Buchholz Station

TOURNAMENT WINNERS

First Place is Monty J. (Allied).   Second Place is Nate F. (Axis).

AFTER ACTION REPORT

• Game 4 is here.

PLAYER OPINIONS OF THE SCENARIO

“A great scenario with numerous options for each player.”  

“The German strategy was to break into two columns and approach the Americans from the North and West sides of the town. The Americans fell back and set up for shots on the Germans when they showed themselves.”  

“It was gratifying to see that the lack of German smoke didn’t unduly affect the balance.”

Map link and without pop-out link.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The Sixth Panzer Army had begun the Ardennes counteroffensive with two distinct missions in hand: the first, to cross the Meuse River between Liège and Huy as a prelude to the seizure of Antwerp; the second, to wheel a cordon of divisions onto a blocking line extending due east of Liège to cover the depth of the advancing army and to deny incoming Allied reinforcements the use of the highway complex southeast of Liège.

The attacks by the Sixth Panzer Army's infantry units in the north fared badly because of unexpectedly fierce resistance by the U.S. 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. Kampfgruppe Peiper, at the head of Sepp Dietrich's Sixth Panzer Army, had been designated to take the Losheim-Losheimergraben road, a key route through the Losheim Gap, but it was closed by two collapsed overpasses that German engineers failed to repair during the first day. Peiper's forces were rerouted through Lanzerath.

To preserve the quantity of armor available, the infantry of the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division, had been ordered to clear the village first. A single 18-man Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon from the 99th Infantry Division along with four Forward Air Controllers held up the battalion of about 500 German paratroopers until sunset, about 16:00, causing 92 casualties among the Germans.

This created a bottleneck in the German advance. Kampfgruppe Peiper did not begin his advance until nearly 16:00, more than 16 hours behind schedule and didn't reach Bucholz Station until the early morning of 17 December. Their intention was to control the twin villages of Rocherath-Krinkelt which would clear a path to the high ground of Elsenborn Ridge. Occupation of this dominating terrain would allow control of the roads to the south and west and ensure supply to Kampfgruppe Peiper's armored task force.

The stiff American defense prevented the Germans from reaching the vast array of supplies near the Belgian cities of Liège and Spa and the road network west of the Elsenborn Ridge leading to the Meuse River. After more than 10 days of intense battle, they pushed the Americans out of the villages, but were unable to dislodge them from the ridge, where elements of the V Corps of the First U.S. Army prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west.

RESOURCES

“Buchholz Station.” SQUAD LEADER. Baltimore, MD: The Avalon Hill Game Company, 1977. 

https://storage.googleapis.com/archivesqlt/AAA00007A.pdf

Cole, Hugh M.  “The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge”.  Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army.  Washington, D.C. 1965.

https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_5.htm#p83

“Battle of Lanzerath Ridge”.  Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lanzerath_Ridge

“Battle of the Bulge”.  Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge

Single Round Split Competition

This is a dual competition for the best allied player and the best axis player.  This provides a level playing field between opponents and reduces the effect of an unbalanced scenario.  

Pace

The tournament is paced for PBEM of a seven turn scenario.  Players have fourteen weeks to complete the match or one player turn a week for a seven turn scenario.  Scenarios of greater length have the same fourteen weeks and pace must be managed by players.  Matches that fall behind should meet face-to-face on VSQL to ensure timely completion.

Rules and Conventions

Generally, all rules are in play unless mutually agreed upon in advance.  The Tactical Training Series explicitly state rules in effect.  The twelve original scenarios use the rules through those introduced.

The Squad Leader Academy Conventions are in effect, they answer rule questions from prior SQLA tournaments and provide guidance to the Administrators in rule disputes.  Players are advised to read them beforehand.

Significant conventions

• 31B requires passengers to 'bail-out' when an AFV fires or is hit to prevent the 'panzergrenadier' hack.  They may not move to an adjacent hex nor fire that player turn.

• 36B crews may not attempt AFV immobilization.

• 48B an ATG crew is only effected by a hit on the gun.  This is a departure from the example but agrees with the rule.

• 57A Units may not advance 'up-and-over'.  This prevents a unit entering close combat from outside the defender's LOS during the dfph.

The Supplemental Rules of Combat compile rules by firing unit type and target types.  Use this to find the related rules in one paragraph and to resolve uncommon situations

Rule disagreements should be resolved in the following steps:

• Players should discuss between themselves.

• Roll the dice by mutual agreement.

• Ask the Administrator, he resolves the dispute to continue play.  Please post questions to BGG - Squad Leader forums for quickest response.

Medium

The official medium is VASSAL's SQUAD LEADER module.   Players may use another medium upon mutual agreement.

• VASSAL version 3.6.19

• VSQL version 4.3.7

• COD/GIA extension 9.4

• Boards version 5 SK

ACTS is the official dice roller, it verifies rolls and it facilitates play-by-email.  You can create an account and log in here.  

• You should use the Squad Leader Series Module in ACTS, a template for our games.

• Quick and easy ACTS

  • Place fire and target counters on VSQL board and type Firepower, modifiers and terrain.

  • Copy and paste this into ACTS Dice Roll comments and roll dice.

  • Copy and paste dice roll results into VSQL and resolve shots.

• Players not desiring the additional record keeping may use VASSAL's internal dice roller, subject to agreement of both players.