Victory for the German is not a foregone conclusion. He still must land all the elements of the 22nd Luftlande Division to capture and secure the victory objectives. He must suppress the flak and any Dutch artillery projecting standing barrages onto the airfield. Failure to adequately suppress the flak will result in high casualties and extreme scatter for the units of the 22nd Luftlande Division. Failure to seal off or capture the entry hexes for the De Twee Gezusters will allow the Dutch artillery to stay in the game. Having to contend with standing barrages at the ferry crossings and bridges will impede the arrival of the armored divisional units. Even worse is if the airborne companies fail to secure Dordrecht. Then the relieving units would have to fight to clear the road or you will lose victory points. You had much rather have your exploitation capable units battling for Ypenburg and the other airfields around Den Haag at the end of the game instead of battling just to get to Rotterdam.

As I have indicated, the successful implementation of this strategy will make for some difficult decisions for the Dutch. Taking all of the optional reinforcements does not guarantee that the Dutch will be able to stop the German from gaining a marginal victory with the airborne units. Nor is it a guarantee that they will be able to stop the exploitation capable units from breaking out and capturing all of the other airfields. As the Dutch player, you may have to play several games using different combinations of optional reserves to determine how many can safely be taken without giving up more victory points than they would be worth.

The Dutch player should make every effort to keep flak projected onto the airfield hex. Put as many standing barrages on the airfield and on the bridges and ferries across the Nieuwe Maas as possible. Use the short-range flak batteries to protect your long-range flak and artillery.

Where possible keep your flak and artillery in city hexes out of range of weapons companies on the south bank of the river. Make the German player use his air force to suppress your ships, flak, and artillery because when the planes are tied down this way, they are not barraging your infantry. The combat tables favor the attacker, so attack whenever you can get 1-1 or better odds. Make the German pay for each and every city hex he takes on the north bank! Try to recapture the airfield. Even if you can only put an exploitation capable unit on it for one phase, capturing the airfield will stop air landing for a turn.

If you find that the Germans consistently win this scenario, then you may wish to try some play balance options. One option would be to make the prohibition of armor from using ferries to apply to all motorized units, including trucks. This really canalizes where these units can go and makes it much tougher for them to advance. Another option would be to not give victory points for the optional reinforcements. Make reinforcements free and have a real free-for-all.

I hope these suggestions have given you some good ideas for playing Fallschirmjaeger. Given all the variables involved with flak, barrage, and air landing, no two games should play out the same. Fallschirmjaeger should offer both players many tough decisions and plenty of opportunities to attack.

On Conquering Fortress Holland Fallschirmjaeger Scenario 5.3

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