The German Lehr and 2nd Panzer drive into Bastogne.

On the 16th December, 1944 the German army began Unternehmen: Wacht am Rhein (Operation Watch on the Rhine), which was to become known as The Battle of the Bulge.

The town of Bastogne lay right in the center of the German offensive. However, the sparse american forces in the town were able to defend it and were reinforced just in time by the US 101st Airborne division to hold the town.

The 101st, along with combat commands from the 9th and 10th armoured divisions, held the town for several days while the German army attacked them from all sides. Finally, on the 24th of December the first elements of the 4th Armored Division fought their way through to Bastogne to relieve the besieged town.

TIPS

First, make sure you have at least played the free tutorials up to tutorial 2 before playing this battle. And there is no airpower in this scenario due to the bad weather at the time.

The first stage of this scenario has two smaller battles, one for the town of Longvilly and the other for Noville.

As the German player you have the 2nd Panzer Division and 26th Infantry Division arriving in a somewhat confused mix in front of the US defenders at Longvilly and Oberwampoch.

You need to disperse your forces as quickly as possible before the US drops artillery all over them, while quickly clearing a path to Bastogne to allow your fresh reinforcements through. If you can get behind the US defenders with your armour it may cut them off and not allow them to retreat. At Noville you have to either dislodge the defenders early or bypass the town and use a column of later reinforcements to attack it directly.

At some point in the battle all supplies to the US forces will be cut off due to strategic events. Then you want to reduce as much of the US forces as possible, pushing them into higher densities and then drop artillery on them. At the same time you have to get ready for the arrival of the US 4th Armored Division to the south.

As the US player you should concentrate your artillery barrages against any large concentrations of German forces. With your forward troops you have to decide how long to hold this ground, without losing your men in the process.

At Noville you should try and hold the Germans off as long as possible. This will allow the advancing 101st Airborne to reinforce this position and build a defensive perimeter. The hard part is knowing what to do with the additional armoured forces at Foy, as they can help prevent the Germans from bypassing Noville but are not suited to fighting in the woods without proper infantry support.

When your supplies are cut off you have to ration out your artillery but still maintain a steady perimeter. If possible try to keep a path open from Sibret to Bastogne to make the 4th Armored's approach easier.

Once the 4th Armored Division arrives the game dynamic changes and it's the German players' turn to be on the defensive. Much will depend on how well the US forces have been able to hold their position.

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