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:

Poterie Ridge

by GeneralHowitzer | May 8, 2025 | 1944, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Special Weapons, Strategic

Poterie Ridge

July 4th, 1944—while folks back home were waving flags and lighting fireworks, the boys of the 82nd Airborne were earning every damn star on that flag with blood and grit in the fields of Normandy.

The 325th Glider Infantry and 508th Parachute Infantry, fresh off taking Hill 131, were ordered to grab La Poterie Ridge and Hill 95—the last line before Mont Castre, the Germans’ last high ground in that sector. The order came, and they didn’t hesitate. On Independence Day, they moved—through the open, under artillery cover.

But then the guns stopped. Too soon. Our boys were still in the open. The Krauts opened up with machine guns and mortars, and all hell broke loose. Those fields became a slaughterhouse—but those troopers kept pushing, kept fighting, and by nightfall, they took that ridge.

They paid for every inch of it with guts and lives. That was the last fight the 82nd Airborne saw in Normandy. By July 11, they were pulled back, replaced by the 8th Infantry, and sent back to England to get ready for the next jump.

You’re in command now. The lines are drawn. The men are ready. What comes next? That’s up to you. Just remember: fortune favors the bold—and so do the history books.

~~ General Howitzer

7 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 5

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

France

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

The Invasion of Normandy

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

7 VP’s, plus two temporary medals for the Allies

Battlefield:

The battlefield is covered with many forest and hedgerow hexes.

Troops:

Allies – 10 Infantry, 1 Artillery

Axis – 9 Infantry, equipped with machine guns and mortars

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Originally played at Chattanooga Open, 2023; and The Finest Hour Open, Chicago 2025.

Link:

Escouves Forest

by GeneralHowitzer | May 7, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Tactical, Theater: Western

Escouves Forest

August 1944—Écouves Forest. Thick woods, rough country, and Germans with their backs to the wall. Perfect place for a fight.

After we busted out of Normandy, the Krauts tried to make a stand in that damned forest north of Alençon, thinking trees and shadows would stop the Allied hammer. Well, General Leclerc’s French 2nd Armored Division rolled in and showed ’em that no terrain—no matter how dense—can save you when the Allies are coming.

It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t easy. The fighting was up close, personal, and vicious—tanks blasting through trees, infantry ambushed from behind every stump. But the French didn’t blink. They cut through that forest like a buzz saw through timber, rooting out the enemy one foxhole at a time.

And when the smoke cleared, the Écouves Forest was ours—and the jaws of the Falaise Pocket slammed tighter on those retreating bastards.

That fight mattered. It sped up the collapse of the German line in France and helped crack the door wide open on the road to Paris.

Moral of the story? You corner a desperate enemy in the woods, you don’t tiptoe in—you charge in, guns blazing, and don’t stop till the last one runs or drops.

~~ General Howitzer

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 5

Complexity:

2

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

France

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

6 VP’s, plus the City of Ecouche for the Allies

Battlefield:

The center of the battlefield is dominated by the large Ecouves forest which is hiding some Germans.

Troops:

Allies – 6 Infantry, 6 Armor

Axis – 5 Infantry, 4 Armor

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

French Open, 2022; Also played at The Finest Hour Open, Chicago 2025.

Link:

View

Resistance on the Scheldt

by GeneralHowitzer | May 7, 2025 | 1940, Armor, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: Belgium, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic

Escaut - Schelde: Resistance on the Scheldt

May 1940—Belgium. The Ghent bridgehead’s gone, the line’s buckling, and the enemy’s coming fast. But those Belgian boys? They didn’t flinch. They stood tall along the Upper Scheldt, and by God, they fought like hell.

May 20th, the Germans tried to cross near Gavere and Oudenaarde, slipping through the Scheldt loop. But the 10th Belgian Infantry Division wasn’t having it. They hit back hard at Zingem, backed by dead-on artillery, and shoved the enemy right back across that river like yesterday’s garbage.

Meanwhile, the British Expeditionary Force was dug in south of Oudenaarde, watching the flank all the way to the French border. And when it came time to blow the bridges? They did it right—every span destroyed, nothing left for the Nazis to use. That’s how you do a withdrawal—scorched and smoking.

But the Germans weren’t done. After licking their wounds at Zingem, they regrouped behind the Koppenberg and came back swinging on May 21—infantry, Luftwaffe, and the river running low enough to wade. Despite a hell of a stand by the Brits, the Krauts got a foothold. That foothold became a push—toward the Lys, toward the coast, toward the final stand.

May 28, King Leopold III surrendered. Belgium was down—but not for lack of courage.

You want to talk guts? Talk Zingem. Talk the Scheldt. Talk men who held the line until the last minute. The field was set, the players were in position, and history came charging through the smoke.

~~ General Howitzer

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 6

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

Belgium

Year:

1940

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

6 VP’s, plus Exit Rows for Axis; a town medal for Allies, and a Permanent Medal if the Allies blow up two bridges.

Battlefield:

Countryside with a river cutting across the field.

Troops:

Allies – 9 Infantry, some with machine guns, 1 Artillery

Axis – 9 Infantry, some with machine guns and mortars , 2 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Originally prepared for Belgium 2022; also used in The Finest Hour Open, Chicago 2025

Link:

View

Closing the Falaise Gap

by GeneralHowitzer | May 6, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

Closing the Falaise Gap

August 1944—Falaise. The trap was nearly shut, and the Germans knew it. Hell, they could smell it.

By the 18th, the Canadians had taken Trun and St. Lambert, putting the lid on the Falaise Pocket. But it wasn’t locked down yet—hell no. The line was thin, the crossroads fragile, and both Allied and Axis forces were stampeding toward Chambois. It wasn’t just a battle—it was a goddamn race: the Germans racing to escape, and us racing to slam the door shut on their sorry rear ends.

The Poles and Americans came in hard, shoulder-to-shoulder, pushing east while the Germans were pushing west—like two trains headed for a crash in a one-track tunnel. The enemy made one last hellbound breakout near the Polish lines, and yeah, some of them got out—but not for long.

Because on the 19th, the line was reinforced. And in St. Lambert, one man—Major David Currie, a Canadian, led from the front like a true warrior. Under fire from both sides—his own artillery damn near clipping his boots—he stood his ground, gave no quarter, and turned that village into a graveyard for the Wehrmacht. He earned the Victoria Cross, and every inch of it.

By the time we closed that pocket, the Normandy campaign was finished—two months of blood, steel, and grit had paid off. The Liberation of Paris was just days away. Looked like it was over for Hitler’s goons—but we weren’t fooled.

The war wasn’t done until the last Nazi was crawling out of a foxhole with his hands in the air. And that took till ’45.

The lines are drawn, the orders are yours, and the clock is ticking.

Now go finish the job.

~~ General Howitzer

7 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 5

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

France

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

The Invasion of Normandy

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

7 VP’s, including Exit Row Objectives for the Axis

Battlefield:

Countryside with an impassible (except for bridges and fords) river going across the battlefield.

Troops:

Allies – 8 Infantry, 3 Armor

Axis – 9 Infantry, 1 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Originally developed for the London Open, 2022. Also played at The Finest Hour Open, Chicago, 2025.

Link:

View