Set up: quick
Game time: medium
Solo play: probably suitable – I played against an opponent, but I think this would work well as a solo game
Historical Background:
In 1945, as the Germans were being pushed back toward Berlin, they blew up most of the bridges across the Rhine river to keep the allies from crossing it. However, the ninth armoured division tasked with taking Remagen found after taking the town that Ludendorff bridge, supposedly blown up by the Germans, was still intact. They were then given orders to take the bridge The Germans panicking, wanted to blow up the bridge, but needed permission from their new commanding officer, Major Hans Scheller, who had been given orders to keep the bridge open for retreating Germans on the west bank. But, as the Americans advanced toward the bridge, he reluctantly gave the order to blow the bridge up, but the electrical circuit failed as the Americans steadily advanced.
Briefing:
Axis 5 cards, Allies 5 cards, move first.
Conditions of Victory:
6 Medals.
If the Allies occupy the two towers (the bunkers), with no Axis units on any of the adjacent hexes, they automatically win.
The Axis may use the same rules for sabotaging a dam with a few modifications: to sabotage the dam, the Axis must have a unit on on the railroad bridge on the east bank; when the star token count reaches four the axis player wins automatically, even if an allied unit takes the railroad hex the star token count does not go down.
Both bunkers are temporary medal objectives for the Allies
Special Rules:
Allied tanks with one figure are Pershing M-26 heavy tanks and use the same rules as Tigers (Troops 16).
The hedgehog represents the explosion the the Germans set off on the American side of the bridge which did enough damage to the bridge that the American tank could not cross.
Report:
Set up time 12 minutes, playing time 42 minutes.
An interesting scenario for any WWII film enthusiasts. The Bridge at Remagan is a classic (but highly fictionalised) 1969 Hollywood production, filmed just down the road from here in Prague (the bridge used in the film is still standing).
Quick and easy to set up – the terrain is more or less irrelevant because all the action is around the bridge (in fact, if you want to save time, just use the bridges and two river hexes on either side!).
A couple of interesting rules to think about. First, Sabotage, which here means the Germans blowing up the bridge. To do so they have to collect four stars, which they throw for at the beginning of each of their turns, but only if they have a unit on the east end of the bridge. So the Allied tactic was to keep firing at any Germans on that hex to force them off it, which worked and no stars were collected.
The second rule is Tigers for the American Pershings. I really don’t like this rule because Tigers were not used on their own (the rule says only 1 tank per unit), and I would be surprised in Pershings were too (according to reports, there were 17 American tanks in the battle). In addition, having to re-throw all hits against Tigers seems unfair (and the re-throw can only be a grenade, not a tank symbol!) – what about all the other great heavy tanks that both sides had in the war?
Anyway, this basically turned into a firefight at the bridge, with the inevitable Allied victory (6:4). Good fun, and a bit different from most scenarios.
There are a number of other scenarios for Remagen – has anyone tried them?
Set up:
A devastating Close Assault by the Germans:
But, although the Americans lost two tank units, it wasn’t enough.
Finish:
