Battle of Lanzerath Ridge - Setup order

1 x51

2 x4

3 x1

Lanzerath 4 x1

5 x19

6 x6

7 x1

8 x10

9 x4 Historical Background The Battle of Lanzerath Ridge was fought on December 16th, 1944, the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, near the town of Lanzerath, Belgium. It was fought between 18 men of the American reconnaissance platoon, four US Forward Artillery Observers, and a battalion of about 500 German paratroopers. During a day-long confrontation, the American reconnaissance men inflicted dozens of casualties on the Germans bottled up the advance along a key route for the 1st Panzer Division, which had been selected to spearhead the advance of the entire German 6th Panzer Army. 10 x1 The Germans finally flanked the American forces at dusk, capturing them. Only one American, a forward artillery observer, was killed, while 14 were wounded: German casualties totaled 92. The Germans paused, believing the woods were filled with more Americans and tanks. Only when the SS-Standartenfuher Joachim Peiper and his Panzer tanks arrived at midnight, twelve hours behind schedule, did the Germans learn the woods were empty. Due to the lost communications with Battalion and then Regimental headquarters, and the unit's subsequent capture, its disposition and success at delaying the advance of the 6th Panzer Army that day was unknown to the U.S. commanders. Lt. Lyle Bouck considered the wounding of his men and the capture of his entire unit a failure. When the war ended five months later, the platoon's men, who were split between two prisoner-of-war camps, just wanted to go home. It was only after the war that Bouck learned that, because his platoon prevented the lead German infantry elements from advancing, the schedule for the armored units' advance was also pushed back by about 20 hours. On October 26, 1981, after considerable lobbying, a Congressional hearing, and letter writing by Bouck, every member of the unit were finally recognized for their valor that day, making the platoon the most decorated American unit of World War II. source... ( wikipedia )

play. Briefing Heroic Leader rules are in effect. Battle Star with Allied unit is where Lt. Lyle Bouck is. German Goal: Combat deck can be used. After each turn, rolling a Star allows for a pull from the combat deck. Secure the road to enable the 1st and 12th SS Panzer divisions to advance. Quickly eliminate or capture all Allies to help keep the element of surprise and increase the success of the entire advance. Battle Damage and Opportunity Fire house rules are in effect. The Allied units in hexes with sandbags and wooden logs represent fox holes reinforced with wood. Units in these American Goal: hexes can only be hit with a "grenade" because of the extra protection. The bags and wood fortification does not Hold the position as ordered, thereby delaying the initial German Army advance and giving time for the American get removed if an Allied unit is forced to retreat. A German unit can take ground but they don't get the same units to prepare. protection. Infantry and Grenades are hits on the Axis unit. Cards: German Player: 7 cards. you move first Fog conditions. No air power card. If drawn, discard and draw another. No air rules. Allied Player: 6 cards Barrage Card. Can be played by a German engineer unit or Bouck of the Allies. Must have line of sight to target to play it. Allied units targeted in the wooden fox holes can still only be hit with a grenade. Daylight rolls. After each Allied turn the Allied player rolls 1 die. If it is a Star, one Star is moved down from a Conditions of Victory line of 12. This represents the passing of time during this battle. It also represents the amount of light this is available. For example, once only 2 stars are left, visibility is reduced to just 2 hexes because it is getting dark. Victory Conditions: Once all 12 Stars are moved down, it is dark and the battle is over. At this point if the Allies are not all eliminated If the Germans eliminate or capture all Allied units, they win the scenario. The more stars that are left or captured, they win the scenario. representing daylight, the better they have done. If any Allied unit is still on the map and not captured or eliminated when all 12 stars are removed, the Allies win the battle. The German forces have been delayed in their initial assault. Special Rules All these specials rules are so the scenario plays close to how this real battle occurred, with only 1 American casualty and 92 German casualties. ( using the Vassal online version of Memoir 44 with these rules, but they can be adapted to the board game. ) At the start of the battle, the German player gets to play 5 artillery attacks. For each attack, mark a target hex with the crosshair. Roll 3 paradrops. This is the drift of the shot. Where the target ends up, this is where it hits. If any unit is in this hex, roll for effect. The foxholes with logs give extra protection, only hit on grenade. During the battle, an Axis unit can call for an artillery strike. If the German unit is an Engineer unit and it has line of sight to the target hex, it can request artillery. Order that unit. Place crosshair on the target hex which the unit has line of sight to. Roll to get an artillery strike. Star or Grenade = artillery available. If available, roll 3 paradrops. This is the drift of the shot. Where the target ends up, this is where the shell hit. If there is a unit in the hex, either Allied or Axis, roll for effect. For the Allied player, in this scenario all left flank cards can be played as center cards. Capturing rule is in effect. If a unit gets "surrounded" then it can be captured by the opposing player. To be considered surrounded, a unit must have enemy units adjacent to it on opposite sides. If this happens, the unit that is surrounded cannot move on the next turn but can try to battle. After this turn if it is still surrounded, then it is considered captured. The unit is placed under one of the Axis units, Axis player's choice, and cannot be ordered by the Allied player from this point while under the Axis unit. A green "c" is placed on the unit to show it is captured. The Axis unit can move just one hex while the Allied unit is under it, and cannot battle. The Axis unit can be fired upon. If this unit is eliminated, then the Allied unit is considered rescued and can resume normal Symbols & Graphics Copyright (c) 2004 - 2021 Days of Wonder, Inc. Produced with permission, for non-commercial use only.