Charge of KG Peiper #1

All,

Breakthrough
0745
17 December 1944

Kampfgruppe Peiper, a German SS Panzer formation, moved out as part of 'Wacht Am Rhein," AKA, "The Battle of the Bulge," in the evening of 16 December, reaching Losheim at approximately 2200.  Fighting through traffic as they pushed west on the 'rollbahns,' Peiper grabbed a battalion of German Fallschirmjaeger sitting idly by the road (setting the stage for the iconic photo of the German paratroopers riding atop King Tigers), and, continuing their push west, the kampfgruppe overran a column of retreating American troops at approximately 0600 on 17 December.  It is now 0745 on 17 December; the kampfgruppe has finally defeated a token platoon of Americans in Lanzerath, and is preparing to jump off to take Bullingen to the northwest, and then follow the road southwest to Ligneuville.  The Americans facing KG Peiper are a motley mix of troops, weapons, and vehicles from 2nd, 28th, and 99th Infantry Divisions, various Cavalry Squadrons, and several Engineer groups.

So, what's going on here, you ask?  Well, this is a mini-campaign, and an unplanned one, at that!  This is to keep up my end of a bargain I made online; my buddy Thuseld, over on The Wargames Website, has been working on getting 6mm WWII forces together for awhile, just like me.  He'd posted pics of his lovely troops and vehicles, lamenting that he wasn't sure when he'd ever get them on the table.  I replied that I, too, had been working on getting 6mm WWII forces ready, and I, too, was unsure when they'd actually see the table.  Then I made an off-hand comment that sealed my fate: I jokingly suggested he and I enter a pact, to ensure we got our 6mm WWII forces on the table ASAP.  Well, he not only accepted, he played some games and posted them that very next weekend!  So I'm already late, but late is better than never, so here I am, keeping up my end of the deal!  My plan is to play a three-game mini-campaign, and it's not just serving to get my 6mm WWII stuff on the table.  I'm also going to test out the Blitzkrieg Commander IV rules, and I'm also, for the first time ever, going to play some winter games.  So here we go!

Wanting to play some winter games and having late war German and US/UK kit, I began searching the internet for scenarios.  Twasn't long before I came across a free PDF from Battlefront, called "Peiper's Charge, Running the Gauntlet in the Ardennes, 16-25 December 1944."  It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn useful, and it was perfect for what I was trying to do: three fights in the snow between late-war US and German kit.  Sure it's built for Flames of War, revolving around platoon-sized units, but I just bumped each of those up to a company-sized unit, no problem.  In any case, the PDF outlines a mini-campaign with the Germans attacking across the three maps, ending with the Americans counterattacking on the third map.  Worked like a charm.

Overview, north is up.  The Germans will attack from the southeast corner using mobile deployment rules (except one unit already on the table).  There are serviceable roads running across the table, everything else is snow, which causes a movement penalty (I played the penalty in game 1, it was too much, so I knocked it off), and there is a river at bottom center/bottom left, which is not fordable.  There are three villages: in the southeast (bottom right) is Lanzerath; in the north (top center left) is Bullingen; and in the southwest (bottom left) is Ligneuville.  The hills, from top right, are: Hill 208, Hill 150 (far right), Hill 34 (bottom center), Hill 76 (far left), Hill 200 (top left), and Hill 102 (center).  Please note that the village names are real (and in their correct, approximate locations), while the Hills are made up (the maps in the PDF don't show any elevation at all, but I know that can't be correct in the Ardennes).

The opposing forces, Americans up top and Germans on the bottom.  This is done in 6mm, with all vehicles from Heroics and Ros, while the infantry and US anti-tank guns (ATGs) are from GHQ.

The US force: their CO is at far right (in a halftrack), all the M8 armored cars are HQs.  The Americans have two rifle companies (A Company and B Company), each with an HQ, four rifles, an MG, a mortar, and 76mm ATG with prime mover (should have probably been a 57mm ATG, but I need all the help I can get).  Then they have a tank company consisting of two M4 76s and four M4 75s, and a tank destroyer company consisting of six M-10 Wolverines.  No arty or air support.

Ze Germans, with their commander at far right (in a Sdkfz 231 armored car), the Sdkfz 222 armored cars are their HQs.  The Germans have a company of Fallschirmjaegers (top left) and a company of Panzer Grenadiers, each with four rifles, an MG, and a mortar, the only difference being the PzGren have Skdfz 251/D halftracks and the FJ are foot mobile.  The Germans then have two companies of Panzer Mk V "Panthers" (1st Company and 2nd Company), a company of Pz Mk IV King Tigers, and a battery of four self-propelled 150mm howitzers.  I'm a bit different in that, when I play BKC, I prefer to have my arty on the table, rolling for them to act just like any other unit.  This helps keep things simple, which makes life easier for me 1) when I'm playing solo, and 2) when I'm playing with my boy (he's 10).

In this game I am playing the Americans and the boy is playing the Germans.

Overview, this time with troops.  All German units start off table except the FJ Company, which is in Lanzerath (bottom right).  Meanwhile, the Americans have A Company in Bullingen (top center left) and B Company in Ligneuville (bottom left), with both tracked companies in reserve at top left.  The US plan is to try and have the infantry stay towns, plinking away at halftracks and panzers with their ATGs (and even with their mortars vs the halftracks), and bleed the Germans by making them come dig my infantry out.  I'll keep the tanks and tank destroyers back until I can see where the boy commits his whopping three companies of tanks, then rush in, no fear!

The set up in and around Lanzerath, where the FJ company has moved into a small wood in order to get out of the way of KG Peiper's mechanized elements.  The boy's plan... well, he made the classic mistake of dividing his forces.  He decided to send his PzGren and a Panther Company up the road towards Bullingen, with the FJ and the other Panther Company travelling cross country, straight west towards Ligneuville.  He planned on using the King Tigers and SP Arty to assist the assault on Bullingen, and then support the assault on Ligneuville, but once things started breaking down he panicked and threw the plan out the window.  Like a damn Army guy...

The US A Company in/around Bullingen, awaiting the onslaught of KG Peiper.

B Company, dug in/around Ligneuville.  Note that my troops are oriented northeast as I didn't figure he would send forces cross country (I'd warned him about the snow movement penalty), that he would stick to the road.

In the northwest, near Hill 200, the US Tank Company, Tank Destroyer Company, and CO.

Let's get it on!

The German portion of Turn 1 sees both Panther companies move onto the board (sitting side by side on the road), the King Tigers moves off the road (just right of the Panthers), the SP arty move left off the road (far left), the FJ sit tight (in the woods at left), and, due to the luck of command rolls, the PzGren lead the way up the road (center right) to Bullingen (off camera to top right, with Ligneuville at top left).  Probably not a good idea to lead with your halftracks...

On cue, the US mortar team in Bullingen (bottom left) begins pumping out rounds at the German hafltracks (top right), scoring one hit.

*I'm playing that hits stay on, not fall off at the end of the turn.

I roll a blunder and the mortar has to make a half move towards the enemy (center, from left bottom), but it's really no big deal, and I keep pressing.

So the mortar (bottom left) gets off two more rounds of firing at the PzGren (top right).

The fire (combined with the hit I scored with the first round of fire) knocks out one halftrack, causing its infantry to dismount (though they're suppressed), and another hit is scored on the second halftrack in line.

The Ligneuville mortar team tries to get in on the act, but fails.

The US Tank and TD companies begin moving up slowly, and that's the end of Turn 1.

Turn 2 begins with the German SP arty (bottom right) dropping some 150mm HE on Ligneuville (top left).  Why he didn't use them to pound Bullingen (off camera to top center right), I have no idea...  In any case, his arty got two rounds of fire in, knocking out one American rifle stand and putting two hits on the mortar team (though they were not suppressed).

Then his PzGren fail, but his panzers get moving: 1st Panthers goes left, 2nd goes right.  1st Pz Co is trailed by the FJ on foot (left, nearing Hill 34), while 2nd Pz Co actually passes the PzGren on the road (top center right).

The Bullingen ATG (in the trees at bottom left) opens fire on 2nd Pz Co (top right), putting a hit on the lead Panther.

But then 2nd Pz Co HQ rolls a blunder and has to fall back 12cm (bottom right, from top center left)!

Then the boy decides to move the biggest, heaviest, slowest tanks on the battlefield off road, at serious penalty.  Having said that, if he can get them on line, they're in position (center right, between the road and Hill 150) to pound Bullingen (top left).

The German CO moves up (left bottom, from off camera to right) and tries to get the PzGren moving, but he fails, too!

*I'm pretty loose with HQs and COs.  I let them move with their units (so they never get the over 20" penalty), and I let the CO go in the middle of the turn, don't end that side's turn when he fails.

The US Bullingen (far left) mortar AND anti-tank gun fail...  The Ligneuville mortar team (bottom right) gets into the action, dropping 81mm HE rounds on the German PzGren (top center right), scoring a second hit on a halftrack.

And the US armor moves up, the Tank Company arriving on the outskirts of Bullingen (left) and the TD Company moving up to the woods on the west side of Hill 102.

The US CO moves into Bullingen (top center left), but even he can't get the ATG or mortar team to fire...

Turn 3 begins with the boy trying to activate his self-propelled artillery again (he was so happy, getting two rounds of fire out of them last time, for a total of 48 firing dice), but he rolled another blunder and the HQ runs off the table!  He was able to come back on, but then failed before they got to fire...

The FJ Company's mortar team (bottom center right) goes to work on Ligneuville (top left, but the fire is ineffectual.

Back on the German right, the King Tigers move cross country, pulling even with the PzGren Company bogged down on the road...

Once there, they (bottom center) begin pounding the treeline just east of Bullingen (top center), seeing as that's where anti-tank gun fire was coming from.  The fire is effective, scoring a couple hits and suppressing the American cannoneers there.

Then, out of the blue, Field Marshall Nikki gets a wild hair up his ass!  Instead of ordering 2nd Panther Company forward to begin pounding Bullingen (off camera to top left) in preparation for the Panzer Grenadiers (bottom right, with King Tigers above them) to come and mop up, he gets spooked by the appearance of American armor (off camera to left), so he orders a company full of Panthers to cut a hard left and climb Hill 102 and establish themselves in position to pin the American armor in place while the 1st Panzer Company and the King Tiger Company conduct a double envelopment.

But they only manage to make it up on top of the hill (far left, from on the road, just to their right).  Apparently the snowy slope was pretty slick ;)

While on the German left, 1st Panzer Company deploys around Hill 34 (far left), pulls up, and begins pounding Ligneuville (top left)...

The US machine gun unit there was forced to fall back (bottom center, from building at right), and some hits were scored on a rifle platoon (far left).

Everybody says how hard it is to dig infantry out of built up areas, but that didn't seem so hard to me, after only two rounds of firing!  Five total hits were recorded, suppressing a rifle unit and suppressing, then forcing the MG unit back.  Was I doing something wrong?  The Panthers were hitting on 5+ and the grunts were saving on 5+.

As 1st Panzer Co (bottom right) pounds Ligneuville, the PzGren manage to move a short ways up the road towards Bullingen (left).

In Liegneuville, the ATG unit tries to limber their guns but fail, too shook up by all the tank fire slamming into nearby buildings, I guess.  The handy-dandy mortar team (bottom left) begins thumping 81mm HE rounds out at the German Panzer Grenadiers again (top right).

The lead halftrack is destroyed and its infantry spill out, suppressed, while the halftrack behind it takes two hits and suppressed!  Nice shootin', fellas!

With the dastardly German commander having rolled a company of Panthers up on Hill 102 (center left), and me not wanting to see if I could charge up there with them to get into a knife-fight in the woods, as well as having his other Panther company (top right) getting nearer (I'm not really scared of his King Tigers, top center), they're too far away and too slow, particularly in the snow), I decided to consolidate.  The American tank company and tank destroyer company both fall back and tie in on a defensive line between Hill 76 (bottom center, with Ligneuville off camera to bottom right) and Bullingen (just visible at far left), and await the arrival of the Germans.

Just then, the US mortar in Bullingen (bottom center left) opens fire on the German PzGren Company (top center, on road)...

Scoring a third hit on a halftrack and forcing it to fall back (red bead at far left, from center).

And thus ends Turn 3.

Turn 4 begins with the PzGren Company dismounting their mortar (left) and getting it set up to start pounding Bullingen (off camera to top right, with 2nd Pz Co on Hill 102 at top center), though they're unable to get the tubes into action just yet.

The German artillery (bottom right) continues pounding Ligneuville (top left), knocking out a US rifle unit.

That's cool, but I'll never understand why he didn't go after Bullingen with them first, or, if he was suddenly scared by my armor (which is, conveniently for artillery, all clustered in one place, just off camera to top center), why not hit them and see if you can suppress some of them before moving your Panther companies out to whoop up on them?  But he just kept grinning and telling me he had a plan...

1st Pz Co (center) revs its engines, preparing to move.

And they dash west, between Hill 34 (bottom center) and Hill 102 (top center left, where their Panther brothers are stumbling around in the snowy woods)...

While 2nd Pz Co (just visible atop Hill 102 at top left) can hear the commotion, they can't see anything and, of course, the movement of 1st Pz Company's Panthers (top right) has drawn the attention of the US gunners in their M-10 Wolverines (bottom left).  They immediately open fire (exercising their opportunity fire)...

Knocking out a Panther unit!  The German tankers attempt to return fire, but they're too confused, apparently unaware the Amerikaners had armor in the area.

They failed their command roll.  The boy has had a nasty streak here; he pretty much passes the first one and then fails the second.  Not good if you're trying to sustain a mechanized attack...

While up on Hill 102, the Panthers of 2nd Pz Co swing north (right) to engage Bullingen (off camera to right), rather than push ahead to engage the US armor (off camera to top center)!

He's scared of my opportunity fire and he doesn't know what to do.  Don't blame me, I talked to him about using his arty to try and suppress the US vehicles before rushing his tanks out there, plus he knows they only get to fire once in opportunity fire, but he's not happy with his inability to keep making his command rolls and he knows I still have my Shermans fresh up there (only the M10s opp fired).

The ATG in Bullingen (bottom left, in the trees) opportunity fires on the German 2nd Pz Co (top right), recording a single hit.

But then FJ, who are, unfortunately, foot mobile, double time it up to Hill 34 (left, from center).

He passed three command rolls, but they're on foot, moving through deep snow.  The boy can't catch a break...

Meanwhile, the King Tigers (bottom right, with the PzGren still stalled out on the road at left center and 2nd PzCo lost in the woods on Hill 102 farther left) continue pounding Bullingen (top left), getting another hit on the ATG unit, but not suppressing it.

The US mortar (bottom left) in Ligneuville shows the Panzer Grenadiers (top right) no mercy, continuing to pound them, getting several hits and suppressing a halftrack in two rounds of fire.

But then the real killing starts as the US tank destroyers (bottom left) go to work on 1st Pz Co (top right).  76mm armor piercing rounds zoom out as fast as the guns can be reloaded.  A second Panther is knocked out, and four hits are put on a third, suppressing him!

The US ATG in Bullingen (bottom left) fires on the 2nd Pz Co on Hill 102 (top right), but it's largely ineffective.

He actually got a double action, but only scored a single hit, though he did suppress a Panther.

The Bullingen mortar attempted to hit the PzGren (on road at top right), but apparently they've burned through all their ready ammunition and gotta go find some more (failed their command roll).

And as their ATG (far left) bangs away, the US tank commander decides it's time to get his Shermans into the fight (center, from a little lower, in the snow)!

Several Panthers open fire at near point blank range on the Shermans...

Knocking one out!

The remaining Shermans return fire...

Knocking one Panther out and nearly putting a second one under (five hits and suppressed).

The US overall Commanding Officer heads into Bullingen with more mortar ammo, and gets the mortar unit there back in the game, firing on the PzGren (top right), beating up another halftrack.

Here we are at the end of Turn 4, 3 1/2 hours into the game.  I don't believe it's looking so hot for ze Germans.  Both their Panther companies (2nd on Hill 102, center top, 1st in the clearing at center bottom) are getting beat up, their King Tigers (right) aren't really in the fight, their PzGren Co (on road at center) are getting pounded mercilessly by the US mortars, their FJ Company (center bottom right) is doing all it can just to keep up, and their artillery, while powerful, hasn't been used as well as it could have been (both in terms of passing command rolls and target selection).

Turn 5 begins with the German artillery (bottom right) absolutely pasting the US Tank Company (top left)...

Two rounds of fire sees a second Sherman knocked out and three (of four) hits put on another, suppressing it!

Now he's getting it!  Now get 2nd Pz Co into action.  Ad that's what he does.  Or tries to do.

Several of 2nd Pz Co's Panthers are in position to open fire on the US Shermans (off camera to bottom left), but all are not.   The ones that can see the US tanks fail to carry out their orders, so he orders the ones that can't see to move over...

They do (top right), but they are then subject to opportunity fire from the Shermans, who notch three hits, but don't suppress anyone...

The newly arrived Panthers (bottom right) return fire...

They knock a third Sherman unit out!

This causes the US Tank Company to break and leave the fight (bottom left, from explosions at top right)!!!

The German Panzer Grenadiers (bottom center right) finally get their mortars into action, firing on Bullingen (top left), but they only score one hit.

Then he rolls another damn blunder, and the friendly unit nearest the enemy immediately takes 8 attacks!!!

The clouds suddenly part for a moment, and out of the ray of blue dives a US P-47 Thunderbolt, sliding down and firing rockets into the top of Hill 102, occupied by the German 2nd Pz Co.  But apparently the trees threw off the pilot's aim, or he was worried about hitting friendlies, or something, but definitely something, because not a single hit was scored!!!

Meanwhile, the three unsuppressed halftrack units move up (far right), along with one rifle unit on foot, but they halt in the open, dangerously exposed...

Or rather, they (top right) are halted by US fire from Bullingen, racking up a healthy five hits on the German Panzer Grenadiers.

The King Tigers (far right) need to help the Panzer Grenadiers (top center), but they can't.  First their commander is unable to get them off their asses, and then the overall commanding officer tries and fails!!!!

I don't worry about the CO having to go last, or turning over initiative if he fails.  Doing it this way helps with the batrep narrative.

The German Fallschirmjaegers are able to leg it up to 1st Pz Co, but their commander can't get them into action!!!

Another fail, and it couldn't have come at a worse time, the US tank destroyers (top left) are licking their chops...

But first, US troops in the woods on the outskirts of Liegneuville (center) spot the German paratroopers (top right) and open fire, but the fire is mostly ineffective.  As an added benefit for the Germans, it kept the US mortar unit in Ligneuville from pounding the Panzer Grenadiers, too.  The US MG (red bead on the road at bottom left) decides to get back in the fight...

So they move back up in the nearby building (far right)...

And get their MGs back into action, firing on the FJ (top right), hitting and suppressing a rifle unit.

The ATG unit in Ligneuville limbers up and moves into the nearby forest (top center, from far left), looking to get into the action.

And then it's show time.

The US Wolverines (bottom left) are back at it, pounding 1st Pz Co (top right) with their 76mm guns...

A third Panther unit is knocked out of the fight!

Which means they've broken and it's time for 1st Pz Co to leave town (right, from far left).

Having seen off the enemy Panthers in the south (right), two of the M-10s turn (center bottom) and fire on the lead halftracks of the German PzGren Co (top left), getting several hits and suppressing one halftrack.

The mortar unit in Bullingen again can't get their act together, but the MG unit and two rifle units open fire, knocking out a German rifle unit.

The US CO (far left) pulls up and begins kicking the mortar gunners (center) in the ass.  They fire on the German Panzer Grenadiers, to no effect (one hit, one save).

Turn 6 begins, predictably, with the German artillery (bottom right) clearing their throats.  The boy is picking this up, he's getting it now, and it's working.  The German guns roar for two rounds of fire, and they knock out a rifle unit, then suppress another and the MG unit!

And he hasn't gotten the King Tigers (bottom right) moving, but at least he's got them pounding Bullingen too, and it can't be long before the US defenders wilt in the face of this overwhelming fire.

The King Tigers actually push forward.  A little bit.

And then they (bottom left) continue pounding Bullingen (top right), racking up a couple hits and suppressing another defender.

But the damn Panzer Grenadiers can't get a damn thing done, failing three consecutive rolls (mortar to fire, troops in rear to move up, troops at front to dismount)!!!

I missed a picture: the Panthers of 2nd Pz Co, atop Hill 102 (far left), lay into Bullingen again...

The fire knocks out another US unit, breaking the infantry company in Bullingen (right) and causing them to withdraw (far left)!

And then the Panthers come down off Hill 102 (top, from bottom).

I'm not sure why he moved them there, instead of straight ahead (left), scared of the US tank destroyers (off camera to bottom right), I guess?  But then he did it anyway.

2nd Pz Company comes 'round the mountain, right into the guns of the US tank destroyer company.  Well, at least two of them (bottom center, the rest can't see), who opportunity fire.

See, now I'm betting he won't pass another set of orders to have the Panthers fire.  He should have moved straight there (though it would have been a flank shot, so there is that), but then when he passed the current set of orders he would have been firing, instead of moving.  But, he's got his frontal armor in the right spot.

The two M-10s manage to knock out a Panther, and now 2nd Pz Co is dangerously close to breaking!

Further south, the German FJ Company's mortar and MG units (bottom right) focus in on the US MG unit (top left) and cut loose, knocking it out.

As the rifleman push forward, up to the treeline (left, on the right edge of the woods, just left of the burning Panthers).

The US mortar in Liegneuville (bottom left, supporting its riflemen in the woods, center) fires on the German FJ (top right), hitting and suppressing a rifle unit.

BUT....

Then I realize that the death of the US MG unit in Ligneuville brought them below their breaking point, so they haul ass outta town, too!

The US Tank Destroyer company (center left, just below the road) looks around and realizes they're suddenly all alone, the only US unit still on the table...

So they haul ass, too!

The German Panzer Grenadiers finally get their asses in gear and flood into Bullingen, securing it.

As the German FJ do the same in Ligneuville.

Which allows the German armor to form back up on the road and continue their push west!

The Germans win, there will be a second fight (without me having to resort to any shenanigans to make it so), and they boy is overjoyed!  The fight was a lot of fun, if a bit long, but that's going to happen when I'm playing rules I haven't touched in about ten years, I'm playing with the boy (actually, both boys, ten and five, were there, helping out and having fun), and it's got a lot of moving parts.  For all you Blitzkrieg Commander lovers and purists out there, please don't hate on me; yes, I changed some things, but I think I've stayed true to the core of the rules, with activation rolls, blunders, firepower-hit-save-save-suppress-knock out, all that stuff staying true.  The only things I changed was to loosen things up for HQs and COs to make it simpler to remember, and to put arty on the board so that we could treat them just like any other unit, keeping it simple, rather than messing with calling for off-table arty.

So we had fun, but we've got to get faster.  I don't have any problems with the BKC unit stats, but I'm seriously considering treating each whole 'company' (I was using six Panthers, Shermans, or M-10s, but only three King Tigers) as a single 'unit' (still have six vehicles to look like a company, but the whole Sherman unit rolls 5 dice, saves on 5+, and can take four hits, rather than each vehicle doing that), in order to get the game moving faster.  Though I will have more units on the table, if that is the case (the Germans had three tank, two infantry, and one arty, the US had two tank and two infantry).  I won't do it in the next game, I'm going to give this another try, play it exactly the same, then see where we stand.

In terms of the mini-campaign, Kampgruppe Peiper continues to march,  moving west to take Stavelot, La Gleize, and Trois Ponts, in order.  Coming right up!

V/R,
Jack