"Our lead panzer units are fatigued..."

Lehr is now fully committed in the South, that flank modifier will be needed to dig out those airborne troops in the bad terrain. The US will get a shot to fortify Marche but our forces are determined to beseige it shortly. Our forces are pushing through the central woods - tank country ahead! The fuel replenishments from the captured dumps is coming in handy and front line troops report that mobility, and morale, remains high.

1SS Panzer Division is now pressing hard towards Liege; Verviers will be captured this turn. The US 84th Infantry ("Rail Splitters") is reportedly on the way and the Wermacht wants to make sure the elements of the division are committed to the front line and not to the rear where they can entrench to their hearts' content.

Because of the turn, 21AM, rule "20. Attrition" is now in effect. Considerable time was spent ensuring that attrition was minimized; unfortunately, D1 results are hard to avoid with this number of battles. To reduce the number of mechanized steps lost to attrition, OKW has ordered the following:

- Wherever possible, minimize the number of battles involving mech units that have been on-board since the beginning.

- Try to achieve 4-1(-2) or 5-1(-1) odds battles.

- Make sure that a low-quality mech unit is available to take any necessary attritional losses. Examples: Elements of 19SS, 3 PzG, or even Lehr Recon.

And the battle report comes in...

Post Combat Summary: 

Fiddlesticks. So much for preparation: I had two battles in my 21AM move that faced the potential for attrition and I got the D1* on both of them! (1/36 chance) Four US units died; all were reduced already and two of them were surrounded. In the center, I had a key 2-1(-1) against Werbemont and got the dreaded ENG result. Boy, do I hate attacking the same position twice! The US defense kept me away from Marche; let's see how heavily Randy wants to defend it...

Tom and I are not pleased with the German combat results this turn. Four more Allied destroyed units for a total of 19 (four more surrounded in Bastogne) at the game's halfway mark. I was hoping for 2 or 3 Elims only this turn. Every Allied unit is critical to the defense, particularly in the South, which Tom continues to prove is vulnerable.

I am frustrated by the fact that I am having to give up double-defense town positions because I'm being outflanked. Aywaille, Werbomont, Rochefort, and Paliseul all had to be abandoned. In an attempt to shore up the South a bit, I will shift one more artillery unit there to cover the stalwart airborne. Unlike the aforementioned towns, I'm determined to defend Herve and to deny Peiper an easy path to Liege. I consider hex 2801 to be the most critical position on the map for the campaign game, and I will begin building the required improved position (none too soon). I'm going to try and force Tom's hand either this turn or the next by creating a fortification in Marche and stacking it to the max. I'm confident that he will have to commit to capturing one of the two forts before Allied air power can place them in supply. This effort hopefully should lesson the punch West for a short time.