Commands Ops : Battles for the Bulge : Capturing St. Vith
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Our troops are now firmly locked into the city of Saint Vith. Unfortunately the Germans are too!We have a company of Tiger II’s, the 501st, the 9th Company of the 2nd SS, a Luftwaffe Flak Company, and a few other questionable units. It’s still dark and I’m not entirely sure about what is lurking..imageframe-3 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
This is the SdKfz 7/1 2cm Flakvierling and it’s squarely engaged on the edge of town. This little truck with its four barrels is proving to be a stubborn defender.The current plan is to hold our objectives. Right now we have everything we need to, but man, it could get ugly fast. I’ve noticed that the Tiger company assaulting Breitfield has… disappeared.
Breitfield is strong, I have proven Tank Destroyers, Infantry Companies, and some Armored Cavalry.
Lommersweiler is home to my HQ and not defended quite as well. It’s decent, but I might move an Engineer Company here to assist.
Steinerbruck crossing is held my more HQ, an Engineer Company, and a mortar platoon. They’ve got a weakened Grenadier company probing them.
Saint Vith is still contested. I have faith that our forces can secure the town and I’ll be working to ensure that we hold the objective.
There is 24 hours left..imageframe-4 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
Wow!
Maybe Saint Vith isn’t in hand. I’ve got Waffen-SS units all around me. I’m not sure I can just sit and hold, we’re going to go on the offensive now. I’ll be moving my flanking units in from the East and see what we can do..imageframe-5 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
I’ve got two main assaults hitting Saint Vith. One from the North is motorized Waffen-SS Infantry along with a PZIV Company with a dozen of these. On the east I have the Luftwaffe units with the 2cm battery, a Panzer company with 4 Tigers left, and a Panzer company with a single Panther left. At the moment I’m just hammering them with four of my big artillery battalions. 105mm’s and 155’s. Once they’ve bounced a bit and acquired more fatigue I’ll try and flank them..imageframe-6 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
The Germans are pushing. Saint Vith tightened up, but my flanking units have made barely any progress. To make matters worse I’ve got a Panther company stalking Lommersweiler along with an AT unit. But what worries me is the massed clump of units North of Saint Vith. I just can’t weaken anything to try and strengthen that point. Things are getting hot with 15 hours left!.imageframe-7 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
The group in the North made an assault on Saint Vith that was brutal. A few minutes before the Germans attacked elements of Alpha Company, 10th Armored Infantry moved in and held the line. At the same time I kept hammering the assaulting troops with my artillery, all four batteries..imageframe-8 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
Finally my flanking force pushed into the city. Just after darkness fell we hammered the German positions and the moment the artillery stopped the assault began. It’s really nice to specify start and end times for the artillery. Makes coordinating an attack much easier.
We’ve consolidated Saint Vith, I’m happy with our positions, but the big questions. What will the night bring? This is it, less than 12 hours..imageframe-9 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
The night has been fairly quiet. They’ve pushed in a few times but not with a massed attack. We had a Tiger company fall right between two of our groups and it was mauled. A short while later an SS unit surrendered. I think the Germans are simply too fatigued to press an effective attack..imageframe-10 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
Victory!
Not much happened through the night and I can see why. The Germans took some very heavy casualties. An interesting point is that we lost nearly half as many armored vehicles as the Germans, yet only one half of the troops. Overall it was a damned tough fight. The AI has proven to be devious, and I am very impressed with how responsive and intelligent it is..imageframe-11 img{border:0px solid #494848;} 
And that is the final map. I had units massed both north and south of Saint Vith. A pack of Tigers was in position to assault Lommersweiler.
My hunch was right, nearly every combat unit was totally fatigued. If the Germans had another day, or another few regiments, this would have all ended differently.
The German commander is Joachim Piper.
Things to do differently next time… more aggressive! I should have sent my Armored Cav out to hunt the HQ and rear units, instead I used them like regular Armor and they suffered mightily. I’ll also get my armor and infantry to work better. In some occasions I had armor without infantry support and vice versa.
The whole battle was very enjoyable and very challenging. I’m looking forward to more scenarios!
