Operation Market Garden - Introduction

Official introduction time; the Flames of War Market Garden campaign will kick off on Thursday  the 4^th June, although if you glance at the timetable (bottom of post) you’ll note that the bulk of the fighting in campaign turn 1 is reserved for the 25^th of June so plenty of time to arrange an opening game and wangle a pass out from The Wife.  Those unaware of Operation Market Garden should instantly go and watch A Bridge Too Far.  Those unaware of the consequences of incorrectly filling out the paperwork requesting a pass are in denial.

Summary of important points:

·         The timetable of the campaign turns, and the main campaign gaming evenings, is at the bottom of this post.

·         Army lists – I’m not going to demand everyone pick their lists out of Market Garden or Bridge By Bridge because its unfair to expect an extra outlay just for this campaign, but make the armies realistic please – no Konigstigers at the start etc! 

·         You can change your army/list/company for every battle if you would like, there are no casualties/record keeping etc.

·         Ben is leading the Germans, I’m leading the Allies.  We will give instructions about where we want you to fight and the overall strategy our side is pursuing, and move the bonus firestorm units to help in areas we want to succeed in.  However, where you choose to fight and who you fight is ultimately up to you to organise.

·         Games can be whatever size you and your opponent agree.  There is a special table to roll up missions depending on the area your fighting in.

·         Nobody may choose air power as an option in their lists – it is only available as a special unit if it’s close enough to your battle in the night.

·         I will bring the main map along on each main campaign night and set it up so you can see how the campaign is going, and pick where you are going to fight.  I will be there to answer any questions.

The Firestorm System Itself:

The campaign system has elements of detail, without being complicated for the bulk of the players involved.  The generals do the bulk of the work, with the Brits having the additional complication of trying to balance their limited air supplies, and the Germans having far fewer firestorm troops.  Firestorm troops represent additional platoons which players can add to their armies if they are in the territories being fought over.  Each player can add up to two firestorm units, and to give an example this could result in a British player gaining an extra two Shermans platoons on top of his normal list.  They can make a critical difference, but they can also be lost.  The Brits have many more firestorm troops, and what the Germans do have can be quite random, and much of it arrives late in the day.  I have provided a link to the Battlefront page with the Firestorm Market Garden resources on it in case anyone wants to take a look.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&art_id=1938

The Map:

This is the map at the beginning of Campaign Turn 1.  We are using the historical positioning or troops, and timing of re-enforcements (represented by the firestorm bonus units), so many of the Allied firestorm troops arrive later, and the Germans arrive from different locations as the campaign carries on.

I will update this map as the Allies begin their assault on Holland.

The original all-colour campaign board with firestorm troops deployed.  The Allied attack begins at the bottom with a drive on Einhoven, while the US and British paras have already dropped along the route,

British firestorm platoons ready for the off.

American paras on the edge of Nijmagen.

Britis paras dropped near to Arnhem.

101st airborne dropped on the road 30 Corp will need to use.

The British general needs to make some strategy moves before turn 1; with the paras able to spread out (the red arrows showing the movement) at a cost of their supplies.

The Participants for the Two Sides:

Players can come and go throughout the campaign; there is no requirement to play a maximum or minimum number of games.  They can even change sides should they wish, or, in the case that we need an extra ‘enemy’ for a game they can change sides for an evening.

For the nasty occupiers:

Ben Von Smallhausen - German

‘Tiger’ Phil - Tigers

Peter Derrick - SS

Dennis – Fallshirmjager

James Taylor – Panzer Kompanie

Mark - Fallshirmjager

Ian - Fallshirmjager

For the gallant forces of liberation:

General Richards – British Armour

Aidan  - British Armour

James Underwood – US Paras

Ian – British Armour

Red – British Armour

Andy Canham - British

Potential undeclared forces:

David Astbury

Luke

Dave Blue Team

Time Table:

The campaign is 5 campaign turns long, with each campaign turn lasting 4 weeks.  The aim is to play most of the campaign games on one big evening of FOW per campaign turn, and then anyone who wishes to play more can do in the other 3 weeks available.  We will end campaign turn 5 with a nice big all-day battle to be organised by Andy Canham in October (date to be confirmed).  The timing should run as below, with possible changes to accommodate as many of the group as possible;

Campaign Turn 1: 4^th – 25^th June (Main Gaming Evening – 25^th June)

Campaign Turn 2: 2^nd – 23^rd July (Main Gaming Evening - 23^rd July)

Campaign Turn 3: 30^th July – 20^th August (Main Gaming Evening – 20^th August)

Campaign Turn 4: 27^th August – 17^th September (Main Gaming Evening – 17^th September)

Campaign Turn 5: 24^th September – 15^th October (Main Gaming Evening – 15^th October plus all-day game to be arranged).