Across the River Roer

by GeneralHowitzer | Nov 1, 2024 | 1945, Armor, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: Germany, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

Across the River Roer

Across the River Roer wasn’t just another bridgehead — it was the kind of operation that tests an army’s guts and grit. In February ’45, the Germans tried to drown the Allies out of the Rhineland by blowing their dams and turning the Roer into a boiling, flooded barrier. They figured the rising water would halt us cold. It didn’t. It just delayed the inevitable.

When the river finally dropped, our boys moved with discipline and fury. Under artillery, machine-gun fire, and every trick the enemy could throw, they forced that crossing, yard by yard, boat by boat. The Germans were dug in, determined, and desperate — but they couldn’t stop an army that had momentum, purpose, and the will to finish the job.

The Roer crossing cracked open Germany’s western shell and put us on the doorstep of the Rhine itself. And once you reach the Rhine, you’re cutting straight into the enemy’s heart. This operation proved again that no flood, no fortress, no line of resistance can hold back an Allied force that’s hell-bent on victory.

~~ General Howitzer

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

6 Allies
4 Axis

Complexity:

Conditions:

Countryside

Location:

Germany

Year:

1945

Theater:

Western Front

Campaign:

Rhineland

Codename:
Operation Grenade

Summary

Artillery plays a major role in this scenario, with three on one side and one on the other.

Objectives:

Six VP’s including all three town objectives and an exit hex for the Allies, if they can get there.

Terrain:

The River Roer is a major strategic barrier which slows the advance into battle.

Troops:

Allies – 10 Infantry, 3 Artillery

Axis – 7 Infantry, 2 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1. Attack Vector Options: Left Flank:
If you are going for a left flank assault, the enemy artillery will pick off your forces as you advance. So gather at the river first, since that barrier will stop your troops for one turn. Once everyone has breached it, then you will have to attack en masse and quickly attack before the artillery takes you out.

2. Your artillery on the right can provide support fire for your troops if you pursue a central or right flank attack. But if you can move them forward at least one row before the battle begins, do that. The result will be that the sandbagged infantry in the center will be subject to 2D attacks from the artillery.

3. Attack Vector Options: Right Flank
An attack on the right flank is going to be a challenge as long as the enemy armor can move in and attack your infantry on the open plain before the town with the victory hex. And then should you even reach it, you have to hold it until the end of the game to get the VP’s.

Axis Strategy:

1. Historically, the Allies were able to move across the Roer and establish a 3-mile beachhead. This means that the scenario is stacked against you, if you attempt to come out from your defensive positions and launch an assault. You may be able to do it, especially with your armor on your left flank, but be careful, as the Allied artillery is powerful.

2. Keep your armor mobile. You will most likely need them on your left flank to defend the town hex medal objective.

3. Move your infantry in the back of the center section forward to replace the infantry you will lose in the center and right flanks.

Author:

Days of Wonder

URL:

Arnhem Bridge

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 31, 2024 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Base Game, Countryside, Infantry, Memoir 44, Scenario

Arnhem Bridge

Listen up! Arnhem Bridge was no Sunday stroll — it was a fight for the throat of Germany. Market Garden was a bold gamble, a thrust straight through Holland to end the war by Christmas. The plan was simple: grab those bridges, roll our armor across, and cut into the Reich’s belly.

But Arnhem was the lynchpin, the prize. The British Red Devils dropped in with guts and steel, holding that bridge like bulldogs against tanks, artillery, and everything the Germans could throw at them. For days they fought, house to house, street to street, under constant fire. Outnumbered, outgunned, and cut off, they refused to quit.

In the end, the bridge could not be held, and the operation fell short of its lofty goal. But don’t mistake it for failure — Arnhem showed the world the courage of men who held their ground against impossible odds. They didn’t just fight for a bridge; they fought for honor, and you know what? They earned it.

~~ General Howitzer

5 VP’s

Card Balance:

6 – 6

Complexity:

Conditions:

Countryside

Location:

Netherlands

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western Front

Codename:

Operation Market Garden

Context:

Historical

Summary:

Despite its apparent simplistic appearance, this scenario presents some interesting strategy, as it really is all about the Arnhem bridge crossing.

Objectives:

This is a five VP scenario, with no other objective medals.

Battlefield:

The principle battle field characteristics are the lower Rhine River cutting across the width of the field, and of course, Arnhem Bridge which is the focus on the planned Axis invasion.

Troops:

Although the Axis have more forces, many of them are trapped in the right flank behind the impassable Rhine River.

Allied Strategy

1. Your artillery will be your most powerful defensive protection in this scenario. Use your center Section cards to keep pounding the enemy. Make sure that you always keep at least one central section card in reserve, should the enemy try to make a run across the bridge.

2. When you are not defending against a bridge run in the center, use your long-range artillery to slowly degrade the forces on each wing. Because if they come at you with full force, you will have a difficult time holding them off.

3. Do your best to keep your infantry safely behind the sandbags until you are totally ready to come out for an attack. Although your most forward infantry can become easy prey to the enemy still behind the river, so if you can move that infantry back towards your side of the battlefield, do so. That will provide you with one extra infantry force to attack the enemy in the flanks.

Axis Strategy

1. The main problem: Axis must get out from behind the river blockade, by crossing the Arnhem bridge without being destroyed, once across.

2. Flank Attacks: The extra infantry in each corner can be used to maximum advantage to clear out the enemy, or at least distract them, while you cross the bridge. But you will need to wait until you have the right combination of cards to be able to launch an attack from one of the flanks.

3. Do not rush it: while you remain on the far side of Arnhem Bridge you are generally safe from enemy attacks unless they get an extraordinary collection of Combat cards. The principle mistake made by Axis is to rush out too quickly across the bridge and then to get slaughtered in the kill box which awaits you across the Arnhem Bridge. So take your time to assemble your forces, and move extra troops into the central section, ready to cross the bridge.

4. With the right combination of cards, you can begin an attack on one (or both!) flanks, while you attempt to cross the bridge. The goal is to distract the enemy, and force them to divide their defensive energies so that your forces can cross the bridge successfully.

Class Battlefield Reports:

(percentage of Allied victories)

81%

Author:

Days of Wonder

Link:

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