As General Clark, the NATO Commander during the Kosovo bombing campaign said, there are two kinds of plans. One kind is a plan that won't work, and the other is a plan that might work. It's up to the commander to take a plan that might work and do everything in his power to make it work. In this article I'm looking at a plan that might work for the Germans in scenario 5.3, Air Assault on Fortress Holland. (If you want to see a plan that won't work, use the German historical drop zones and let the Dutch bring on all of their regular and optional reinforcements. The Germans expected a walkover like they got in Oslo and Denmark. They never expected that the poorly trained and ill-equipped Dutch defenders would or even could fight.)

This plan is based on the premise that Waalhaven is the best airfield for the German to use in air landing the 22nd Luftlande Division. This is so for a number of reasons, of which the terrain is foremost. Waalhaven airfield is the most defensible airfield. Also, Waalhaven is near the center of the map, and air landing units are less likely to be aborted because they scattered off the map edge. Most of the Dutch defenders in the vicinity of the airfield are on the wrong side of the river and can be sealed off from attacking the airfield. And the few near the airfield can be quickly dispatched by the paratroopers in the first two turns. Except around Dordrecht, the Dutch defenders south of the Nieuwe Maas are weak one-step units. The Dutch receive five four-strength bicycle companies in entry areas A and F-three on Turn 3 and two on Turn 5. Not until Turn 6 does a massive reinforcement appear on entry area B, which can be delayed and stopped by good defensive use of the terrain.

After Turn 6 no Dutch reinforcements appear on this side of the map! The other Dutch reinforcements appear on the far side of the map and must spend several turns to arrive and then must cross a river or fight against defenders in city hexes. Furthermore, the movement restrictions of the first two turns guarantee that the Dutch player will be unable to seriously challenge the Germans for control of the airfield. The Germans should be able to secure a corridor from entry area A all the way through to Rotterdam, and if the flak/artillery suppression battle goes his way, the Germans have the possibility of at the least sealing off the entry hexes for the ammo supply ship from the rest of the map. At best, the Germans may actually capture them and prevent the arrival of this ship, thereby guaranteeing the loss of any remaining Dutch artillery.

There are some disadvantages to this plan. First, the Dutch have plenty of flak in Rotterdam and can always send more from Ypenburg as soon as it becomes apparent that the main air landing effort will occur at Waalhaven. Killing flak in city hexes with air barrages is not easy, especially since the flak fires first and can have up to a two-thirds chance of aborting each air unit before it can barrage attack. Then the terrain die roll modifier further diminishes the likelihood of DGing or destroying the flak battery. Fortunately, most of the flak batteries are short range and cannot fire into the airfield hex. Those with a range of four hexes must set up on the riverbank hexes where they are vulnerable to fire from weapons companies and combat from units attacking across the river. Thus the Dutch will primarily rely on their ships to project flak into the airfield. Ships are impervious to all means of attack except air barrage. Even though ships get no benefit for terrain, sinking a ship is not easy, either. (No wonder the German prays for ones and twos on the ship withdrawal rolls each turn!)

Due to the concentration of flak, air landing is likely to be costly in terms of lost Ju-52 points. (But then, air landing at any other airfield can be just as costly.) It can't be helped, and the German just has to hope that a combination of air barrages against the ships and weapons and artillery barrage against the flak batteries will suppress the flak and so minimize losses. Furthermore, the likelihood of landing the Waalhaven Supply Head early in the game is not good, and the German player should resign himself to having out of supply units as the paradrop supply heads will be insufficient to supply everybody. However, if the Waalhaven Supply Head does make it into the game, then it should be possible to liquidate all of the Dutch defenders south and west of the Yellow Brick Road! In any event, the supply issue should be resolved by Turn 10 or 11 when the land supply route becomes available.

The final disadvantage is that the Dutch defenders in hex 32.18 will be hard to dislodge. Clearing the city enough for a bridgehead will require tough, expensive fighting. Fortunately, the black arrow ferry in hex 28.17 allows the 22nd Luftlande Division companies to cross and get into the attack. Attacking across the bridge at 31.19 is not recommended. Furthermore, paratroopers in the initial airdrop can secure some of the city hexes adjacent to hex 32.18 so that it will be more vulnerable to attack. If the Dutch player attempts to block the ferry, just line up the weapons companies on the opposite bank of the river and blast the defenders off the map!

This plan should give the Germans nine points for the bridges, at least six points for the cleared road hexes, another point for not destroying the oil storage tanks, and five points for the airfield-a total of 21 victory points. Furthermore, the possibility exists for capturing the gold reserve if it can be bottled up in Rotterdam. And the German can still attempt to land the parachute recon platoon at Valkenburg on the first turn to grab the Queen for an easy three victory points! So the German should have at the minimum a total of 21 victory points; he can expect to lose eight or nine victory points in Ju-52 losses and another four or five victory points for lost parachute platoons resulting in a net score of from seven to nine victory points.

Now this is a draw only if the Dutch player does not bring on any of the optional reinforcements. If the Queen is lost, then we're looking at a minor victory secured by the airborne troops before the panzer troops even arrive! The question then becomes: Can the Dutch prevent the panzer divisional units from breaking out and capturing more airfields without using any of the Dutch optional reinforcements? Can the Dutch player take all nine victory points worth of reinforcements and somehow capture the bridge in Rotterdam and Waalhaven airfield and limit the victory points for the road to three or less? The successful implementation of this plan will put the Dutch player in a quandary with no really good options.

On Conquering Fortress Holland Fallschirmjaeger Scenario 5.3

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