From: Arius V Kaufmann Subject: AH/Smithsonian Battle of the Bulge I bought this game some time ago and only now pulled it out to check it out. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of seeing this game allow me to sum up: Battle of the Bulge is an attempt to recreate this battle as simply as possible. The game comes with basic rules and a battle manual which has not only a brief history but some "optional" rules as well. The basic game is about as simple as one could hope for: move, shoot. The only effects on combat are terrain. Rather than use an odds table, it uses a system of combat far less complex: add yours up, add his up, the difference is the DRM. Higher roll wins. (Terrain has some small effect on this) Advanced rules include entrenchments, fuel, air, weather, supply, and some sundry units such as commandoes for the Germans. Without the optional rules, it is virtually futile for the allied player to play the game. Simply adding the entrenchment rules makes it so the Germans don't exit the edge of the board by December 30, rather than December 22. (Each turn is one day.) Weather seems to help noone, but supply and air- power are virtually a must for the allies to win. An interesting adaptation of the step-reduction idea is that most units have four steps. The first hit places a "loss" counter under the unit with no further effect. The second removes the counter and flips the unit to its weaker side, the third add a loss counter again, and the fourth hit eliminates it. (It is possible to get two hits in a turn. Three, even, if there is no retreat route. Even so, a divicion cannot be eliminated in one combat.) All together, I like the game as a simple, one or two hour game (if the players are familiar with the rules). But only with the inclusion of at least the entrenchment rules. By the way. The strongest US armor unit is a 7-4, and the strongest German a 6-4. (Unless you use the optional stacking of Peiper with it's parent division, which gives the German an 11-4. Normally, there's no stacking.) Arius