Hürtgen Forest - Game Video

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Project Entry by oriskany

Dear God, It's Started.

June 28, 2019

Tutoring 8

Skill 8

Idea 8

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Turn One is complete. It took about 90 minutes. Nineteen turns to go. So far there are few surprises.

The landings are chaos.

DD tanks are sinking.

German AT guns are murdering all the American Shermans with dozer blades.

Engineers cannot push inland to blow holes in beach obstacles or the sea wall shingle.

The Americans at Dog Green and Dog White have been all but shattered, with “A” Co / 116th all but annihilated in the opening fire phase.

But some armor has made it onto the beach. And air power has knocked out at least one infantry gun and pinned German MG-42 bunkers in Wiederstandnester 71 (the exact bunker complex that butchered Captain Miller’s company at the Vierville Draw).

Meanwhile, German artillery (8.0 cm mortars, 15.0 cm mortars, 10.5 cm howitzers, and even one battery of 15.0 cm howitzers) has positively mauled American landing points at Dog Green and Easy Red (16th RCT, 1st Infantry Division).

So as horrible as things are, some parts of the American landings are actually going slightly better than historically, while others are going much worse.

H-Hour +10 minutes. 27 American platoons have been destroyed (marked by black smoke columns) across five miles of assault beach. So that's over 900 men killed, wounded, or hopelessly scattered.

As expected, the hot spot is the American right wing, in front of "Dog One" draw leading toward the Vierville objective hexes. This was BY FAR the bloodiest slice of Omaha, which was BY FAR the bloodiest beach at Normandy (more casualties than the other four invasion beaches plus the three divisional airborne drop zones ... all combined). To kick the historical results a little, I have thrown a lot more support here. Note the naval gunfire support markers (green target icons) and the four P-47 Thunderbolt air strikes. One plane was hit and damaged, but the strike went in and probably saved at least some lives.

A close up of the Vierville Draw. Note the Ranger counters, "C" Company / 2nd Battalion. This was "Captain Miller's" unit, and yes, he's already lost a third of his company. One difference, though, is that fourteen Shermans have made it on the beach. Two full platoons of five and one four-tank platoon of dozer-blade Shermans. Let's hope they make a difference.

Further east, the landings get even more scrambled because of tidal shear. Some units hit German beach obstacles coming in, either dispersed (pinned) or killed outright. DD Shermans sink wholesale. In hex 0907 (just beneath the Big Red One symbol) German artillery has wiped out a whole American company in a single barrage (three counters = three platoons = 150 men). This part of the beach was actually a little easier at first historically thanks in part to a fortuitous brush fire ignited by naval gunnery, the smoke actually blinded some German fire. Not here.

The far east sector, on the left wing of 1st Infantry Division / 16th Regimental Combat Team. German fire is positively murderous, but a fair number of American tanks have made it onto the beach - I actually rolled pretty well on these, the roll is not easy because of the historical rate of American losses). So here's hoping this positive change from history makes a difference, because this part of the beach is actually a little bloodier so far than the real event 75 years ago.