EEE1004_-_Normandy_Nightmare.pdf

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Created by
Brad Sanders
Devin Cooley
Bob Brodeur
Artists: Jim Bland, Gena Ferrell
COPYRIGHT
O
1998
EASY EIGHT ENTERPRISES, INC.
10036 CAENEN
LENEXA,
KANSAS
662 15
www. battlegroundwwii.com
1e8OOe335e2977
Al1 rights reserved. No part of this publication unless othenvise marked may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted
in
any form by means electrical, mechanical or othenvise, without wntten permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
When the little French town of St. Lo feii to
Amencan troops in late July of 1944, the news fiiled the front
pages of every Amencan newspaper. Radio broadcasts spoke
of the "Major of St. Lo" and brought the vicious and bloody
fighting in the Norman bocage, later to be called "The Battle
of the Hedgerows", into every American famiiy's living
room. St. Lo became a household word, spoken in the same
famiiiarity as Pearl Harbor or Anzio. Something about the
American victory in capturing that little town from the
Germans set a spark in the American people. St. Lo wasn't
just another victory, another town liberat-
ed from the evii German enemy. It stood
for a lot more. St. Lo stood as a defining
syrnbol of the American effort to liberate
Europe at
all
costs from Nazi Germany.
St.
Lo
stood for the ultimate goal of
defeating the enemy and sacrificing
Amencan lives toward that end. It was as
if
the American people could sense victo-
ry
with the fa11 of St. Lo and that the end
of the war was near....
Today, the average American has
never heard about St. Lo or the men who
fought and died taking it. St. Lo, like
many other battles that have drifted from
the Arnerican consciousness, is forgotten
by an American people who
in
1944
clung to this victory as a prornise to win
the war. It is in the spirit of remembrance
and respect for the American soldiers that
fought for St. Lo that we dedicate this'
work.
fun game representative of the combat in the bocage country
of France. Special rules for bocage, demolitions, and even
bulldozer tanks have been included in addition to many oth-
ers. We hope you enjoy Normandy Nightrnare and have fun
garning. We also hope the legacy and spirit of St. Lo stays
alive within you the gamer and on the game table.
Normandy Nightmare is a
Scenario Pack from Easy Eight
Enterprises. It is designed for play with
Easy Eight's Battleground World War
11,
but we encourage you the gamer to utiiize
this work with any game you desire.
Inside you will fmd detailed information
about the St. Lo campaign and the
weapons, men and heroes that fought
there. Also, historical and fictional sce-
narios have been included for your gam-
ing enjoyment.
Normandy Nightmare's focus is
to give the wargamer a realistic and yet
THE
P~TI
"Advancing into territory denied you by un enemy is like
setting foot on un unexplored shore; you Iook around, won-
dering at the evidence of a strange and hostile people."
Capt. Charles Cawthon,
2nd Batt., 116th Inf. Regt., 29th Inf. Div.
After four weeks of fighting inland from the Utah and Omaha
Beaches, American forces in Normandy, France were faced
with two key problems at the end of June, 1944: logistics and
space. The very beaches stormed in blood on D-Day were
now imrnense supply dumps choked with vehicles, ammo
and equipment. The Norman countryside, cnss-crossed with
thick hedgerows known locally as bocage, slowed the
American attempt to break out of the "beachhead" with every
step. If the Allies were to breakout and race through France,
desperate measures would have to be taken immediately. The
fate of the long awaited "Second Front" in Westem Europe
hung in the balance and Allied leaders raced for solutions.
A key solution to Allied supply problems was found
in the American capture of the port of Cherbourg on the tip of
the Cherbourg Peninsula on July 1st. This
dry
port was per-
fect for the unloading of men, vehicles, and equipment nec-
essary to sustain the Allied offensive in France and figured
prominently in the decision to invade Normandy. However,
1
Cherbourg's German defenders had successfully sabotaged
and severely damaged the port rendering it useless for the
next month. Furthermore, only one main road existed
between Cherbourg and American troops at Carentan and
along the Vire River. Logistics would continue to be con-
stricted and hampered
if
the Amencans did not move forward
and seize more roads for the upcoming opening of supplies
through Cherbourg
.
Terrain and the lack of open space also required that
drastic measures be taken.
In
order for a major Arnercian
breakout to take place, open ground suitable for m o r forces
needed to be captured. Amencan commanders led by First
U.S. Army cornrnander, Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley, believed the
key to both the logistic and open terrain problems was the
small Norman town of St.
Lo
along the Vire River (popula-
tion 11,000). Its capture would provide a springboard for
Operation Cobra: when Amencan forces would scatter into
the open countryside east of the town and spread deep in
al
l
directions in the German rear. The town also possessed sur-
rounding hills vital as observation points for the massive
air
bombardment Bradley planned to utilize in support of Cobra.
Also, St.
Lo
was the center of a major road net having eight
different roads intersecting through the center of town.
Possession of these would give the Amencans ample roads to
convoy supplies and support the breakout.
However, taking St. Lo would not be an easy task.
Hills, swamps, canals, and bocage laced the countryside giv-
ing the Germans excellent defensive terrain and concealment.
Amencan leaders knew that such terrain would slow any
attempt to seize St. Lo, but none could predict the enormous
amount of men and material soon to be lost amidst the French
bocage around the little known town of St. Lo.
Amencan efforts to seize St. Lo centered around the
XIX
Corps commanded by Maj. Gen. Charles H. Corlett. His
divisions consisted of the 29th, 30th, and 35th Infantry
Divisions, compnsed mostly of units new and untried to com-
bat.
XIX
Corps' mission was to seize the high ground of hills
around St. Lo and to seize the town itself. The
XIX
Corps
would be joined on its right westerly facing
flank
by VI1
Corps comrnanded by Maj. Gen. J. Lawton Collins. The 9th
Infantry Division ("The Old Reliables") of VI1 Corps would
protect
XIX
Corps' irnrnediate
flank
while the rest of VII
Corps would cross swampy terrain and swing from west to
east behind St. Lo. On
XIX
Corps' left or east
flank,
the
American V Corps would advance forward with its 2nd
Infantry Division and seize Hill 192
-
the largest hill in the
area for miles and from which one could see the Atlantic

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