ASL P - The Road to Wiltz

Hey everybody,

Just finished up a Road to Wiltz (P) PBEM VASL game with chris edwards. This scenario has been staring at me ever since it was released with the original SL as the 12th Scenario. Introduced Rules sections regarding Roadblocks and On Board Artillery :). In that version, boards 1,3,2 and 4 were laid out left to right, the Germans starting on Bd 4, and needing to reach Bd 1. There was a cool SSR in the SL version too, that allowed any US 847 squad that stayed put for 5 turns to place a roadblock/wire on the map. :) I never played that scenario. Didn't have enough space to lay it out :). It just seemed way to big. So when Chris said he'd play it, I was anxious to see how it played out. Playing it VASL made it easier to play a game of this length.

This is a Battle of the Bulge scenario. Its 12/18/44 and the German Volksg are on the South wing of the push. Its early in the battle, and at this point, the Germans are anxious to keep on their timetable and push forward. The scenario's VC represent this feeling well. Only boards 3 and 2 are used in the ASL version, 3 being on the left. So what you have is the Germans trying to push in a sort of convoy fashion along the Bd 2 road, emerging into the Bd 3 village, and then needing bypass/get thru that very quickly in order to exit and win.

The German OOB is absolutely huge. Entering on turns 1-4, it consists of 32 squads, 9 leaders, including a 10-3 and a 10-2, 81mm Mortar OBA, and 24 vehicles. All they need to do is get 35 VP off the edge of the map. Of the 24 vehicles, 12 are tanks, including 4 big JgPz's with frontal 14 armor. They get a bunch of HT's too. More than enough to do the job. They even get 14 turns to do it. Its like a desert OOB, except there is only 1 little road to drive on. Yet, I have to say, despite the 14 turns, you really feel pressed for time as the German.

The US can put a variety of obstacles in your way. They have wire, roadblocks, and mines, including of course AT mines. The German simply just has to use that board edge road on Bd 2 to keep on schedule. Knowing that, the US can place several traps along the way. The German needs to scout out a bit, yet maintain a mobile force capable of driving off for the exit. They need to brush up on the roadblock removal rules and trailbreaking thru AT mines, and wreck clearance too. You don't see these used much, it was kinda cool to do that.

The US player has only 7 squads, but starts with or is reinforced with 8 tanks of his own, and a smattering of HT's too. 3 81mm mortars are also available. 9 ? counters are available as well. He is limited to 21 counters on Bd 2. I will not give a detailed description of the game , as it would be too long - and this is a long as is.

The general flow was my vehicles crawled, and I mean crawled along the Bd 2 road. There was an ATG and AT mine trap in hex 2M2 and 2 105 howitzers in hex 2D2. Behind that, a row of Shermans had parked on the Bd 3 Hill 522, where Chris had also placed the 81mm mortars. Germans hit the trap in 2M2 and lost 2 tanks, other forces moved up behind to remove the threat, luckily the US ATG's malfed. A flanking force of Stugs went up Hill 621 to duel the Shermans. That resulted in pretty much of a trade off, with the JgPz's finishing off the job, with their invulnerable 14 armor. That takes us to around turn 6. The convoy, with dismounted infantry in the lead, searching the road for more mines, then rounded the bend at 2E2. The Art Guns opened up on the leading infantry, but once again, a malf occured and German infantry swarmed the position before any real damage was done. The roadblock was then found at E4 and removed. Once those obstacles were out of the way, and with Sherman wrecks lining Hill 522, the full force of the Germans was able to break free onto Bd 3. I used bypass to skirt some halftracks thru first, leaving the trucks to wait until the roadblock was removed. That was turn 8. That left only 6 turns to fight my way through the Bd 3 village and exit. As I said earlier, you really feel the time pressure as the Germans with this one. I was fortunately able to swarm the bulk of the US force, which was guarding the approaches to the town and take them out on Turn 9.

The aresenal the German has is amazing. My 10-3 leader was destroying AFV's with everything - PF directed shots, shots at CE US HT's and CC. Chris threw in the towel as it was evident the forces lost to that point, had left his OOB weak, and he did not feel he could hold off the German tide. I breathed a sigh of relief, I was not sure what he had left, he still had 3 demo charges and 2 Bazookas that could hit me in street fighting in the Bd 3 village as I tried to drive through town, but his squad strength was so low, and I had so many units, that I could simply sacrifice some to tie up his few, then drive past at will.

ROAR has this scenario has very Pro US. I agree with that. Given better luck in his Bd 2 traps, and a different outcome in the dueling Stug/Sherman battle between the hills, I certainly would have ran out of time. I would not place any AP mines in this scenario, and trade all for AT. You know where the German has to drive. Put some on the Bd 2 road in a couple of spots, then one in the Bd 3 town, or 3F6 as a goalie. In fact, when the US tanks enter as reinforcements from the map edge, you could even deliberately drive *around* a road hex, to make the German think there is an AT mine in the road, even if there is not :)

The US has a real viable defense option. Stuff the German on Bd 2 with as much as he can, you are limited by the SSR to only 21 counters, use them all. Deploy as much as possible in the village to give yourself more Street Fighting options and make it look like you have a bigger force. The German balance in this one is an extra turn. He is really pressed for time. Do anything you can to delay him, and try and make him fall behind schedule. If you hold him on Bd 2 until the point where he *has* to drive through bd 3 to exit (and not be able to dismount) , then you are in really good shape. Hide a tank or 2 in the village along with a BAZ team, create a wreck in the road network and he'll have a really tough time.

Overall, this scenario really captures the flavor of the Bulge. The difficulties the Germans faced as they tried to move their large force in a restricted area is recreated well in this scenario. Its a big one, and will take some time to play, but to capture the feel of the German drive in the Bulge, it does a great job.

Steve Etz