AirBridge to the Rijn

One of the boldest, actually
too bold, Allied operations of
World War II was Operation
Market-Garden. This called
for the British 1st Airborne
Division to occupy Arnhem,
an important river crossing on
the Neder Rijn (or Rhine, or
Rhein), while the mechanized
XXX Corps raced north
through the Netherlands to its
relief, along a single highway.
Flank protection for the advancing British was provided
by the American 82nd and
101st Airborne Divisions,
which would also secure
critical bridges.
A victory at Arnhem would have opened
the North German Plain for a concentrated Allied offensive, long a cherished
goal of Montgomery. But the Germans
failed to cooperate. Unbeknownst to the
Allies, they had a pair of SS panzer
divisions resting near Arnhem. In
addition, bridge demolitions and
occupation of chokepoints along the
highway frustrated both the Americans
and the British XXX Corps' strike
division, the elite Guards Armoured.
Despite epic valor by the British paratroopers at Arnhem, their division was
fatally mauled, and the offensive
frustrated on the Rijn. Arnhem really
was one bridge too far.
Airbridge to Victory (hereinafter
Airbridge) covers this fascinating
episode well. Its historical value is high,
and so are the enjoyment level and
replayability. The game is well-balanced
and dramatic, with many victories being
negate the effects of highly defensible
terrain, particularly if the attackers
advance from the cover of woods or a
city. It is costly, often more so for the
attacker than the defender, and it should
not be resorted to unless the attacker is
willing to pay in blood.
Each player has to pick the tactic for each
of his attacks. Moreover, since all are
allowed against the same hex, and one
make the next easier, players have to
orchestrate the correct combinations.
close ones. Neither side can afford to
be anything short of aggressive, and
Airbridge is not an easy game for either
to win.
General Principles
The keystone of GMT's Operational
Series is a three-part portrayal of combat.
This is not a cosmetic gimmick, but
something that must greatly influence,
even dictate, player strategies. Each
form of combat has special strengths
and weaknesses. Maneuver is a good,
general purpose type of tactic, used for
clearing hexes of enemy units and
fatiguing them. Fatigue in turn can
soften up the enemy for follow-up
assaults, or deny the units their own
counterattack ability, and in the case
of mechanized forces, the ability to flee
at top speed. However, it works least
in urban hexes, and in that and
wooded terrain it cannot be depended
upon to inflict meaningful casualties on
the defender.
The overriding purpose of assault is to
kill enemy troops, and make any
survivors flee the hex. It can largely
Further complicating matters is the need
to declare all maneuver and assault
combats ahead of time. Players cannot
hold back units, ahistorically improving
attack plans as they go along. Also,
defenders can try to avoid combat if
either maneuver or assault is declared,
but not both. So a player will frequently
have to declare an otherwise ill-advised
attack to fix the enemy in place. The
defender can similarly try to reinforce his
unengaged, adjacent units. Again, the
phasing player will sometimes have to
make attacks with little probability of
success, just to forestall this enemy
reaction movement.
The combination of early combat
declaration, multiple attack types,
combat refusal and reaction movement
give the early GMT games a characteristic sorely lacking in most wargames.
They realistically simulate, and demand
from the players, genuine diversionary
and pinning attacks.
Another important variable that the
GMT Operational System adds to
combat is unit efficiency. This does not
represent firepower, portrayed by
standard attack and defense factors, as
training, experience, morale and leadership. In Airbridge, efficiency varies
widely, from 2 (nearly worthless) for
German garrison battalions, up to 8 (very
high quality) for the best of
the SS. Furthermore, when a
unit is reduced through
casualties, efficiency declines.
opportunity is a subtle but
fundamental underpinning of
Airbridge, and does much to
define its character.
One of the game's key
dynamics is its wide variety
of strategic climaxes and
decisive crises. Games are
decided because a bridge is
demolished or fails to blow, a
force holds a hex a turn longer
than expected - or a strong
one loses a combat it should
have won.
The rough sequence of play,
modified for the Operational
Series combat system, is
basically movement; combat;
mechanized movement. It is
an updated version of a
structure that dates back over
twenty years, to France 1940
(SPI/Avalon Hill), but is
more commonly associated
with Panzergruppe
Guderian (SPI: 1976/Avalon
Hill) and its progeny.
Although one can predict that
such a crisis will occur, it is
virtually impossible to predict
the time and the place. This is
the ultimate manifestation of
the game's foundation of
uncertainty, and a major factor
in its replay value.
An important departure from
the usual first player-second
player sequence is variable
initiative. Normally, a player
can plan with confidence,
secure in the knowledge
when he and his opponent
will be able to move and
attack. Not in Airbridge.
In this game, the second
player often becomes the
first, getting the chance for a
double move and all of its
associated opportunities.
Allied Strategy
For the Allied player,
Airbridge actually consists of
two separate but related
games: the defense of Arnhem,
and the drive to relieve the
paratroopers there. At the
bridgehead city, the British
wage a desperate defensive
struggle, while elsewhere
XXX Corps stages an equally
determined offensive toward
the Rijn.
This underscores the central
principle of Airbridge, and
in fact its sister games as
well: nothing is absolutely
certain. The best-laid plans
can be derailed by a change
in the initiative, bad weather,
or a key efficiency check
that fails.
In many games, players can
aim for ideal, dependable
situations, such as high-odds
attacks that are sure to work..
Airbridge undermines this certainty with
a multiplicity of variables, all of which
amount to chances that something can go
wrong. There is ample opportunity for
players to learn vividly the true meaning
of Clausewitz's friction.
Instead of striving for short-term
solutions of certain benefit, as many
gamers try to, and then stringing them
together for victory on the strategic level,
Airbridge players must allow for
uncertainty, and then embrace it. They
must consider their options not only in
terms of the probability of success, but of
failure as well, especially failure that
might seem unlikely.
Equally, things can go right. One side's
setback is the other's opportunity.
Therefore, just as players have to allow
for adversity, they must be ready to
exploit opportunities as they present
themselves. This interplay of crisis and
The immediate goal of the
British 1st Airborne Division is
to get into Arnhem and set up
for its defense. It is imperative
that the Red Devils get to and
hold the north end of the
highway bridge (hex 4415) in
force. This is the most
important hex on the map, and if
the Germans gain possession of it, the
Allies will find it nearly impossible to win.
An argument can be made for securing
the southern end of the bridge as well,
assaulting the garrison battalion and SS ,
panzer reconnaissance unit there. If
successful, this greatly enhances the
para's ability to hold Arnhem, as
fatigued units can be rotated into a safer
hex for recovery. But this must be
balanced against the probable cost to the
British, especially in the event of failure.
The Germans will be counterattacking
with a balanced combined arms corps
with infantry, armor, artillery and
engineers, all very proficient. Because of
the SS armor, the British player should
get at least one anti-tank unit in each hex
likely to be attacked.
The 1st Airborne Division has only one
combat/motorized unit, a reconnaissance battalion. On the first turn, it and
all other Allied mechanized units ignore
German zones of control, a rule that the
British must exploit fully.
For the paratroopers, there are two
immediate uses for their recon unit. The
first is to get into Arnhem. The second is
to advance further, down the road
toward either Westervoert or Rheden, to
delay the Germans' arrival at Arnhem.
This will inevitably result in the unit's
destruction, but can also give the Allies
one extra turn in Arnhem. On such
small delays the game often turns.
Zones of control are also negated by
urban terrain throughout the game. This
is extremely important for the paras, as
their units can move freely as long as
they stay in Arnhem. Fatigued and
depleted units can be rotated out of the
most contested hexes. The south end of
the bridge, if possessed by the Allies, is
an especially good place for fatigued
battalions to recover.
Once the paratroopers start to take
losses, the best units to take the first
casualties are the anti-tank forces.
Reducing an anti-tank unit diminishes
its efficiency rating, but its defense
strength, and ability to deprive the
Germans of their combined arms
modifier, remain intact.
Though the Americans are also paratroopers, their lack of mobility and their
missions prevent them from directly
aiding the 1st Airborne Division. The
paras are essentially on their own.
The work of the Americans is to make
the Guards Armoured Division's drive
easier and quicker. German garrisons
start the game at Grave, Nijmegen, and
the south side of Arnhem. The first two
are the responsibility of the Americans,
and should be eliminated as soon as
possible.
Grave should be taken by assault on the
first turn. Situated on an island in the
Maas (called the Meuse upstream), it is
extremely defensible, and if any other
(and more efficient) Germans get into the
city, the XXX Corps offensive can be
fatally stalled.
The troops to do this belong to the single
regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division
drops freely between the Maas and Waal
Rivers. Two battalions, the maximum
stacking rules allow, must assault Grave.
The other can move into Nijmegen and
eliminate the garrison battalion there.
Alternately, it can check the highway
bridge across the Maas-Waal Canal,
checking it for demolition.
The other American division, the 101st
Airborne, begins the game further south.
Its area of operations is roughly
Eindoven to the Zuid^Willems Canal.
Zon, on the Wilhelmina Canal, is an
important objective because of its
highway bridge, but starts off empty of
Germans. This chokepoint should be
occupied at once.
The highway crosses the Zuid-Willems
Canal at Veghel, which does have a weak
German unit, barely superior to the
terrible Garrison battalions. If the bridge
there does not fall to demolition, the
Americans should attack Veghel from
the south bank of the canal. Once again,
assault is the tactic of choice.
The second vital aspect of the Americans' mission is to screen the Germans
from the highway. Enemy units that
take positions in open terrain along the
road are not going to be much of a
problem. But those that make it into
cities are a different matter.
One constant of Airbridge is the difficulty of digging strong forces, particularly Germans, out of cities. When they
are backed by armor, this is beyond the
paratroopers' capabilities. This calls for
the Guards Armoured Division, and any
such break in its progress is a break for
the Germans.
Nijmegen is a frequent problem for the
Allies. The 82nd Airborne Division
starts off weak south of the city, and has
a hard time keeping mobile German
battalions from getting through. If bad
weather strikes early in the game, this is
easier, as the reinforcements needed by
the Americans are delayed. When a
trickle of Germans into Nijmegen turns
into a flood, for whatever reason, the
Allies are in trouble.
For XXX Corps in general and Guards
Armoured in particular, the overriding
objective is to get across the Rijn. It is
very difficult for the Germans to expel
British mechanized forces from urban
terrain, and if the defenders include fullstrength airborne battalions, and the SS
are worn down by earlier fighting, then
it becomes close to impossible. Thus, in
such a case the Allies have probably won
the game.
Flank and rear security cannot be
completely disregarded. Nonetheless,
safeguarding Guards Armoured's flanks
is primarily the task of the Americans.
Still, this tends to be insufficient.
Therefore at the first opportunity, the
Allied player should enter the British
43rd Infantry Division, a mechanized
formation of XXX Corps. Its mobility
and firepower are appreciably better
than the Americans', by then undoubtedly depleted. This mobility would be
very useful to quickly deal with
Germans who penetrate the American
airborne screen. In any event, taking
the 43rd Infantry Division alleviates
the need to periodically divert some of
Guards Armoured's battalions to guard
the flanks.
possible. A reasonably intact 1st
Airborne Division, with airpower at its
disposal, will be tough for the SS to
decimate.
Some players might question the
wisdom of using the second division of
XXX Corps, as doing so lowers any
Allied victory by one level, in a close
game resulting in a German win. But the
Allies start the game with insufficient
troops to implement their audacious
plan, and the extra units are absolutely
essential for any type of Allied victory.
The Allied player should worry less
about getting a major victory, and more
about any win at all.
XXX Corps' offensive must fully exploit
all the benefits of mechanized warfare, in
a sort of Britannic blitzkrieg. Copious
artillery support, both at the corps and
divisional level, should be freely tapped,
just as long as it does not hold back the
momentum of the advance.
Two other types of unit that figure
prominently in the corps' role are armor
and engineers. The powerful British
armor and infantry attacking together
are a potent combination, both in
maneuver and assault combat. Engineers can be among the most important
units in the Allied order of battle for two
reasons. First, bridging engineers are
crucial for undoing the results of
German bridge demolition. Second,
engineers of any variety partially offset
the defensibility of enemy-held urban
areas. Yet, they should be used for this
judiciously and not indiscriminately, as
they are the first ones to take losses.
Engineer units are a versatile, but
numerically limited and irreplaceable
resource, essential to the Allied cause.
Airpower is a form of fire support even
more flexible than the artillery available
to the corps. Unfortunately it is available
only to XXX Corps, and not to any of the
paratroopers, at least not until the
mechanized units approach. One of the
secondary, but hardly unimportant,
reasons for a headlong dash north is to
make air support of airborne units
Overrun is a special capability of
combat/motorized units, and a powerful
but easily overlooked weapon for the
British. Especially when used by
powerful stacks in the Mech Movement
Phase, and particularly against
unsupplied or fatigued Germans, it is an
excellent way of disposing of crippled
enemy forces.
It additionally gives the player an extra
means of maintaining the advance. In
Airbridge, a motorized unit in an enemy
zone of control, no matter how weak the
enemy unit, cannot move in the Mech
Movement Phase. This is determined at
the instant of movement. So, the British
player should stand ready to use overrun
by units free to move to get rid of weak
German units adjacent to other mechanized British forces, thereby freeing them
up to move, and possibly overrun, thus
maintaining the advance.
German Strategy
In a sense the Germans have a simpler
task in Airbridge, in that ultimately
they do not have to achieve victory,
just deny it to the enemy. But in
this game, simpler does not readily
translate into easier.
First and foremost, the German player
has to realize that sooner or later, XXX
Corps will get to the Rijn. It is too strong
to be stopped, and if the 43rd Infantry
Division enters the map, this becomes
even more apparent.
The task of the Germans against the
mechanized corps is to delay, not stop.
The first is possible, the second nearly
impossible against a competent player.
The goal is to slow it down long enough
for the SS troops north of the Rijn to
defeat the 1st Airborne Division and
otherwise block the river's crossings.
This will undoubtedly result in heavy,
even staggering, losses to the German
forces south of the Rijn, but in the end
casualties are irrelevant. All that matters
is keeping the British south of the river.
As recommended in the Designer's
Notes, reinforcements south of the Rijn
should be accumulated off the map to
threaten the Allies' flanks. It is far better
to so collect units for a major counterattack than it is to fritter them away on
smaller, doomed attacks. Even if the
units are not committed, their mere
existence as a force in being can be
instrumental in making the Allied
player watch his flanks closely,
hopefully too closely, with a diversion
of effort from the Guards Armoured
Division. Wasting troops removes a
good reason for him to worry.
the slight edge in efficiency can mean the
difference in an assault.
In the end, the most important facet of
German play is one of attitude rather
than specific strategy. The player has to
be willing and able to react to Allied
play, and then exploit it. It is more than
simply rushing reinforcements toward
the highway indiscriminately to block
XXX Corps. This will not work. Rather,
it is picking and choosing the right choke
points. It is also a matter of timing,
selecting the time and place to
counterattack the Allied flanks. South of
the Rijn, the enemy will dictate the pace
and progress of the game.
Even though the bulk of the German
reinforcements south of the Rijn should
be collected off map, a significant
minority should enter the map and make
for the urban chokepoints on the
highway. Those on water lines are
especially crucial, with Nijmegen the
most critical of all. It is possible for the
Germans to win if they do not force a
showdown there; but the longer the
Allies have to fight for the city's crossing
over the Waal, the greater the chances
that they will lose.
It is the task of the German player to take
the chances allowed by the Allies, and
make the most of them. This will buy
time for the SS on the river's north bank
to wear down the British paras.
Conclusions
The German player has to take a much
more active, aggressive strategy north
of the Rijn. He must go on the
offensively quickly and determinedly
against Arnhem.
This pits his powerful 9th and 10th SS
Panzer Divisions against the elite British
paratroopers, in terrain suited superbly
to the defense. The Germans can expect
a disturbing casualty toll at Arnhem, but
as in the south, losses mean nothing if
the mission is accomplished. This is
the erosion and destruction of the 1st
Airborne Division, and the defense of
the Rijn crossings, particularly the
Arnhem highway bridge. Of course,
this also entails retaking the north end
of the bridge.
German tactics at Arnhem parallel those
of the Allies at the more southerly urban
chokepoints. Assault is more important
than maneuver combat, and bombardment rarely efficacious. The Germans
have to fully use their artillery and
airpower which, though dwarfed by the
Allies,' is the only airpower available
north of the Rijn for much of the game.
Furthermore, the urban fighting capabilities of the engineers have be taken
advantage of in critical combats, but not
squandered. Also, the Germans should
keep a reserve, so that fatigued units can
be rotated out of the line for recovery.
One important advantage that the
Germans have is an average efficiency
even higher than that of the Red Devils'.
The battle at Arnhem is typically a
contest of strength against strength, but
One of the traits that makes Airbridge
to Victory an outstanding game is that
even though it is highly playable,
winning is seldom easy for either player.
The game is rife with new variables, and
fresh perspectives on established ones.
This can humble even the best players
who insist on playing it like a less
innovative wargame.
There is no specific master plan for either
side to achieve victory. Players should
not pursue this chimera, but instead
concentrate on the general principles of
strategy. Equally important is the correct
mindset; aggressive where necessary, but
not rash, and aware at all times of the
hand of fate. Airbridge, in some players'
eyes, might be decided by the die roll.
Actually, outcome is more dependent on
how players prepare for chance, and
react to it. This is far more important
than immersion into petty detail.
In short, Airbridge to Victory rewards
players who consider strategy more like
generals and less like war gamers. Even
more than the multitude of variables,
detail and options, this is a true measure
of realism.