Command Ops: Nijmegen and Arnhem - Day 1


1st Airlanding Bde is sent to secure the western approach to Arnhem at the tail end of Day 1.  
I am playing the 9+ day scenario in Highway to the Reich called "From the Meuse to the Rhine." It covers the 1st Airborne and 82nd Airborne drops at Arnhem and Nijmegen.  I have never played this scenario surprisingly, given my love of this game, and I am excited to give it a go.

In this first post about this scenario, I am looking into developing an alternate strategy that brings me a better result in both combat zones instead of what happened to 1st Airborne and the delay the 82nd experienced.

At Arnhem:  Instead of attacking to the road bridge, I am going to secure the railroad bridge over the Rhine which is about 1 km west of the road bridge.  

First though I need to secure the landing zone, and so I have ordered the various glider pilot companies and AT gun platoons to secure the approaches to the landing zones. I am also keeping Freddie Gough's jeep squadron in reserve rather than sending them on their historical mission which caused them to be pinned down outside the city.

1st Airlanding Brigade under Brig. Gen. Hicks is tasked with the move to the bridge. 

Why the railroad bridge?  Well it is a viable crossing over the Rhine and it is closer to the drop zones.  Urban movement is difficult and even if I did get someone to take the Frost position on the north end of the bridge, maintaining a connection with them, given the German buildup that occurs from the north and the subsequent counterattack is an almost impossible task.  My bet is if I grab the road bridge I am going to be able to attack to the road bridge from both ends.  We will see!

My big worry isn't my switch to the rail bridge, but whether or not a battalion of glider pilots, three platoons of AT guns and an additional battalion of Paras for security can keep the drop zones open long enough for the Day 2 follow-on forces to drop safely.

Overall though I feel good about this plan for 1st Airborne even with the historical reality I'll face as the battle progresses.  I know where the German buildup is coming from, I am not experiencing the operational confusion Roy Urqhardt and his commanders did on Day 1, and I know about the railroad bridge.  I am also not faced with having to explain myself to Browning, Montgomery, etc about why I am deviating from the plan.


At Nijmegen: The situation at Nijmegen though is very different.  I am flying blind, knowing little of the history of the 82nd drops, and I suspect I am already blowing it.


I've limited the Day 1 missions for the 82nd to maintain cohesion and achieve a more limited set of objectives.

First off, I am surprised by the distance at Nijmegen from the bridge over the Waal to the drop zones.  I thought only 1st Airborne faced this problem and so to be confronted with the same problem immediately caused me to pause and tweak my strategy.  There is a lot of ground between me and a number of objectives, so it looks like it is a better plan to stick together than become widely separated.  

Overarching strategic thought:  I am going to try and keep my forces concentrated and punch for key objectives, rather than scatter my men and try to grab all of the objectives.

My focus:

1) Secure the drop zones.

2) Try to fight my way into Nijmegen and grab the bridge.

3)  Seize the Grave river bridge over the Maas because this is vital to my linking up with XXX Corps.

4) Seize the Honinghutje highway bridge.

5) Grab and hold the bridge at Molenhoek to keep the 504th (tasked with seizing the Grave crossing) connected with the drop zones on Groesbeek heights.

The Honinghutje bridge is almost a secondary objective for me early on and you can see in the screenshot above, that I haven't tasked anyone with probing that way.

HELP NEEDED:  I would love to get your thoughts on how to play this scenario or about the way the 82nd and the 1st Airborne operations progressed historically.  Leave me a comment please!  I read them!

Command Ops is a beautiful game, with deep complexity.  It is still my favorite and these larger, longer scenarios were ones I have always avoided.  Now that I have a little more time, with both kids in school weekdays, I am diving in.

More to follow...

Comments

Gerry Leb said…
I don't understand how the planners of this operation expected the units tasked at the various locations to fulfill their objectives. It seems that, from this time to the present, planners fail to understand that light infantry is not good at taking and holding ground in the face of any well-trained regular infantry, for the simple reason that light infantry lack heavy weapons.

In modern times the delivery of firepower has made certain light infantry tasks a bit easier, but planners still allow the wastage of these elite troops by "mission creep".

I think your modified objectives sound good. At Grave there are terrain features that allow a coup de main to take the bridge by envelopment. At Arnhem it is the opposite.
Unknown said…
Good stuff! hope your alternate plan works out. Historically the railway bridge was blown by German engineers as it was being approached by 2 para who then went on to the main bridge. If you haven't already then I recommend " A Bridge Too Far" by Cornelius Ryan & "It Never Snows In September" by Robert Kershaw (from the German perspective). Look forward to further updates.
Chris said…
Thanks for the comment Gerry. I am eager to see how the plan plays out. I am running this scenario simultaneously with an altered version where I changed the 1st Airborne drops to all fall on the first day.

That scenario can be found here: http://thesharpendgaming.blogspot.com/2018/08/command-ops-what-if-scenario-red-devils.html
Chris said…
Unknown, thanks for your comment. I have never read Kershaw's book but I have read Ryan's. In this game scenario the Germans have an order to deny the rail crossing (demolish) but the bridge is intact at the start of the game. It is possible to seize it in time but doesn't always happen.

I am also running this what-if scenario: http://thesharpendgaming.blogspot.com/2018/08/command-ops-what-if-scenario-red-devils.html
Unknown said…
I haven't played this scenario yet, but I have played the Arnhem and Nijmegen scenarios seperately.

Your plan for the 1st at Arnhem and first taking the railway bridge is a sound one. I did the exact same thing and it turned out fine.

As for the 82nd at Nijmegen: get to Nijmegen as soon as possible. Yet keep Groesbeek heights protected as it will surely come under atack. Honinghutje is indeed a secondary objective that can easily be taken by a smaller force or even by the forward scouts of XXX corps. Just keep sure that XXX can cross Nijmegen bridge in a timely fashion (something I didn't really manage) and you'll do fine.

It'll be fun to see how it will pan out.
Chris said…
Hi Bert. Will keep you posted! I had the same thoughts about getting into Nijmegen. My units just observed 4-5 company sized units using the highway that runs from Kranenburg to Nijmegen to get around me. I didn't grasp how quickly they could do that and failed to adequately block it with the men that dropped over there. I have an engineer company from the 508th digging in there now. I hope it isn't too late for the men heading into Nijmegen.

Popular posts from this blog

John Tiller's Campaign Series - Buy It Now

Maxwell's Marauders: Find the Observation Post

Edson's Ridge