German Opening Attacks: The 5th Army Attacks, Var 1

The Fifth Army has a number of possible goals during the opening turn: 1. Advancing against the American 110th regiment of the 28th Infantry division, followed by building a bridge across the Our River; 2. Advancing against the American 112th regiment of the 28th Infantry division, surrounding the 424th regiment of the 106th Inf and eliminating the surrounded 424th; and 3. Advancing against the 14th Cavalry at the northern end of the army boundary. The Fifth Army does have the benefit of 3 full strength Panzer divisions with possible surprise rolls. This variant of the attacks results in a high probability of advancing against the 110th and building the bridge across the our river. Another variant will be discussed which has a stronger attack against the 14th Cav but has a weaker attack attempting to cross the river.

Attack 1 The Our River Bridge attack: The German 39th and 77th regiments of the 26 Volksgrenadier Division, VG are moved to 1326 making room for attacking units. The 3rd regiment of the 2nd Panzer division and the 901st of the Lehr division are moved along with the 15th Nebelwerfer, NW to 1325. The 16th regiment of the 116nd Panzer division, and 7th Nebelwerfer, NW are moved to 1324. The German 766th artillery is also used. The attack is 50-10, one shift left for Broken terrain, 4-1, with no Die Roll, DR modifiers due to the Improved Position, IP. A successful surprise roll would be a 5 or 6, resulting in 5-1 odds. If the attack is at 4-1 odds, all rolls except for a 6 are optimal, for 5-1 odds, all rolls are optimal and the bridge is built.

Ourriver

Attack 2 The attack against the 14th Cav: The German 902nd with the 130th regiments of the Panzer Lehr and the 9th regiment of the 3rd FJ are moved to 0613. The 5th regiment of the 3rd FJ and the 164th regiment of the 62th VG are moved to 0614. The 388th German artillery is used in this attack. The attack is 30-10(Americans adding the 402nd Art), 3-1, 1 shift left for forest, 2-1, possible 3-1 with a successful surprise roll of 5 or 6. No DR modifiers due to the IP. On a 2-1, a roll of 1 or 2 will result in a D1 or D2. On a 3-1 attack, a roll of 1 would result with a D3 which would provide for an advance surrounding the 394th Regiment of the 99th Inf. All other rolls are not optimal.

14thcav

Attack 3 The attack against the 112th: The German 2nd regiment of the 2nd Panzer division with the Lehr Recon are moved to 1221. The 304th regiment of the 2nd Panzer Division is moved to 1121. The attack is 28 to 14, 2-1, with a possible 3-1 with a surprise with a successful surprise rolls of 4, 5 or 6. No DR modifiers due to the IP. On a 2-1, a roll of 1 will result in a D2., this would result in surrounding the 424th regiment of the 106th division. On a 3-1 attack, rolls of 1 or 2 would result in D3 or D2 however the German units can only advance 2 hexes. All other rolls are not optimal.

vs112

Attack 4 The attack against the 424th: The German 183rd regiment of the 62nd VG Division is moved to 0919, and the 16th NW is moved to 1020. The attack is 16 to 4, 4-1, one shift left for broken terrain, 3-1 with a possible 4-1 with a surprise with a successful surprise rolls of 4, 5 or 6. No DR modifiers due to the IP. IF the 424th is surrounded, on a 3-1, a roll of 1, 2 or 3 will result in a D1, D2 or D3 resulting in an elimination, if the attack is a 4-1, a roll of 1, 2, 3, or 4 will result D1, D2, D3, D4 eliminating the unit. If the 424th is not surrounded, the unit would be able to retreat on all retreat results. All other rolls are less optimal.

424