A Simple Solution

The battle for Aachen, the city of Charlemagne and the First Reich, had started two days earlier. American High Command had initiated a complicated series of maneuvers outside the city designed to isolate Aachen from the north and the south in a concentric attack encircling the city. The …

1944-10-12

WO23

The battle for Aachen, the city of Charlemagne and the First Reich, had started two days earlier. American High Command had initiated a complicated series of maneuvers outside the city designed to isolate Aachen from the north and the south in a concentric attack encircling the city. The commanding generals had not given much thought to the units that were to frontally assault the city to keep the Germans’ attention other than to tell them to pin the Germans in place. Thus it was that these few American units faced some tough going. Not only were the defenders numerically superior, but they were fighting on home soil for one of the cherished Nazi symbols of power.

Aachen, Germany

The Battle of Aachen was a major combat action of World War II, fought by American and German forces in and around Aachen, Germany, between 2–21 October 1944. The city had been incorporated into the Siegfried Line, the main defensive network on Germany's western border; the Allies had hoped to capture it quickly and advance into the industrialized Ruhr Basin. Although most of Aachen's civilian population was evacuated before the battle began, much of the city was destroyed and both sides suffered heavy losses. It was one of the largest urban battles fought by U.S. forces in World War II, and the first city on German soil to be captured by the Allies. The battle ended with a German surrender, but their tenacious defense significantly disrupted Allied plans for the advance into Germany.

American

German

Scenario Type = Standard