KG PEIPER AT TROIS PONTS

Location : Trois Ponts, Ambleve Valley (Belgian Ardennes)
Date : Dec 18, 1944
Weather : Day, fog,
Ground condition : Damp
Map size : 1.440 m x 1.440 m
Number of turns : 60
Forces : Allied 2.621 pts / Axis 5.315 pts
Type : "What if" semi- historical attack scenario with combined forces : US Engineers and armor against attacking Waffen SS Pz Grenadiers and armor (1st. SS Pz Division, KG Peiper)

Situation :

Trois Ponts gains its name from three bridges, one over the Salm, one over the Badeux creek and one across the Ambleve. The road from Stavelot passes under railroad tracks as it nears Trois Ponts, then veers sharply to the south, crosses the Ambleve, continues through the narrow valley for a few hundred yards, and finally turns west at right angles to cross the Salm and enter the main section of the small village. A number of roads find their way through the deep recesses of the Salm and Ambleve valleys to reach Trois Ponts, hidden among the cliffs and hills. Most, however, wind for some distance through the gorges and along the tortuous valley floors. One road, a continuation of the paved highway from Stavelot, leads immediately from Trois Ponts and the valley to the west. This road, via Werbomont, was Peiper's objective.

History :

A quarter of an hour before noon the advance guard of Peiper's main column, nineteen or twenty tanks, came rolling along the road. A shot from a lone antitank gun crippled or in somewise stopped the foremost
German tank, but after a brief skirmish the enemy knocked out the gun, killed four of the crew, and drove back the engineers. The hit on the lead tank checked the German column just long enough to give warning to
the bridge guards, only a few score yards farther on. They blew the Ambleve bridge, then the Salm bridge, and fell back to the houses in the main part of town. In the meantime one of the engineer platoons had
discouraged the German tank company from further advance along the side
road and it had turned back to Stavelot. The story goes, that frustrated, that his quick exit out of the valley was denied by a battalion antitank gun and a handful of engineers, Peiper cried out : "Those Damned Engineers !!!"

This scenario tries to depict what would have happened if the engineers would not have been able to blow up the bridges over the Ambleve and Salm river.

Designer notes :
Sources : the online version of "The Battle of the Bulge" found at
http://www.wargame.com/articles/wwtwo/bulge/bulge24.html

Map design based on topographical map IGN Belgium 49/7-8 1/25.000

In order to stimulate a more dynamic movement by the Axis forces directed by the AI,
an exit zone to the west was provided. However, none of the Axis units are eligible for exit points.
All axis units are set at 50 % fanaticism.
The underpasses may look a little bit odd, but this was the only way to stimulate AI directed forces to use this route.


Playability
Against AI : best played as Allied against Axis (AI) - default set-up
PBEM , TCP/IP or Germans againt AI : suggest to give a bonus of 25 % or more to the allied side depending on your skills.

"McAuliffe"