The Defense of Wanssum Woods

by GeneralHowitzer | Jul 15, 2025 | 1945, Countryside, Infantry, Location: Netherlands, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Pacific

The Defense of Wanssum Wood

The Defense of Wanssum Woods in 1945 was part of Operation Snowman, a late World War II engagement in the Netherlands. German forces mounted a stubborn defense in the wooded area near Wanssum to delay the Allied advance.

General Howitzer has some thoughts on this battle:
Wanssum Woods was a thick, muddy brawl—Germans dug in deep, using every tree and shadow to stall us. The Brits and Canucks had to fight for every damn yard, ambush after ambush. But they didn’t quit. They rooted the enemy out, inch by inch, and kept the advance rolling into northern Germany. Forest or no forest, when you’re relentless, no defense holds.

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies (Great Britain) – 6

Axis – 5

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Winter Forest

Context:

Location:

Netherlands

Year:

1945

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

6 VP’s

Battlefield:

Combination of woods and winter.

Troops:

Allies – 13 Infantry

Axis – 9 Infantry

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder

Resource:

Campaign Book, Volume 2

Reichswald – The Siegried Line

by GeneralHowitzer | May 9, 2025 | 1945, Armor, Countryside, Infantry, Location: Netherlands, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Special Weapons, Strategic, Theater: Western

Reichswald - The Siegried Line

February 9th, 1945. The Reichswald—five miles of hell standing between us and the Ruhr, the industrial heart of Hitler’s war machine. You want to break Germany? You punch through there.

We stacked the odds—brought in the numbers, massed near Groesbeek, and started pushing toward Kleve. The Krauts had about 11,000 defenders, and hell, some of ’em were barely fit to fight—one unit full of men with stomach problems, another made up of deaf troops. Sounds easy, right?

Wrong.

Because they were dug into the Siegfried Line—pillboxes, dragon’s teeth, minefields—you name it. They’d flooded the land to the north and south, squeezing us into a freezing, muddy kill zone. And just when you think it couldn’t get worse? The sky opens up with six days of cold, soaking rain. Floods everywhere. Roads turned to soup. Trucks bogged down. Men freezing.

But don’t forget this: they still had paratroopers in reserve. Hardened, mean, disciplined bastards with nothing to lose.

That was the hand we were dealt. The map was a mess, the weather was hell, and the Germans were desperate—but we were coming anyway.

You are in command now. The question ain’t whether it’s hard—the question is: do you have the guts to drive through it and break their damn line?**

Because history doesn’t wait. You either make it—or get buried under it.

~~ General Howitzer

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 5

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

Netherlands

Year:

1945

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

6 VP’s, plus two city temporary Objective Medals

Battlefield:

Countrsyide with marsh on one side, a road running through much of it, and numerous ‘dragon’s teeth’ roadblocks which can only be removed by use of the Allied Dozer tanks.

Troops:

Allies – 10 Infantry, 3 Armor

Axis – 9 Infantry, 1 Armor

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Originally played in the Dutch Open, 2022; and in The Finest Hour Open, Chicago 2025.

Link:

Operation Market Garden (Overlord)

by GeneralHowitzer | Apr 29, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: Netherlands, Medal Objectives, Overlord, Overlord Game, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

Operation Market Garden (Overlord Map)

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Operation Market Garden, fought in September 1944, was a major Allied offensive during World War II aimed at ending the war quickly by capturing key bridges in the Netherlands and entering Germany’s industrial heartland.

The operation combined a massive airborne assault (Market) by British, American and Polish paratroopers with a ground advance (Garden) by British XXX Corps. The goal was to seize bridges over several rivers, including the Rhine at Arnhem, to create a direct route into Germany.

Listen up, men—Operation Market Garden was bold, daring, and damned near brilliant on paper. Our boys dropped from the sky and stormed bridges across Holland like thunder on the move. They seized their early targets with guts and grit—but at Arnhem, the lion met the cage. The British 1st Airborne fought like hell for every inch, surrounded, outgunned, and cut off from relief.

In the end, the last bridge stayed in enemy hands. The link-up failed, and what was meant to end the war early turned into a costly lesson in overreach. We aimed for glory—and came up “a bridge too far”.

~~ General Howitzer

13 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 13 (!)

Axis – 3 (!)

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

Netherlands

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Codename:

Operation Market Garden

Summary:

Objectives:

13 VP’s with Temporary Majority Medal Objectives for whomever holds the majority of the 13 town hexes; plus Turn Start Temporary Uncontested Medal Objectives for the three key bridges.

Battlefield:

Countryside with many roads, towns, rivers, and forests

Troops:

Allies – 20 Infantry, 8 Armor, 1 Artillery

Axis – 17 Infanty, 7 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1. The Allies have an overwhelming tank force on their right flank. They will need to attack vociferously and eliminate all enemy forces in that section, so that they can turn their armor to attack the central sections.

2. You can get some early medals by attacking the enemy forces which were surprised and surrounded by your forces in the left and right sections. There are two infantry units on each side which you can quickly take out, and gain some early medals.

3. Watch out for the Tiger Tank on your left flank. It can only be taken out with two successful rolls, first an armor or grenade roll, and then the second roll must be a grenade.

Axis Strategy

1. As Axis, because of the surprise nature of this attack, you only start with three Combat Cards vs. the Allies 13!. But every time you take out an Allied unit, the Allied Commander loses a card (which you get to pull from his hand), and you are given a new card from the deck (not the one from his hand) and your total cards to use each turn increases. So as the battle progresses the card ratio will begin to even out, until eventually the Axis will have more cards than the Allies. Cards are attack-ability, so your attack-ability will increase, as the other’s declines.

2. Your tanks, since you were not suspecting the airborne attack, are not in play at the start of the game. You will need to use some of your early turns to get them into attack positions. And because the tanks can only move two hexes in this scenario (unless start and ending on a road, when they can move 4 hexes), it will take two to three turns to get them into place. So you need to start early.

3. Control of the three bridge medals is based on being either on the bridge hex, or in the nearby vicinity of the six hexes surrounding it. But note that if the enemy is able to get into the proximity of the bridge, you will lose that bridge medal until you clear them out. If the bridge is contested, then no one gets the medal. So keep the enemy forces well away from your bridges!

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder

Link:

Market Garden (Nijmegen Bridges)

by GeneralHowitzer | Nov 1, 2024 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Big Guns, Countryside, Infantry, Location: Netherlands, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Terrain Exp Pack, Urban

Market Garden (Nijmegen Bridges)

The Battle of Nijmegen Bridge was a key engagement during Operation Market Garden in September 1944, a large Allied operation aimed at securing key bridges in the Netherlands to create a direct route into Germany.

General Howitzer’s comments:

“Listen up, men! In September of ‘44, at Nijmegen, those bridges over the Waal River were the keys to the kingdom—a direct shot into Germany itself. The plan was big—Operation Market Garden—take the bridges, link up the airborne and the armor, and ram straight for the Ruhr.

But those Germans weren’t just going to hand over those bridges. They had them locked down tight, and it took the 82nd Airborne, those American paratroopers, to cross that river in flimsy little boats under fire like hell itself. They paddled across, outflanked the Germans, and took those bridges with guts and bayonets.

We got the bridges, but we couldn’t hold Arnhem, and the whole damn operation fell short. But don’t let that fool you—the boys at Nijmegen showed what it means to fight with everything you’ve got. That’s how you break the enemy’s back—take the objective, hold it, and never let go until the job’s done!”

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 5

Allies move first.

Complexity: 4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

Netherlands

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western Front

Codename:

Operation Market Garden

Summary:

Objectives:

6 Medals including bridge hex objectives.

Terrain:

Countryside with a river and train tracks cutting across the battlefield.

Troops:

Allies – 7 Infantry, 6 Armor, 1 Artillery

Axis – 9 Infantry, 1 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1. Use your armor to attack the many defensive positions of the enemy. When the time is right, then capture your objective medals.

2. Take the time to move your artillery into a more centralized position for attack.

3. The Axis forces are so well-defended that you will need to attack them from a distance and significantly degrade them before direct assaults. But you need to do this quickly as many of their forward forces are close to your and able to launch some subtantial attacks against you.

4. The Axis Artillery is a Big Gun! That means that once they hone in on you with one hit, they are able to increase the dice attacks by one. So if they hit you once, and you have any figures remaining in the hex, you need to bug out, and move those figures to a new hex.

Axis Strategy:

1. The Allies have an overwhelming armored force, so much of your work is defensive in nature, although you should pursue any soft targets you can locate. However, your two advanced infantry forces in the center have the ability to do significant damage to the enemy armor if you can quickly attack them while they are in no-retreat positions. Be aggressive and you may be rewarded!

2. There are two bridge objectives which you must protect. Stay close to each of them, and protect them well.

3. Your Artillery is a Big Gun, so use it on semi-permanent targets so that you can take advantage of the additional die roll.

Author

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