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.
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.
In 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]
The 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.
In 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.
In 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]
Battle of the Bulge is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill (AH) in 1965 that simulates the World War II battle of the same name. General Anthony McAuliffe (ret.), who had been commanding officer at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, was a consultant during the game's development. The game proved popular and sold more than 120,000 copies, but was dogged by criticisms of historical inaccuracies, and was finally replaced by a completely new edition in 1981. A third edition in 1991 was released as part of the Smithsonian American History Series.
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MechWar '77, subtitled "Tactical Armored Combat in the 1970s", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates hypothetical tank combat in the mid-1970s between various adversaries, using the same rules system as the previously published Panzer '44.
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Breakout & Pursuit: The Battle for France, 1944 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that simulates the breakout of Allied forces from Normandy during World War II, and their subsequent pursuit of retreating German forces.
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Revolt in the East, subtitled "Warsaw Pact Rebellion in the 1970's", is a Cold War-themed board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates a hypothetical rebellion of Warsaw Pact states against the Soviet Union, with possible intervention by NATO forces.
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