Returning to The Bulge

You probably don’t have to be around our hobby long to know there are a lot of “Bulge” games. However, for those who haven’t seen or heard this – Bulge games depict a specific German counteroffensive fought on the Western Front in the winter of 1944, towards the end of WW2. The campaign was named the Battle of the Bulge because it produced a serious bend in Allied lines. It was fought in and around the same Ardennes region the Germans launched their famous blitzkrieg through in 1940, leading to the fall of France. As one of the major confrontations between the US and German Armies in WW2, it has attracted a lot of attention from designers.

The campaign began with the Germans on the strategic offensive, and the Allies sent reeling. The Germans aimed to knock out Allied supply dumps in Belgium, and dislocate Allied advances towards the Rhine river, and the industrial Rhineland – heart of Germany’s war effort – beyond. They were hampered by the weather (they began the attack on 16 December), unrealistic expectations from high command (particularly Hitler), and fierce resistance from the Americans. The offensive stalled, and then the British and Americans counterattacked, driving the Germans back.

This was the bloodiest battle of WW2 on the Western Front, the last time the Axis went on the offensive in the west, and the bulk of German armor was committed and destroyed during the fight. All of which leads me to two questions I want to answer in this article: (1) Why another Bulge game? (2) Why should you play it?

Why another Bulge game, and why should you play it?

The answer to the first question somewhat answers the second. Battle Command: The Bulge is a compact, easy-to-learn system that fits the entirety of this important campaign into 2-3 hours of play, offering a tight strategic battle between two players.Unlike some systems covering the campaign, you’ll easily be able to fit a game of BC: Bulge into a single evening, and we even anticipate the “short campaign” scenario to be playable in around 90 minutes for players who know the system.

With a low unit counter density and many of the interesting wrinkles of the battle incorporated into card play, it’s also easy to set up and get stuck into. So, one reason to play it therefore – and not a small one these days – is that it is easy to learn, “get to the table”, and get stuck into playing.

I predominantly play card-driven games, like Twilight Struggle or Red Flag Over Paris, or COIN games like The British Way. However, with the help of fellow Developer Joe Dewhurst (who is, to be fair, an excellent teacher), I was able to pick up the system within 20-30 minutes.

Easy to learn doesn’t mean light, though. This is a full-fledged strategic game, asking both players to make difficult decisions about priorities, timings, how best to utilise the geography of the battlefield, where to deploy and apply forces, how best to organise their lines, and so forth.

We’ll provide more information about these kinds of decisions, and the appropriate strategies for each side soon, with one article on German strategy, one article on Allied strategy, and one AAR.

Strategy

To provide a quick overview: the Germans will seek to blow holes in the enemy lines and exploit them with their armored formations. They’ll need to balance concentrating their forces with the consumption of fuel, and driving home their advantage by consolidating their positions. They are ultimately seeking to establish a foothold beyond the Meuse river, and trace a secure supply line there. Failing that, they want to dominate a majority of the important towns in the area.

The Allies on the other hand – predominantly the US, although some powerful British forces show up later on – are trying to stop them. Theirs is a nail-biting game of choosing when to hold, delay, or pull back to set up a new defensive line. There are never enough units to do it all.

Then things switch. Two Airborne divisions arrive in theatre – elite infantry units and two of the strongest in the game. They are followed by increasing numbers of Allied infantry and armor, and eventually – as the skies clear – devastating Allied airpower. So as the Allies your mission is clear, and it’s the old familiar one repeated time and again throughout US military history: hold the line until the cavalry arrives.

Victory

Finally, a note on victory. The German player has two ways to win:

First, if they can maintain a line of supply through to any one space on the west bank of the Meuse river when supply is checked at the end of the turn, they will win automatically.

Second, at the end of the game (5 turns for the ‘short’ campaign, 8 for the ‘long’) they will win if they have accumulated more Victory Points than the Allied side. VP come from two sources: objective spaces (1 point per space); and the destruction of divisional-sized units (1 point per unit).

Both are won and lost by each side, so both sides are looking to take and hold key ground, and inflict damage where they can. The Allies can only win via the second condition, and begin with control of all six objective spaces.

“Battle Command: The Bulge offers something for new and old Bulge gamers alike. Players who don’t know the battle will see all the things that have made it a wargaming classic: particularly, the tension as the Germans try to find the right path, and the Allied struggle to find the right places to defend. Players who are familiar with the Bulge will like the game for that same reason, and will appreciate finding them in a tight and accessible package. Both new and old hands can enjoy the accessibility and clever play that the game provides.”

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Next Articles:

German Strategy in Battle Command: The Bulge

Allied Strategy in Battle Command: The Bulge