Marnach, December 1944

 Tim put on a winter Bulge game using his 54mm stuff and Funny Little World Wars. The scenario was taken from the Command Decision 'Bastogne' scenario book, and the town of Marnach also featured on Russell and Tims recent Ardennes road trip.

This is the first scenario in the book, and has 2nd Panzer Division assaulting positions of the 28th Infantry (110th Regt) behind the Our River.

Overhead view of the map. A dispersed battalion of the 100th is holding Marnach (B5), and across the river o the west is Clervaux (A1). There is a company in Marnach with a 57mm AT platoon, another company in Clervaux with more 57mm guns, with a third company and a company of Shermans en route. There is also a battery of 105s (maybe a Cannon Company?) in D3.

Both battalions of 304 Panzergreandier Regiment are attacking from the east, as well as the infantry elements of the recce battalion (another two companies). The Germans have had to leave all their vehicles and towed guns behind as the River Our hasn't been bridged yet, so the only heavy weapons they have are their MG platoons, and lots of Panzerschrecks and Panzerfausts. They do have three artillery battalions in support.

The assembled hordes. A certain amount of dressing up took place, Micheal and Even did the US forces proud in full uniform, and Russell (the US CO) wore his scarf. One of Micheals neighbours in the US was the FOO for the artillery in the battle.

John, Pete and I were the Germans, and we all managed appropriate hats, and I had my German officers tunic as well.

The plan was for Petes battalion (I/304) to take Marnach, my battalion (II/304) would support and then take the lead to Clervaux, while the recce battalion provided flank cover to the south. We had a pre-programmed fire plan covering the southern flank along row C, and a number of batteries on-call with FOOs assigned to each battalion HQ as well as various flare signals should the radios fail!

Tim moved his iPad around while we were playing, which gave us various worms eye views of the battlefield. This is Russells HQ in Clervaux looking east.

A more overhead view of Marnach with the US infantry and 57mm gun in view. Tim said the real terrain was even more precipitous than his piles of books under the white cloth did justice too.

Just to add to the chaos, it was foggy, so visibility was very restricted, although it varied form turn to turn. Herbstnebel indeed.

Petes battalion advances up the middle. Each company has six 54mm figures, MG platoons an MG and crew. Each element activates on a card (you can see some), so both sides get to move their all stuff in a turn, but the exact sequence is randomised.

Rifle range is 12", and despite the mist, the US can see the Germans now.

Petes battalion from behind. The unit density is quite high, so my guys went right flanking through the trees to the north, even though it slowed them up.

The firefight starts! And figures go down. Caught in the open Petes leading company is mown down, but the remainder take cover and open fire, hitting some of the Americans. 'Casualties' are recoverable, to a degree, and the US showed amazing resilience as they kept bobbing back up again.

Here are my brave boys skirting along the tree line. These are mainly Britains Deetail figures. Very smart they are too.

View from the US battery position ie not much at all apart from trees! A US reserve company can be seen taking up position along the treeline facing Marnach. Unfortunately for them, this area is right under our pre-planned artillery programme....

German small arms and artillery fire had by now knocked out the 57mm gun and half the US infantry, but they were still hanging on.

Down in the valley this magnificent MP figure was directing traffic, such as it was.

We broke overnight at that point.

Next day the German recce battalion came on, and pushed in column of companies along the southern treeline. This was very timely as Pete but now had lost two complete rifle companies, so the reinforcements were very welcome.

In an alarming development, the US very boldly brought their Sherman company in along road through the woods past the US artillery. This ran straight into a the German pre-planned barrage and the leading platoon was immobilised! What a disaster!! The road was now completely blocked, with the other tanks stuck behind.

By now the German infantry were pushing into Marnach, and around the town to the north. I was going to leave Pete to mop up while my battalion went hell for leather for Clervaux. All my companies were functional although a couple had been hit by US artillery and taken some losses.

Down in the valley below Marnach, a US AAA battery limbered up and set off down the road towards the bridge at Clervaux (past the MP).

Sadly they attempted to go cross country at one point and became bogged. My lead company charged down the slope, covered by the SFMG42 platoon on the ridge, and overran the gunners and transport in hand-hand combat. 

Pete now had a firm hold on Marnach and traded shots with the US infantry in the treeline. The US tankers were busy trying to shove the immobilised platoon out of the way while the Germans took potshots at them with panzerfausts (which all missed).

My FOO was finally in position to locate the US tanks and put in a call for SOS fire to our artillery battalion.

The second US Sherman platoon finally emerged form the woods, just as a devastating German artillery barrage landed. Evans rifle company and MMG platoon were decimated and both the leading US tank platoons were knocked out, just as the German recce battalion (just visible in the trees) prepared to assault them. What a disaster! That seemed like a good time to stop as the US weren't going to retake Marnach now.

Final view of the battle. The Germans are a way off assaulting Clervaux but have clearly taken Marnach, while the US reinforcements have taken a bloody nose.

As Colonel King later reflected, they might have been better off just bringing the Shermans up along the road from Clervaux, rather than through the dense forest south of Marnach. Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Another very exciting game, and with the low levels views both very atmospheric and also are far more realistic 'commanders view' of the battlefield. We just had to give sensible orders to our subunits without really knowing where they were or where they'd end up! Not much scope for micromanagement and all the better for it.

One thing which might need looking at was the number of activation cards played each turn, there were 30+ elements to activate each turn, and that was a huge umpire load to manage with individual cards. I wonder if for a game of this size, it might not better better to play the cards on complete formations, or at least complete companies, rather than individual platoons. The Fistful of Lead system where players allocate their own cards might also work well.