The German 1944 winter counteroffensive in the Ardennes Forest has long fascinated not only military historians, but also the general public -- after Normandy it is perhaps the most well-known battle of the war. There are many reasons for this. Initially there was the shock and stunned disbelief with which the Allied public met the news of the first German breakthroughs. It had seemed impossible for the Germans, who had appeared all but beaten following the disintergration of their armies during the autumn in France, to have resuscitated their forces sufficiently to launch such a massive attack.

Then the unprecedented surrender of two entire American regiments in the early days of the offensive, and the news of the brutal massacre of American prisoners at Malmedy further excited the public and provoked controversies which have lasted down to the present day. Equally controversial were the events surrounding the German Operation Greif, the attempt to pass German saboteurs dressed as American soldiers through the Allied lines. Greif fostered a torrent of rumours and myths about the extent and nature of German sabotage during the battle: there was talk of attempts to kidnap Eisenhower or to recapture Paris by a coup de main. It is not surprising that several attempts have been made to capitalize on this interest by making the offensive the basis for a wargame. Beginning in 1965 with Avalon Hill's The Battle of the Bulge, a number of games and variants on the subject have been published, the latest being SPI's The Ardennes Offensive. Actually, however, the true flavor of the situation on the Western front in December 1944 is difficult to capture, either in a strategic or a tactical sense, in a wargame.

Strategically

Strategically, the fighting east of the Meuse River in the Ardennes forest was not meant by the Germans to be the whole show. The initial German plan envisioned the shattering of the entire Allied front, The main blow was to be delivered through the Ardennes and across the Meuse by the Fifth and Sixth Panzer Armies, with the objective of seizing Antwerp and cutting off the entire British 21st Army qroup as well as the Ninth and Part of the First American Armies. South of the main penetration the German Seventh Army would advance to the west and provide flank protection from possible counterattacks by the American Third Army.

To the north, around the American salient at Aachen, the German Fifteenth Army was to be reinforced by the Twelfth SS Corp and, shortly after the main forces had crossed the Meuse, was to attack northeast towards Maastrict in order to help Sixth Panzer Army's attack on Antwerp. Once the offensive was well along, American reserves in the extreme south would be contained by a counteroffensive in Alsace.

This attack, codenamed Nordwind, would consist of an attempt by the German First Army to break through the American lines and link Up with the German Nineteenth Army trapped in the Colmar pocket. In short, to adequately present the totality of the German plan a map covering the entire Western front is required. The scheme hit upon in The Battte of the Bulge and followed ever since has been, of course, to restrict the mapboard to those areas in which the fighting of the principal German attack took place, i.e., the Ardennes east of the Meuse River. While this is actually a reasonable solution and does lead to enjoyable games. It is still not completely satisfactory in that it neglects the broader strategic options which the Germans were atiempting to exercise.

Tactically

Tactically the offensive is also difficult to simulate. The Germans failed to reach the Meuse for a variety of reasons: their infantry proved largely incapable by that point in the war of achieving breakthroughs for the following tanks to exploit; the allocation of gasoline was insufficient for the effective deployment of the number of divisions involved and, in any event, the Germans appeared to be no longer able to efficiently coordinate their troop movements under conditions; the Luftwaffe proved incapable of stopping the Allied Air Force from dominating the battlefield once the skies had cleared, and, perhaps most importantly, the American troops in the line, despite manning extremely long regimental fronts, proved capable of significantly delaying and inflicting heavy casualties upon the Germans during the crucial first few days of the attack.

The games on the subject that have come out over the years have chosen to emphasize various of these factors-- although those factors more difficult to represent have been lamely ignored. The traditional wargaming conflict betwcen realism and ease of play--the attempt to include enough details of the attack to make the game interesting and realistic, and at the same time keeping the play of the game reasonably smooth--is nowhere more evident then in these games. Perhaps the most successful resolution of the realism-playability conflicts of this particular situation is embodied in The Ardennes Offensive.

Even here, of course, some aspects of the battle have been ignored. In particular a regret that, as in all the previous games, no attempt is made to simulate the greatly extended regimental fronts which the Americans were holding at the start of the attack. This results in some rather ahistorically easy German penetrations during the first few moves of the game. For instance, during the actual battle the strong resistance of both the right wing of the 28th Division's 112th Regiment and the left wing of the 106th Division's 424th Reqiment Prevented the German 116th Panzer Division from crossing the Our River in their sector. The panzer division was eventually moved far to the south and forced to use 2nd Panzer Division's river crossings in front of Clervaux. This naturally clogged the roads and helped to seriously dislocate the German's timetable. In rhe Ardennes Offensive game, on the other hand, the 116th Panzers are able to cross the river in their own sector unopposed and in fact are able to make the German's deepest first turn penetration.

In any event, one of the chief pleasures to be gained from any wargame is the attempt to devise a plan which will stand history on its head and enable what was an unsuccessful offensive to be turned into a smashing success. The Ardennes Offensive admirably lends itself to this.

The historical scenario of the game should, according to the player notes, end in either a draw or an Allied victory. By using the following plan I have found, however, that the Germans are assured of at least a draw and are very often able to gain a victory.

Victory

The key to this lies in the nature of the victory conditions--which, incidentally, are themselves rather unhistorical since they do not encourage the wild dash for the Meuse which was the key feature of the German attack. Victory points are gained through either killing enemy units (1 point) or, for the Germans, by seizing road exit hexes (1 to 3 points). It becomes evident playing the game that if the Germans can seize enough road exit hexes they are normally assured of at least a draw and stand a good chance of winning. The most weakly defended and, hence, most easily seized road exit hexes are those along the southeast map side. The objective of this proposed attack, then, is to, first, gain these hexes along with the town of Bastogne-whose capture is necessary for the southeast road exit hexes' victory points to count--and then, secondly, to insure victory by providing a buffer for these two geographic objectives and by destroying the maximum number of Allied units.

The German first turn attacks are, as might be expected, crucial to the success of the overall plan. They should be resolved in the order shown on the chart below.

Explanation of Attacks

Those odds marked by an asterisk (*) have been voluntarily reduced in order to lessen the chances of long retreats. "Per rules" indicates that, under the rules, there is only one way for the retreat or other result to be carried out. I have spelled out the more important retreats and thereby have also indicated my interpretation of the retreat rules.

The German mechanized movement during the first turn must be executed so as to lay the foundations for the subsequent advance. In the south, the Panzer Lehr Division, consisting of the 901st, 902nd and 903rd Panzer Grenadier Regiments, should move across the Sauer River and be positioned so as to be able to help seize all of the southeast road exit hexes on the following turn. The 903rd should move to hex 3308, the 902nd to 3208, and the 901st to 3108. In the center the 304th Panzer qrenadier Regiment should move to hex 2410. The 3rd Panzer Regiment should move to hex 2210 or to hex 2010 if, as will happen onethird of the time, attack 6 resulted in an exchange. 60th Panzer Grenadier Regiment should move to hex 1611. 156th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and 16th Panzer Regiment should move to hexes 1711 and 1710 respectively. Movement in the north can only be delt with generally since specific moves depend greatly on the results of the initial attacks.

If possible, hexes 1107 and 1106 should be taken by the 5th and 9th Motorized Parachute Regiments. The three regiments of the 1st SS Panzer Division can be moved up as seems best, while at least two regiments of the 12th SS Panzer Division are usually well employed in moving into position to attack Monschau on turn 2.

Alternatively, if the initial attacks have gone poorly, 5th and 9th Motorized Parachute Regiments can be moved across the front to hexes 1607 and 1606 in order to support 116th Panzer Division's penetration. (It is often a good idea to move one of these regiments this way anyway, although it seems to be largely a case of player preference.) The 1st Assault Gun Brigade reinforcement should move to hex 2906.

The Allied player's response to these German moves is limited by his having only three or four units capable of moving on the first turn. Combat Command A of the 9th Armored Division can accomplish nothing useful. (The necessity of reducing attack 3's odds to 2-1 can be seen here, for a result of Dr3 would have retreated CCA9 to hex 3506 from which it could now move to hex 3411 and, in conjunction with a move of CCR9 to hex 3113, effectively screen the northern exit hexes on the southeast map edge, thereby allowing the 10th Armored Division to enter the game on turn 2.)

It will probably pull back to hex 3606, hoping to be forced off the board and thereby save one victory point. In the center, CCR9 will probably be used to plug the gap in the line between the 110th and 112th infantry regiments. However, if the attacks have gone particularly well from the German point of view, CCR9 may be forced to fall back and occupy Bastogne--a cautious allied player may do this anyway to avoid the possibility of a parachute drop on Bastogne. In the north, CCB9 has several options.

If the Allied line in this sector is holding, it may be moved south of St. Vith, to hex 1513 perhaps. to reinforce the center. Otherwise it will probably be used to bolster the line in the north. The 14th cavalry group may have been retreated out of German zones of control and could also be available for movement this turn, in which case it will probably be used in the same way as CCB9. The Allied player may also execute some low odds counterattacks in order to regroup his forces.

Second Turn

On the second turn, the three regiments of Panzer Lehr, the 15th Motorized Parachute Regiment and the 1st Assault Gun Brigade should all be used to take the road exit hexes in the southeast sector. As previously indicated, there is no possible way that the Allied player could have forestalled this. If CCA9 has occupied any of the exit hexes, placing a freindly unit next to it will render the hex useless for bringing on the Allied second-turn reinforcements and CCA9 itself can later be easily eliminated or forced off the board.

In the center, the American 110th Infantry Regiment should be surrounded and attacked at 2-1 odds which will ensure its destructior If the 60th Panzer Grenadier Regiment is able, as it will be five-sixths of the time, it should move to hex 1511, then the 16th Panzer Regiment should be stacked with it and an 8-1 attack on the engineer regiment in St. Vith should be made.

This is a crucial attack since not only will it result in the capture of St. Vith, but it will also seriously undermine any attempt at an Allied defense northeast of the Ambleve River. Any other mechanized regiments available in the center should either dash for Bastogne or, if the Allies have managed to construct a continuous line in this sector, attempt to infiltrate by or just tie down the opposing units--if the Allies can be tied down far enough east, an effort to take Bastogne from the south with the strong forces located there can be made.

The destruction orf the American 422nd and 423rd Infantry Regiments can be assured by moving the 293rd Infantry Regiment to hex 1407, the 183rd to 1507, the 294th to 1405, and the 295th and 8th Motorized Parachute Regiment to 1205. This will result in two surrounded attacks at 2-1 odds. The remainder of the mechanized units in the north should be advanced as seems best and the previously mentioned attack against Monshau should be carried out. Infantry all along the line should be advanced, with care being taken not to block the mechanized units by clogging up the roads.

On subsequent turns, the infantry in the south, after destroying the 8th and 12th Infantry Regiments and capturing Echternach, should take over the assignment of occupying the road exit hexes in this area. The mechanized units thus freed can be used to either threaten Bastogne, if it has not already fallen, or to push on westward with the object of forming a firm front to protect the ground already won-experience has shown that it is very difficult to continue on and seize many of the southwest road exit hexes.

In the center, the powerful fourth turn reinforcements should be thrown in behind the initial forces, Their objective should be to take Bastogne and drive on to the vicinity of the Ourthe River where a strong front should be organized. The forces in the north will be engaged in a largely diversionary effort to tie down Allied units and to protect the northern flank of the Bastogne front.

They should be able to capture Houfallize, Vielsalm, Elsenborn, Monshau and perhaps the two eastermost exit hexes on the northern map edge, but not much else. They should be reinforced as sparingly as is consistent with the attainment of their objectives. Roughly midway through the game, from maybe turn ten on, the increasing Allied and declining German strengths will result in the battle becoming a prolonged slugging match. The Allies should be able to advance, but usually the German line will hold sufficiently to ensure the retention of the key areas.

Whatever the final victory point totals the game should be enjoyable since The Ardennes Offensive is an accurate and enjoyable simulation of perhaps the most fascinating battle of the Second World War.