Ardennes Offensive.Kampfgruppe Peiper

DATE: 12/10/2025

TIME (GMT): 18:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): Darkest December

TYPE: COOP

TEAMSPEAK: ts1.biaarma.com

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): Aris and Lord for Brothers in Arms

SLOTS: 67 / 72

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RATING: (10)

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The objective of the Third Reich s Ardennes Counteroffensive ( Dec. 1944 – 25 Jan. 1945) was for the 6th SS Panzer Army, commanded by SS General Sepp Dietrich, to penetrate the Allied front between the towns of Monschau and Losheimergraben (a cross-border village shared by the municipalities of Hellenthal and Bullingen), then cross the River Meuse, and afterwards assault and capture the city of Antwerp.

For their part of the Ardennes counter-attack, the Kampfgruppe Peiper was the armored spearhead of the left wing of the 6th SS Panzer Army, under the command of SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Joachim Peiper. After the Waffen-SS infantry had breached the U.S. lines, Peiper was to advance his tanks and armored vehicles on the road to Ligneuville and travel through the towns of Stavelot, Trois-Ponts, and Werbomont in order to reach and seize the bridges over the River Meuse that are in the vicinity of the city of Huy.Because the strategy of the Ardennes Counteroffensive had reserved the roads with the strongest roadway for the bulk traffic of the tanks of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, the convoys of Kampfgruppe Peiper traveled secondary roads with weak roadways that proved unsuitable for the weights of armored military vehicles, such as Tiger II tanks.

In December 1944, for the Ardennes Counteroffensive the Germans initial, strategic position was east of the German-Belgium border and the Siegfried Line, near the town of Losheim, Belgium. To realize the German advance to the west, SS General Dietrich planned for the 6th SS Panzer Army to advance northwest, through Losheimergraben and Bucholz Station, and then drive 72 miles through the towns of Honsfeld and Bullingen, and through the villages of Trois-Ponts, to then reach Belgian Route Nationale N23, and then cross the River Meuse.

For their part in the German advance to the west, Kampfgruppe Peiper was to travel the Lanzerath-Losheimergraben road and advance onto the town of Losheimergraben, immediately following the Waffen-SS infantry tasked to capture the villages and towns immediately west of the International Highway. A destroyed bridge thwarted Peiper s tactical plan earlier in 1944, the retreating Germans had destroyed the Losheim-Losheimergraben bridge over the railroad, which in mid-December 1944 prevented Kampfgruppe Peiper from traveling that route to their objective — the town of Losheimergraben.

Moreover, Peiper s alternative route also was thwarted, because the selected railroad overpass bridge could not bear the weight of armored military vehicles. In the event, the German combat engineers were slow to repair the damaged roadway of the Losheim-Losheimergraben road, which delay detoured the convoy of tanks and armored vehicles of Kampfgruppe Peiper onto the road through the town of Lanzerath enroute to Bucholz Station.

At 04.30 on 17 December 1944, the 1st SS Panzer Division was approximately 16 hours behind schedule when the convoys departed the village of Lanzerath enroute west to the town of Honsfeld.After capturing Honsfeld, Peiper detoured from his assigned route to seize a small fuel depot in Büllingen, where the Waffen-SS infantry summarily executed dozens of U.S. POWs.Afterward, Peiper advanced to the west, toward the River Meuse and captured Ligneuville..The terrain and poor quality of the roads made the advance of Kampfgruppe Peiper difficult. At the exit to the village of Thirimont, the armored spearhead was unable to travel the road directly to Ligneuville, and Peiper deviated from the planned route.Rather than turning to the left, the armored spearhead turned to the right, and advanced toward the crossroads of Baugnez, equidistant from the cities of Malmedy, Ligneuville, and Waimes.

Our Mechanized Company belong to Kampfgruppe Peiper under command of 1.SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.

It is the morning of December 17, 1944. Our Company is ready to pass through the Forest and advance towards the villages of Honsteld and Bullingen.The latter is of the greatest importance since the Americans have transported a lot of fuel there.