Battle of the Bulge Scenario

[Half life Expert]

I finally beat this scenario in the campaign, and I must say that it needs to be re-balanced, as the Germans are WAY more capable than they should be. I was playing on "normal' diffculty by the way, so I cannot possibly imagine having any hope of winning on Hard or Very Hard.

I would suggest:

Removing the "Meuse Crossings" objective all together, as the scenario starts basically when the Ardennes offensive runs out of steam, so there should be no incentive for the Germans to keep attacking in that area.

Removing or relocating the supply depot at the "Eliminate Bulge" objective, to make it somewhat more reasonable/accurate to be able to grind down the heavy armored forces in the bulge.

Finding some way of limiting German capabilities of attacking in the southern areas. I realize that there were subsequent offensive efforts in that area (Operation Nordwind), but at this point in the war the Germans really lost any real capability to mount any dangerous offensives.


I understand that it's supposed to be challenging and that the game engine may not allow for ways to model the german strategic and operational supply situation, but I found this scenario to be unrealitiscally and unfairly difficult.

[Hagemann]

get gud

[uhamster9]

Here's my tactics. If you have airborne units you can cheese the railways but if you don't here's what you should do.
https://files.catbox.moe/9hvsln.png

[Arthur 'Bomber' Harris]

Whenever I played that scenario they all ran out of supplies for me, maybe it was because I advanced up the central railways a bit and cut their logistics?

[Half life Expert]

I didn't do that because I concentrated on crushing the Bulge and relieving Bastogne.

[Hagemann]

Its just a matter of finding the right approach. Instead of grinding in the woods you find the weakspots and cut them off their supplies.

[simurgh]

This is actually one of my favourite scenarios, with the German counterattack in the south, which can catch you off guard. Cutting off supply to the bulge is definitely a good approach.

[Arthur 'Bomber' Harris]

Oh quick question, if Bastogne falls after your first turn does that fail the 'Take all objectives on time prerequisite'? Or do you have until a certain turn to recapture it in time?

[uhamster9]

Originally posted by Chester W. Nimitz:

Oh quick question, if Bastogne falls after your first turn does that fail the 'Take all objectives on time prerequisite'? Or do you have until a certain turn to recapture it in time?

You can recapture it later (meaning you can get a gold victory). But it's good defensive terrain so maybe not so wise giving it up straight up.

[Arthur 'Bomber' Harris]

Originally posted by uhamster9:

Originally posted by Chester W. Nimitz:

Oh quick question, if Bastogne falls after your first turn does that fail the 'Take all objectives on time prerequisite'? Or do you have until a certain turn to recapture it in time?

You can recapture it later (meaning you can get a gold victory). But it's good defensive terrain so maybe not so wise giving it up straight up.

How do I avoid them getting the cornered nerf and getting wiped out?

[uhamster9]

Originally posted by Chester W. Nimitz:

Originally posted by uhamster9:

You can recapture it later (meaning you can get a gold victory). But it's good defensive terrain so maybe not so wise giving it up straight up.

How do I avoid them getting the corned nerf and getting wiped out?

In my campaign I just broke through to it (without using the unit itself to attack) on the first turn, gave the unit another M10 and fortified it with my HQ. After that it never got attacked. You can still use the unit to do suppressive fire without giving up its fortification in the following turns.

[j1chaf]

Every time I've attempted this scenario, the 101st gets wiped out in Bastogne on the first turn by repeated German attacks. Can't seem to make enough headway to cut off supply that quickly. What can I do to prevent this?

[Tigga]

How many steps and what veterancy are the 101st in your campaign? If they've been beat up in an earlier mission they may be regular and 3 steps, in which case you'll need to evacuate them and replace them with some guys who can actually fight.

[j1chaf]

This is in the single scenario, not the campaign. 101st has six steps, Elite with M10 and Artillery. I make some progress on my first turn, then they get wiped out after six or seven German units attack. Has happened every time I've played this specific scenario. There has to be some way to divert some of the German units' attention elsewhere, just haven't figured out how.

[Tigga]

Oh, ok. Just fired it up to test on Classic. You're right - that's nasty - I wonder why I've never had this issue in the campaign. My best plan is to take the hill East of Bastogne as well as the one across the bridge. If you can get them both maybe you can restrict the AI enough.

Or maybe it's because on the campaign I played the complete turn. I notice in the scenario they're freeing up space at the tip of the bulge by moving stuff around. Normally in the campaign I roll a few more troops into that area - maybe that makes a difference.

[j1chaf]

Thanks - I'll keep trying.