CLERVAUX OPERATION MAP

In the morning of December 16, 1944, The Germans launched their "Wacht am Rhein" operation.It's target would be the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg - for the most part rugged, wooded terrain with steep river valleys - where the Germans had so completely surprised the French in 1940 by pouring two entire panzerkorps through it in just a few days.

On the other side, the Americans were in less than ideal condition to meet such a threat. With the Ardennes viewed as a quiet sector, a number of U.S. units had been moved there to rest and take on replacements after suffering heavy casualties in the autumn fighting.

Moreover, several green units had been put into the line in order to let them gain combat experience gradually. The GIs were stretched so thinly that in some areas there was no continuous front line, the troops relying on the many small villages as company or platoon strongpoints instead

East of Bastogne, elements of the U.S. 28th Infantry Division was mauled in desperate fighting along Skyline Drive, in towns such as Marnach and Clervaux,

This map depicts the area used by the Panzer Lehr Division to advance to Bastogne. The Germans crossed at Dasburg the river Our that formed the boundary between German and US forward positions. They climbed out of the steep valley and reached the ridge known by the GI's as the "Skyline Drive". The road from Marnach to Clervaux was the only paved road that ran from East to West in that area. Clervaux itself was an important crossroads and had a railroad connection.

Map Specifications :

Operation Type : Advance

Date : December
Size : length 4.480 m x width 2.880 m
Battle Window Size : 1.600 m
Map contours : Steep ( 5 m )
Size of No-Man's land : 80 m
Weather Pattern : Bad
Ground Conditions : Wet ( can turn into mud or snow )
Battles : 7

Each Battle Lasts : 15 turns
Night falls : Every 4th. battle
Opening Battle Time Slot : Dawn
Attacker : Axis
Attacker comes from the : East

Both sides may initiate night combat, have "good" vehicle repair and recovery conditions, "adequate" supply in between battles and fanaticism is set at "normal".

Set up zones are located at the opposite edges of the initial battle window.

Due to the size of the map and the nature of the terrain, I suggest a force balance of at least 3 : 2 in favour of the attacker.

For example :
On Map : Allies 2.000 pts / Axis 3.000 pts
Total Allies Reinforcements : 2.000 pts at max 700 pts per battle
Total Axis Reinforcements : 3.000 pts at max. 1.000 pts per battle

Depending on your preferences, you can extrapolate above figures or ask 3rd. party to include reinforcements via battalion, regimental or divisional reserves.

You can play the whole operation via PBEM (that makes more then 120 e-mail exchanges) or split it up in 7 sessions of TCP/IP gaming.

	Overview Clervaux - Marnach Map
	Click area of interest in order to enlarge.