The Attack on Hill 192, 11 July 1944

Mark put on another Kampfgruppe Commander II game last Saturday.

As part of the major offensive of 11 July, First Army ordered V Corps to attack and seize the dominating terrain east of Saint-L6. General Gerow ordered the 2d Division to once again attack and seize Hill 192. General Robertson ordered the 38th Infantry to conduct the main attack. This time, the regimental commander decided to conduct a powerful frontal assault with two battalions abreast.
The battle took place in Normandy between a reduced German Fallschirmjäger regiment and a reinforced US infantry regiment.  

Mark, Ken and I commanded the four battalions of US infantry (supported by a tank battalion and several artillery battalions), while Chris and Steve commanded the dug in (and hidden) German paratroopers.

 

The Americans had to take Hill 192 in the center, and the two flanking villages to achieve total victory. In addition, we were under time constraints, which meant we could not really drag our feet. The Germans just had to hold on for 8 turns, but as they started hidden under blinds this which helped slow down any advance. 

 

The American advance made decent progress in the first couple of turns, though on the left, mark and I had some trouble navigating the Normandy Bocage. Ken moved the other two battalions up and started to scout the German positions. The Germans for the most part just called mortar and artillery fire on most of the US formations.

On the US left flank, Mark made contact with a reinforced company which pretty much bogged down his battalion's advance for the rest of the game. I was able to bypass a couple of minefields and overwhelm the company covering them with concentrated infantry attacks supported by Sherman’s. On the US right, Ken had mixed results, pushing ahead far to the right but the battalion to my immediate right ran into stiffer resistance.

While my sherman company reorganized, I pushed one company of infantry deep into enemy territory. Not contacting any Germans, they made a hard turn to the right and attack up the flank of hill 192, while the rest of the battalion covered them from below. After some bitter hand to hand combat my company was finally able to wipe out the Germans and take control of the left half of the hill.

Ken's first battalion also found a German paratrooper company defending the hill, but they would have to dislodge the Germans on their own, as my battalion was being counter attacked by some late arriving Stug III and grenadiers.

I was able to slow down the counter attack and hold onto the top of the hill, while Ken’s battalion pushed the German paratroopers off the front of the hill. His far battalion had advanced and captured a village as well. Steve had managed to stymy marks battalion and it only advanced about a third of the way to its objective by the time darkness arrived ending the game.