Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg: Late-war infantry actions.

A fairly well known photo of Volksgrenadiers in the Ardennes. 

Reminder - click on images to see them full sized.

East of Aachen AAR

When you think of "Volksgrenadiers" (if you think of Volksgrenadiers often, I'm sorry, it's terminal, but you get used to it) you probably imagine something akin to the above photo. Men festooned with new-fangled assault rifles and anti-tank weapons, pressing forward in one of the largest battles on the Western front. For these reasons, at least to my understanding, these formations are very popular in wargaming, both tabletop and digital.  

The facts on the ground were obviously different: yes, it's true that these divisions often acquitted themselves well, particularly in small-unit defensive actions, but I question how that separates them from any other German infantry formation throughout the war. On the attack, they were a mixed bag, which also isn't surprising; German infantry divisions had extremely limited attacking capability as early as 1942 and the Wehrmacht was always strapped for well-trained infantry. Many of these units were indifferently equipped, indifferently trained, and indifferently lead, and their organization was the definition of making a virtue of a necessity. To say nothing of the fact that much of their bayonet strength were convalescents, superfluous air force and navy personnel, and men who would not have been deemed fit for service even a year earlier. 

Nevertheless, I get the appeal of playing around with them from a wargaming perspective. They're unique, and they're streamlined in a way a standard German infantry unit is not (more on that later). I'm not interested in just playing them at their theoretical best, however.  Therefore, in a fit of masochistic energy, I loaded up East of Aachen by Seinfeld Rules. In this scenario, you find yourself in command of the meagre regimental reserve of a VG unit that has lately lost its positions to an American attack. The perimeter around Aachen is shrinking, and we are therefore committed to, you guessed it: counterattack to restore the positions immediately. 

The Men

The human material I have here is...pretty grim. Most of them men are green, and have ambivalent, or low, motivation; which is perhaps understandable given the pounding the unit has been receiving in the larger battle. The unit is not quite as lavishly equipped as paper organization would suggest, either. There are a lot of lighter submachineguns and questionable-quality German semi-automatics in lieu of the StG-44s. Like all VG units, it is also deficient in machineguns compared to earlier formations by about a third, which means very little ability to generate sustained fire indeed. The saving grace in all this is that leadership is uniformly excellent at all levels. This is, presumably, meant to simulate experienced cadres some Volksgrenadier units benefitted from.

The Scheme

Usually my first instinct in these types of scenarios is to attempt to infiltrate. The terrain at first glance suggests this may be easy to do as well. There's a lot of tree lines that would make poor fighting positions for a defender but are excellent places to screen a final assembly before attack, and dead ground (such as the many sunken streams in the area) that could allow movement to them. 

There's a lot on the debit side of this usually solid bit of tactical maths, this time. First is the time constraints. We have two widely separated objectives that need to be cleared within an hour and twenty minutes; not enough time to get the men up given the muddy nature of that stream. The fact that the men are anything but shield-biters also has to be taken into account. If we're spotted early and start taking fire (and inevitably, losses) the men are more likely to stampede than listen to orders to fan out and go over to the attack. Finally, and most importantly, there are a series of smaller farm houses between my start line and my objectives which, if occupied by outposts, would be able to spot any movement into, or through, the streams. An unacceptable circumstance when fighting the Allied armies and their artillery. 

And so, inevitably, we settle for something lacking any subtlety. It's probably all my unit is capable of, and we have to bank on speed and mass getting us close enough to put the squad level weaponry to good use. We've been promised some assault guns and what is left of the regiments' mortars in support, along with any other unit the CO can find. There's no ETA on that, though, and time is short. 

The Attack

First order of business is securing investigating the suspected outpost buildings. The third platoon, which is the most ably led and trained, is tasked with this. For those not in the know, the third platoon in any VG rifle company is organized more like a standard rifle platoon, and this makes them both the most capable of a base of fire, and of independent action. 

3rd Platoon moving forward to attack position

Things go sideways almost immediately. As this platoon creeps forward out of cover, they find themselves in a desultory exchange of fire with, as suspected, a light outpost line. The company's heavy MG section is covering them, and this shouldn't be an issue. Indeed, at first, it doesn't appear to be, and the platoon leader is able to rapidly bound his men forward. 

Despite ghastly losses from mortar fire, the enemy outposts are silenced.

Then the American light mortars begin firing with unnerving, unerring accuracy. No matter how rapid the forward movement, these little heat seekers burst among the platoon's wide frontage, utterly rubbishing it. The two farmhouses are cleared, but it ultimately costs an astonishing 15 casualties. All of them via this indirect fire. 

In a bit of excellent timing, which somewhat mitigated the heartburn the mission was already giving me, an observer from the mortars arrives as the outposts are secured. The surviving grenadiers fall back, and he gamely moves forward to get eyes on both objective areas...and is promptly struck by a howitzer barrage as he takes position. It is a very white knuckle few minutes, as all that can really be done is huddle on the ground floor and hope no shell splinters find a mark. The house is sturdy, however, and the FOO is back in action as soon as the artillery abates. 

The FOO getting a hot reception in his OP. I suspect this artillery was meant to hit the platoon which had only recently vacated the area.

The risk of putting the FOO so far forward is well rewarded. He has excellent lines of sight into both objectives, and pretty quickly identifies several hasty defensive positions. Most Americans are arrayed in a "U" near the woods, as suspected, whilst others are positioned in sparse hedges surrounding the Farm House. On my right flank, a 57mm anti-tank gun is spotted, and knocked out, by a mortar barrage. Fires then shift to the woods itself. In that time, the promised armoured support (three StuGs) appears, with some engineers pressed into service as ersatz infantry riding atop. 

The time is as good as any to press on with the main effort, if only to get close enough to the American positions that artillery fire can stop ruining my day. The pioneers clamber off the StuGs as they arrive at final cover, fan out to the right of the two captured farmhouses, and press forward behind the artillery barrage. It's cracking stuff, and only slightly ruined by one of the StuGs promptly immobilizing in the muddy terrain. 

Dismounting in a bit of dead ground, the Pioneers prepare to attack across two fields.

The attack makes good progress through the first field, no doubt due to the suppressive mortar fire. Then, the Americans remind me they have mortars too, and the engineers are forced to ground for several minutes as 60mms burst across the front of their advance. Mercifully, the earlier preternatural accuracy is not in evidence this time, and the only losses are suffered from the odd lucky rifle shot or .30 calibre burst. Howitzers also chime in a few minutes later, and are similarly off target. 

What these non-stop barrages are doing, however, is arresting my movement. When a spotting round lands remotely near, the time to fire effect is almost always too rapid to do much more than go to ground and spread out a bit. Even these inaccurate barrages are eating up both my momentum and time for actions on objective. This means the plan has to get adjusted. 

Instead of sequential attacks by two platoons or so at a time, I now must attempt to simultaneously attack both objectives with the lead platoons. That's a very tall order for such a poor formation, and I am essentially condemning myself to much higher losses as a result of this compromise. American fire from the Woods is, at least, negligible, so the wheel left across the American front doesn't result in enfilading fire. The two mobile StuGs have pressed forward to assist in preventing the walk across the front from being too deadly, using HE and MG fire to keep heads down as my own mortar fire slows. They even, to my relief, managed to knock out a second anti-tank gun emplaced in the objective itself. 

Little hard cover, and accurate incoming fire: losses inevitably mount.

I don't, however, mean to suggest that the attack on the Woods is a walkover. Losses are pretty persistently suffered every time an element breaks cover or concealment to bound forward, which suggests that while the enemy outbound fire is light, we haven't achieved any real ascendency ourselves. 

American losses are also being suffered, but it is a bit appalling that what basically amounts to stragglers shattered by direct and indirect high explosive fire are still stonewalling an attack. The StuGs have to take ever increasing risks to help maintain any offensive momentum by the dismounts, and they split off to provide intimate support to either platoon. Their smoke is vital to the attack's success, and help the shaky infantry press forward. 

The Woods falls first, having lost its anti-tank gun, its helpless to do much about the StuG, who shoots the first units onto the objective. The Pioneers use their satchels to create a safe entrance to the small church at the edge of the objective, and are able to use the cover of the stone building to good effect. They are assisted, eventually, by the remaining sturm platoon which has managed to press forward, and can begin (slowly) combing through the trees. 

The farmhouse is another matter. Not knowing what anti-tank threats, if any, are there make the StuG's support naturally more furtive. Three attempts are made to move the assaulting platoon forward, but eventually friendly mortars run out of ammo, and the attack is forced to ground, often in the open. Even with the company's heavy machineguns melting the barrels of their weapons (2700 rounds fired a piece, in the end), the attack seems stuck. 

The assault troops go to ground, despite their heavy support, in the face of stubborn enemy defence.

Shifting the second StuG over, using remaining smoke from both assault guns, and rushing forward the company's Panzerschreck section (a unique, headquarters-level concentration of anti-tank teams that are a staple of late-war German infantry formations) helps keep the attack grinding forward. What proves decisive is the Panzerschreck section drawing the ire of a third (and final) AT Gun, which finally opens fire as the Panzerschrecks pour rocket after rocket into the Farmhouse and Barn. It rapidly draws all the fire I can direct on it, and the StuGs are able to press forward, finally, to point blank range. 

A knocked out 57mm, foreground, as my infantry are finally able to press up behind a StuG.

Debrief

With the fearsome pounding collapsing the Barn, American infantry finally call it quits, and pull back out of both objectives. Neither were, by mission end, fully cleared, and it is doubtful I would've had the time or nerves to do so had the Americans stayed to fight a bit longer. 

Nevertheless, the game hands me a total victory due to the losses inflicted on the enemy, and their positions therefore in the logic of CM are no longer tenable. To call it a particularly daring attack or finesse-filled battle would be inappropriate, and my success needs to be framed in this context. The enemy, an understrength rifle company still consolidating their positions, were more than a match for a (relatively) lavishly supported assault by a fresh reserve. That should go far to show the tools I had to work with. 

I've seen Volksgrenadier units get a lot of praise, particularly amongst wargamers. I know of at least one book that elects to frame the concept favourably as well. However, these are ultimately extremely narrow views. At the end of the day, it is hard to set aside the reality that the Volksgrenadiers in organization, ethos, material and manpower were making a virtue of necessity for a military that was making an irretrievable effort. 

The point is that they are fundamentally flawed formations. That's what makes them so interesting to wargame! How to make the most out of a lemon? Volksgrenadiers are essentially incapable of small-unit tactics, and are often made up of shattered wreckage. Well led, perhaps, but wreckage it remains. So how to use them? As blunt instruments: move them in platoons, fight objectives as companies, and be ready to accept intellectually that either through casualties, frayed nerves, lack of ammunition, or any combination therein, an assaulting unit is rarely able to take more than one objective. 

Das Hochwasser AAR

The Germans routinely flooded fields from Normandy onwards in an attempt to narrow the frontage and delay advances; often making things more troublesome for themselves in the process.

Keeping with the theme of difficult infantry actions, we now proceed to February 1945, and the 9th Army's crossing of the Roer. The crossing was complicated by the Germans blowing dams up-river and flooding the bridgehead. We join the first company of 3-334th infantry regiment, of the US 84th Infantry division, who find themselves under constant observation and artillery fire in the flooded, crowded area. 

With the failure of a US artillery bombardment on the only possible enemy observation post (a prominent multi-storey house rising above the floodwater) a scratch force from I Company is assembled to secure the area. Complicating matters is the company headquarters isn't able to get up and join the attack, and so the sub-units will have to co-operate as best as they can. Indeed, for the attack, we only have two rifle platoons and part of the weapons platoon for the effort. Two supply tucks have also managed to come forward safely, ensuring we can keep up the fire. Finally, in approximately fifteen minutes, we can expect a single M8 armoured car from the divisional cavalry: it is currently battling the mud in an effort to join us. 

In direct contrast to the previous scenario, I Company has no worries as far as its men are concerned. The unit is nothing special, but it is what you'd expect from a unit that has been in theatre and in contact for a few months. The men are steady, the remaining NCOs experienced, and nerves steady. The only deficiency in the formation is that a few of the squads are, perhaps understandably in these rather wet circumstances, less than at full fitness.

The Scheme

I think it's fair to say the situation here is a bit more complex than in East of Aachen but I'm far more confident about what my men can do. 

First, point fires (orange crosses) will be placed down on the "corners" of the hedge-enclosed road, which I suspect will reduce potential enfilading fire. Covered by MMGs, the assaulting platoon can leapfrog as best as it can from the islands formed from the undulating terrain. Assisting us is the the fact the early morning fog has not yet lifted, and visibility currently is about 300m. We should be able to press up to the last "island" before we're spotted, and I expect the visibility to hold at around 300m for ten or so minutes. 

Initial recce by fire by the two 60mms we have to hand.

In the end, the 60mms don't accomplish much, it seems, in their initial point fires. However, they prove invaluable as the firefight develops. Their point fires are, as always, a decisive advantage, and they do suppress quite a few nasty LMG positions. 

Initial movement.

The initial movement forward does go well, albeit much slower than I had anticipated, even accounting for the knee-deep water. At around 14 minutes in, however, the movement draws heavy fire, and the assaulting platoon begins to have to struggle forward in bounds. The first casualties are suffered here, but nothing catastrophic. 

The other platoon probing down the flooded road.

The probe right down the centre actually goes quite well initially, and helps reduce enfilading fire when the enemy begins opening up on the assaulting platoon. It comes to some grief, however, as they draw fire from a mortar. I am fairly certain the mortar was firing over open sights, as the fire is accurate and rapid, with no real spotting phase. In any even, it wounds the platoon leader and drives the men back with losses. 

Above: exposed, the islands are about the only cover we have. Below: initial contact.

As the enemy opens fire, they draw the ire of the overwatch .30 cals, but fire superiority remains elusive until the M8 arrives and my own mortars find the range. My losses mount in a slow drip-feed, but the Germans begin to suffer too. 

While one man clears a mortar casualty, an automatic rifleman puts down covering fire for the assault platoon.

The M8 manages to avoid bogging down, to my immense relief, and unsurprisingly proves decisive despite its dinky gun and limited ammo. It immediately silences German flank guards, positioned to the assaulting platoon's front, and allows the flanking effort to continue. 

The assaulting platoon closes to within 100 or so meters, and the weight fire swings decisively in their favour as they find acceptable cover to engage from.

The left platoon, which had pulled back and resupplied from two trucks that came forward with much needed .30 calibre ammo is put back into the fight, swinging out to the left of the flooded road, where it can begin putting down fires on the objective house proper. They take very little return fire, as the enemy is either busy dodging 37mm shells, or trying to put the assault element under fire. 

From here, the attack gains considerable momentum. The right-most platoon leader is able to cross the road and wheel left with two squads, taking a smaller house behind the objective and overrunning what appears to be an enemy command post. Enemy fire has died off enough that I felt comfortable peeling off men to try and clear the casualties. 

Outflanking the objective.

Before long, elements of both platoons have overran the enemy, and rounded up the trapped survivors. There's one last bitter pill, though, as the trailing elements are plastered by what I can only assume was some variant of nebelwerfer, causing catastrophic losses on the men trying to clear casualties and a handful of further losses amongst the weapons platoons. 

As enemy resistance ebbs, the base of fire is also able to press forward frontally onto the objective.

Debrief

The mission ends, with the trapped enemy mortar team surrendering. The German force, which was about a reinforced platoon, is all but wiped out. The losses are about equal, and how could they not be after that last-minute nebelwerfer barrage?   

On the whole though, despite decidedly worse conditions, I'm much more satisfied with the outcome of this mission than I am East of Aachen. Whatever the apparent lack of aggregate firepower of an American or British rifle platoon, the uniform, common-sense weapon disposition makes them far more capable of movement. That even in 1945, when the Western allies are facing a serious manpower crisis in their infantry, we can expect to have motivated and decently led infantry of reasonable fitness, and always properly supported, is always refreshing. 

I really like Das Hochwasser. It's another point in the favour of an expansion that I have had decidedly mixed views on. Like Ride on Riede, however, it's a diamond in the rough, and and a very unique use of the terrain editor. Fighting through such a flooded environment is certainly one of the more unique scenarios I've played in recent memory, though it does just drive home how much we missed out on scenarios like Walcheren, etc.