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"In war it is precisely the things which are thought impossible which most often succeed, when they are well conducted." Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, duc de Belle-Isle
-Quoted in Reed Browning, The War of the Austrian Succession (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Knock on all Doors (KOAD) is soon to be released. KOAD is a Command Ops 2.0 expansion module which includes six historical scenarios and six “hypothetical” scenarios on a larger scale than previously designed, set in the first crucial 48 hours of the Battle of the Bulge. All have unit tank strengths in accordance with the US Army Ardennes Campaign Database http://www.dupuyinstitute.org/data/ardennes.htm. The scenarios are in testing and I am right now concluding many years of work responding to the results. Here I am taking a few moments from the work to give an advance look at what to expect.
Of the six historical scenarios, three begin the morning of December 17th and end early evening of the 18th. These are HISTORICAL monster scenarios, covering the critical win-lose decision windows for each of the 3 Axis armies involved, 1 scenario per army. You are in the positon to dramatically change the course of the battle by choosing the alternate courses of action you read about in the history books. The scenarios are:
“Decision at Bullingen” starting at 1000 hours December 17, allows the ISS Panzer Korps commander/player to order KG Peiper to march north from Bullingen. Many historians have speculated on the catastrophe which would have resulted. Is it feasible?
“Decision before Clervaux” starts at 0530 hours December 17 with the 2nd Panzer Division massed before Clervaux and the rest of the 5th Panzer Army poised to renew the assault. A close review of the situation reveals possibilities unmentioned by historians.
“Decisions beyond the Sauer” also starts at 0530 hours December 17. Although there are some opportunities the 7th Army is in a tough situation. Can you find a way forward?
KOAD scenarios use four new maps. These three use Nord - 21 km by 20+km, Mitte – 31 km by 40 km, and Sud Kleine – 37 by 31 km. The fourth, Sud Grosse, is 47 km by 31 km and is used in other scenarios.
About these three a tester wrote “These 3 Decision/Historical scenarios are a great pack in themselves … I would definitely buy the KOAD pack for these 3 historical beauties.” Pasted below is an excerpt of the map showing some of the starting positions in “Decision at Bullingen”. It clearly shows how the US 14th Cavalry Group has abandoned the field and left things wide open for KG’s Peiper and Hansen.
The three remaining historical scenarios run from the beginning of the offensive for “48 hours” until December 18. These are:
“Preiss’ Push” includes the entire 1SS Panzer Korps zone and that of the northern wing of 18th VG Division.
“Manteuffel’s March” is the complete 5th Panzer Army assault.
“Brandenberger’s Breakthrough” is the complete 7th Army assault.
To give you an idea of the ground over which you are battling here is the complete Mitte map used by Manteuffel’s March and Decision before Clervaux. This clip shows Decision before Clervaux start from the scenario maker.
The remaining six scenarios are the “core” KOAD scenarios. These hypothetical scenarios are two nearly identical sets of three scenarios each. One set is restricted to the historically present units, the “Knocks” series. The other, “Big Knock” series, has the I SS Panzer Korps panzer formations switched out for the XII SS Armee Korps and the 9th Panzer and 3 and 15th Panzer Grenadier divisions and has three additional Volks Grenadier divisions between the three scenarios. These scenarios are inspired by the historical success of the 5th Panzer Army and the essence of the commanders’ plan, “knock on all doors and go through the one that open.” The premise is the plan was adopted for the whole attack. [more on this below]
The three “Hypothetical” Big Knock scenarios:
“Blumentritt’s Big Knock” starts at 0500 December 16 with 150 Panzer Brigade just completing night raids on US strong points in the Loscheim Gap. At 0530 the rest of the German forces deploy. (the first time I played the US I was greatly startled when the German artillery opened up).
Built around the reinforced 9th Panzer, 15th Panzer Grenadier (off map), Führer Begleit Brigade, 12th Volks Grenadier and 3rd Falshirmjaeger Divisions, Group Blumentritt (XII SS Army Corp reinforced) will pass through the lines of the 18th and 277th VG Divisions, break through the American strong points between the Schnee Eiffel and Hollerath, swiftly advance west and northwest (exit the map) to march across the Ambleve/Howarche Rivers and secure the Hohes-Venn forest region.
“Krügers Big Knock” starts at 0530 December 16. Group Krüger (LVIII Panzer Corps reinforced) attack between Stoltzembourg and the Schnee Eiffel to advance on Bastogne and the Salm and Ambleve River Lines. 2nd and 116th Panzer and 3rd and 15th Panzer Grenadier Divisions with eight attached VG regiments are assigned to pass through the lines of the 18th and 26th VGDs, between Stoltzembourg and Bleialf inclusive, and attack on 8 lines of advance shattering the defenders and advancing to and beyond St Vith, the Clerf River and Wiltz (exit the map) within 48 hours. The Korps must also link up with and release the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division to XII SS Armee Korps north of St. Vith (exit the map), continue the advance (exit the map) through and on both sides of Bastogne, cross the Ourthe and on to the Meuse between Givet and Namur.
“Luttwitz's Big Knock” starts at 0530 hours December 16. Group Luttwitz (XLVII Panzer Korps reinforced) attacks to shatter the American defenses from Stoltzembourg to Rosport and establish a strong southern flank for the breakthrough. The Order of Battle includes the Panzer Lehr Division and Führer Grenadier Brigade, as well as 5th Fallschirmjäger and 212 Volks Grenadier Division.
Both the Luttwitz's Big Knock and Luttwitz Knocks scenario use the Sud Grosse map. A clip of it from Map Maker gives you a good idea of how much ground the Germans had to cover in 48 hours in order to be successful. The Germans started from the eastern and north-eastern edge and had to flood into the entire zone. Perhaps that can be done with the mobile formations at hand.
The last set is the “Hypothetical” Knocks series. These three scenarios are:
“Preiss Knocks”: Same as “Blumentritt’s Big Knock” except the I SS Panzer Corps has the mission with 1st SS Panzer (off map), 12 SS Panzer, 12th Volks Grenadier and 3rd Falshirmjaeger Divisions reinforced by regiments of the 18th VG Division.
“Krüger Knocks”: Same as “Krügers Big Knock” except that LVIII Panzer Corps has only 1st SS, 2nd, and 116th Panzer Divisions and Führer Begleit Brigade reinforced by two VG Divisions and regiments of the 18th and 26th VG divisions.
“Luttwitz Knocks”: starts at 0530 hours December 16. Same as “Luttwitz's Big Knock” except the Panzer Corps is less one VG division.
Previously I made a brief mention of the premise for the “core” KOAD scenarios. Let me give more detail on that. “Knock on all Doors” (KOAD) was inspired by many years of study on the Battle of the Bulge all the while keeping in mind General of the Army George C. Marshall’s admonition:
“The hurly burly of the conflict does not permit commanders to draw fine distinctions. To succeed, they must demand results, close their ears to excuses, and drive subordinates beyond what would ordinarily be considered the limit of human capacity. Wars are won by the side that accomplishes the impossible.”
Eventually I came to the conclusion historians’ reviews of the German failure in the Battle of the Bulge were accounts of excuses. After encountering the Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet quote and reading of his exploits I became certain of it. So I took stock of the extensive German command and staff experience assigned to the assault, the obstacles and the extreme secrecy and recognized had Manteuffel’s concept of the operation been applied across the entire attack zone in combination with a number of actual, possible and seriously considered tactics, the Allies would have been faced with an even greater crisis. Beginning the offensive with Skorzeny’s 150 Panzer Brigade in a Fort Eben-Emael like raid on the most accessible American strongpoints would have made it more so. When Dave O’Connor asked for expansion module suggestions I saw this as an opportunity to test these ideas. In order to provide a premise and basis for the scenarios I supposed Army Group B held a second Kriegspeil conference which played out as the historical battle did and revised the plan accordingly. Minutes of this conference are included in the Designer Notes as an appendix.
One more thing! At the end of the Designer Notes is a challenge to the players, a challenge to play all the scenarios in a set and evaluate your collective performance. The assessments from best to poorest:
- Alexander II - decisive victory in all three as the Germans
- Great Captain of History - two decisive victories and one marginal victory
- Field Marshal/General of the Army - one decisive victory and two marginal victories
- General - all three marginal victories
- LTG - two victories and one draw
- MG - one victory and two draws
- BG - three draws
- Armchair General - all other results
-Quoted in Reed Browning, The War of the Austrian Succession (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Knock on all Doors (KOAD) is soon to be released. KOAD is a Command Ops 2.0 expansion module which includes six historical scenarios and six “hypothetical” scenarios on a larger scale than previously designed, set in the first crucial 48 hours of the Battle of the Bulge. All have unit tank strengths in accordance with the US Army Ardennes Campaign Database http://www.dupuyinstitute.org/data/ardennes.htm. The scenarios are in testing and I am right now concluding many years of work responding to the results. Here I am taking a few moments from the work to give an advance look at what to expect.
Of the six historical scenarios, three begin the morning of December 17th and end early evening of the 18th. These are HISTORICAL monster scenarios, covering the critical win-lose decision windows for each of the 3 Axis armies involved, 1 scenario per army. You are in the positon to dramatically change the course of the battle by choosing the alternate courses of action you read about in the history books. The scenarios are:
“Decision at Bullingen” starting at 1000 hours December 17, allows the ISS Panzer Korps commander/player to order KG Peiper to march north from Bullingen. Many historians have speculated on the catastrophe which would have resulted. Is it feasible?
“Decision before Clervaux” starts at 0530 hours December 17 with the 2nd Panzer Division massed before Clervaux and the rest of the 5th Panzer Army poised to renew the assault. A close review of the situation reveals possibilities unmentioned by historians.
“Decisions beyond the Sauer” also starts at 0530 hours December 17. Although there are some opportunities the 7th Army is in a tough situation. Can you find a way forward?
KOAD scenarios use four new maps. These three use Nord - 21 km by 20+km, Mitte – 31 km by 40 km, and Sud Kleine – 37 by 31 km. The fourth, Sud Grosse, is 47 km by 31 km and is used in other scenarios.
About these three a tester wrote “These 3 Decision/Historical scenarios are a great pack in themselves … I would definitely buy the KOAD pack for these 3 historical beauties.” Pasted below is an excerpt of the map showing some of the starting positions in “Decision at Bullingen”. It clearly shows how the US 14th Cavalry Group has abandoned the field and left things wide open for KG’s Peiper and Hansen.
The three remaining historical scenarios run from the beginning of the offensive for “48 hours” until December 18. These are:
“Preiss’ Push” includes the entire 1SS Panzer Korps zone and that of the northern wing of 18th VG Division.
“Manteuffel’s March” is the complete 5th Panzer Army assault.
“Brandenberger’s Breakthrough” is the complete 7th Army assault.
To give you an idea of the ground over which you are battling here is the complete Mitte map used by Manteuffel’s March and Decision before Clervaux. This clip shows Decision before Clervaux start from the scenario maker.
The remaining six scenarios are the “core” KOAD scenarios. These hypothetical scenarios are two nearly identical sets of three scenarios each. One set is restricted to the historically present units, the “Knocks” series. The other, “Big Knock” series, has the I SS Panzer Korps panzer formations switched out for the XII SS Armee Korps and the 9th Panzer and 3 and 15th Panzer Grenadier divisions and has three additional Volks Grenadier divisions between the three scenarios. These scenarios are inspired by the historical success of the 5th Panzer Army and the essence of the commanders’ plan, “knock on all doors and go through the one that open.” The premise is the plan was adopted for the whole attack. [more on this below]
The three “Hypothetical” Big Knock scenarios:
“Blumentritt’s Big Knock” starts at 0500 December 16 with 150 Panzer Brigade just completing night raids on US strong points in the Loscheim Gap. At 0530 the rest of the German forces deploy. (the first time I played the US I was greatly startled when the German artillery opened up).
Built around the reinforced 9th Panzer, 15th Panzer Grenadier (off map), Führer Begleit Brigade, 12th Volks Grenadier and 3rd Falshirmjaeger Divisions, Group Blumentritt (XII SS Army Corp reinforced) will pass through the lines of the 18th and 277th VG Divisions, break through the American strong points between the Schnee Eiffel and Hollerath, swiftly advance west and northwest (exit the map) to march across the Ambleve/Howarche Rivers and secure the Hohes-Venn forest region.
“Krügers Big Knock” starts at 0530 December 16. Group Krüger (LVIII Panzer Corps reinforced) attack between Stoltzembourg and the Schnee Eiffel to advance on Bastogne and the Salm and Ambleve River Lines. 2nd and 116th Panzer and 3rd and 15th Panzer Grenadier Divisions with eight attached VG regiments are assigned to pass through the lines of the 18th and 26th VGDs, between Stoltzembourg and Bleialf inclusive, and attack on 8 lines of advance shattering the defenders and advancing to and beyond St Vith, the Clerf River and Wiltz (exit the map) within 48 hours. The Korps must also link up with and release the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division to XII SS Armee Korps north of St. Vith (exit the map), continue the advance (exit the map) through and on both sides of Bastogne, cross the Ourthe and on to the Meuse between Givet and Namur.
“Luttwitz's Big Knock” starts at 0530 hours December 16. Group Luttwitz (XLVII Panzer Korps reinforced) attacks to shatter the American defenses from Stoltzembourg to Rosport and establish a strong southern flank for the breakthrough. The Order of Battle includes the Panzer Lehr Division and Führer Grenadier Brigade, as well as 5th Fallschirmjäger and 212 Volks Grenadier Division.
Both the Luttwitz's Big Knock and Luttwitz Knocks scenario use the Sud Grosse map. A clip of it from Map Maker gives you a good idea of how much ground the Germans had to cover in 48 hours in order to be successful. The Germans started from the eastern and north-eastern edge and had to flood into the entire zone. Perhaps that can be done with the mobile formations at hand.
The last set is the “Hypothetical” Knocks series. These three scenarios are:
“Preiss Knocks”: Same as “Blumentritt’s Big Knock” except the I SS Panzer Corps has the mission with 1st SS Panzer (off map), 12 SS Panzer, 12th Volks Grenadier and 3rd Falshirmjaeger Divisions reinforced by regiments of the 18th VG Division.
“Krüger Knocks”: Same as “Krügers Big Knock” except that LVIII Panzer Corps has only 1st SS, 2nd, and 116th Panzer Divisions and Führer Begleit Brigade reinforced by two VG Divisions and regiments of the 18th and 26th VG divisions.
“Luttwitz Knocks”: starts at 0530 hours December 16. Same as “Luttwitz's Big Knock” except the Panzer Corps is less one VG division.
Previously I made a brief mention of the premise for the “core” KOAD scenarios. Let me give more detail on that. “Knock on all Doors” (KOAD) was inspired by many years of study on the Battle of the Bulge all the while keeping in mind General of the Army George C. Marshall’s admonition:
“The hurly burly of the conflict does not permit commanders to draw fine distinctions. To succeed, they must demand results, close their ears to excuses, and drive subordinates beyond what would ordinarily be considered the limit of human capacity. Wars are won by the side that accomplishes the impossible.”
Eventually I came to the conclusion historians’ reviews of the German failure in the Battle of the Bulge were accounts of excuses. After encountering the Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet quote and reading of his exploits I became certain of it. So I took stock of the extensive German command and staff experience assigned to the assault, the obstacles and the extreme secrecy and recognized had Manteuffel’s concept of the operation been applied across the entire attack zone in combination with a number of actual, possible and seriously considered tactics, the Allies would have been faced with an even greater crisis. Beginning the offensive with Skorzeny’s 150 Panzer Brigade in a Fort Eben-Emael like raid on the most accessible American strongpoints would have made it more so. When Dave O’Connor asked for expansion module suggestions I saw this as an opportunity to test these ideas. In order to provide a premise and basis for the scenarios I supposed Army Group B held a second Kriegspeil conference which played out as the historical battle did and revised the plan accordingly. Minutes of this conference are included in the Designer Notes as an appendix.
One more thing! At the end of the Designer Notes is a challenge to the players, a challenge to play all the scenarios in a set and evaluate your collective performance. The assessments from best to poorest:
- Alexander II - decisive victory in all three as the Germans
- Great Captain of History - two decisive victories and one marginal victory
- Field Marshal/General of the Army - one decisive victory and two marginal victories
- General - all three marginal victories
- LTG - two victories and one draw
- MG - one victory and two draws
- BG - three draws
- Armchair General - all other results
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So I recommend we ignore all these 'extras' and stick to the estabs.
