The Fallschirmjaeger map covers the main area of the airborne assault on Fortress Holland from just east of the bridges over the Hollandsch Diep at Moerdijk to the North Sea coast near Den Haag. The rivers and especially the major rivers are a serious impediment to mobility. Units may cross only by bridges or ferries. Ferries are of two types: black arrow and brown arrow. The black arrow ferries link adjacent hexes and cost an extra movement point to cross. The brown arrow ferries typically link nonadjacent hexes and cost more than one movement point. Armored units are prohibited from using ferries.

The Nieuwe Maas, its tributaries, and its branches split the map in half. The city of Rotterdam straddles the Nieuwe Maas which is a major river between hexes 28.17 and 51.35 and 57.33. The only two bridges across this river are both in hex 31.19. Four brown arrow ferries cross the major river portion of this river and five black arrow ferries cross the river portion (along the Hollandsche Ijssel).

The four airfields, Waalhaven (hex 30.24), Ypenburg (hex 49.16), Valkenburg (hex 57.04), and Ockenburg (hex 58.21) are key to winning the game for the Germans, who must control at least one in order to get the big units of the 22nd Luftlande Division into play. The paratroops of 7th Flieger are one-step strength 3 units and must have the help of the air landing division's strength 8 two-step companies in order to secure and hold the objectives of the campaign. The German player wins victory points by capturing the bridges on the line of communication which is highlighted in yellow on the map-the "Yellow Brick Road"-from hex 1.28 to hex 53.16, and up to ten victory points for unobstructed "Yellow Brick Road" hexes. The German receives victory points for each airfield held at the conclusion of play, and other points for capturing the gold reserves, the Queen, the Dutch government, and General Winkelmann. The Dutch player wins one victory point for every ten paratroop platoons killed, one victory point for every five Ju-52 points lost, and a point if the petroleum tanks near Rotterdam are destroyed. Additionally, the Dutch can give the German victory points for taking optional reinforcements during the course of play.

Three of the airfields, Ypenburg, Valkenburg, and Ockenburg, are near Den Haag. Valkenburg is open to capture on the first turn with no defenders on or adjacent to its hex. Ockenburg has no defenders on its hex but has some adjacent. Ypenburg is heavily defended with units on and adjacent to its hex as well as three flak batteries. It is possible to capture two or three of these airfields during the first two turns and, by air landing the parachute motorcycle recon platoon at Valkenburg, to capture the Queen on the first turn. Capturing the government and General Winkelmann is tantalizing close, but competent Dutch play should make this impossible to achieve. However, these airfields have little defensible terrain and are so widely separated that it is difficult for the German to form a defensive perimeter around them. The Dutch reinforcements, especially the optional ones, arrive on this edge of the map in areas D & C and enter the battle quickly. Additionally, strong units are available near Hoek van Holland and arrive soon enough to make life difficult for Germans landing at Ockenburg, which tends to be isolated from the other airfields by the Dutch defenders in the city hexes of Den Haag.

Waalhaven is south of the Nieuwe Maas near Rotterdam. It is stoutly defended by units on and adjacent to its hex, including three flak batteries and two ships. Two more flak batteries are available on the north side of the river in Rotterdam, and three more ships at Hoek van Holland can be brought in to make Rotterdam a real flak trap. However, of all the airfields Waalhaven is the most defensible because it is on an island bounded by the Oude Maas, De Noord, and De Lek rivers as well as a couple of canals. The bulk of the Dutch defenders near the airfield are on the wrong side of the Nieuwe Maas and can be sealed off by blocking the bridges and ferries.

Dordrecht is another important locale as it is a major choke point for the arriving armored divisional units. Dutch defenders in the Dordrecht city hexes where their defense strengths are quadrupled can be very difficult to dislodge. Fortunately, the key hexes are undefended on the first turn, and German paratroopers should drop in strength to take out the flak battery at hex 14.19 and secure hexes 13.19 and 14.18 and hold them until reinforced by elements of 22nd Luftlande Division.

The bridges at Moerdijk are important but are difficult to defend by either side on the north bank of the Hollandsch Diep because the terrain is open and offers no protection against barrage attack. The field works and villages on the south side of the bridges should be secured by paratroopers to prevent the Turn 6 Dutch reinforcements from using them to delay the armored units that arrive beginning on Turn 10. The one and only land supply point for the Germans is in hex 1.28, which is also a village that triples the defense strength of defenders. If the Dutch hold this hex in strength on Turn 10, the first armored divisional elements will not be strong enough to take it by themselves. (The German air force should be used on Turn 10 to destroy the ammo ship in order to remove the Dutch artillery from the game.)

Failure to secure this hex will result in the armored units being out of supply and halved for combat purposes after the German half of the turn. Since the world doesn't end at the map edge, you would think that German units could trace supply to other hexes further down the road off map so that any unit within a few hexes of the entry area hexes would be in supply automatically. However, this point is not addressed in the rules, so either by oversight or intentional design hex 1.28 must be available to the German divisional arrivals if they are to stay in supply. Either that, or airdrop supply heads must be used.

On Conquering Fortress Holland Fallschirmjaeger Scenario 5.3

Introduction
The Battlefield
A Proposed German Plan
The Plan in Action
Possibilities for Further Play