10

OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS OPERATION GRENADE Pulling the Pin on the Germans

by Lee Enderlin

The Victory in the West SV5i em, o f "N hi ch Grenade numbers in the left hand column are the "why and wherefore" of the first decisions is a part, was The resu lt of one of those crea ti ve im­ manpower values. The numbers across the the players will have to make. pulses for a unified approach to an interesting top are the combai values. The numbers OG was originally intended to cover the thea Ter of Worl d War TI',/o . It is a demanding c h a l~ where a row and column intersect indicate flank of the First Canadian and Second Bri­ lenge to subsequ ent eles igflRr s SinCR although the'! how many chits have their combat strength ti sh Armies to the north (Operation Ver­ are spared tii A prob lAm of fram ing the ba5 ic struc­ ture of the gallle, rhev are bv the saille token de­ printed on them. "Total" is the number of itable). In game terms, this is the area in the nied the flexibllty of making deSign decisi ons thaT chits in that row, and "Average" is self-ex­ vicinity of Geldern. elr ivA thA 'ymlfl in tilA elir p.c tion they w ish. Even planatory. Our A-2 unit has 2 chances in 39 South of Grenade was Operation Lum­ thou gh 'va llJ p. assig nlllp.nts and exclu sive rules of having a strength of 4; 5 in 39 of being berjack and this was the US First and Third a 110"''; some freed om, do ing a SVStP. lll-gJIllA is a lo t worth 9, etc. These charts are only for t.he ini­ Armies converging on Coblenz. Still further like 'Nritlf1 g d book with someone el s8 's charaCTers. tiaL full-strength combat value. The chits are south, the US Seventh Armv was to attack Tou gh Sl uft - Redmond back printed, so step reduction is built in. toward Frankfurt in Operation Undertone. As the game progresses , more and more The latter two are not at all represented in the units will be ass igned a combat strengrh and game .. owning players will be able to eliminate the It was also hoped that, the good Lord Late winter, 1945, was a particularly inherent "luck of the draw" of the first few willing, a bridge over the Rhine would be rough lime for the German armed forces. Game-Turns. However, unless a player has a captured intact, but that seemed to be a lot Units were surrendering en masse in the photographic memory, he'll never be able to toask. West, Allied airpower was overbearing, and remember exactly what his opponent has, so Grenade, then, played a pivotal central there was little fight (and often fewer sol­ the system is still important later on. role in Eisenhower's broad front strategy. It diers) left in the units that remained on the There are only two minor rules prob­ protected the flanks of two other major mili­ field. When a game designer attempts to sim­ lems with the game and both are of the "clar­ tary operations, but Veritable was specifically ulate this era, he does so at great risk. Rolling ification" rather than the "correction" planned to be in conjunction with Grenade. up a large pile of dead cardboard Nazis variety. Players with any knowledge of The British jumped off on schedule on usually makes for a very dull game. World War II hi story should easily be able to February 8th (an Englishman would rather There are, however, a few situations that interpret what the designer intended. die than be late), and Grenade was set to go can be successfully treated on the game map The first rule is 9.4, Divisional Integrity. the next day. However, the Germans blew up and Oper(ltion Grenade (OG hereafter) is The wording is slightly ambiguous about re­ two important dams (off the game's south one of them. ceiving this bonus on defense. You need to be map-edge), flooding the Maas Ri ver and adjacent to only one other regiment of the forcing an immediate postponement. At this The Game System same division to qualify. This means that a point, the game begins. OG is part of the Victory in the West division can lose one of its regiments in com­ The Allied Player system. The distinguishing feature of this bat and still provide divisional integrity on system is its unique hidden value rules. The defense, but no longer on offense. Units that The Allied player will usually have the players never know the exact combat value of are being attacked can disregard the diagram second decision of the game, that is, when to a regiment size unit until it engages in combat showing the requirements for divisional in­ attack. The German player will have already for the first time. Smaller units, including tegrity in the standard rules. This is for at­ decided in which manner he wants to flood cadres, have a fixed value, usually one. tacking units only. the riversides and the American must then Il v.'orks this way: Each unit has two val­ The second ambiguity is rule 25.0, Air plan accordingly. The German will probably ues printed on the front. One is a letter grade Points. The German player gets only a total of use a gradual flood (for reasons we'll discuss indicating morale: A, B, or C, with A the two for the entire game. While this seems ob­ later). If he does use a flash flood, the Ameri­ best. The second is a number indicating the vious to anyone with more than a passing cans have to attack right away on Game-Turn manpower of the unit: 1, 2, or 3. The larger knowledge of the history of the Luftwaffe, a One (February 17th), so there is no decision the number, the greater the manpower. The glib, "rules lawyer" type of player could to make in this case. A gradual flood, though, optimum, then, is A-3, the worst C-l. make a case for the German to receive two does cause problems. A large number of chits are provided in points every turn because of the wording of The Germans greatest ally is time and . the countermix to show the current combat the rule. Sorry, Herr Goering . the Americans don't have much of it. With a value. These chits are separated according There is only one mistake in the rules, gradual flood situation, the American player to the large number printed on them. This but it doesn't affect the play of the game. The will lose from one to seven turns waiting for number corresponds to the manpower num­ standard rules state that there are 200 count­ the water to recede. He must decide when to ber on the combat unit. Each chit also has ers in OG, bur there are actually 250. Design­ launch his attack. The sooner he goes, the three values printed on it to correspond with er Joe Balkoski got permission to use a 255 tougher the German defense will be, but the the morale letter. When a unit with a value of countersheet (5 are blanks in OG) because it more time he will have to reach his objec­ A-2 engages in combat for the first time, for didn't increase the size of the sheet ilself. The tives. Attack too late and he loses his surprise instance, the owning player draws a chit slip is unimportant, but if any of you noticed advantage as well as precious turns. from the container holding all the "2" chits, the discrepancy, at least now you know why A reasonable compromise is to attack then cross-references the "A" to obtain a it's there. on February 23rd. This is the last day the Al­ combat value between 4 and 14. lies will have their surprise bonus (a one col­ The chart accompanying this article Historical Background umn shift in their favor) and the Germans shows what values can be expected in OG. It is necessary to brietly touch on the his­ will be almost at their weakest. The race for The letter, of course, is the morale value. The tory of the battle in order to understand the the objectives will be close, probably lasting 11 right until the last turn or two. If the Ameri­ man forces will be weak around there if they attack is handled. It will take time and the can player is feeling lucky, he might try going exist at all. There are far more important fighting will not end after an Allied break­ on February 22nd. His losses will be greater, places to defend. through at the defense lines, but if the Amer­ but if he manages to breach the river line Optimum use of the 7th Corps is its role ican player can bring the 19th Corps up somewhere, he has saved a turn. He can af­ in clearing the southern river defe nse line and quickly enough and handles the attack prop­ ford the losses, but if he doesn't crack the de­ the area around Forst Hambach. Then it can erly, wasting a minimum of time, the German fense, he has wasted a good opportunity. At­ be sent where it is needed most, depending on player will be incapable of reacting. tacking between February 17th and 21st is the circumslan<.:es. If the river line is nOl yet Once the defense line is cleared, the bat­ suicide ai worst and sorely tempting fate at clear, it should be sent to altack the units still tle becomes more open as the Germans will best. there from the rear. rr the river line is under be forced back into pockets of resistance The effect of the river on German de­ American control, the corps can be sent east­ rather than contiguous lines. At this point, fenses is not a sure thing and dependent on a ward to Koeln . It shouldn't be allowed to the speed of the American mechanized units die roll. Modifications are made in the Amer­ tangle up with and slow down (he lead ele­ becomes important. They should dash for ican's favor the longer he waits. ments of the 19th Corps, but it should be us­ every unoccupied objective city, surround He can assure himself of at least one ed to allack any lingering German units. The the pockets of German units, and attack as break in the opposing line if he waits until the American player should remember that once many occupied cities that they have a mathe­ 23rd. That is at the extreme southern end at the Germans move north, lhere won't be matical chance of capturing. This is quite a hex 0110, v... hich is unsupported for divisional much use for the 7th Corps, so it should get lot to ask from so few (and sometimes rela­ integrity. Unfortunately, the great majority as much action as it can early. tively weak) units, but the Germans won't be of objective cities are in the extreme northern In one game I played, the American in very good shape, to say the least. end. He couldn'l get further away if he tried, player sent the corps to Koeln too early and These tasks will have to be carried out but he has to start somewhere. simply had (0 retrace his steps later when the with whatever is available because time will He should bring one regiment of the 8th German inriltrated lhree strong units back be running short by this point in the game. Division from hex 0108 to 0209, while moving into t he river line. The resulting delay cost The American player will have to take a few the other two units into 0109. Since the tov,;n the American the game because these units chances, especially if his attacks along the de­ of Dueren in hex 0210 is undefended, he can tied up a larger number of 19th Corp~ troops fense line were slow in reaching fruition. As gang up on 0110 without worrying about a who were needed far to the nOrt heast. weak and few as these units may seem, they forced attack into that hex . The l04th Divi­ The reason for staying away from the are sufficient to accomplish most of their sion can move up from 0308 to attack 0310 19th Corps' line of advance during these cri­ jobs. and satisfy the required attack into that hex. tical Game-Turns is t hat this corps has the The 13th Corps has the tough job of He should use every nasty trick he can task of making the most important attacks in fighting its way through all the defense posi­ on 0110 unless the German draws an extreme­ the game and these ~ hould be started as soon tions that the 19th Corps wants to avoid. It's ly weak chit. He can get up to six column as po s~ ible. This corps' first objective after going to take time and casualties, but the shifts against the poor sucker (surprise, air crossing the river is to drive immediately to­ enemy troops have to be attacked to support support, two for divisional integrity, and two ward t he line of improved positons from hex the eastern flank. Once the area between artillery barrages). If the unit is weak, he can 1113 to hex 1415 . This is the weakest point of Empter Wald and Duelken is taken, this afford the lUXury of using only as much force the German defenses, and once cleared the corps can turn west and help capture Roer­ as necessary; if it is strong, the German fox­ road to vast riches of victory points is wide· mond, continue north toward Venlo, or east holes had better be good, especially if there is open. The corps should be sent there quickly to Viersan and eventually Geldern, depend­ a lot of Allied airpower available. One thing and not allowed to get tied up in attacking ing on which area, if any, needs help. In all the Allied player does not want to waste is units simply because "They're there." This likelihood, some units of the corps can be ef­ this virtual freebie to an unlucky die roll. may end up costing a turn or two in reorgan­ fectively sent in all three directions. Once across the river, the attacking is a izi ng the front. The follow-up unit s of the The 16th Corps and the one division of little easier because the defenders are out­ 7th and 13lh Corps should take care of these the 12th Corps should work together. By the flanked somewhat. This is important because Germans if possible. time the supply restrictions are lifted from the Germans will still have defense bonuses I always send the 739th mine clearing the 12th Corps on Game-Turn Six, the Amer­ through February 24th if attacked solely tank battalion to this sector. While other ican player should be ready to attack Roer­ across river hexsides. Naturally, the Ameri­ parts of the map have more improved posi­ mond with at least two divisions, one from can player wants to minimize this advantage. tions for this unit to neutralize, it is this same each corps. Even though they are out of sup­ weakness that makes il important to use the Game-Turn Two, regardless of when the ply early, their movement allowances are un­ battalion here. Once through the main line of attack is originally launched, will be the affected, so this time can be utilized to move defense positions, this unit can be sent to toughest. There is no longer a surprise bonus the units to their start lines in anticipation of clear the ring around Krefeld. to help, and, as stated, the opponent will still their involvement in Grenade. Once Roer­ It is imperative that the American player mond falls, these units should head for Venlo have favorable defense bonuses. Some play­ understand lhat this is the main attack. All while the weaker units of the corps remain ers I've seen hold back on this turn and at­ other attacks are simply secondary to tie behind to clear the river line, if necessary, tack only where necessary or where the flank down enemy units that could be used in this with the 13th Corps. has been turned. Given the game mechanics sector. Victory or defeat will rely on how this This is a general overview of the Allied of OG, these are usually the same thing. Tdi s­ strategy. Now, here are some tactical hints on agree ",,'"ith that on two counts. Se.ve.nlh Army'\- CI :-- ("'(}ssing lhl' Rhine how to accomplish this. First, the Allied player cannot afford near W(}rms. the time, and second, he can afford the loss­ First of all, back in Koeln, the 7th Corps es. In fact, he is going to have a hard time will be anxiously staring at the Rhine bridge there. If the German player has left a regular finding somet.hing for many of his units to do as the game progresses, so to hell with it. combat unit behind to increase his odds of Take your lumps. It's only paper blood. blowing the bridge, the American player Game-Turns Three or Four will see the should not attempt to force the situation be­ southern end of the German line vanish, fore the last couple of turns. That unit could leaving open the road to Koeln. It is the only surely be used elsewhere and the 7th Corps objective city in the southern half of the isn't going anywhere, so let the German out­ map. Since the 7th Corps cannot advance fit languish. In fact, anywhere the American north of the 09xx hex row (see what I mean player has an overabundance of troops and aboul having troops with nothing to do?), the German player is tied down on the east­ the capture of Koeln is also the 7th Corps' ern end of the bridges, the American should only objective. But the American player wait before attempting the coup. shouldn't get too greedy; this is the one in­ However, if the fighting is not going in st ance when he has plenty of time. The Ger- the American's favor, he may have to gamble 12

on laking a bridge to garner some victory around as long as Tactics II and all experienc­ This is also the best way to create breakout points. He has to get across the bridge to get ed gamers use it, maybe under different attacks on the Combat Results Table and those points, too, so he had better leave him­ names. It is [he classic means of breaking a take advantage of them, especially late in the self enough time to do so. In this case, he had defense line. game when the German will be hard pressed better ignore my previous advice. However, After setting up the attacks for a given to field backup forces. he should never count on taking a bridge; the turn, the phasing player resolves every other odds are too slim. combat, then goes back and resolves the at­ The German Player The American player should always be tacks that were skipped. If the first wave of As is the case with most games of this aware of the size of the units he is facing. attacks are successful, the enemy units anack­ era, the German player is more or less forced Baltalions, cadres, and artillery have no ed by the second wave will be surrounded to dance to the tune of the Allied piper. His zones of control and this is the key to the after the first wave's "advance after options are fe""'er, bUl lhere are some things game. He can infiltrate through these units at combat." Unable to retreat, these units will he can do to help himsel f. will and threaten undefended rear areas. As be forced to take step losses. V'lith a little First of all, he can lop off seven turns by the German units are slowly battered down luck or at high odds, these units will be declaring a gradual flood. A flash nood gives into cadres, more and more of these situa­ destroyed outright. the American player too much time for cap­ tions will occur and the American is well­ Allied attacks in 00 come up against LUring hi s objectives. Initial American losses advised to avoid time-wasting attacks when a line after line of German defenses, so this can (but nOl necessari ly) be a little higher, but quick thrust will be more devastating. If tactic can be utilized frequently. Be careful in he can afford them, and the extra turns will nothing else, the front will sure move in a planning the order of attack, however. Occa­ more than make up for the losses. The Ger­ hurry toward his objectives. si onally, if is more important to kill off a unit man defense is equally as good and some­ This game is well-suited to the tactic of holding a key hex then it is to let it retreat, so times better in a gradual flood, anyway, so go "picket fence attacking." This trick has been that one must be saved for the second wave. with that one. 13

I feel it is best to u se the feeble German longer be feasible, but these isolated pockets as well make the most of it and laugh in his airpower on the firsl or second turn. This is can still ho ld things back. Save some units opponent's face to show his con tempt. the best defense situation he will have be­ for gallant stands around Geldern and cause of the flooding and meager artillery Rheinberg, if poss ible. Assuming all the In Summary support will also be avail able. Most of the bridges are blo·},.' n, the enemy will have to The biggest complaint I have abollt OC units will also get the divisional integrity take 1\,'0 of t he three cities worth three vic­ is the restriction of the American mechanized bonus, too. Later, the artillery will have been tory poil1ls each to win the game. This is ex­ forces in the beginning of the game. These overun and often, the units will be too inter­ cluding Koeln which shouldn't be defended mingled , spread out, or simply destroyed to beyond Game-Turn Three or Four except units cannOI move for the first three turns. 1 qualify for integrity. By that point, it doesn 't with throwaway Volk ssturm units. cannot understand the reason. There a re re­ strictions on a number of other outfits, both help much to reduce an 11-1 to a 10-1. Use The third of these northern cities is German and Allied, but they all make histor­ those airpoints early, when they will do the Moers and is virtually indefensible, It has no ical sense. The 9th and 11th P anzer Divisions most good. fortifications and is approachable from all had no gas, so they would have spent time Exactly where to use air and artillery will six adjacent hexes. It is also the nearest of the waiting for supplies before entering the game depend on what kind of chits vou draw. Use three to t he Allied advance. Geldern itself is (one and two turns, respectivelv). H it ler was them for your strongest units because yo~r an entrenchment and approachable only loathe to give up any territory, let alone Ger­ weaker ones will probably be pushed back from four sides while Rheinberg has no de­ man, so the strategic withdrawal rule for the anyway. [f there is any hope at a ll , give the fe nses, but can be attacked from only three 2nd Corps makes sense too. The Allied 12th uni t in hex 0110 all the support you can. sides. Also, these two are on the v~rv last and 16th Corps were in relatively secondary Do n't retreat a single hex more then nec­ hex row of the map. The game is won in the areas, so they were out of supply because essary except TO keep a line intact. Ever\' as­ battles for these two cities. units in the primary areas had priorilY. sau lt the American has to make will slol\': him The German player should rarely aban­ The mechanized rule appears to be an down for a turn. In the open terrain south of don a prepared defense line volu ntarily, even artificial add-on for the sake of play balance. Grevenbroich, use the hilltops for your ad­ if the units are in danger of being cut off. It affects the game in two ways. First, the vantage in light of the lack of improved posi­ First of all, this forces the Ameriean player to American player has to be very careful in his tions. Usuall v, slow moving units will be attack one or two more hexes south of the inilial set-up for his self·propelled artillery [rapped in thi:;; area and these can be utilized goal. Second, it forces him to split up his units. Judicious placement will insure maxi­ as a rear guard by moving them as close to units a little. Since Allied zones of control do mum use during the three turns of their im­ the American lines as possible instead of trv­ not extend into the~e hexes, he must physical­ mobility. ing to save them. Slowing the Allied o rl­ ly occupy them unlil the German player can Second, the American infa ntry will be slaught is your p rime concern, not t he preser­ no longer threaten to sneak back into a hex st rung o ut in allack ing the l'vlaas River line, vation of your arm\'. Sounds incredib[v the Americans have alreadY taken. resulting in the loss of divisional integrity in cruel, doesn 't it?' - The German player will have to sacrifi ce som e cases. This is inevitable if he wants 1.0 The biggest German headache is m ain­ a fair amOunt of units in those defense lines, make as many attacks as possible in Game· taining a reserve to prevent breakouts. Ini­ but he v.'ill be gaining the greater advamage Turn One, which he sh ould. tially, this wi ll be easy, especiallv if he is [uch of time. [n general, however, O G works because enough to roll an early strategic withdrawal. Finally, there is the question of h ow to the victory point objeclives are difficult for In any event, he has to move as many units as handle the bridges . Keeping combat troops the American to reach. One armv is very feasible from the 12th Corps to the \~'eak sec­ in t he eastern terminal hexes enhances the strong and always on the offense, tor a round Grevenbroich, An early Ameri­ odds of blowing them up, but not much. [ ~I'hi l e th~ other is \>,'eak and can o nly make a rare, local can breakthrough here ""'ill mean -an earlv don't like to waste t he combat units , especial­ coul1lerattack to alleviate the boredom of shower. - ly in Koehl where a smart Allied player will constant defense . Yet, the weak armv has an The hilltop in hex 0912 is a key' piece of tie it down for the whole game. excellent chance of winning. - terrain. It can provide offensive bonuses 10 The best shot the American player will There is one aspect that some would sav three attacks on improved position he.>;es, have is 191Ji'o, regardless of the presence of h urts the game, although it i., historicall ;' one of which is hex 1113 , on the extreme German units (the "ruse" rule). He gets that quite accurate. That is the b usiness aboUl.the western end of the German sector. Trv to just once. He has an 11 % chance without any bridges, hold 01110 th is hilltop as long as you ca;l to 'units or with Volksst urrn units and a 6 0,,~ Yes, they were extremely imponant, and help your d efensc gain the needed time to chance with a regular combat unit. I prefer 10 yes, capturing one intact was most[v a matter move into place, let my units fight (and mostly die) and trllST of luck. 1f the Allied player gcts o~e in OC, Later in the game, after the inevitable the die rolls to General Luck . he will probably win. I f he's lucky enough to breakthrough takes place, drop into small German losses will be horrendous and capture two, pick it up and start all over. H e pockets of resistance. A long line ""ill no there is nothing he can do about it, so he may can't lose, This is a n excellent example of how circumstances over which the opposing generals have no control can influ ence a bal­ £Ie. Two bridges over the Rhine should be a major Allied victory. COMBAT STRENGTH AND Admittedly, playing a tenacious, re­ MORALE RATING BREAKDOWN CHART sourceful defense onlv to have luck take COMBATVALUES away a hard-earned I:ictorv is di fficult to MORALE! swallow. This doesn 't happ ~n often in OC, STRENGTH 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 AVE roTAL but il is a fact of war. "Game-gamers" hat~ A I" 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 6.64 25 3 it; "historian-gamers" accept it. Nobodv 81 3 2 4 2 6 2 4 2 4,52 25 really likes it. I find il to be a verv satisfv in~ CI 5 4 2 6 2 4 2 3,64 25 touch . - . e A 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 3 2 9.00 39 Let's face it, despite the bloodt hirsty competitiveness of some garners (and we all 8 2 4 8 5 8 4 5 6.00 39 know at least one li ke that), this is, after all , C 2 5 4 8 5 8 4 5 5.00 39 only a game and the German player can still A3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 11.00 23 get some satisfaction from good play if Fate decides against him. An astute American 8 3 2 4 2 5 2 4 4 7.10 23 player will recognize this. C 3* 2 4 2 5 2 4 4 5.60 23 Of course, the two of you have one great Note: An aS leris k ( 0) indicates thai this unit is or C -3 units in Operation Grenade. Also, advantage o ver history, You can always set provided for reference only; [here are 110 A-I there is only one B·1 unil provided in Ihe game. 'em upand ... Play it again, Sam, ••