We continued our “Tank Battles in Lorraine” theme with the battle of Singling. Our scenario was derived from a scenario on the “wargamerabbit” blog, which was sourced to the old “What Would Patton Do” site (which is sadly no longer active). The original scenario provided the objectives, orders of battle, reinforcement schedules, and a sketch map showing the terrain and the deployment zones. Rather than use the scenario map, we used a more detailed historical map, and we also reoriented the deployment zones so that the American attack would be coming from the south, as it did historically.
Here is the link to the scenario:
This link provides a detailed account of the historical battle:
HyperWar: Small Unit Actions [4: Singling (4th Armored Division, 6 December 1944)]
This link is to the historical map that we used:
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-A-Small/maps/USA-A-Small-IV-4.jpg
Background and Objectives: German antitank and artillery fire from Singling was interdicting the American axis of attack on the nearby town of Bining, which was the primary objective for the 4th Armored Division. To neutralize this threat, Lt. Colonel Creighton Abrams ordered his task force to make a hasty attack to capture and hold Singling. Accordingly, the US objective is to capture all of the buildings located on both sides of the main (paved) road in Singling, and hold them until the end of the game. Any other result will be a German victory. The scenario length is 12 turns.
Terrain: Our table measured 4.5 X 11 feet with the long axis running east-west. The paved main street of Singling ran east-west, and several dirt roads converged on the town from all directions. The terrain outside the town was generally flat, open farmland, with a few areas of orchards/open woods. Two concrete pillboxes were located just outside the western end of the town, with their firing ports pointing toward the north (they were French pillboxes that were part of the Maginot Line). We allowed German HMGs to fire from the rear doorways of these pillboxes, counting them as MG nests in the game.
Forces and Deployment:
The Germans began with a company of dismounted PanzerGrenadiers defending the town. Three 75mm AT guns were dug in near the two pillboxes in the west. A company of seven Panthers would enter as reserves behind the town from the northwest, and three Pz.IV.L70 tank destroyers and a mortar battery would enter as reserves behind the town from the northeast. Four Pz.IVs, a platoon of PanzerPioneers, and another mortar battery would arrive as delayed reserves from the east. A Wespe battery provided artillery support from off-table.
All of the Americans entered from the south. One company was composed of three Sherman tank platoons (with a mix of 75mm and 76mm main guns) and was supported by a Stuart platoon, an armored mortar platoon, and a Hellcat TD platoon. The second company had three armored infantry platoons, a recon platoon, and two off-table Priest batteries. Most of these forces entered on the first turn, with a few units arriving as reserves later in the game.
Moves:
The Stuarts swung around toward the west of the town, boldly advancing through open fields toward the pillboxes and AT guns. To their right, two Sherman platoons moved through a large orchard toward the town, with an infantry platoon riding on the tanks. Advancing fire took out one AT gun. The recon platoon advanced up the road toward the center of town, taking cover among the houses along the road. Further to the east, the third platoon of Shermans advanced across open fields toward the eastern end of the town, with an infantry platoon walking behind them. The armored mortars would take up firing positions in the center when they arrived from reserve. The American commanders opted to hold the Hellcats in reserve, and would commit them in the center after seeing the German tank dispositions.
The Germans moved a Panther platoon from reserve toward the western end of the town. AT fire knocked out a Sherman OP in the orchard and the HMG bunkers fired on the orchard with little effect. The forward observer in the church steeple called artillery fire down on the Americans advancing through the open fields. The PanzerGrenadiers had no targets so they kept their heads down and waited for help to arrive.
Facing little opposition, the Shermans and infantry fanned out from the orchard and began to enter the town. The infantry in the open fields unpinned and continued to advance, along with their accompanying platoon of Shermans.
Meanwhile, in the west, the Stuarts made an insanely brave assault on the remaining two German AT guns, and knocked them out! The cost to the Stuarts was high, and the remaining Stuarts were quickly eliminated by the Panthers. This bold gambit enabled the American infantry to secure the western end of the town.
German reserves continued to arrive. Two Panthers took cover in a small grove of trees in the center of town, putting them in position to oppose the main advance of the Americans — this would prove to be a pivotal location later in the game. The Pz.IV.L70 platoon also arrived and deployed in the rear of the town, covering some of the gaps between the buildings along the main road.
When the Pz.IVs and PanzerPioneers eventually arrived from the east, their presence forced the Americans on this flank to halt their advance and deal with this new threat. Some Shermans engaged the Pz.IVs at long range, while others directed their MG fire on the Pioneers. The Shermans thus kept the German reserves at bay, which enabled the US infantry to capture the eastern end of the town.
The next climax of the battle occurred when the Americans made a big push to take out the Panthers in the grove of trees in the center of the town, using Shermans, Hellcats, and infantry with bazookas. The effort was costly but effective, knocking out the Panthers and enabling the US infantry to occupy a few more buildings. The German defensive position was reduced to the church and a cluster of houses across the street from the church.
Throughout the battle, both sides used their artillery and mortar fire to target the opposing side’s infantry. The German guns took their toll, but the US infantry shook off their losses and continued to move forward, which required the German guns to keep ranging in on new locations. The continual bombardment by the US guns took a much heavier toll on the PanzerGrenadiers, and eventually made their positions in and around the church untenable. The German commanders pulled their few surviving men back to the buildings at the rear of the town, trying to preserve enough strength to be able to counterattack at the end of the game and steal a victory by retaking one of the objective buildings. The US infantry moved in and braced themselves for the expected counterattack.
But the German plan did not succeed. Although the US infantry had been reduced by the fighting, there were just enough infantry teams, supported by MG fire from just enough nearby AFVs, to halt the final German infantry assault with defensive fire.
Thus the outcome of the game would depend on whether any of the German Panzers could make an assault that could drive the Americans out of one or more of the objective buildings. However, tanks cannot directly assault buildings, so the Germans had one and only one opportunity to make an assault that could win the game. A single American LMG team was deployed in the small grove of trees, next to the burning Panthers that had previously defended the grove. If a Panzer could assault this team and win the close combat, it would force the US troops in the nearby buildings to fall back, thus winning the game for the Germans.
Only one Panther was in position to make the assault. It passed its cross check to enter the grove of trees, defensive fire from some nearby bazookas missed, and the assault went in — and missed! The American MG team passed its motivation check to stay in the combat, and its counterassault on the Panther also missed. The Panther then failed its motivation check to stay in the combat and was forced to withdraw, leaving the Americans in possession of all of the objective buildings for an American victory!
What a nail biter! The scenario was very challenging, and the commanders of both sides went though bouts of optimism and pessimism at various points in the game. Even though the Americans were in a dominant position at the end, the Germans still had a chance to win, and the game came down to the final die roll. Despite having lots of cool tanks on the table, it was the humble infantry that decided the outcome. Another great scenario from Wargamerabbit.
Historically, the battle for Singling resulted in both sides controlling parts of the town, so the battle was a tactical loss for the Americans. However, the fighting in Singling drew so much German attention, other US forces were able to capture Bining against much weaker opposition, thus the Fourth Armored Division achieved its primary objective, opening the way for further US advances.
- TJ