Command Ops 2: The Stolberg Corridor
Lately, I have been very interested in the fighting around Aachen and the Westwall campaign. Fortunately, Command Ops 2 has an entire module titled appropriately enough “Westwall” covering this period of the war along the German frontier. As the US VII corps advanced towards Germany in September of 1944, the Stolberg corridor was the likeliest approach from the southeast of Aachen towards the Westwall through a gap in the line of mountains and heavily forested terrain there. German intelligence knew this but had little in the way of reserves to reinforce the line ahead of the American advance. A small kampfgruppe from the 9th Panzer Division was formed along with the remnants of a Panzer brigade. The 12th Volksgrenadier division would be the follow-on force and their staggered arrival is represented accurately in the scenario reinforcement schedule. Given the defensive challenges facing the Germans, I have decided to play that side. This AAR contains the orders I issued as the G...