SGS Battle of the Bulge Build 20893927-Skidrow

As the , you have at your disposal the 5th and 6th Panzer armies, as well as the 7th Army, i.e. over twenty divisions, reinforced to the maximum of the German war economy and human reserves at the time. Your objective is to launch a vast surprise offensive, breaking through the thin American defensive lines in the Ardennes to seize key positions along the Meuse as quickly as possible, destroying as many Allied forces as possible before your meagre supply stocks run out. A real race against time! Such a result would already represent a major feat, destabilizing Allied plans in the West for several months to come. The final phase of Hitler’s plan to capture the port of Antwerp appears totally unrealistic and is not represented in the game. Only the forces actually engaged in the battle are represented. The 15th Army covering the German right wing, as well as the American and British forces deployed in Holland and in the Aachen sector being represented only in the abstract.

As an , your initial forces are meagre (essentially the four divisions of VIII Corps of General Bradley’s 1st Army scattered over a 120-kilometer front), but reinforcements will soon arrive from everywhere, notably Patton’s 3rd Army and the reinforced British XXX Corps sent by Montgomery. You must resist the initial German onslaught and delay its advance as long as possible while you gather your ground and air forces. Then you can move on to the counter-attack. The final objective of the campaign is to recapture all the lost ground and return to the initial situation, or even, if possible, to drive a wedge into the fortified line of the Westwall defending the Reich’s western borders to achieve a major victory.

Game units are represented at regimental or equivalent level (brigade, group, Combat Command…), with some variations according to country and troop type. Command units are at corps level, and there are also a number of specialized battalions (heavy armor, reconnaissance, engineers, etc.), garrison and defense units. Air forces, essentially fighters and fighter-bombers (operating directly on the battlefield, while bombers generally operate at much greater depth), are represented on the scale of the British Wing, the American Group or the German squadron (Geschwader), with a variable number of aircraft ranging from 50 to 150.