15th January 1945,
Bastogne, Belgium
Day 28
Fact and Fiction
We will be playing as a company from the 4th Armored Division supported by a small portion of 101st Airborne to retake Neaville. The mission is a “what if” but based heavily on the US situation following the siege of Bastogne being broken by the 4th Armored.
Reality for the 101st Airborne was a lot darker, the 4th Armored would break the siege on the 26th December 1944 bringing in much needed supplies and a chance for the men who’d been fighting non stop for the last week, to be relieved. However, rather than being pulled off the line, the 506th PIR and 327th GI would begin an offensive against the 3 SS divisions bearing down on them. The 506th would retake Rachamps on the 16th January and 22 days after the siege was lifted, the 327th, reinforced by the 502nd PIR would retake Bourcy on the 17th January. Both less than 5 miles away from their defensive positions outside Foy. The next day the 101st Airborne Division was finally relieved.
To this day, the 101st Airborne remain adamant that they never needed to be rescued by Patton’s Third Army but placing that dispute aside, no one can argue against the heroic deeds performed at Bastogne which earned them both a well deserved place in the history books.
After Bastogne
The Battle of the Bulge would cause mass panic among Allied High Command as rear echelon units found themselves fighting on the frontline. Although quick thinking and rapid redistribution was able to catch the German thrust; the advance of the big cats would expose a huge weakness for the American’s ‘tank destroyer heavy’ doctrine and with it a growing desire to rush the M26 pershing to the western theatre began.
However, the aggressiveness of the German army would prove just as costly to them. A huge toll had been inflicted on the panzergrenadiers supporting their armoured units and with no infantry support, the massed army of tanks was forced to rapidly withdraw. Only the battle hardened SS would be able to semi-stabilise the front. The race for the Rhein was now truly on… and the Germans had become competitors themselves!
Situation
The town of Foy has been successfully captured by Easy Company, 506th PIR. The next objective is Noville (Neaville for us, ssshh) and then onto Rachamps. The rest of the division is currently rearming and reorganising in and around Bastogne. With our success at breaking through the German lines, Command has authorised us to provide support to the slowly depleting parachute regiments. We will push into Noville and delay the German reorganisation.
Area of Operations
Company movement is restricted to the road from Foy to Noville and then the boundary of the village itself. Attachment units are granted additional freedom to investigate neighbouring farmsteads.
Mission
Company C, 37th Tank Btln. is to depart from Bastogne, manoeuvre through the recently secured Foy and press on to secure Noville (Neaville) where they will hold off the 3rd PanzerGrenadier Division and prevent German reorganisation.
Objectives
- Objective Victor
Secure and Hold Noville (Neaville) to prevent the movement of German reinforcements. - Objective Uniform
Once Noville (Neaville) has been secured the division train will establish a field workshop within the village to assist with Company level maintenance. Company C’s commander is to assign a satisfactory position. - Additional Tasking
A scout platoon of M8 Greyhounds has been attached to the task force for the operation. As a cavalry element they are not only responsible for performing reconnaissance but creating an effective screen on our southern flank. I have identified several farmsteads to the south of Noville (Neaville) which will need to be secured while our tanks advance.
Intel
The primary threat is located north as German high command has begun to flood their crumbling lines with fresher formations. Thanks to the break in the weather, Allied aircraft have been strafing any visible units as they manoeuvre, so any heavy response is expected to experience delays.
26th Volksgrenadier have suffered heavily and are expected to withdraw through their own lines, be prepared for them to deploy onto your NW flank if they arrive before you.
Multiple SS formations are currently repositioning, the 101st has already encountered 1st SS troops and armor, the rest of their division can’t be far behind.
Both the 78th Infantry Regiment and the 560th Volksgrenadier are expected to be combat ineffective, they have received constant attrition during the 101st’s defence of Bastogne. Limited to no resistance is expected from them.
In addition, I have marked several positions I suspect to be enemy strong points and may harbour anti tank artillery. However, this will need to be confirmed by the scouts.
Equipment
If 1st Platoon fails to capture the objective, 2nd and 3rd platoon may be brought up to replace losses but tanks are in short supply and we realistically, can’t afford to lose more than a couple vehicles.
Battalion is working on providing us artillery support for the operation however, with the reorganisation process underway, Division has refused any higher levels of support.
Due to clear skies some air support may enter our AO but direct support is not expected.
Realities of War [A note from Iron]
The Battle of the Bulge marks the beginning of the end for Germany’s war against the West, However, the situation was pretty bad for the allies as well; replacements were becoming harder to find, lacking training or simply being pulled from rear echelon units with no training at all. Full strength crews were becoming a thing of the past and senior NCOs and officers were pillaging supplies wherever they could find them.
The ORBAT is armour heavy and does have access to five man crews but I have allowed the slots simply for choice, I’m quite happy to see crews of 3+ but I would appreciate no less as the coordination and performance of each crew will drop massively with only a Gunner and Driver.
Sergeants and above can take Thompsons but otherwise I’d like to see a healthy mix of Grease Guns and M1 Carbines among the crewmen. Para’s are equipped appropriately so unless you are trading your weapon with another member of the squad please keep the weapon you spawn with.
Thanks all, I hope you have as much fun playing this, as I did researching and building it.
Preset
Additional mods
THE FOLLOWING MOD IS REQUIRED, BUT NOT ON STEAM WORKSHOP. YOU WILL HAVE TO INSTALL IT MANUALLY:
https://www.nexusmods.com/arma3/mods/41
Mega mirror here:
Installation instructions:
- Download the mod from either link.
- Unpack it in a safe location (where you won't delete it, ideally in your Arma 3 installation folder; I DO NOT recommend using the !Workshop folder for this)
- Install the mod
- Make sure you enable the mod.
