Before World War II, French War Minister Marshal Petain called the Ardennes Forest of France, Belgium and Luxembourg “a sector that is not dangerous. It is impenetrable.” Yet battle has raged over this area for two millennia, since the time of Caesar’s legions fighting the German tribes, and more recently, during the opening campaign of the First World War. In 1940, the German Army overran the unsuspecting French in the Ardennes, leading to the fall of France a few weeks later. Similarly in 1944, the Germans launched a surprise attack, popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge, on American forces in the Ardennes. This failed German offensive would hasten the defeat of the German Wehrmacht in the West.
Battles for the Ardennes simulates the battles that occurred in the Ardennes area in World War II with new artwork and mounted map boards. Individual combat units represent between 1,000 and 7,000 men and supporting weapons. Armored units represent between 40 to 180 tanks or Panzers. Artillery units represent between 60 and 100 guns or rocket projectors.
Eight Scenarios:
St. Vith: 6th Panzer Army Attack, 16 Dec.–21 Dec. 1944
Clervaux: Breakout 5th Panzer Army, 16 Dec.–21 Dec. 1944
Celles: Battle Before the Meuse, 23 Dec.–26 Dec. 1944
Sedan 1940: Across the Meuse, 11 May–15 May 1940
Blitzkrieg to the Meuse: 10 May–15 May 1940
The Battle of the Bulge: 16 Dec. 1944–2 Jan. 1945
The Opening Guns: 16 Dec.–20 Dec. 1944
22 December 1944: 22 Dec.–25 Dec. 1944
In playing Battles for the Ardennes, can the German Panzers be stopped from crossing the Meuse River? Will the German Blitzkrieg be blunted in 1940? Will the war be prolonged with a successful German offensive in late 1944? Players will make similar battlefield decisions to their historical counterparts in determining the outcomes. Open the box and participate in history.
Game Contents
• Two mounted 22×34-inch game boards
• One 17×22-inch double-sided paper map
• 684 9⁄16-inch die-cut counters
• 1 Rules & Scenarios booklet
• 8 player aid cards
• 1 six-sided die
• Storage bags
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