the germans are not allowed to fire at the pow, they cannot "move" into the house (via an assault, for example) . the german 89th infantry division is allowed to place two units in the hill hexes in the middle of the boards containing the entrenchments. they should deploy the machine gun unit there to prevent the americans from charging right towards to house. the germans can also decoy this machine gun unit using the concealed squad marker. so its up to german player when he gives his troops the fire at will-order when americans troops approach . the second unit from the 89th german infantry divison could secure the german objective hex or be placed in the other entrechment on the hill defending the pow at all costs.
This scenario works best for the germans when they place a concealed machine gun unit in the hill waiting for the american assault, it treally depends upon "where" you place your troops at the start of the game.
There are many little decisions to make in this small scenario. like i said before, this one was playtested approx 10-12 times.