Bastogne 5

Situation North and East of Bastogne at the end of turn 5 (click to enlarge)

Turn 5 marked the end of the first half of the game, with the peek planned withdrawal of German units and with the arrival of most of the remaining reinforcements. So, at the end of this turn – and with only minor changes coming in turn 6, the units deployed in the field would remain mostly the same until the end of the game.

The American turn was mainly focused on plugging the hole in Victory Route B between Neffe and Bastogne, on consolidating the position SE of Bastogne, trying to give up a fight in Bastogne, and deploying units along the Western part of Victory Route C.

But the artillery hegemony was for now silenced, and most of these goals failed to hold past the German turn.

His turn started with the withdrawal of KG Coch and KG v. Fallois, earning the German player one VP (added to more two for being at Bastogne) for the first, but clearing a significant number off units and triggering the need to replace the presence in Bastogne.

New reinforcements entering North were split in two, reinforcing the Northern tip of the front East of Bastogne and trying to put more strength in the North-South movement of the German units, and the other half threatening American units in the Northern field around Bastogne.

Reinforcements entering East, some good attacking units, were deployed to start cleaning up the East end of Victory Route C of American units pockets that remained, wile replacements entering from the South, essentially low valued unites, were spread to try and hold crossroads and key points West and South of Bastogne.

By the end of the turn, as mentioned, most of the American objective faltered: the German position in Bastogne was still strong (consolidated in two hexes), the front line East of Bastogne was still pierced and the remaining positions along VR C were feeble.

Situation South of Bastogne and at Bastogne at the end of turn 5 (click to enlarge)