Bulge 16.01s alt

[Plain Ian]

So lets look at 5th Panzer Army next. Here is the left wing on Dawn 25th December 6am  which covers the area from Hotte to Compogne. Its Turn 82.  XLVII Pz Korps has a formidable force assigned to it. 


 
It has 3 Panzer Divisions (Fuhrer Begleit is effectively a Panzer Division), an SS Panzer Division, 2 Motorised Divisions and a Volks Grenadier Division. (the 26th VGD is a B rated unit) The 9th Panzer is off to the south at the moment in the 7th Armyarea.  To compensate for this  Cesar has the 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division as a reserve at Bastogne. The 3rd Pz GD is still assigned to 1st SS Pz Korps 6th SS Army?  Corps attachments were set up last turn so I can only assume that 3rd Pz GD is marking time here until 9th Panzer arrives?
2nd Panzer is not shown on the map. Its actually off map to the north. We will look at that next.
So lets look at the units from south to north.

2nd SS Pz Div.

It arrived on the map subordinated to II SS Korps/6th SS Army but it has been sent to the 5th Panzer area. I think I first bumped into an advance unit of it (Recce)  on the 21st in the Hotte area but Cesar concentrated the unit on the Hompre-Hollange area by the 22nd. It effectively allowed the Fuhrer Begleit to redeploy and withdraw north. Once deloyed the 2nd SS easily pushed the 26th US Division south and west in the battles of Hollange and Warnach. After that operation it has been shifted north and is now pushing north west on Magerotte. These operations I guess are to designed to weaken US forces and take control of terrain for future defense.

The 2nd SS has lost 1,400 men from its original arrival strength on the 20th December. Its 7 manoeuvre units (including the Pioneer Bn) are averaging roughly 600 men . (They start at 750 men on the 20th) 

I’m amazed to see the Diviison has lost 108 vehicles?  Pz Aufkl Bn 2 has lost 36 armoured cars which I understand as I did hit this quite a few times. I also managed to inflict damage on his Pz IV’s/StuG III/JagdPz IV’s so I understand his losses in II/SS Pz Rgt 2 and SS Pz Jag Bn 2.

What I am surprised to see is that I/SS Pz Rgt 2 has gone down from 58 Panthers on the 20th Dec to 41 runners on the 25th Dec? I’m pretty sure I have killed no Panthers during my turns but he possibly has lost 3-4 during his assaults. I can only assume that he has lost at least 12 to breakdowns???  So I guess that tank breakdowns does work in this game after all????

15th Pz Gr Div


Arrived at the front late on the 23rd and was involved in heavy night fighting into the 24th. The 104th Gr Rgt was detached to to relieve the 26th VGD at Bertogne/Compogne. The rest of the Diviiaon fought with the 2nd SS in the Chaumont/Hollange area.

The Division is in a reasonable condition in terms of fatigue. Its armour has suffered some losses and its infantry has lost almost 600 men or about 17% of its starting strength. Despite fairly heavy fighting at Compogne the 104th Pz G Rgt seems to have recovered and its 3 Battalions average about 60 losses each. The 115th Pz G Rgt  has taken heavier losses in the attacks at Chaumont however its battalions do start the campaign slightly lower than the 104th.
26th VGD

This unit led the advance to Bastogne along with the 2nd Panzer Division.  Its units reached Longvilly and Bras just as night was falling on the 18th. On the 19th it pushed the US 28th Division out of Longwilly and helped 2nd Panzer secure Magaret and the outskirts of Bastogne. By nightfall on the 19th the Germans had Bastogne. Since then the Division has spent the last six days in the Longchamps-Bertogne area. It currently requires urgent rest. 5 of its Battalions are medium/high fatigued with only 1 battalion and the Fusileer Bn rested. Its StuG Ko has lost 10 JagdPz 38t’s (Hetzers?) and is down to 4 runners.
 
3rd Pz Gr Div


I think this unit is here as a reserve to replace the 26th VGD if required whilst 9th Panzer arrives. This unit was heavily engaged in the Hoes Venn under 6th SS Army (Robertville-Sourbrodt 20th Dec) and I think has spent quite a few days recovering in reserve. The Division arrived on map understrength with each Battalion at 300 men. The 3 Battalions of PzGRgt 39 are now averaging 240 men which is about 40%. PZ GRgt 8 is at 60% with most Battalions now well over 300+. So Pz GRgt 8 probably was not committed. However the armour took a severe beating losing all its PzIV’s (PzAbt 103) and all but 4 of its Jagdpanzer IV’s. (Pz Jag Bn 3)

Fuhrer Begleit Bde


Just about forgot this unit. Its fought well since it arrived south of Bastogne and caused me lots of problems at Magerotte and Flamierge. Its in fairly good condition apart from Grenadier Bn 828 which is wrecked after fighting 3 US Paratroop Bns. Its armour is depleted though. Magerotte took its toll.

2nd Panzer Div is just off map to the north I’ll look at that next.