The Ardennes Offensive , subtitled "The Battle of the Bulge, December 1944", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. ((SPI) in 1973 that simulates the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.
Background
editIn December 1944, German forces staged a surprise offensive through the Ardennes, taking the Allies by surprise, since intelligence had not predicted any kind of winter offensive. The initial German assault punched a deep hole in the Allied lines, and the Allies scrambled to respond.[1]
Description
editThe Ardennes Offensive is a two-player board wargame in which one player controls German forces and the other Allied forces. The historical scenario portrays the historical battle. Several other "What if?" scenarios are also included.
Publication history
editIn 1969, shortly after forming Poultron Press, the predecessor of SPI, Jim Dunnigan published a complex "Battle of the Bulge" wargame called Bastogne. Critic Martin Campion made special note of the movement system "that is brilliant in its reflection of reality – it is so accurate that each game general needs a staff of two in order to keep track of movement and supply."[2] In 1973, Dunnigan designed The Ardennes Offensive, a much simplified game, which was published by SPI with graphic design by Redmond Simonsen.
Reception
editIn a 1976 poll conducted by SPI to determine the most popular board wargames in North America, The Ardennes Offensive placed 54th out of 202 games.[3]
In The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training, Richard Rydzel called this "a simplified version of Bastogne." Ryzdel noted that, for educational purposes, "The game still shows, like its predecessor, that traffic was a headache for the Germans. It shows further how impossible the aims of the historical offensive were."[4]
In Issue 30 of Simulacrum, Martin Campion noted that compared to its overly-complex predecessor Bastogne, "Ardennes Offensive simplifies [the complexity] down to the point where one man on a side can handle the game. It is then a fairly accurate and playable representation of the battle."[2]
Other reviews and commentary
edit- Fire & Movement 65
- The Wargamer, vol 1 #3
- Moves 89
- Strategy & Tactics 37
- American Wargamer vol 2 #1
- Pursue & Destroy vol 1 #4
References
edit- ^ Beevor, Antony (2015). Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble. London: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-91864-5.
- ^ a b Campion, Martin (Summer 2012). "The Great Games Explosion in 1973". Simulacrum. No. 30. pp. 62–64.
- ^ Palmer, Nicholas (1977). The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming. London: Sphere Books. p. 130.
- ^ Rydzel, Richard J. (1980). "Ardennes Offensive". In Horn, Robert E.; Cleaves, Ann (eds.). The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training. Beverly Hills CA: Sage Publications. pp. 481–482. ISBN 0-8039-1375-3.