Battle Stations BS7810 US Infantry Action – A Crossfire Scenario

Through the late 1970s and 80s, Gene McCoy wrote a series of articles called “Battle Stations: Small Unit Actions” for his magazine the “Wargamer’s Digest”. The Battle Stations posed tactical problems and then offered solutions. The idea was that wargamers could compare their solution to McCoy’s. The Battle Stations are good candidates for conversion to Crossfire scenarios.

Here is the first conversion based on “US Infantry Action”, originally published as a Battle Station in October 1978 (hence BS7810). A US Motorised Company is tasked with opening the supply route for the neighbouring division. To do this they must destroy the armoured German blocking force.


Mission

Setting: France, 1944

US Briefing

You are a company commander in the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 15th Infantry Regiment. Your regiment is part of the Sth U.S. infantry Division — Motorised, which is rapidly moving across France, from Normandy, towards the Moselle River.

Your division is part of the 20th Corps under General Patton’s 3rd Army. The division has been operating north of the famed 4th Armored Division. Your 15th Regiment is in division reserve. At this stage in the Battle of France U.S. Forces are running into small, scattered pockets of German resistance.

You are called to battalion headquarters and your battalion commander explains he has a special mission for you. He hands you a tactical map of the Revigny area and informs you that a small German force has infiltrated behind the 4th Armored Division — to your south — and cut its main supply route. Your mission is to move to the small village and destroy the German blocking force.

The battalion intelligence officer informs you that French resistance forces reported that a weak Panzer Grenadier company is holding the village, probably only a couple of platoons. However, the French reported the defenders have halftracks and an assault gun.

You head south and when reconnoitring from Hill 101 you could see a Stug IV standing at the intersection in the town with its gun aimed down Route 1 towards you (on Hill 101). You note several Krupp Kfz 69 infantry trucks are parked around the buildings and estimate that the German infantry must be occupying firing positions within the houses. It appears that the main German defence is placed to cover the approach to the village from the direction Hill 101. You also note 3 German SdKfz 250-1 armored infantry halftracks in and around the village.

Your company has three rifle platoons and a heavy weapons platoon. You have also been given a second company with the same composition. You have also been assigned machine guns from battalion and anti-tank guns from regiment. Your infantry arrived in trucks but you left these in safety behind the lines. Finally you have been promised tank support but you don’t know when they will arrive (and don’t hold your breathe).

While the German force is reportedly much smaller than yours, it occupies well covered defensive positions. How are you going to plan your attack to dislodge the Germans from the village?

German Briefing

The allies are advancing rapidly across France. German forces are scattered and you have found yourself behind Allied lines. None the less you continue to fight on. You have entrenched your (now weakened) company at a small village on Highway 1. This is the main supply route to the enemy 4th Armored Division and you have been ordered to hold at all costs. You are expecting the American to attempt to oust you at any moment.

You have two infantry platoons, one motorised (Krupn Kfz 69 trucks) and the other armoured (three SdKfz 250-1 halftracks). You also have a StuG lV armed with the long 75mm gun.

You don’t know where the Americans will be coming from. You know there is an armoured division to your north, and they may send a force south to open the road. But you also know there are enemy forces to your south, east and west.

You have a small but capable force, however there is a good chance you will be facing superior numbers. How are you going to defend the village?


Map/Terrain

Handout BS7810 US Infantry Action
Handout BS7810 US Infantry Action

Key features are:

  • “Route 1” and a couple of other roads
  • An unnamed village on “Route 1”
  • In the village, the “Junction” of “Route 1” and a side road
  • A couple of hills (“Hill 101”, “Hill 102”)
  • Woods, fields, rough ground, crests, hedges
  • All fields are in-season
  • German deployment zone is in the village
  • American deployment zone is in the north

The German player can scatter three Krupp Kfz 69 trucks around the village for aesthetic appeal. They have no effect on the game.


Pre-game preparation

The pre-game preparation is:

  1. German player plots hidden deployment. Each terrain feature in the German Deployment Zone is numbered to aid plotting hidden deployment.
  2. German player deploys vehicles visible.
  3. American player deploys troops visible.

German Player (Defending)

Objective

Prevent the Allies from capturing the crossroads, and thus prevent supplies getting through to the advancing American tanks.

Forces Available

The German defenders has a weak panzer grenadier company with armoured support.

German Order of Battle

  • 1 x CC (+2)
  • 1 x HMG
  • 1 x FO for off-table 8cm Mortar in 251-2 (12 FM)
  • 1 x FO for off-table 7.5cm infantry gun in 251-9 (12 FM)
  • 2 x Rifle Platoons: PC (+1); 3 x Rifle Squads; 1 x Panzerschreck2
  • 31 x SdKfz 250-1 halftracks
  • 1 x StuG IV
  • Command & Control: Good i.e. German
  • Morale: Regular
  • Fighting Stands: 12 (including 4 vehicles)
  • Points: 1062

Notes:
(1) There are 3 halftracks for the first platoon, one per squad. PC rides for free. The second platoon is motorised.
(2) The Panzershrecks would add another 7.5 points, but as the American player has no tanks, I gave them away free.

Deployment

Deploys first in the German Deployment Zone (blue box). The StuG IV must be deployed at the junction. All vehicles must be visible and all other stands can be hidden.

Reinforcements

None.


American Player (Attacking)

Begins scenario with initiative.

Objective

Forces Available

The Americans have a rifle company.

American Order of Battle

  • 1 x Infantry Company
    • 1 x CC (+1)
    • 1 x HMG
    • 1 x on-table 60mm Mortar (12 FM)
    • 2 x Rifle Platoons: PC (0/+1); 3 x Rifle Squads; 1 x Bazooka
    • 1 x Rifle Platoons: PC (0/+1); 2 x Rifle Squads; 1 x Bazooka
  • 1 x Infantry Company
    • 1 x CC (0)
    • 1 x HMG
    • 1 x on-table 60mm Mortar (12 FM)
    • 2 x Rifle Platoons: PC (0/+1); 3 x Rifle Squads; 1 x Bazooka
    • 1 x Rifle Platoons: PC (0/+1); 2 x Rifle Squads; 1 x Bazooka
  • Elements of Battalion Heavy Weapons Company
    • 1 x FO for off-table 81mm Mortar (12 FM)
    • 1 x HMG
  • 3 x 57mm Anti-tank gun with optional tow
  • Command & Control: Okay
  • Morale: Regular
  • Fighting Stands: 26
  • Points: 113

Deployment

Deploys second.

Reinforcements

You have been promised support by 4th Armored Division. But the Shermans never show up.


Victory Conditions

Terrain and Casualty (AD) objectives.

The game ends immediately if any of these conditions apply

  • Americans destroy the StuG IV and control all buildings (American victory)
  • Germans kill 8 fighting stands of Americans (German victory)
  • Moving clock reaches 1800 hours (German victory)

A player controls a terrain objective if their stand occupies the feature or was the last to occupy it, and the feature is/was not physically contested by the enemy. All features int he German Deployment Zone (including the buildings) start the game controlled by the Germans.

Fighting stands include BC, CC, HMG, Rifle and SMG Squads, Tanks, Guns, but not PC or FOs. Tanks and half tracks count as two fighting stands each although the Americans don’t have any of these.


Scenario Special Rules

  • HTD Special Rule 4: The Moving Clock is in use. The Scenario begins at 1000 hours and ends 1800 hours. The clock advances 30 minutes on 5+ at the end of each defender initiative.

Weapon stats

Type When ARM ACC PEN MG HE/EFF Smoke HD Spd CC Comment
57 mm ATG +1 -1 2/1 -2
StuG IV 4/2 0 +1 4 4/2 No 2 +2
251/1 Half-track 1/1 4 3 +1

Notes

I retained large chunks of the text of the original US briefing. I had to cobble something together for the Germans. I tried to stay true to the map and orders of battle, but had to change them to suit Crossfire.

Notes on the map

For the map I only used a 4′ x 4′ chunk of the original 8′ x 4′ map. From the description provided the action is between Hill 101 and the village. And these features are on the 4′ x 4′ section I selected to replicate for the Crossfire map. The rest of the original map is not necessary for the scenario so I left it off. The Crossfire map is true to the original, but I split big features up, upgrade “shrubs” to “woods”, filled open spaces with rough ground and fields, added blocking terrain.

Notes on the orders of battle

The game system the Battle Stations are written for (Angriff or Tractics) appears to be Bath Tubbed i.e. putting what is really a Platoon on table and calling it a Company. Actually it is even more extreme than that, as they put a half platoon (3 fire teams with supports) on table and call it a Company. So converting the orders of battle required a bit of creativity.

In the original scenario the US had a rifle battalion.

Original U.S. Order of battle

  • Battalion HQ & Supply
  • 3 x Rifle Companies [A, B, C]
    • 3 x Fire Teams
    • 1 x Lt. Machine Gun
    • 1 x Bazooka team
    • 1 x 57mm AT Gun
  • 1 x Heavy Weapons Company
    • 2 x Hvy Machine Guns
    • 1 x 81mm mortar

The Germans originally had two panzer grenadier companies (one armoured; one motorised) and a StuG.

Original German Order of Battle

  • 1 x Motor Infantry Company
    • 4 x Fire Teams
    • 1 x Lt. Machine Gun
    • 1 x Panzerschreck
    • Some Krupp Kfz 69 trucks
  • 1 x Panzer Infantry Company
    • 4 x Fire Teams
    • 1 x Lt. Machine Gun
    • 1 x Panzerschreck
    • 3 x 251/1 Half-track
  • 1 x Stug IV

To convert these orders of battle to Crossfire I:

  • Downscaled to a company a side.
  • Renamed “Fire Team” to “Squad”, “Company” to “Platoon”, and “Battalion” to “Company”. So the US get a rifle company of three platoons of three squads, not a battalion with three companies but only a grand total of nine fire teams
  • Added commanders.
  • Ignored the Lt Machine Guns. These are included in the rifle squads.
  • Only gave the Germans three rifle squads per platoon, not four, but compensates with an additional HMG at company level. This reflects the superior fire power of the MG42.
  • Added indirect fire weapons. I gave the Germans the normal contingent for a late war armoured infantry company (251/2 with 8cm mortar; 251/9 with 7.5cm IG). The American started with an 81mm mortar but I added additional fire support.
  • I then worked out the points, found the Americans sorely outclassed and added another company. I they need more help I have the option to add in the promised Sherman reinforcements.

References

McCoy, G. (1978, October). Battle Station – US Infantry Action. Wargamer’s Digest, p. 2-3.

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