Tactics in Panzer Grenadier: North Wind
Scenario #5: Purple Heart Lane, Part 1
By Doug McNair
September 2007

Hitler’s last-gasp offensive on the Western Front meets the initial American counterattack in Scenario #5 of North Wind, our new Panzer Grenadier scenario book supplement. On New Year’s Eve, 1945, German Army Group G hit the overstretched and understrength U.S. 7th Army in Alsace, hoping to destroy it, take the politically important city of Strasbourg, and cut into the rear of Patton’s 3rd Army so Hitler’s stalled Bulge offensive could regain traction.

Much like the initial Bulge offensive, Operation Nordwind caught the Americans by surprise, and one of the biggest surprises was a German crossing of the Rhine far to the south of the main American deployments, near the town of Herrlisheim. Even though the Germans making the crossing were one of the hastily-reconstituted Volksgrenadier divisions, they brushed-aside the startled Americans and established a bridgehead that would allow more powerful German forces to race into the American rear.

Seventh Army, which had already sent its reserves north to fight in the Ardennes, quickly rounded up whatever troops it could find and hurled them at the bridgehead, hoping to push the Germans back across the river before more could stream across. The lucky few sent to hit the bridgehead consisted of Task Force Rammer and Task Force Power, inexperienced battalions from 12th Armored Division whose training was little better than that of the Volksgrenadiers. And it was far poorer than that of the SS Panzergrenadiers which the Americans claimed to have encountered during the attack.

Tactical Situation

The scenario begins at 1200 Hours on January 8th, with troops from 553rd Volksgrenadier Division holding the bridgehead in anticipation of a German armored advance across the Rhine.

The German surprise attack threw the American defenses back in disarray, and resulted in one American company being cut off behind German lines, where they have barricaded themselves in a town hex near the river. Unable to contact friendly forces, the Lost Company will hold its position near the river bridges (doing what it can to stop more German forces from crossing there) until American forces make visual contact with it.

A couple more tactical issues: Only the hill on Board 21 exists — the other elevation lines are ignored. Also, German engineers have blown one of the three bridges on the board to limit the number of points along the river they have to defend against American counterattacks. The Americans are unaware of the blown bridge, and will find out about it when any American unit moves adjacent to it.

Victory Conditions

The Germans score victory points for American combat unit steps eliminated or currently demoralized at the end of the game, by keeping control of the unblown bridges, and by keeping no more than 20 American steps from crossing to the south side of the river (tank steps count double, trucks don’t count). The Americans score victory points for German combat unit steps eliminated or currently demoralized at the end of play, for American combat unit steps that are south of the river at the end of play, and for retaking bridges. A side that scores 1 – 14 more VPs than the enemy scores a Minor Victory, while a side that scores 15+ more VPs than the enemy scores a Major Victory.

American Tactics

The Americans don’t have a lot of forces at their disposal, nor do they have a lot of time to get to the river before the SS Panzergrenadiers arrive there. So, they can’t afford to be subtle. They need to drive straight down the road and let some of their forces rack up VPs by hitting the low-morale Volksgrenadier road guards, while other forces bypass the Volksgrenadiers and make for the river. Linking up with the Lost Company is crucial, because they’re a ready-made foothold on the south bank of the Rhine in town terrain, which is ideal for holding against German counterattacks. The only fly in that ointment is the hill on Board 21, whose 40-meter summit is high enough to see over the forest on Board 12 and down into the town where the Lost Company is.

That means any tank that fires while in the town can be hit by any German tank or gun that’s perched on the hilltop. This will severely limit the number of town hexes that American tanks can safely enter there, especially if the Germans manage to get their Long 88mm AA gun unit onto that hilltop. If they do, that gun must be a primary target for what little offboard artillery the Americans have.

If the Americans can’t establish a viable bridgehead in the town where the Lost Company is, they need to send their tanks into forest cover on the north bank of the river to give covering fire for their INF and ENG units trying to cross the river at other points. The thin armor on M4s can’t stand-up to AT fire from Panther tanks for more than a few seconds, so the American tankers cannot afford to go shot for shot with their German counterparts. They need to take one or two shots AFTER the German tanks have fired, then relocate fast to alternative cover so the Germans can’t destroy them.

Once the Americans establish a viable bridgehead anywhere along the Rhine, all American forces should converge on that spot to get as many combat unit steps south of the river as possible and into defensible positions. That will maximize American VPs at the end of the game and force the Germans to pull back from their bridgehead to try and dislodge them from the south bank.

German Tactics

It’s the Germans’ battle to win or lose — they’ve got superior numbers and firepower. The two downsides to their situation are the fact that the Americans will score lots of VPs by killing weak Volksgrenadier road guards, plus the fact that there is a long riverfront to defend against American crossings. Any American units that get across the river will have lots of woods and town terrain nearby to dive into, and once they’re there they can dig in and use short-range AT weaponry to negate any advantages which the Panther tanks give the Germans in assaults. The Germans need to occupy that terrain first to deny it to the Americans. That done, any American tanks that try to advance out in the open are toast, and since the inexperienced American infantry have a morale of just 7, any of them that stay out in the open for long will fade fast before German artillery fire.

The Lost Company is just as crucial to German battle plans as it is to the Americans. A full company of SS Panzergrenadiers plus a couple of Panther tank platoons must go after them immediately and eject them from the town, so they can’t be the foothold on the south bank of the Rhine that the Americans are counting on. That reduces the number of Waffen SS units that can move to counter any early American river crossings farther west, so the Germans definitely need to get their 88mm AA guns plus their heavy 120mm mortars up onto that hill. From there they’ll have a clear line of sight up and down most of the river and to both unblown bridges, and will be able to combine fire and pound any American infantry that make it across.

Game Summary

With that, here begins a turn-by-turn replay of the scenario.

Turn 1: 1200 Hours

The Germans get initiative by one activation, and one company of Panther tanks plus one company of SS Panzergrenadiers with two HMG platoons in support enter the south board edge and drive up the western road (the GREN and HMG units are all riding halftracks).

The Americans want to get forces moving toward the Lost Company as quickly as possible, but the Volksgrenadiers have set up two of their three AT guns in positions covering the road leading to the Lost Company’s position. So, the American infantry of Task Force Power can’t ride onto the board in halftracks, and their tanks will have to move in behind what little town and woods cover they can find until those AT guns are taken out. Most of their infantry enters near the road, staying outside German opportunity fire range as much as possible. Unfortunately, one American HMG unit stays on the road to keep up with the INF, and that brings it into op-fire range, where it promptly gets disrupted by fire from GRENs in the town. The remaining units don’t make that mistake.

German offboard artillery hits the hex containing the captain leading the infantry onto the board, and it demoralizes one of the INF units with him. Then all armored units of Task Force Power enter the north edge of Board 19 east of the road and behind the town where the AT guns can’t spot them, and drive into the town behind the two GREN units that fired at the INF on the road. There’s no chance of the tanks getting assaulted this turn since the GRENs already used opportunity fire, and the Americans have to hope real hard that the Germans don’t get initiative next turn so they can annihilate the GRENs before they can assault the Americans.

Then the SS Panzergrenadier company sent to deal with the Lost Company enters the south edge along with its tank support.

And then American offboard artillery rolls a 12 on the forward Volksgrenadier road guards on Board 19 and scores an X result, killing a GREN step (1 American VP) and disrupting the other GREN unit there, but the reduced GREN holds morale. The remaining Waffen SS units enter on the eastern roads and drive north to join the other units on the eastern road, and then Task Force Rammer enters the north edge of Board 17.

With the remaining Volksgrenadier AT gun placed in a secondary roadblock position (to keep it from being spotted and destroyed as soon as American units enter the board), Rammer is able to ride in on halftracks and make it to good firing positions in the woods near the northwesternmost town. The Germans pass and let the rest of Rammer enter, and it becomes clear that any Volksgrenadiers that remain in a forward position in the town will get annihilated by combined tank and halftrack fire next turn. So they pull back one hex into the town, denying the Americans a shot at them next turn but keeping the way through the northern town blocked.

The turn then ends on a Fog of War roll before the disrupted GREN unit in the eastern roadblock can recover.

Turn 2: 1215 Hours

The Americans win initiative by one activation, and the lieutenant with the eastern flank of Task Force Power combines the fire of two hexes worth of tanks and halftracks point-blank on the Volksgrenadiers in the northeastern town. But somehow they only manage to score an M2 result, which just disrupts one of the two GREN units there.

Undaunted, three M3 halftrack units pile into the hex with the GRENs and assault them, for the sole purpose of tying them down so they can’t assault the American tanks. Meanwhile, two M4/76 tank platoons move around them and into the last unoccupied town hex to get a bead on the forward roadblock units. The M3s’ assault does zilch to the Germans, who disrupt two of the M3 units and demoralize the other! Still, the GRENs can’t assault the tanks now.

Three tank platoons that fired on the surprisingly tough Volksgrenadiers in the town are now spotted and in range of the easternmost German AT gun, but those tanks aren’t going anywhere, so the Germans hit the American infantry on the northeastern road with offboard artillery before they can move.

Superior German optics gain revenge for the American strike on the German roadblock last turn, rolling an 11 for an X result, killing one step of an already demoralized INF unit there (1 German VP) but not shaking the morale of the other unit or the Captain with them.

American offboard artillery responds, and the Germans think the Americans must have a German turncoat working their artillery, because the Americans roll a 3, scoring an M2 result on the 21 column (it’s lucky for the Gemans they’re dug in), demoralizing the Captain at the roadblock and the full-strength GREN with him, but leaving the reduced-strength GREN still in good order.

But those few men aren’t going to hold back Task Force Power for long, so the Panzergrenadiers and their tank support on the eastern road activate and charge toward the Lost Company in the eastern river town. Those units’ 81mm mortars follow them into the town while the 120mm mortars and the 88mm gun stay loaded on trucks which climb the southeastern hill.

The infantry captain on the northeastern road orders his lieutenant to take the two good-order INF platoons forward to hit the roadblock while he stays behind to rally troops. Fire from the reduced GREN unit in the roadblock hex is ineffective, but neither of the units back north on the road recover. Luckily the demoralized INF with the captain is not within any German’s direct fire range, so it doesn’t have to flee.

Then the Waffen SS units on the western road move north, with the Panther tanks and Panzergrenadiers crossing the western bridge (which not blown) and heading north to help the Volksgrenadiers, while the HMGs stop at the bridge and unload to defend (their halftracks remain with them to provide extra firepower). Task Force Rammer’s left flank then moves south through the woods into a flanking fire position on the GRENs that retreated through the western town, with INF units staying loaded on APCs so the GRENs can’t fire at them, but not getting close enough that the AT guns in the next town down the road can spot them.

The cut-off Volksgrenadiers in the northeastern town mount a brilliant counterassault against the cannon-fodder M3s sent to keep them busy, rolling a 6 to kill one APC step, demoralizing the already demoralized one a second time to kill it too, and demoralizing the third unit (2 German VPs). The rest of Task Force Rammer moves into the northwestern town, with three American ENG platoons moving into assault positions on the Volksgrenadiers there.

The lieutenant commanding the Volksgrenadiers combines their fire on the ENG units (killing them would seriously degrade American river-crossing ability), but even on the 22 column just one ENG gets disrupted.

The Americans then get a lucky break, with the turn ending on a Fog of War roll before the Germans at the northeastern roadblock can recover or the AT guns south of there can fire at the now-spotted tanks in the northeastern town.

Turn 3: 1230 Hours

The Germans win initiative by one activation, and the Volksgrenadiers in the northwestern town pull out before the Americans can annihilate them in a combined tank-and-infantry assault with extra bonuses for ENG units in a town.

Tank fire from the woods east of town disrupts one of the retreating GRENs, but the rest make it to the second town and the fields northwest of there OK. The Americans chasing them southward, and opportunity fire from the HMG platoon in the second town is ineffective.

The AT gun with the HMG has to hold its fire even as two ENG units move right up adjacent to it, because firing at them would allow a horde of American halftracks to burst out of the woods just to the northeast, rush the town and unload two companies of infantry right next to it.

German offboard artillery hits the ENG units now adjacent to the town, and that disrupts one of the ENG units. But unfortunately, that turncoat in the American artillery corps seems to have crossed back to German lines incognito, since friendly fire rains down on the town, demoralizing the lieutenant there AND THE AT GUN!

Quicker than you can say “horde of halftracks,” two full American infantry companies burst out of the woods riding M3s and rush the town, with the lead company unloading right next to the town and another right behind it. An upgunned M4/76 tank platoon drives past the town into the fields beside it, ready to blast any Panthers that come into the town from the south. The Panthers don’t care, and they plus the Panzergrenadiers drive into the town and fan out into the fields around it, ready to push the Americans back north where they came from.

The two American INF platoons then assault the crumbling roadblock on board 19, and the one remaining good-order reduced GREN gets first fire and actually rolls a 6 for an M result on the 1 column! But the Americans pass the morale check and roll a 6 on the 24 column, wiping-out both GREN units there with a combination of step losses and compound demoralizations, and even causing their Captain to desert (3 American VPs)!

In one mighty charge the roadblock is no more, and there’s nothing to stop the American infantry from rushing down the road to hit the easternmost AT gun next turn. So German mortars in the central woods (positioned so that the roadblock is at their extreme range) hit the victorious Americans, but their roll of 8 on the 16 column is ineffective.

Then all the tanks in the northeastern town that can activate at once do so, charging southeast around the swamps and keeping the AT guns at long range, hoping to cut behind them next turn and move across the easternmost bridge into the town with the Lost Company. The southernmost AT gun opens fire on the lead tank platoon, rolling a modified 11 and killing one step of a fast M5 light tank unit while disrupting the other (2 German VPs).

That was what American offboard artillery was waiting for, and it barrages the AT gun’s hex, demoralizing the gun and the HMG unit with it! The other AT gun west of the road fires and misses, and then two platoons of M4/76s charge north out of the town to the fork in the road and then all the way south through the woods and into the hamlet just north of the river, making visual contact with the Lost Company!

The Panzergrenadiers swarm toward the Lost Company before they can advance south through the town and and make room for Task Force Power to fill-in behind. Two Panther platoons and and a GREN platoon move to the hex just east of the Lost Company that is also within spotting range of the M4/76s that just made contact.

The Lost Company’s two INF units fire point-blank on the advancing GREN unit along with the Sturmbannf_hrer leading the entire detatchment, and they disrupt the Sturmbannf_hrer but not the GREN. More opportunity fire against more incoming GRENs is ineffective, and they close in around the Lost Company while SS mortars unlimber in the south part of town.

American mortar fire on retreating Volksgrenadiers is ineffective, and the Waffen SS 120mm mortars and 88mm guns unlimber on the southeastern hilltop. The M4s of the Lost Company then blast a Waffen SS StugIIIG unit that moved adjacent to them, killing one tank step and demoralizing the other (2 American VPs)! That leaves a weak spot in the center of the German town line which the now mobile Lost Company might be able to exploit next turn. The German 20mm AA guns unlimber on the road southwest of town, and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll after the American units near the northeast board edge recover morale, with the demoralized INF unit rolling a 2 and recovering all the way to good order immediately.

Turn 4: 1245 Hours

The annihilation of the northeastern roadblock plus the Lost Company’s destruction of the Stugs drops German Initiative from 3 to 2, while American initiative just barely hangs on at 2. But the Germans win initiative by one activation anyway, and they blast away at the Lost Company and the M4/76s coming to their rescue. One platoon of Panthers sends three steps of M4/76s sky-high and demoralizes the fourth (6 German VPs), and the remaining Panther wipes out the Lost Company’s M4 Shermans (4 German VPs).

Then two companies of SS Panzergrenadiers assault the Lost Company’s remaining two INF units while the demoralized Stugs fail to recover (they don’t have to flee because there aren’t any American tanks left that can shoot at them). The Lost Company INF units get first fire because they’re entrenched, but the Germans all pass the morale check. However, the German assault only disrupts one American INF unit, so at least the foothold on the south bank is still there.

The Americans then press the advantage where they have it — the northwestern town. A lieutenant takes two American INF units and an ENG into the town with three M3 halftrack units, while more infantry and HMGs unload from halftracks farther to the rear. The American assault goes in on the 30 column and rolls a 6, wiping out a GREN unit, killing an HMG step and demoralizing the other step, again demoralizing the AT gun there and thus destroying it too, and finally killing the demoralized German lieutenant who was in charge of the town (4 American VPs)!

But the GREN and HMG mount an impressive last-ditch defense, rolling an 5 on the 13 column to kill a halftrack (1 German VP) and disrupt all three American infantry-type units in the hex (the remaining halftracks and the Lieutenant are allright). Even so, there are still too many Americans in the assault hex for the Panzergrenadiers to counterassault, so they hold the line just to the south while the Panthers destroy the platoon of M4/76s east of the town plus the two remaining halftracks in the assault hex (6 German VPs).

American infantry then charge down the eastern road and up to the demoralized secondary roadblock, and the AT gun west of the road lets them go by in favor of shooting at the American tanks bypassing it farther to the east. It hits an M4, killing one step and demoralizing the other (2 German VPs), but that allows a halftrack near the north board edge to load an HMG platoon and drive down the road past both guns, unloading the HMG platoon just north of the hamlet where the M4/76s got laid to waste this turn.

Volksgrenadiers in the fields west of the northwestern town fire point-blank at American infantry near the road, demoralizing an American captain and an INF unit with him while an SS Panzergrenadier platoon unloads from a halftrack in the fields.

Then the American tanks near the east board edge move south to the woods, and German offboard artillery hits the American infantry that moved up to the demoralized roadblock units north of the town. The M2 result disrupts the lieutenant leading the infantry and demoralizes one of the INFs, but then The Traitor takes over American offboard artillery again and rolls a 12 against the Volksgrenadiers holding the fields west of the northwestern town. The X result kills a GREN step (1 American VP) but does not demoralize that unit or the other GREN.

German mortar fire is ineffective as is American tank fire on the Volksgrenadiers in the field, and the Volksgrenadiers who got pinned down in the northeastern town finally wipe out the last halftrack there (1 German VP).

Mortar fire from both sides is ineffective, and then American tanks and halftracks start trying to bypass the northwestern town to force the SS to withdraw toward the bridge. The Waffen SS 120mm mortar on the hilltop then opens fire on the American infantry by the demoralized German roadblock, again demoralizing the demoralized INF unit there and killing an American INF step (1 German VP), and Friendly Fire just barely misses hurting the roadblock units.

The roadblock units themselves both recover morale, and the Americans are finally able to do something to the Volksgrenadiers in the field west of the northwestern town, disrupting their leader with point-blank fire along with the full-strength GREN there. But the captain and INF which the Volksgrenadiers demoralized fail to recover and flee north. The lone, demoralized German HMG in the assault hex in the town fails to recover and flees the hex, and the Free Shot which the Americans get kills it (1 American VP). That empties the hex of all German units, so the Panthers next door fire into the hex but do no damage. The last step of the M4/76s that made contact with the Lost Company recovers morale, and the turn ends on recoveries, including the disrupted INF unit of the Lost Company, which keeps holding the line in the town.

After an extremely bloody first hour of battle, the score is Americans 12, Germans 26. As expected, the Volksgrenadiers have taken a beating, but also as expected, the Panther tanks have wreaked havoc on American vehicles. Task force Power has made contact with the Lost Company, which is doing a good job of hanging onto the town hex on the south bank of the river.

But the Panther tanks there have already wiped out Powers’ most powerful tanks, and the remaining tanks will have a hard time doing anything to the Panthers as long as they’ve got town terrain for cover. Only Power’s infantry (with its short-range AT weapons) has a decent shot at hurting the Panthers, but said infantry is having a hard time making it southward due to constant battering from German artillery.

On the other end of the board, Task Force Rammer is finding it much slower going, but they have blown through one town and penetrated a second, and if they can get the initiative next turn their infantry will be able to assault the Panther tanks sent to stop them. Doing that will give the American tanks a shot at bypassing the Panthers and hitting the bridge on Board 20. Can they do it? Tune in next time and find out!

Operation Nordwind is yours to attempt in
Panzer Grenadier: North Wind, available now!