The Road to Wiltz WTO (id:#56568)
Avalon Hill (AH:The General # 26.1 ID: P)   [next]   [previous]
Prior Publication: SL 12
East of Wiltz, Belgium 1944-12-18 ()
Designer: Unknown
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
GermanAmerican
42.857142857143%

Overview:

The German Bulge Offensive had surprised the Americans both in its size and intensity. Desperately, the Americans formed scratch defenses to buy time so the key road junction of Bastogne could be reinforced. The Germans had to be delayed or stopped as they drove along the roads to Bastogne. In the early hours, elements of the 44th Combat Engineers, supported by fragments of the 707th Tank Battalion, took over the responsibility for the road leading to Wiltz from the border with orders to hold for at least a day. The engineers felled trees, cut fire lanes and spread mines, making the passage a tough proposition. . .
Attacker: German (Volksgrenadier Regiment 39/Panzergrenadier Regiment 902/Jagdpanzer Reinforcements)
Defender: American (44th Combat Engineers and 707th Tank Battalion)  
14 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: German     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:33.5 D:7.0
AFVs: A:18
PzKpfw IIIN
PzKpfw IVH x 4
JgdPz IV/70 x 2
JgdPz 38(t) x 2
StuG IIIG (L)
StuG IIIG x 2
SPW 251/2
SPW 251/1 x 5
Buessing-NAG x 2
Opel Blitz x 4

AFVs: D:11
M7 HMC
M4A1(76)W
M4A3(75)W x 3
M4(105)
M10 GMC x 2
M3 ht x 3
2 1/2-Ton x 3

Guns: A:0 D:7
M1 57mm AT Gun x 2
M3 105mm Howitzer x 2
M1 81mm Mortar x 3

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: GS (E3.72)
Overlays: NONE
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2022-05-05(D) O Ramaille vs American winThe Americans put the roadblock on the road near the cliffs of the hill and protected by some wires. The Southern way around the hill was protected by AP and AT mines. An ART gun protected the roadblock and an AT gun was in support. The mortars were protecting the hills from the smaller 522 hill summit. The German advance was difficult and particularly slowed by the ground snow. Several pockets of US resistance held the Germans on the 621 hill. Despite the fewer number of the defenders, the US troops got a huge amount of firepower. At guns and even mortars sliced open the German panzers and lots of German troops broke and took a while to rally. The US sniper managed to kill some leaders as well. The OBA was not useful with so few LOS available. It went even worse when the observer went berserk charging with its radio on its back. The Americans did sacrificed quite all their infantry in this defense, but they prevent the Germans to exit the hill area with success (no German unit survived on board 3). The event of the game was a M7 HMC tank that survived 3 consecutive shots from a panzer IV (3 TK duds in a row...) only to be destroyed by the fourth shot. The Hetzer and Jagdpanzers suffered badly from deadly accurate AP shots (CH and shocks).
A pleasant game. The Germans could not stand the truly heroic defense on that game.
2021-02-24(D) Jeff B vs Scott Sherer German win20.75 hrsDespite the Board 2 setup limitations (and believe me I stretched it to the absolute limit), things started off well for my Americans, with my MMG nest making the job of the Germans getting on board using the road difficult, and my TD cold clocking the first Panzer. By the end of the turn two German squads were dead, with three more broken. If Turn 1 went well, Turn 2 went very poorly, with an AT gun demolished with a CH, my MMG nest busted up with another, and my TD being knocked out with (I believe) yet another. The good news was that I eliminated the German sniper, so all those CE tanks of mine could breathe a sigh of relief. All my thinly-skinned HTs had been scuttled and stripped to add more infantry support. Turn 3 was relatively quiet, but still very disheartening. His 10-3 MG nest blew apart the remainder of my own MMG nest, but worst of all was him locating and dismantling my roadblock like it was a pile of matchsticks. Thankfully my much-needed armor arrived to bolster the scene. Turn 4 saw us trade a few more blows, while Turn 5 went my way again - knocking out a couple more HTs, 1.5 squads, and a leader. His radio operator had got into position though, and the next turn was able to bring down some dreaded smoke. Turn 6 was a mixed bag, with me knocking out two more tanks/two more squads, but he smashed up both my wire and trapped and eliminated my 9-2 and gang (there must have been another CH or KIA somewhere here because I lost an unplaced DC and a BAZ). I was really starting to be stretched thin by Turn 7, but still was doing a decent job of keeping him at bay. The majority of his troops were still only halfway across the first board, but Scott rightly realized that the totally cleared roads meant he didn't need to push the attack, and I could not afford to keep trading casualties in a 1:1 ratio. Eventually he would have his breakthrough, and this would happen on Turn 9. Normally I'd say my ML=10, but Scott made me feel like a 6+1 by the end of that turn. While I may have still had a theoretical chance of holding him off, he just had too many tanks and loaded up vehicles to start racing for the exit and I conceded on Turn 10. I think there could be some further improvements to this monster old-school scenario, but overall it was still a very fun play.
2021-02-23(A) Scott Sherer vs Jeff B German winOld-school ASL...never played the original but this brought back memories of looking through the SL scenarios back in the 1970's! Absolutely diced Jeff...his mortars were nearly ineffective and I think I had at least 7 CH's to sweep the Americans off the hill. We quit around Turn 10 when nearly all American resistance was eliminated and the road to Wiltz lay open to the German panzers.
2015-10-25(A) Ron Garcia vs Darryl M. American win
2006-05-14(D) Brian Blad vs Damon Norko German win
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ActionDate
Hutch Modified the gps location2024-12-18 12:18:16
Hutch Modified the Attacker's AFVs2024-09-14 20:31:17
Hutch Modified the unit counts2024-09-14 20:30:28
Hutch Modified the Attacker's AFVs2024-09-14 20:30:28
Hutch Modified the Attacker's AFVs2024-09-14 20:29:47
FileDescriptionUserViews
(!germ-usa.png)Imagehoxson11119
(wiltz art kibler.png)Imagehoxson11127
(The Road to Wiltz.JPG)Map Imageandreapoldi1495
(wiltz winter map.jpg)Map Imagehoxson11190
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 5.57Votes: 7
Views: 10814
To-Play list count: 3
Estimated Play time: 31.9 hours
Recorded Games: 7
Archive recorded plays:
German3
American4
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
The Road to Wiltz
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[A] German 19
[D] American 42
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