At long last, here it is:
Introduction:The battles that took place in the Hürtgen forest between September 1944 and February 1945 are arguably the most underappreciated ones of World War II. In the course of this campaign some 33,000 American soldiers were killed or wounded and about half this number of Germans.
The idea behind launching an offensive into the forest was to keep the Germans from reinforcing the frontlines further North as well as possibly trying to outflank those defenses. The Germans desperately wanted to hold on to the area, because it blocked access to the Roer river dams, which could be used to flood large areas to slow the Allied advance. Another very important reason was that the region served as a staging area for the upcoming Ardennes offensive (Battle of the Bulge). The Americans seriously underestimated the difficulty of the terrain, how the terrain allowed a relatively small number of defenders to pin down a much larger number of attackers and the German tenacity to hang on to this region for the reasons mentioned above. The area also constituted one of the most heavily fortified areas of the Siegfried line.Moreover, due to the heavily forested nature of the terrain the Americans could not use their own artillery, whereas the Germans had plenty of it -which was often even pre-sighted-.The terrain was far from ideal for armoured warfare as well. The rainy, cold and damp weather made this only worse and moreover often grounded the Allied airforce. So unlike in the battles in France the Allied air superiority and superior numbers of armoured vehciles could not tip the balance into the Allies' favour. Needless to say all these factors hardly improved the morale of the Allied soldiers. In hindsight it is almost universally agreed that the decision to enter the Hürtgen forest was wrong, that it might have been easily outflanked at some time or other and that the end result was an Allied defeat on a collosal scale. (sources:
http://users.fulladsl.be/spb4981/ScoWeb.htm and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hurtgen_Forest)
Though this scenario does not represent a specific battle that took place in the Hürtgen forest,it should give you an overall idea of what the fighting was like there in virtually any of these battles.
Maps: F2 and F3 (West to East); The designation F2 in the lower left corner. The same goes for the F3 map (water to the right (east). For the maps you can check here (
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1136073)Place hill tiles (4) in the following places:third full hex on the right bottom on map F2; Two full hexes up from the number F3 (where the two maps join); Top full hex where the two maps join and finally the hex two hexes to the right of the designation F3 and then 4 hexes up.
Place village/ town tiles (7) in the following hexes:First top left full hex of map F3. Also place town tiles in the two adjoining hexes to the South. Town hexes also need to be placed in the fourth full hex from the right top map edge of map F3,the hex to its south and then in both the clear hexes to its South-west and South-east (so a reversed Y-shape)
Place woods tiles (2) in the following places:3 hexes down from the northermost full hex where the maps meet and another one 2 hexes to its South.
Place a jungle (thick forest) tile (1) in the following hex:One hex to the South of the last mentioned forest hex above( So four full hexes up from the bottom full hex where the two maps meet). This jungle hex tile as well as the jungle hexes already printed on the maps represent thick forest. The effects are the same as regular jungle terrain: Vehicles may not enter, soldiers may only enter in the assault phase. Units have cover.
If you don't own the combat zone tiles, you might use the " memoir 44" and/ or Tide of iron tiles. Personally I've used mountain hexes from the combat zone kits to represent the hills, because they are the same size as the actual map hexes.
Set up: * German starting forces may set up anywhere on either map except in the American set-up area. Germans set up first.
* American starting forces set up in the last two rows of full hexes on map F2. On the first turn the Americans automatically win the initiative.
Victory conditions and game length:Victory is determined after 8 rounds of play in the following way:
Germans score points as follows:
-one point for each eliminated American unit.
-one point for each village hex under German control
-one point for each hill hex under German control
Americans score points as follows:
-one point for each eliminated (non-artillery/ vehicle) German unit
-3 points for each German
ARTILLERY unit eliminated
-2 points for each village hex under American control
-2 points for each hill hex under control
-2 points for each German bunker destroyed
-2 points for each Panzer IV G destroyed
A village and/or town hex is considered " controlled" when one of your units has sole possesion of it (only side to have (a) unit(s) present in it) or was the last to have sole possesion of it. It might be handy to use e.g. German and American markers from the A&A boardgame to depict this.If the hex is still contested (e.g. both sides have units present in it), neither side controls it.
The Germans start in control of all village and hill hexes.
German starting forces:4x pillbox/bunker (see special rules)
9x minefield (see special rules)
2x tank obstacle
6x barbed wire
All obstacles etc. are placed before game start, except for the minefields, which are placed as per the rule on the card.
1x Wehrmacht Oberleutnant
2x Disciplined spotter
2x 81 mm mortar (see special rules)
1x Wehrmacht expert sniper
1x 20mm anti-aircraft gun (see special rules)
1x PAK 40 (see special rules)
1x 88mm Flak (see special rules)
2x MG 42
3x Mauser
1x Wehrmacht Veteran infantrymen
1x Volkssturm
1x Hummel (see special rules)
German reinforcements/ roaming units:
Group 1:
1x Panzer IV ausf. G
Group 2:
1x Panzer IV ausf G
Group 3:
1x Oberleutnant
1x MG 42
1x panzerfaust
2x Mauser
2x Volkssturm
1x Wehrmacht Veteran infantrymen
The reinforcements/ roaming units may enter on any hex on the edge of the board except on the opposing players baseline. They do so at the end of the movement phase (so they may not move in the movement phase they enter the board. Units belonging to one and the same group must enter the board in up to four contiguous edge hexes. Every turn after initiative has been determined the player who wins initiative rolls for each separate group. On a roll LOWER THAN the current game turn those units MUST enter the board. The other player rolls at the beginning of his movement phase. Units may enter the board in hexes with (enemy) units present in it, but defensive fire attacks may be made in this case, when applicable (that is, if units are placed in hexes already containing enemy units; follow standard rules for defensive fire).
American starting forces:
2x Red devil Captain
4x Rangers
2x BAR gunner
4x engineer
2x Marine flamethrower
2x Thompson gunner
5x Bazooka
2x Machine gun team (m1919)
9x Garand riflemen
3x Untested recruit
1x Sherman
1x M18 GMC (Hellcat from second base set)
American reinforcements/ roaming units:Group 1:
1x Sherman
Group 2:
2x Ranger
Group 3:
1x Untested recruit
1x BAR gunner
1x engineer
1x Garand rifllemen
Group 4:
1x Red devil Captain
1x Machine gun team (M1919)
2x Garand riflemen
1x Thompson gunner
1x Bazooka
1x marine flamethrower
Special rules:-
Mortars: Mortars may not fire from woods hexes and/or bunkers
-
Tree bursts: Soldier units in (heavy) woods hexes attacked by German artillery units get -1 on their cover rolls. (Remember that units with blast ignore cover altogether!)
-
German pre-sighted artillery: Whenever a minefield causes a
soldier unit to become face-up disrupted, a German artillery unit may make a free (defensive fire/ overwatch type of) attack against it. One hit would add a face-down disrupted counter to the face-UP disrupted counter already present (as per the standard rules for lethal defensive fire); two hits would give a soldier unit a face-down destroyed marker; again as per the standard rules for lethal defensive fire (expanded rules).Any one unit may only be attacked once in this way per phase - being attacked by a unit with blast might be an exception-and one and the same artillery unit may only make one such an attack each phase.
-
Bunkers: Units use their anti-vehicle attack values against bunkers. Units may use their close assault values against them when attacking a bunker within the same hex.Bunkers have the following stats:
speed:0
defense: 5/4
attack values: none
SA: Heavy fortification: This unit can hold up to two soldier units. Such units may not be attacked directly while in the bunker.
SA: Limited arc of fire: Units in this unit can only attack units in front of it and/or units that enter its hex from the front.
If the bunker contains two soldiers units, only 1 extra friendly soldier unit may be present in the same hex. A unit can leave a bunker and then move into an adjacent hex directly (as per the standard rules, I've just added it for clarification purposes). When a bunker receives a face-UP destroyed counter, any units inside it are destroyed as well. Any such units are not affected when a bunker is lightly damaged (= disrupted counter) or heavily damaged (= damaged counter).
-
Hills: Units on hill hexes have
the superior optics SA: This unit ignores any one hex of blocking terrain when determining line of sight.
-
BAR gunner: The bar gunner's covering fire SA does not work against units in bunkers
-
Hummel: The hummel represents heavy 122 mm artillery. Its stats are the same as on the card except for the fact that it's a SOLDIER artillery unit and its speed is 0. It has relocate 1.
- The 20 mm AA piece may NOT be placed in a bunker
-
Mud & snow: Clear terrain counts as double cost terrain for vehicles.The Hellcat cannot use the strike and fade SA.
Further balancing the scenario:Germans:
Have the game last 7 turns rather than 8
or the Americans score 1 point per every
TWO German
NON-ARTILLERY soldier units eliminated. Fractions are rounded down.
Americans:
A bunker can only hold one soldier unit rather than two.
Optional rules:* No more than up to 4 minefields may be placed during play in village and/or hill hexes.
* When using the expanded rules, Any two units per side may be put on
Overwatch at any given time either against vehicles or soldier units.(However, vehicles without the " Overlapping fire SA" still can't make DF/ Overwatch attacks against soldiers)
*
Hidden minefields: Minefields may be placed in hexes containing (enemy)units. When using this optional rule, reduce the number of minefields from 9 to 5.
* German units can enter hexes containing minefields as if they weren't there.
* Rather than only being allowed to put units into
overwatch in a straight line, draw an imaginary line between the unit in overwatch and the furthest hex that can be targeted in a certain direction. A moving unit is eligible to be fired upon if it enters a hex this imaginary line touches. (unless LOS is blocked by terrain). Indicate in which direction overwatch applies!
Optional rules 2 and 5 reflect how we always play the overwatch rules and the scenario has also been tested this way. It's highly recommended you use them too, along with the other expanded rules; especially lethal defensive fire and grazing fire ( the German MGs can cause many casualties using it and this is their main way of scoring points when determining victory).
Enjoy!
