In September, 1944, the Allies launched the biggest airborne operation in history.. three divisions of paratroopers--the British 1st and the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne were dropped in a narrow corridor stretching 60 miles into Nazi-occupied Holland Their mission: to seize a series of bridges leading to the last remaining obstacle to Allied advance: the Rhine. Over these bridges and across the Rhine into Germany would advance the British 30th Corps, and in one bold stroke, the Allies would be positioned to win the war by Christmas. It didn't work. By the time 30th Corps reached the final bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, German counterattacks had recaptured it from the British paratroopers But the outcome was close, which makes Operation Market-Garden a jascinating game situation. How you handle the first air drop in the initial turn of Operation Market- Garden will, in most cases, govern your ability to win the game. It is decisive because you have a guarantee of good weather for the drop; you do not have to spend air points dropping supply and opposition to the air drop is at its lowest. Your ability to capture key bridges and occupy favorable terrain is best on Turn 1. To win a strategic victory, the Allied player must exit an armor unit off the north edge of the map while maintaining an uninterrupted supply line to his starting position in the south. The probability of this is remote. An (operational victory occurs if you can cross the northern most river, the Lower Rhine, and maintain a bridgehead in regular supply. A tactical victory is achieved by bridging the Lower Rhine and tracing supply across water barriers (rivers and canals) only at Allied-controlled bridges. As the Allied player, you have the option to stop the game in the final segment of any turn after turn three. The key to victory will be the ability of your airborne force to hold open the door long enough for the bulk of the Allied force (30th Corps) to drive north, relieve the holding force, and cross the rivers. Tactical Areas: General Montgomery decided to capture pre-existing bridges on the main highway running through Grave, Nijmegen, and Arnhem with his airborne forces. I believe this is the best way to achieve a victory. There are three major rivers to cross: the Maas, the Waal, and the Lower Rhine. Three major cities with bridges cross these rivers: Grave on the Maas, Nijmegen on the Waal, and Arnhem on the Lower Rhine. I have divided the river crossing at these cities into three tactical areas. Taking and holding these three areas represents the Allies' best chance of achieving a tactical victory. They form a straight line of advance using the major highway which increases the movement of motorized forces. Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the actual airdrop, I will discuss the pros and cons of each tactical area. Grave Area: This area is the easiest to grab and hold. Initial enemy forces are scant and reinforcements do not arrive quickly or in great number. An airfield, adjacent to the city, may be repaired allowing additional units to be flown directly into the area. There is not much in the way of defensible terrain in the area. Only a single bridge crosses the Maas River at Grave. Bridges are available east and west of the city, but they are not in the main axis of advance and are easier for the Germans to counterattack. in each of these tactical areas it is important to grab and hold hexes on both sides of the river, regardless of the success of capturing a bridge in that area. If the German is successful in destroying a bridge in any of these tactical areas you may have to build a bridge. Before you can build, however, you have to control both sides of the river where the bridge is to be built. in the Grave area, it may be easier to build a bridge in the city area than to capture and hold bridges east or west of the city. Nijmegen Area: In many games I have played, this area was the most crucial for both the Allies and Germans. This area must be held by the Allies to provide the last stepping stone to crossing the Lower Rhine. Nijmegen has two city bridges across the Waal River. Polder, a swamp-like terrain, severely limits movement to the west and a canal protects the south and west flanks from German counterattacks. Forest dominates the east flank with some hill hexes just southeast of the city. Enemy units in the area and the defensive terrain limit additional airdrops of gliders. A continuous flow of German reinforcements arrives on the east entry area for the German counterattack. Finally, the bridges at Nijmegen are the only bridges crossing the Waal River. if you do not capture either one intact, you face the task of building one. A much more difficult job than at Grave. Arnhem Area: This area is the brass ring. Historically, the British 1st Airborne Division jumped in this area and into the jaws of the 9th and 10th SS divisions that were refitting there. The Arnhem area has all the pros and cons you can think of. Clear areas west of the city allow you to drop in close without having to suffer the city flak. Hill hexes west of Arnhem double your fire factors and provide a buffer for your forces holding the key south edge of the city. Woods also provide extra defense to the west and north. The bridge in the city of Oosterbeek two hexes west divides the German's forces if you capture that city. Wooded terrain hexes run due south providing you with a defensible communication line between Nijmegen and Arnhem. The bad news is the large number and type of German reinforcements. The Germans receive many units and most of them are tough. They have 73 attack factors available on Turn one. Any parachute units not in a consolidated defense are easily eliminated. The entry areas for German reinforcements are close allowing rapid deployment. Finally, this area is the furthest away from the Allied relief force giving the Germans the most time to counterattack. The number of river hex sides to defend are the fewest of any major river. Assets: The Allied player has three airborne divisions and one airborne brigade available on Turn 1: the American 82nd and 101st, British 1st, and the Polish Para-Brigade. Each division is composed of parachute and glider infantry and engineers in battalion-sized units. Each turn the Allied player is allotted air points that he must use to deploy these airborne units. On Turn 1 there are 33 air points available. The number of air points goes down on each turn after Turn 1. Parachute units cost 1 point per battalion; glider units cost 3 points per battalion. There are 3 Glider Pilot battalions in the British lst Airborne Division. Each time you land a glider infantry battalion from this division you must also land a Glider Pilot battalion. Glider Pilot battalions cost 1air point. Turn 1: As I stated earlier, the Allies' best effort must start at the beginning of Turn 1. It is vital that you deploy all possible airborne units prior to the FIRST movement impulse of Turn 1. The maximum number of units that can be dropped is 31 battalions. This includes 6 battalions of para-infantry from the British 1st, the Glider engineer battalion, and a Glider Pilot battalion (10 air points); 10 battalions of para-infantry from the U.S. 82nd (10 air points); 9 battalions of para- infantry and one battalion of para-engineers from the 101st (10 air points) and three battalions of the Polish Para-Brigade (3 air points). Organizing the Drop: Although it is not necessary under the game rules, I found deploying the units by division works well in the various tactical areas. It is certainly more realistic to do so. Before you place airborne units in their target hexes, you will have to make a decision that will affect where they will land. Since airborne units may not move in the impulse immediately following their drop you will want to declare an Off Road Movement Impulse immediately following the drop. if you declare an On Road Movement Impulse first, you will have to land your units on or very near cities, bridges, airfields, and the like. This gives the German player a chance to inflict losses due to antiaircraft fire. Declaring an Off Road Movement Impulse first will double the movement capability of the airborne units in the next movement phase when they can move. Simply stated, additional ground movement enables you to drop in safer areas. it will also greatly broaden the frontage of attack for 30th Corps in the south, from two hexes to six hexes. Targeting the Drop: Historically, General Montgomery deployed his weakest airborne division, the British 1st, in the strongest German area, Arnhem. This must have been more of a political than a military decision. You are not handicapped by such considerations. I use the British 1st Division in the Grave Tactical area for two reasons. One, they will encounter the least resistance. Two, their glider engineer battalion enhances the chance of capturing the Grave bridge intact. If that bridge is captured, the engineer unit may continue to move and attempt to secure the canal bridge north of Grave to open a communication line to Nijmegen. Using engineers reduces the chance of the Germans destroying a bridge. City bridges over rivers on the major highway are the most likely to be destroyed so the airborne engineers are important units and should be protected during the turn for future use. In the Grave tactical area, there are three objectives you should grab: the city of Grave and its bridge; the airfield adjacent to the city; and the airfield south of the general area. Taking these airfields constitutes a serious threat to the Germans. If you hold the field and the six adjacent hexes, you may bring in an airfield repair unit. Once the field is repaired, you can land supplies or the 52nd Division Air Landing battalions. This increases the reinforcements available to the tactical areas by almost 30%. During your movement capture as much enemy territory as possible. Taking this territory makes the German spend time and units counterattacking. It also helps you keep track of some of the enemy movement in the area. Keeping track of enemy movement is easiest in the Grave area because of favorable terrain and limited numbers of enemy units in the area. Finally, when your movement is complete, you should be positioned in a concentrated defense. The city, airfield, and both sides of the bridge should be strongly defended. Nijmegen Tactical Area: In this tactical area, I land the 82nd airborne. No engineer unit is present, but if the British 1st had a fairly good drop and movement phase they will be close. The para- infantry have only one enemy unit to contend with initially. That unit is not strong, but it can be placed in such a way that it wfll divide the landing force. Once again, remember to grab both sides of the river. You should also plan for a blocking force to the east to slow up the reinforcements as they arrive. After dropping in safe areas, move your units to capture the key objectives in this tactical area: the city of Nijmegen and its bridges; the canal west and south of the city; and the woods/hill hexes to the east. In the event the Germans destroy both bridges in Nijmegen, the engineer unit will have to provide ferry service in the city area. If the bridges are blown, the units on the north side of the river will be cut off, and retreat across the river to the south side may be necessary. Arnhem Tactical Area: Airborne operations in this tactical area pose many opportunities and problems. As I discussed earlier, the Germans have the largest force in this area. There are two bridges in two different cities that cross the Lower Rhine. Terrain does not favor either attacker or defender. Safe drop areas for paratroopers are limited. Key objectives include: the cities of Arnhem and Oosterbeek and their bridges; the airfield northwest of Arnhem; the hills surrounding the airfield and Oosterbeek; and the terrain south of the Lower Rhine that links Nijmegen and Arnhem. To grab some of these objectives, I have allocated the 101st Division and the Polish Para-Brigade. This gives a total of 13 units available for the Turn 1 drop in this area. It includes the para-engineers of the 101st which will provide the same edge as the British engineers in the Grave area. The same general rules apply to Arnhem as the other tactical areas. When landing airborne units be sure to occupy both sides of the river. Key objectives here are numerous, so you must impose some limitations. If you decide to take and hold the Arnhem airfield you will be hard-pressed to hold both bridges at Oosterbeek and Arnhem. On the other hand, capture of the airfield will force the Germans to concentrate on taking it back. This will draw units away from the battle for the bridges and will even stop units from moving south into the Nijmegen battle. I do not recommend the airfield as an objective, but some forces dispatched to capture it will cause the Germans to overreact and give you additional time to consolidate your defenses at Oosterbeek and Arnhem. When moving into your final defensive positions at the end of Turn 1, note the terrain around Arnhem. The far northern hex of Arnhem is both a city and a hill hex. That means double fire factors in the German Off Road Impulse and quadruple fire factors in the German On Road Impulse when firing at a non-hill target. Your defense factor is doubled in all cases. Reinforcement and Supply: After Turn 1 you will contend with reinforcing and supplying the Tactical Areas. Start work on repairing all the airfields you can. This will allow the landing of the 52nd Division and Air Supply even in marginal weather and the scatter table won't affect the landing. Reinforcements will be hard-pressed in the Arnhem and Nijmegen Tactical Areas if the German commander has done a good job of constricting the occupied territory. My only comment is to keep your head low, and good luck. The Grave Tactical Area should still remain relatively easy to land in through Turn 4. By then 30th Corps should have broken out and relieved the British 1st at Grave. A second major factor is the resupply of the Tactical Areas. The Allied player must attempt to keep tactical areas in communication with each other. By doing this you will limit the amount of supply you have to expend. As the number of Air Points continues to decline it will become harder and harder to resupply each area, regardless of the weather. Failing to supply a Tactical Area will force you to add two on the die roll when firing, giving the Germans a distinct advantage. Operation Market-Garden: Official Errata Winston Hamilton currently operates Game Research/Design which produces Europa Play Aids Kits. He developed two games for Game Designers' Workshop, including Operation Market-Garden. He lives in Grinnell, Iowa. Operation Market-Garden is a product of Game Designers' Workshop. The map and errata are used with the permission of Game Designers' Workshop. Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #10 To Game News List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com