Spearhead! The 3rd Armoured Division in rural Germany, 1945

March 1945, the 3rd Armoured Division, nicknamed "Spearhead," led a pivotal US offensive against Germany's Ruhr region. Facing intense resistance, the Division persisted, pushing into Germany at an astonishing rate. These three scenarios capture the campaign's diversity, offering a taste of the battlefields the US troops fought their way through.

In late March, the 3rd Armoured Division, known as the "Spearhead," played a key role in the US offensive to isolate Germany's industrial Ruhr region. The division, led by Major General J. Lawton Collins' VII Corps, spearheaded the attack at dawn on March 25, 1945. Encountering heavy opposition from units of the German Fifth Panzer Army, including the 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division; the 9th, 11th, and 130th Panzer Lehr; the 340th; and the 363rd Volksgrenadier Divisions, the "Spearhead" advanced, particularly south of Germany's Sieg River. Major General Maurice Rose's tankers overran German positions, taking prisoners and destroying armour.

On March 27, Task Force "X" achieved a significant success, breaking through German resistance and swiftly advancing through towns. Major General Rose led the relentless pursuit, personally engaging the enemy. Task Force "X" seized Herborn on the Dill River, securing a bridgehead. The following day the Combat Command Reserve pushed on to Dillenburg, securing crossings, while Combat Command "B" went into reserve after facing significant resistance. General Boudinot's command resumed the attack on March 28. Supported by the 104th Infantry Division, the battle turned into a race eastward as German forces retreated. Task Force Lovelady seized Marburg, and the 83rd Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion drove hard, securing Bottenhorn and Holyhausen by nightfall.

On March 29, the "Spearhead" achieved a historic one-day advance, covering over 90 miles. The day marked a triumphant moment for Major General Rose and the 3rd Armoured Division. However, on March 30, resistance stiffened as SS units confronted the advancing Americans. Despite formidable opposition, the 3rd Armoured Division continued its steady advance. 

The division faced intense combat on March 30, with Task Force Welborn engaging dug-in infantry and tanks north of Etteln. Major General Rose was killed in action when his small convoy was ambushed by German armour. Despite the loss, the division pressed forward under the command of Brigadier General Doyle O. Hickey. Task Force "X," now led by Lt. Colonel John K. Boles, Jr., cleared the roadblock, enabling the division to reach and clear Paderborn, a significant achievement in the war. The 3rd Armoured Division, despite the heavy blow, continued its remarkable drive and helped to close the Ruhr Pocket.

Task Force Kane, detached from the "Spearhead," swiftly drove west, meeting elements of the 2nd Armoured Division at Lippstadt. The convergence of the 3rd and 2nd Armoured Divisions trapped over 376,000 German soldiers in what became known as the "Rose Pocket," honouring General Rose's memory. The division faced challenging battles at the Weser River, encountering resistance from SS training centre remnants and various units. Despite blown bridges and formidable opposition, the 3rd Armoured Division, still grieving General Rose's death, continued its relentless advance, showcasing remarkable achievements in the final stages of World War II.

WARGAMING THE "SPEARHEAD" 

The ‘Spearhead’ Division pushed into Germany at an astonishing rate, with the result that they often found themselves attacking a different town or village each day, sometimes pushing through several rural roadblocks and defending hamlets in a single day. I wanted to allow players to represent this campaign on their tables by providing a set of three scenarios that reflect the variety of locations the American troops found themselves in – relatively exposed open roads, small German villages with narrow lanes, and ruined towns with rubble-choked streets.

These scenarios can be used with any set of platoon-scale wargame rules, though I have written it with Chain of Command in mind. You also have a choice in how you use these three scenarios. You could just pick one or two of them to play, or you could string them together to make a mini-campaign, with the US player pushing ever deeper into Germany across the three tables. If you are playing these with Chain of Command and want to run it as a mini Pint-Sized Campaign (PSC), you should use the ‘At The Sharp End’ booklet to manage the campaign aspects. You could also use these scenarios to play What A Tanker!, also by TooFatLardies. Instead of taking infantry platoons, each player could command one or two tanks. There was no shortage of US armour in the campaign, and it also gives the German player an opportunity to field some huge late war big cats!

GERMAN AND AMERICAN FORCES

The American player should field an Armoured Rifle Platoon, details of which are provided below. If playing this as a PSC, the US player has access to one additional reserve platoon, also of the same type. The German player has much more variety. Due to the nature of this campaign, there were many different ad-hoc German units in the area – inexperienced training units, heavily armed Panzergrenadiers, Volksgrenadiers, Volkssturm and more. I have provided platoon details for the US Armoured Rifle Platoon and a Panzergrenadier, Volksgrenadier and Volksturm Platoon for the German player. Feel free to pick what grabs your interest (or matches what you have available!). When determining the amount of support available use the rules as per the core rulebook.

UNITED STATES FORCE LIST

Armoured Rifle Platoon

Command Dice: 5      Rating: Regular (+2)

SUPPORT OPTIONS

The following support options may be chosen, up to the number of support points available.

Special Rule – At least 6 points of support each game must be spent on armour.

GERMAN FORCE LIST

Volksgrenadier Sturm Platoon

Command Dice: 5     Rating: Regular (+3)

SUPPORT OPTIONS

THE SCENARIOS 

The scenarios have been designed with Chain of Command in mind, but can easily be adapted to other platoon-scale rule sets such as Bolt Action or Battlegroup. Each scenario is designed to be played on a 6’x4’ table and with 28mm-scale miniatures, but can be easily adjusted to other scales if needed. The Americans are the attackers in each of the scenarios. The roads are well maintained, either being metalled or cobbled. Vehicles move as normal on these roads. 

Scenario one, into the Reich 

This is a probing scenario, where the attacker has to successfully cross the table and exit the other side. In terms of game type, I would recommend ‘Probe’ from the main rulebook for Chain of Command players and the ‘Envelopment’ scenario for Bolt Action. As you are playing across the board, make the game at least nine turns. The region covered by this campaign consists of open farmland set within wooded valleys, although the landscape opens up a little near the villages. The towns themselves are not large, but consist of old buildings crammed into narrow streets. The fields are considered open ground. At this time of year, any vegetation is low, and whilst there has been some rainfall, the ground is not difficult to cross for infantry or vehicles. Most of the fields do not have fences or walls between them, although these are indicated when present. Wire fences do not affect line of sight, although they do count as minor obstacles for easy movement. Wooden fences provide light cover and are minor obstacles.

Scenario 2, the town outskirts 

In this scenario, the Americans have to push forward and gain control of a town’s outskirts, so they can then push onto the central square in the town centre. The buildings here are a mix of wooden and stone buildings, with only half being stone or part stone on their ground floor. As such the wooden buildings will be easier to damage, set alight, or destroy and your rules should reflect this. Otherwise they offer hard cover. I would recommend the ‘Attack & Defend’ scenario for Chain of Command players and ‘Point Defence’ for Bolt Action. Again, as we are playing across the board, make the game at least nine turns. 

Scenario three, the town centre 

For the final scenario, the Americans have the opportunity to take control of the entire area by capturing the main road hub. If they can manage to take control of the centre of town, the Americans can then move on to their next objective and push deeper into the Reich. The buildings here are either made from stone or brick, with heavy wooden beams. Most of them are two storeys in height and count as hard cover. There are several destroyed structures, the victims of earlier Allied air raids. The streets should feature large amounts of rubble around the ruined buildings. Treat the ruins as hard cover and the rubble-strewn streets as heavy going. For Chain of Command, I would recommend the ‘Attack on an Objective’ scenario. For Bolt Action, try the ‘Hold until Relieved’ scenario. As you are playing across the board, make the game at least nine turns long.

ADAPTING TO OTHER RULE SETS

For Bolt Action, choose equal forces of approximately 1000 points – ging as low as 750 or as high as 1250 point to suit players’ tastes. The Germans should be taken from the Last Levy lists on page 102 of the Armies of Germany book – the fuel shortages special rules should be used and all armour should be inexperienced. The US can take forces from the 1945 Rhineland lists on page 76 of the Armies of the United States book. Use the Chain of Command lists as a guide. For Battlegroup, use the lists from the Wacht am Rhein book. The German Volksgrenadier list can be found on page 33. The American Armoured Division from page 166 of the Battlegroup Overlord book should work here nicely.

CONCLUSION

I hope this set of scenarios inspires you to tackle some late-war gaming. Very often games set in NW Europe are focused around Normandy, so this can be a refreshing change, both in terms of terrain, forces, and the nature of the fighting. Enjoy! WS&S

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