The Lost Battalion

Bean965 · **Bean965**

The Lost Battalion
Lorraine, France, Le Traupin des Saules in the Vosges Mountains, North of Houssiere, October 1944
BY the autumn of 1944, the 6th US Army Group was giving the Wehrmacht a taste of its own medicine by executing a virtual “blitzkrieg,” through southeastern France. Entering the Vosges Mountains in Lorraine, US forces were a stone’s throw from the German border. General John E. Dahlquist, wanting to maintain the push forward and possibly be the first US General on German soil, ordered the 36th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion to move east out of Biffontaine. With the 2nd and 3rd Battalions guarding its flanks, the 1st Battalion’s orders were to seize a ridge just north of Houssiere. They were given this mission despite the fact that US forces, both men and equipment, were worn out and battered from weeks of fighting.
In response to the US offensive, the Wehrmacht had recalled crack units from places like the Netherlands, and had brought up every man, fit or not, to defend the Fatherland. The Germans had no intention of allowing the 36th to gain more ground. A combination of reformed units comprised of second-rate Volkssturm- and Luftwaffe-Infanterie and battle-hardened troops like the 201st and 202nd Gerbirgjager Battaliones and the 21st Panzer Division met the 36th’s advance. In the ensuing battle on October 24th, the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment was cut off and surrounded several miles east of US lines, on Hill 679. With no food and low on ammunition, the 141st dug in and began fending off probing attacks by the Germans.
Over four days, General Dahlquist made concerted efforts to help the 141st, including an attempt to get food to the stranded unit by firing artillery shells stuffed with chocolate instead of explosives. To make matters worse, rainy weather kept the Allied Air Force from taking advantage of its dominance to contribute to the effort to aid the 141st. Finally, on October 28th with the 3rd Battalion having been unable to break through the German encirclement, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was called up. The 442nd, comprised of Japanese-American and Hawaiian soldiers called “Nisei,” would make the next concerted attempt to help the “Lost Battalion.”

Notes:
1) This scenario pays tribute to the “Nisei” soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Comprised of Japanese-Americans and Native Hawaiians, these soldiers came under the same suspicion that resulted in their mainland counterparts being forcibly placed in internment camps by a US government that feared Japanese infiltration and sabotage. Despite this, these soldiers fought bravely for their country and many made the ultimate sacrifice.
2) This scenario is also a tribute to comic publisher DC’s line of war comic books. DC is almost finished publishing writer/artist Billy Tucci’s six-issue treatment of the Lost Battalion battle featuring war-comic icons “Sgt. Rock of Easy Company” and “The Haunted Tank.” These comic-book characters are represented in this scenario, but unit substitutions are offered for players who want a more historically-based scenario without comic book heroes and “pulp fiction” special abilities.
3) This scenario was written and play-tested using AAM v1 advanced rules and the current, revised unit cards. Use of expanded rules such as grazing fire, new stacking limits, etc. may affect play balance
4) Another round of thanks to Geoteach for his play-testing help!

Maps:
The map arrangement for this scenario is a little unusual. It uses eight 2” maps - Baker 1, 2, 3 and 4, Charlie 1 and Charlie 2, Dog 2 (x2) - in a 4-map wide by 1½-map deep arrangement, requiring that four of the maps be used folded in half.
Arrange the maps as follows: starting in the upper left corner and moving clockwise: 1) Charlie 2 folded in half with the five-hex hill in the upper right, 2) Baker 4 (labeled edge facing on the right), 3) Baker 3 (stream leaving the lake to the right – half-hex stream should be treated as taking up the entire hex side), 4) Baker 1 folded in half with the three-hex hill in the lower left, 5) Charlie 1 with the town hexes at the bottom, 6) Dog 2 folded in half with the three-hex forest on the right, 7) Baker 2 with the five-hex town in the upper right, and 8) Dog 2 with the three-hex forest on the left side.
Several additional changes and special rules are applied to the maps. For the purposes of this scenario, the dark blue water hexes on maps Baker 4 and Baker 3 are designated as forested hills. These represent the ridge above Houssierre where the 141st was surrounded. Treat these hexes as forests for movement, line of sight and cover purposes. A diagram is provided that shows the map arrangement and customization of terrain. The layout requires 14 hill terrain tiles, 1 hill w/road terrain tile and 51 bluff hex side designations. Diagrams of the map setup are provided. I used orange colored sticky “flags” used to mark pages in books to designate bluffs. These are available at any office supply store. Separate diagrams are provided for maps 2 two and three, the modified Baker 4 and Baker 3. The objective hex is marked on the diagrams with a white star.

US Forces:
36th Infantry, 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team – “The Purple Heart Battalion”
“Niseis” (M1 Garand w/ “Hard Charger” SA from Screaming Eagle Paratroopers @ 6 pts.) x5 30 pts
M1919 Machinegun x1 09 pts
BAR Gunner x2 08 pts
Veteran Sherman Rhino x1 26 pts
Unit subtotal: x9 73 pts

Elements of the 636th Tank Destroyer Battalion, Company C., attached to the 442nd RCT
The “Jeb Stuart” aka “The Haunted Tank” (M5A1 w/ “Spectral Assault” [Rockets 12] and “Guardian Spirit” [Endurance]) x1 30 pts [ --OR-- Replace with M18 Hellcat 24 pts ]
Ranger x1 07pts.
Jeep x1 03 pts
M3 Halftrack x1 08 pts
Bazooka x1 04 pts
Unit subtotal: x5 52 pts

Elements of the 752rd Tank Battalion, Company B., attached to the 442nd RCT
Sherman Commander x1 33 pts.
M3 Halftrack x1 08 pts
M1 Garand x4 16 pts
Bazooka x1 04 pts
CCKW 352 (3 Ton Truck) x1 03 pts
105mm M7 Priest x1 27 pts
Unit subtotal: x10 91 pts

36th Infantry, The “T-Patchers,” 3rd Battalion, 141st Regiment
“Sgt. Rock & Easy Company” (Resourceful Hero) [See Special rules for deployment] x1 09 pts.
M1919 Machinegun [See Special rules for deployment] x1 09 pts.
Unit subtotal: x2 18 pts.
US TOTAL x26 234 pts

German Forces:
716th Volks-Grenadier Division, 2nd Battalione, 933rd Regiment
Grizzled Veteran x1 08 pts
7.5cm LEL G18 (Howitzer) x1 07 pts
MG-42 Machinegun Team x1 10 pts
Opel Blitz 3 Ton (Truck) x1 04 pts
Sd Kfz 251 x1 07 pts
Panzerfaust x1 04 pts.
Panzergrenadier x3 12 pts
Unit subtotal: x9 52 pts

Elements of the 198th Infantry Division, Eschrich Battle Group and the 21st Panzer Division, 22nd Regiment
Panzer IV G x1 23 pts
StuG III Ausf. G x2 38 pts
Sd Kfz 251 x1 07 pts
Hampsturmfuhrer x1 07 pts
SGrW 34 81mm Mortar x1 11 pts
Panzergrenadier x2 08 pts
Unit subtotal: x8 94 pts

716th Volks-Grenadier Division, 736th Regiment
Volkssturm Infantryman x4 12 pts
Panzerfaust x1 04 pts
Unit subtotal: x5 16 pts

716th Volks-Grenadier Division, 198th Fusilier Battalione, 2nd Company
Luftwaffe Infantryman x4 12 pts
MG 42 Machinegun Team x1 10 pts
Unit subtotal: x5 22 pts

Elements of the 716th Volks-Grenadier Division, 1716th Artillerie Regiment
Wespe x1 26 pts
PAK 38 x1 08 pts
Panzergrenadier x1 04 pts.
Disciplined Spotter x1 09 pts
Kubelwagon x1 03 pts
Unit subtotal: x5 50 pts
GERMAN TOTAL x32 234 pts

Set-Up
US:
a) 100th Btn/442nd RCT enters on turn 3 on any hex the northern edge of maps Baker 4 and Baker 3, between the innermost bluff hex sides.
b) 636th TD Btn starts on the northern edge or western edge of map Charlie 2.
c) 752nd Tank Btn starts anywhere on the western edge of maps Charlie 2 or the (western) Dog 2 map.
d) 141st/3rd Btn – see special rules – “Spawning”

German:
a) 716th/933rd starts anywhere on the eastern edge of map Charlie 1
b) 198th/21st Panzer starts anywhere on the southern edge of the (eastern) Dog 2 map
c) 716th/736th starts anywhere in the five town hexes on map Baker 2, or in any hexes directly south of those town hexes
d) 716th/198th Fusilier starts anywhere on the eastern edge of map Baker 1
e) 716th/1716th Artillerie starts anywhere in the five town hexes of map Baker 2

German units deploy first. Germans automatically recieve initiative for Turn 1.

Victory Conditions:
Victory conditions are the same as for a standard game – occupying the objective hex, uncontested,by turn seven. If neither side has uncontested occupation of the objective hex by then, the game continues for up to three additional turns. At the end of each of these turns, if one side occupies the objective hex uncontested they achieve victory. If the game is played for 10 full turns with neither side having uncontested occupation of the objective hex at the end of any turn, then the side with the highest point value in surviving units is the victor.

Special Rules:
Deployment of the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team As indicated in the section on set-up, the nine pieces comprising the 100th/442nd RCT unit enter the game on turn three, moving on to the board in the portions of the two maps indicated in the set-up description. These units must move onto the board, using movement to enter the first full hexes on the map (1/2 hexes may be skipped) and making any movement rolls required.

Spawning
Three units in the scenario enter the game using the “spawning” ability of heroes, but with special limitations. Two of these pieces are actual heroes and the third spawns like a hero in order to represent historical conditions in the scenario. The two US “spawning” units are a Resourceful Hero and a 1919 MG Team. Together, these units represent the lost 1st Battalion. By the time the 442nd was making its attempt to reach the encircled 1st Battalion, that battalion was low on ammunition, hadn’t eaten for several days and had already experienced heavy casualties. Too impacted by casualties, the battalion had to employ a fluid defense, shifting what able manpower it had to counter German probes and assaults as they came from various directions. In AAM terms, they were not an effective fighting force. Therefore, these pieces can only come into play once a US piece enters the objective hex. A US piece can ”spawn” these units in the objective hex as per the spawning rules for heroes. Once spawned, the units can act normally. This represents the idea that US forces have fought their way through to their “Lost Battalion” reinforced and resupplied it, and now its able-bodied soldiers can rejoin the fight.
The German hero can spawn anywhere on the board per the normal spawning rules. However, this hero can only spawn from a piece from the unit to which the hero is also assigned, namely the 716th/933rd.

Tree Bursts
Artillery, including field artillery, self-propelled guns and mortars played a significant role in the actual battle depicted by this scenario. The battle favored the German side in this respect: their forces were able to utilize various artillery pieces while the 141st had nothing but small arms, the US 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team couldn’t bring artillery with them on their ridge-top march and US field artillery could not fire on the German encirclement of the 141st without endangering their own troops. Furthermore, artillery shells exploding in the canopy of the forested hills sprayed high velocity wooden splinters down on the 141st’s position, negating the cover from foxholes. While no rules are presented here to represent this, players wishing to experiment with this effect in the game can try out the “tree burst” rules from Snipersly’s excellent Hurtgen’s Forest scenario: http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o293/Snippersly/?action=view&current=Hurtgens-PG6.jpg

Recommendations for Balancing the Scenario
In favor of the Germans:
Replace PAK 38 with a PAK 40
--and/or--
Replace one Panzergrenadier in the 716th/933rd with an MG42 Machinegun Team

In US favor:
Replace the German player’s 2 StuG III Ausf. Gs, and the Hampsturmfuhrer, with one Panzer IV Ausf. H Commander
--and/or--
Remove the German player’s Grizzled Veteran

Final Notes:
The superior performance of the 442nd RCT during Advanced Unit Training helped convince the US government to open enlistment to all Japanese Americans. The 442nd RCT landed at Salerno, Italy on September 19th, 1943, with the 34th Division. Over the next 20 months, the 442nd RCT fought in eight major campaigns in Italy, France and Germany, including the battles at Monte Cassino, Anzio and Biffontaine. The unit was nicknamed the “Purple Heart Battalion” because of its high number of casualties. The 442nd earned more than 18,000 individual decorations, including one Medal of Honor, 53 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 awards of the Silver Star, 5,200 awards of the Bronze Star Medal and 9,486 Purple Hearts, and seven Presidential Unit Citations, the nation's top award for combat units. President Clinton approved the upgrade of 19 DSCs to the Medal of Honor on May 12, 2000.
Assuming there'd be some interest among the history buffs and other scenario designers on these boards, I've included attached images of the sources I used to produce a map layout for the scenario that best fits with the actual terrain. The three images are a topographical map of the area from Google maps (with my notes written on it), a topographical map used by US forces during the actuual campaign (with both the historical hand-made markings and some of my own notes) and a map of the battle from Franz Steidl's Lost Battalion: Going for Broke in Vosges, Autumn 1944 2nd edition published in 1997 by Presidio Press, Novato, CA. I hope folks enjoy looking at these as much as I did.
This scenario is the second in a trilogy of scenarios called "Our Armies a War." The three scenarios pay tribute to WWII soldiers from underrepresented/minority groups. The Lost Battalion follows on the heels of “What If?: Operation Caged Phoenix,” which honored both the first ever African –American tankers- the 761st Tank Battalion - and the survivors of the Holocaust. It will be followed by “Nighttime Witches, Daytime Knights,” which takes place during the effort by German General Erhard Raus’s 6th Panzer Division to rescue the encircled German 6th Army at Stalingrad. It is a two –part scenario that begins with a harassment bombing mission by the Soviet 586th Night Bombers, a squadron consisting of female pilots and gunners who flew outdated Po-2 biplanes serviced by female ground crew.

Click to see full size image

Snippersly · **Snippersly**

This looks great! Good work my friend, I will print this out and take it with me on Tuesday night. If we play it, I'll post a battle report!

Thanks for the nod on the tree burst rule too...glad I could help.
_________________
Custom Painted Minis: http://riversidegaming.myfastforum.org/forum21.php

Bean965 · **Bean965**

Pasalades · **Pasalades**

Ok, here is my AAR as promised. I had a hard time keeping track of each squad let alone each unit so I use numbers to indicate each squad as they are in the setup, but I'm sure I got confused and mismatched the numbers though I went over my notes again to try to make sure everything was correct.

Turn 1: Germans win initiative and go second. Americans move the 752th toward town scooting the Priest in the trees for cover and the 636th moves from the hills toward town on Baker 4 to box in the 736th. Germans respond by pulling the Spotter on the Kubelwagon back out of range of all units but within sight of the unloaded bazooka and jeep. Wespe moves within sight of the 636 on edge of town, while the rest of the 1716th stays put. Panzer IV moves in between town and water dead ahead of Sherman Commander. The StuGs move to ext range of Haunted Tank next to spotter. Soldiers in the 22nd move forward, with the halftrack moving behind town to offload. The 933rd moves toward ridge with 198th.

Assault: 636 hid behind hill on Dog 2 while infantry moved forward. Panzer IV damaged, Pak destroyed, 2 Volksturm and 1 Grenadier disrupted. In return the Germans destroyed 1 Bazooka,1 Sherman Commander from a StuG and Panzer IV, while the Pak missed the Priest, and 3 Garands are disrupted. Everyone else moves up.

Turn 2: Germans win initiative go first to try to break the back of the Americans. 933rd veers south toward town just under ridge while stragglers join up with 198th. The 22nd moves forward to entrench in town while StuGs move forward to control the open terrain. 636 moves around the hill to stand off with StuGs and the MG-42 from the 933rd. Undisrupted Garand and bazooka move forward, while the priest and halftracks stay put.

Assault: Both sides take big swings at each other. The Haunted Tank is Damaged, 3 Garands redisrupted and a Halftrack Destroyed, Ranger survives onslaught. Meanwhile, the Panzergrenadier from 933rd moves adjacent to objective, while there is consolidation in the town and the 198th moves close to ridge. The Haunted Tank rockets the town while Garands and Halftrack fire as well. 1 HSF, Panzergrenadier, 2 Volksturm and Panzerfaust destroyed, 1 Wespe Damaged, 3 Panzergrenadiers, 2 Volksturm and one halftrack disrupted. Priest wiffs a shot on the MG-42.

Turn 3: Americans win initiative and go first. The 36th works it's way down to objective through forest, and the remaining forces from the start continue to press the town and tie up the German forces there. The 198th moves again toward the objective. The other Grenadier from the 933rd (disregarding the stragglers with the 198th) joins the one adjacent to the objective who spawns a Grizzled Vet. The Panzer IV moves up to see Priest in forest.

Assault: Bazooka and Garand move next to Panzer IV. 1 destroyed MG-42, 2 Volksturm. The 36th jockeys just out of reach of the grenadiers to get in the best position to strike next turn. The Germans hold and destroy the Priest, 1 Garand and the Haunted Tank. The 198th moves close still and the grenadiers + vet move onto the objective. The Ranger refuses to die.

Turn 4: Germans win initiative and elect to go first. The 198th is now just 4 hexes away from the objective. 2 Halftracks and 3 grenadiers reform the front in in the town. The 36th envelops the objective, while the remainder of the Americans charge the town.

Assault: Germans go on a rampage, finally offing the ranger just as it came up to the StuGs, two Nisei go down in addition to a halftrack, two Garands and a Bazooka. Two Luftwaffe make it into the forest. In retaliation, the German Forces on Objective get wiped out and lose one grenadier on the town with a disrupted halftrack.

Turn 5-7: Americans quickly consolidate the objective and spawn their own heroes. The 198th moves in piece meal and get chewed up. The forces bottled up in the town her now free to roam but they were unable to cross the distance to the objective in time.

The German's had some amazing luck on quite a few of their die rolls, while a few mistakes were made squandering the indirect fire weapons on the Ranger who avoid disruption or destruction from no less than nine separate attacks. I feel I blew the first turn for the US by back off the 636th when the StuGs moved up. It isolated and doomed the Sherman Commander. The Haunted Tank was a real fun unit, but I wish it had lasted longer. The German armor is daunting and while the can't do much to directly win the scenario, they can easily ensure that every American vehicle on the board on turn one does not make it to the end of the game. That being said the American strategy of tying up the Germans in the town worked and guaranteed that a combined force could not brought against the 36th.

Approaching the objective itself is a tall order and requires infantry to dismount and negotiate the bluffs. The Americans get a huge advantage by having the 36th deploy so close to the objective, as even on turn three the Germans are luck to have anyone contesting it. By turn five the chances of any forces successfully moving from the town to the objective are nil and it made me consider a strong German push for the objective from the start, covered by the tanks even if that would leave everyone terribly exposed. The 198th needs some transport to move around or else they will have no influence on the battle. Units equipped with transport also tended to have straggles that were either had to pick up later or not worth the trouble.

One last note, it has been a while since a played a scenario on the 2 inch hexes, and I must admit I like it much better. While the 3 inch maps look much nicer, the playability and the space the 2 inch ones take up make them worth considering for future scenarios. By the by, you keep mentioning a Baker-3 maps when you mean Able-3.
_________________
Powerful men are well advised not to use violence,
For violence has a habit of returning;
Thorns and weeds grow wherever an army goes,
And lean years follow a great war.
-Lao Zi

Bean965 · **Bean965**

Thanks for the AAR

Bean965 · **Bean965**

Pasalades · **Pasalades**

Yeah, I will try to make a dash for the objective using the vehicles to cover the advance next time I play this scenario. As for the maps, I find that most v2 vehicles fit more or less ok on a hex with the front or rear of the vehicle pushing a little into a neighboring hex, but there is usually room to put soldiers in the hex too. In retrospect the experience was just fine and made me wonder if increasing the size of the hexes in line with the vehicles was really worth it. I don't know how many people dig out their 2 inch maps these days but i guess it is not that many which leaves some older scenarios (and a few unpublished ones) sitting in the drawer.
_________________
Powerful men are well advised not to use violence,
For violence has a habit of returning;
Thorns and weeds grow wherever an army goes,
And lean years follow a great war.
-Lao Zi

Bean965 · **Bean965**

It may be b/c I like playing the Germans, so I want to be able to exploit their long-range capabilities, but I really like bigger maps. I find I can see the implications of positioning much better on a bigger map than on a smaller one, and for the scenario design i've done, I've found it much easier to try to represent the historical pre-conditions of a battle on the largest possible scale - it seems to allow for the battle to go in one of any number of directions, including what happened historically.

I see that other people use multiples of the big maps, but I don't have the table space for that!

I also still play the old rules - I don't know what anyone does with the new stacking limits as far as fitting all those units in a hex!