Survival of the US 5th ID (M)

[schnickelfritz]

The canon material does state specifically that most of the 124th's forward supply vehicles have been destroyed. They had to be destroyed at some point between the opening of the road ambush (to give it a name) and the end of the active phase of the breakout.

After re-reading the material created by GDW and play tested by GDW all of those years ago, either the designers missed some things (other than seemingly endless grammatical errors and typos), or intentionally left it open for interpretation. My opinion is that it was partially unintentional, mostly intentional.

The only way to definitively answer that is to talk to living members of the original GDW team.

The way I see it is that if anyone wants to adhere to the strict letter of what was written by the folks at GDW, that's fine. Buth I believe we all can and should accept that there is some room for interpretation, some times more than a little, due to intentional or unintentional inconsistencies and sometimes downright poorly executed product.

Thanks to all for their input.

My alternative breakout basically centered on the timely capture of some official disposition/location/planning documents, access to the 4th GTA radio net, some captured fuel, and the chance to delay the 21st MRD and 10th TD (Pol) for between 12 to 24 hours.

It is perfectly reasonable for all to have differences with any and all of it if you wish. I take no offence at all to that.

I've tried to base the probability of what could happen "if" on my studies of the cold war WP military over the years, as well as extensive study of the Western European Campaign in 1944-1945. It never ceases to amaze me how blunders, poor calls, bad communication, and poor luck have influenced warfare since 1914, and from 1939-1945 in particular.

Once I get the chance to update/modify my material (which will take some time due to 2 kids and migraines), I'll post it for you all to read, critique, and hopefully enjoy.

Thanks!
Dave

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by schnickelfritz

...It never ceases to amaze me how blunders, poor calls, bad communication, and poor luck have influenced warfare since 1914, and from 1939-1945 in particular.

Dave

You and me both (but I'd say it's been that way ever since we started fighting wars).
If you don't already have it, I think you'll enjoy 'The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History'. Amazon have a good write-up of the book here
I had a few problems with the author's assumptions in a few cases but overall, it was an interesting and sometimes educational read.
Some details for those looking to order it: -
Paperback: 394 pages
Author: Erik Durschmied
Publisher: Arcade Publishing; 1st Edition edition (April 2, 2001)
ISBN-10: 1559705728
ISBN-13: 978-1559705721

There's a sort of companion book as well called 'The Weather Factor: How Nature Has Changed History' although I haven't read that one.
Again Amazon has a write-up about the book

[Abbott Shaull]

Like they say no Operational Plan survives intact after the first shot is fired. From there until either the Operation succeeds or fails depends on too factors for anyone to really have much control. You can only hope for the other side to have much worse luck that day.