Ts4EVER

I also wonder how much of a handicap the lacking top armor of the hellcats and M36s is when fighting infantry.

I feel like the Allies have the upper hand here. That being said, the wrong expectations on their part might lead to some confusion. He might be under the impression that the enemy has a whole tank force in reserve. If that is the case, he might not be able to use his tanks to stem the tide of infantry. Because from what I can tell about the map, it would be possible to find covered routes for the infantry and exploit them. The Allies could easily shut this down, but only if they actually maneuvre. If he is afraid of unspotted Panzers, he might play too conservatively, giving the Germans at least an initial advantage.

IIRC the Americans had all but phased out non-selfpropelled at guns at that point anyway.

Volksgrenadier Divisions had very variable quality. Some, like the 12th, were generally competent, others very shoddy.

Is it only me or does the AA tank look a bit weird? Wacky LoDs maybe?

I got most of my casualties in the village. Close tank support helped though, after the German tank was knocked out they were basically unstoppable. Germans were turning brittle at that point as well.

Well one example of the being used in combat operations was the attack on the Son bridge which you can find in the MG module. Other Panzer Brigades were used in the fighting around Arracourt and of course they were used at a company level there, maybe even bataillon level. A single platoon in not a normal maneuvre element. These were the standard infantry part of the few Panzer Brigades created and especially the first ones raised were by all accounts equipped pretty well.

That's not how it works. If the enemy force is a Panzer Brigade, they would operate with full companies or bataillons of them. It's not like you randomly attach a platoon from a different unit to a force.

Just got a total victory on this on my first playthrough, had to reload once at the end though to deal with an unknown resistance nest in the village that was contesting the objective. Here is what I did: 1. Preparatory bombardment by the mortars on the obvious defensive hedges (most was wasted, turns out). Once I spotted the defense position I called in a direct 60mm strike on the Pak40, then destroyed the bunker with tanks and occupied the trenches with moderate casualties. At this point an 88mm gun blew up one of my Shermans and I noticed a counter attack forming. 2. At the western edge of the defense line is a hedge that gives you good sight on the 88mm battery. I put both company HQs there and called in 81mm and Priest fire on the 88s. They didn't bother me the rest of the scenario. As I saw the Germans pausing at one of the farms, I also got a platoon hq in to call in the rest of the 60mm on them. They caught the Germans in the middle of their advance and caused lots of infantry casualties. 3. After I was sure that the 88mm guns were done, I retreated the HQs and moved a Sherman into the aforementioned position. He destroyed two German tank destroyers from there and mowed down what was left of the infantry. 4. While the counter attack was being mopped up I moved Fox Company down the road into the village, supported by a bunch of tanks. This took very long, as I had to clear 1 house after the other without satchels. 1 Tank destroyer was knocked out by rifle grenade of all things. As darkness fell there were still several resistance nests in the village that proved very stubborn. I was running out of time, but I decided to at least try to reach the evacuation zone with Easy Company, so I moved them from the trench line into the fields under the cover of darkness. 5. I encountered scattered German resistance and another tank destroyer, which I knocked out. By the end of the round I had only reached the center farm where the Germans had gathered for their attack. 6. I then lost the mission because of an HQ I missed in one of the houses, so I reloaded, destroyed it and got a Total Victory as time ran out. Total Victory for the campaign as well.

Well here is what I know: The Germans raised a new type of organization in the summer of 1944: The Panzer Brigade. This was essentially an attempt to recreate the kind of ad hoc "kampfgruppen" that had proven so apt at destroying Russian tank spearheads in the fighting in late 1943 and early 1944. One example would be "Kampfgruppe Bäke", equipped with a mix of heavy tanks and motley support troops, which had broken out of an encirclement (either the Cherkassy Pocket or the Korsun Pocket, I forget). These Panzer Brigades were smaller than a normal Panzer Division and had no high level support units like artillery or reconnaissance. Just bare bones tanks and infantry in halftracks. These were very well equipped, especially the first ones raised. They had Panther tanks and Panzer IV/70 tank destroyers as their main armored component. Their infantry used a somewhat unique organization: Usually armored Panzergrenadiers carred mostly K98k rifles, the MP40s and automatic rifles of the squadleader and his assistant and two MG42s for firepower. The Panzerbrigades were to have Sturmgrenadiers. These squads were equipped completely with Stg44 assault rifles (one of the few units where this was, to my knowledge, actually the case). They had no infantry crewed MGs for fire support: Instead they relied on halftracks with 2cm or 1.5cm triple guns for this kind of work + of course aa defense. These support elements were on company level, making these units very compact and easy to manage. In the event they were not used as intended though, but hastily thrown into the western front, first in the counter attack at Lorraine. They found out the hard way that the Americans were better organized than the Russians and the tactics of the Eastern Front instead lead to high losses. Hasty training and bad planning also contributed. Quite an embarassing performance all things considered. Some of the Brigades were later used in Holland, which is why you can find them in the Market Garden module.

They weren't common though, mostly used in the ill-fated Panzer-Brigade units.

Might be a bit late, but this might inspire some scenario designer: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-A-Small/USA-A-Small-4.html

Jagdtigers weren't used in the battle of the bulge, only in Operation Nordwind in 1945.

One tip: The Volksgrenadiers often had to substitute missing StG44s with Italian made Beretta M38/42 smgs. These things are found in the mud of the Ardennes and Hurtgen Forest with surprising regularity (one mudfind can be seen at the Malmedy museum). Could be a nice idea for some infantry variety.

MP44 is valid, weapons were stamped with that name even in 1945. The following names could all be used: MP43, MP43/1, MP44, StG44 and I seem to remember some weapons were actually stamped with StG45. The prototypes were called MKB42 (short for Maschinenkarabiner).

I seem to recall that the M8 was first used post Normandy.

I played and won this as both sides. German side was harder, at one point I had to turn the second pak around to face down the lateral road. It was deployed literally one turn before the Stuart came barreling down

In addition to more lmgs for allies and less for Germans, it would be nice to see some more weapon variety, like Beretta smgs which became very prevalent towards the end of the war in the German army.

2 inch mortars often only have smoke ammo.

Beside the tutorial stuff, I can also recommend the "Buying the farm" scenario from the basegame, nice introduction to American troops and just the right size for a beginning player.

Yeah I meant in the actual rifle squad setup, they were just listed as having 1 BAR and 11 Garands. Thompsons were given out where available, although I seem to remember that for example the 29th infantry division didn't have any on D-Day.

That being said, according to TOE normal infantry didn't have Thompsons either.

Yeah, but why not? I'd imagine a hand weapon is a lot less work than a whole new tank and it would add some diversity to the infantry.

Italian smgs more like. Beretta M38/42s are found regularily in the mud of the Hurtgen Forest and the Ardennes.

In that case one of the FJGs needs a Sten MKII like in that famous photo.