Ripples on the Pond

Operation Queen was the codename for the assault into the Roer River plain. The American XIX Corps was to cross the Roer and drive towards the Rhine. Most of the terrain was flat and dotted with villages and cultivated fields. The tankers of the 2nd Armored Division …

1944-11-16

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Operation Queen was the codename for the assault into the Roer River plain. The American XIX Corps was to cross the Roer and drive towards the Rhine. Most of the terrain was flat and dotted with villages and cultivated fields. The tankers of the 2nd Armored Division were concerned with the soggy soil conditions. For their part, the Germans had established a defensive pattern with the villages as integral parts of concentric arcs fanning outward from the major towns like ripples in a pond. The 2nd Armored Division had divided their attack into three Task Forces, each with a different objective and avenue of approach. Task Force 2 attacked in the center zone. Moving slowly in second gear because of the soggy ground, the tanks were unopposed until they reached a point about 500 yards from Apweiler. Then, undetected anti-tank guns opened up, having hidden in the orchards and fringe woods around the village.

Apweiler, Germany

Operation Queen was an American operation during World War II on the Western Front at the German Siegfried Line. The operation was aimed against the Rur River, as a staging point for a subsequent thrust over the river to the Rhine into Germany. It was conducted by the First and Ninth U.S. Armies. The offensive commenced on 16 November 1944 with one of the heaviest Allied tactical bombings of the war. However, the Allied advance was unexpectedly slow, against heavy German resistance, especially in the Hürtgen Forest through which the main thrust of the offensive was carried out. By mid-December, the Allies finally reached the Rur and tried to capture its important dams, when the Germans launched their own offensive, dubbed Wacht am Rhein. The ensuing Battle of the Bulge led to the immediate cessation of Allied offensive efforts into Germany until February 1945.

American

German

Scenario Type = Starter Kit