1. Overview. This is a simple simulation of the German LXVI Corps attack on the American 106th Division and the battles for St. Vith during the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Complete games take two hours played on a tabletop surface five feet wide by six feet long with 15mm vehicles and figures. Each game turn represents 12 hours. The game begins on 16 December a.m. and ends on 20 December p.m. - ten turns. The Game Map The map depicts areas extending from the German border in the east to the vicinity of Gouvy in the west and from Losheim in the north to Ouren in the south. The areas along the eastern edge are the starting positions for German units. All remaining areas are in U.S. control at the beginning of the game. Each area is named for a town, village, or topographical feature. Roads connect some areas. Rivers pass along some area borders. There are bridges where roads cross rivers. This road, river, and bridge network is important because armored and mechanized units may move only along the roads and supply may be traced only along roads. Winning the Game The German player must capture St. Vith to win the game. Otherwise, he loses. The following victory conditions apply: The German player must have sole possession of the St. Vith area at the end of the game. There must be an unbroken and uncontested series of areas connected by roads from St. Vith to at least one of the areas on the German start line. Depending on what turn the German captures St. Vith, his level of victory is as follows: Turns 1-4, strategic victory. German forces sweep across the Meuse, threaten Antwerp, and cause disruption in cooperation among the Allies as Hitler had hoped. Turns 5-7, operational victory. German forces sweep forward to the Meuse, but can penetrate no further. American losses create friction between British and U.S. leaders. The war settles into a stalemate until the A-bomb brings England to her knees. Turns 8-10, tactical victory. The historical result. The German timetable is badly behind schedule. If the German player does not capture St. Vith at all, then the result is an American victory. The German player may capture St. Vith, then lose it, then retake it during the game. For victory purposes, the latest turn in which the German captures St. Vith, is the turn upon which to calculate victory.  2. Units Units move and fight as a whole. Each unit has a combat strength representing the number of hits it can take before being removed from play. When a unit takes a hit, it receives a marker (typically a ring or chit of some sort). Remove units from play when they receive a number of hits equal to or greater than their combat strength. 3. Turn Sequence Each turn consists of eight phases and should take about ten minutes to complete. >UL>1. German check supply. Units out of supply take one hit. 2. Germans place reinforcement on entry areas. 3. German move. Normal, road, or overrun. 4. U.S. defensive fire. Roll dice equal to combat power. Hit on six. 5. U.S. check supply. 6. U.S. place reinforcements on entry areas. 7. U.S. move. 8. German defensive fire. 4. Checking Supply Units must be able to trace a supply line from the area they occupy along roads from area to area, without passing through enemy occupied areas, to their supply source. Units may not draw supply line through contested areas but may draw supply line to contested areas. Merely passing through an area does not necessarily block enemy supply through that area. To block enemy lines of supply, units must physically occupy the area in question. German supply sources are the four roads leading off the eastern edge of the map. U.S. sources are all other roads leading off the map. At the beginning of the movement phase, units out of supply must add one hit immediately. Remove units if applicable. Units out of supply may use road march and overrun that turn. Optional Rule: Units out of supply may not use road march or overrun. 5. Movement. There are three types of movement. Normal movement, road march, and overrun. Basic movement for all units is one area per turn. No more than three friendly units may end their movement inside the same area. Normal movement is from one area to an adjacent area. Infantry may always move into an adjacent area. Armor may move into an adjacent area if there is a road connecting the two areas. Armor may cross rivers only at bridges. Infantry may cross rivers anywhere. Units may depart from an area that contains enemy units by taking one hit, but they may not use this option to enter another area containing enemy units. Road march is movement from area to area along roads. Units wishing to use road movement must begin their turn in an area free of enemy units. Units may not use road movement to move through enemy-occupied areas, but may use road movement to move into enemy controlled areas. American units may move up to four areas, German armor units may move up to three areas and German infantry units may move up to two areas per turn using road march. Units may combine road movement with overrun attempts, but may not use this technique to move more than the maximum number of areas allowed in normal road march. Overrun. In the movement phase, units with a combat ratio of 6-1 (12-2, 18-3 etc) or greater than their opponents may attempt to overrun enemy areas. The moving player rolls one die. Overrun is successful on a roll of 4, 5, or 6. If the overrun attempt is successful, then remove the unit that was overrun from play. It gets parting shots equal to its combat power. The moving units may continue to the next adjacent area and conduct another overrun if the conditions exist. Units may conduct no more than two overruns per turn and may combine overrun and road march movement in the same turn. If the overrun attempt is not successful, then the moving units must stop in that area. In the case of successful overruns, units that have not yet moved may move through the overrun area as if it were unoccupied by enemy units. 6. Defensive fire Units may fire (throw as many dice) as their current combat strength, but only at enemy units inside the same area they occupy. The firing player chooses an area, designates the firing unit and its target, and rolls the appropriate number of dice. See also Artillery below. You always hit your target on a roll of 6! How to distribute hits. The target player may distribute hits among his units any way he wishes so long as every hit is accounted for. Optional Rule: Allow the firing player to place hits on the target units. Note: This will dramatically change the game. 7. Artillery. Artillery supports armor and infantry units during the defensive fire phases. Simply add the artillery strength to the defending units' fire strength and roll that many more dice. Do not divide one artillery unit's fire between more than one area. Artillery units use their current strength to fire at enemy units in the same area they are in or in any adjacent areas where friendly units are in contact with enemy units. For overrun purposes, all artillery units defend as one (1) strength point. If overrun, they get one parting shot. Artillery units may not be used offensively in overrun attempts. For road marching purposes, US artillery may move four areas, German self-propelled artillery three areas, and German towed artillery two areas. Optional Rule: To simulate the great inequity between German and Allied fire control systems, German divisional and FBB artillery may only fire in support of units from the same parent unit as the artillery unit. German LXVI corps artillery may fire in support of any German units. American artillery units may fire in support of any American units.  8. Reinforcements See Order of Battle. On the turn reinforcements arrive, place them in an area with a road leading off the edge of the map. All German reinforcements arrive anywhere in the German start area and their placement does not count as part of movement. American reinforcements arrive on the south, north, or western edges of the map on a road and their placement does count as part of their movement. American reinforcements may not enter areas occupied solely by German units, but if an entry area is currently contested, then the American player has the option of bringing reinforcements into the game there subject to the three unit per area rule. Optional Rule. On the turn before reinforcements are due to arrive, players roll one die for each unit. On a roll of 1, they arrive one turn earlier than scheduled. On rolls of 2, 3, 4, or 5, they arrive as scheduled. On a roll of 6, they arrive one turn later than scheduled. 9. Surprise On game turn 1 only, after the German player moves all his forces, both the German and American players roll one die for each and every area in which defensive fire is about to take place. If the German roll is equal to or greater than the American roll, then the German achieves surprise and the American may not issue any defensive fire in that area on that turn. Surprise does not apply to overrun attempts on Turn 1. 10. Optional Rule. Fortifications Non-artillery units that do not move for one turn may be considered fortified or "dug in". There are two effects of fortifications. Fortified units hit their target of a die roll of five or six (not just six). Fortified units may withdraw from a contested area without paying the additional cost of taking one hit to do so. Note that there may be some fortified units in an area, but not necessarily all units. Only the unit that does not move and creates the fortification may benefit from it. Fortifications are not transferable and are removed if the unit moves from the area. 11. Designer notes My goal is to produce games that are simple, but not simpleminded. I think this game approaches that goal. Like chess, it is a simple game, but it requires a good bit of forward thinking. Things done, or not done, in the early turns, will surely create the conditions for the end game. You will find that the momentum can shift for both sides in a well-played game. Order of Battle and Map (very slow: 249K) Back to MWAN # 126 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com