Scenario 34 Climax at Nijmegen Bridge

37 views

Skip to first unread message

Scott B

unread,

Jun 15, 2025, 5:35:14 PMJun 15

to Squad Leader AARs

CLIMAX AT NIJMEGEN BRIDGE

SCENARIO 34, G.I.: ANVIL OF VICTORY

AFTER ACTION REPORT

01 Market garden.png 02 Market garden.png

Overview of the Front, Market Garden Objectives and Seizure of Nijmegen Bridges.

The bridge today.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Operation Market Garden planned to flank the Siegfried Line by quickly capturing the bridges through Arnhem. The Arnhem bridge was north of the Siegfried defenses and crossed the Rhine River into Germany. Once across, Allied forces could drive into the Ruhr, Germany’s industrial heartland, and bring an early end to the war.

The 82nd Airborne Division dropped into Nijmegen on 17 September and ran into heavy resistance from the unexpected presence of the 10th SS Panzer Division. The planned capture of the Nijmegen bridge on the 17th did not occur until the 20th, after the XXX Corps arrival provided additional support and the 504th PIR crossed the Waal in boats and attacked from the North. The 504th reached the north end of the bridge by 19:15 and the first British tank crossed at 18:30 on 20 September.

However, it was already too late for the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. The intention was XXX Corps would relieve them by D+2, but at D+3 they were still at Nijmegen. All resistance at Arnhem bridge ended on 20 September with the message “Out of ammunition. God save the King.” The remnants eventually withdrew across the Rhine with approximately 4,000 of 12,000 participants reaching the friendly side.

The crossing of the Rhine and capture of the industrial heartland would not occur for another six months. Arnhem would not be liberated until April 1945. Still, the bridgeheads across the Maas and Waal were important operating bases for actions against the Germans and Operation Veritable.

James Gavin, 6th Airborne Commander, appears in Scenario 41 “Swatting at Tigers”, and represents his action in Sicily against a company of Tiger I tanks.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

No unbroken German squads (not HS’s) with a LOS to any portion of the bridge in any building within five hexes of any bridge hex.

INITIAL PLACEMENT

German Comments

I stay at long range to the Allied setup buildings and off the third level of the Valkhof. The ATG protects the bridge and can fire HE at the infantry. The MMG in the second floor wood building has good LOS over the level one buildings in front of it. I spread out as much as possible and kept the 9-1 off the line to avoid any LLMC.

On the north side of the Waal, the infantry will establish an MLR to keep the 504th away from the bridge. The 88 has good fields of fire into the town and can cover the bridge. A lone 436 sits with four panzerfausts waiting for its first action of the war.

The rest is up to the dice.

Allied Comments

The initial setup is on the German perimeter to the southeast of the bridge. The Americans and British will form up with large fire groups to cause SS squad casualties on Turn 1 shots. This couldl lead to the British armor arriving early into the battle for control of the bridge. My initial plan after Turn 1 PFPh, is to lay smoke and switch to WP as soon as possible to drive the Germans back out of the Valkhof. The OBA will come in handy to lay down as much smoke as possible. The Americans and British will also drop smoke grenades to cover their approach. The Allied player should pay close attention to the capabilities of the British 51mm mortar. They can fire smoke (s6) and operate in a limited way from inside a building.

I expect the Germans to pull back out of LOS during their turn to avoid further fire and then move up for the Allied turn. The Allies will have to move under fire to close the gap. The paratroopers will close in Turns 2-5 and do what they do best in CC.

GAME TURNS ONE TO FIVE

Allied Comments

Wow! The plan has come off the rails. Only one SS squad was KIA after the Turn 1 PFPh. As expected the Germans pulled back to avoid fire.. This is a meager start.

In Turn 2, the Germans promptly killed the OBA observer and destroyed his radio. So much for that option of plentiful smoke and WP. In addition, they broke a large British stack in the factory.

Next, the Allies tried to lay smoke to cross the street. In this case, the British mortars did a great job firing smoke up the street from where the troops were. It didn’t matter as the German fire was accurate and heavy. They cut through multiple smoke layers to break and drive off the first assaults. Many units were broken and it is taking a long time to rally units back into the fight. Fortunately, the Germans did not mount a counterattack to drive the Allies back from their start positions. They were content to hold their positions and give the Allies time to get themselves back together. This was going to be very difficult to dislodge the defenders.

We were going to need luck to turn this around.

German Comments

The Germans have given better than they have gotten and slowed down the Allies’ advance. Significantly, the British FO and radio were lost to snake-eyes and defensive fires broke up Allied movement and moderately reduced their numbers. So far so good.

As the US closed on the Valkhof, the SS retreated rather than Close Combat the 7-4-7s. The 6-5-8s fall below the 1:1 ratio against the 7-4-7s and the HMG is useless; no point in fighting at a disadvantage. Additionally, the Allies receive their armor reinforcements based on SS losses, so preserving the squads delays the Allied armor arrival.

By mid-game, the Allies have closed the distance and started the next phase of the battle - the assault. From here they must reduce the SS forces and bring on their armor. However, the Allies are now in the Axis kill zone, with the 88, Stug, ATG and PzJag all able to fire on them. The next few turns should be bloody ones.

GAME TURNS SIX AND SEVEN

Allied Comments

The Allies caught a break with a couple of great shots. They eliminated and broke enough SS units to bring on the British armor. Once the tanks were on the board, the Allies made one coordinated push to take the German strong points. They needed a lot of luck.

Unfortunately, the luck was never there. They were cut down in their tracks and the Firefly was destroyed. They only managed to kill one German AFV. The sun is going down and dusk (SSR 34.6) will begin to affect the battle. The Allies are far from dislodging the Germans and controlling the bridge.

German Comments

The Allied infantry entered the German kill zone and faced normal range defensive fire, the 88mm, PzJag, Stug and HMG. The PzJag engaged the infantry assaulting the ATG, knowing these were its last shots in the face of three Shermans.

GAME TURN EIGHT AND NINE

Allied Comments

In turns eight and later, Dusk (SSR 34.6) affected the battle with a +1 TH and IFT. This made it harder to get any shot to have any effect. On the south side of the bridge the Americans and British gathered their strength and continued to hammer away at the main line of defense. The Germans had three buildings with troops in them and there is little hope of breaking through. The Germans used smoke effectively in defense to further hamper the Allied shooting. On the North Side of the river, the airborne troops pushed on to assault the main defenses there. Their strength was failing and they were turned back by German troops there.

Finally, the British armor broke out to try to affect the battle and get across the bridge. The Shermans were quickly destroyed by the German defenses. As the day ended, the Allies called off the efforts and threw in the towel.

German Comments

The Allies had little choice but to move infantry and armor into the Kill Zone. The Germans broke up the attack while remaining in good order themselves. The US armor had nowhere to hide, with the STUG taking two Shermans, a Panzershriek took one Sherman and the ATG the last. Denuded of armor and blinded by dusk, they had no hope of clearing the Germans near the bridge.

AFTERMATH

Allied Comments

This is a tough one. The Germans start the game with all of the advantages. The Allied advance is limited to the southeast. The German defenders have good defensive positions with good TEM, excellent troops up front with 658s and good leadership. Their ordnance AFVs and MGs control the lanes that must be crossed in front of their positions.

The Allies have variable reinforcements. Their initial troops must do well enough to bring on their armor before the day is through. The airborne troops on the north side of the river have a variable entry which allows the Germans to get in good positions for their likely arrival.

To win, I found the Allies needing good OBA, excellent shooting, good smoke laying and excellent leadership to rally their troops to the fight. Most of this, I did not have.

The loss of the OBA observer, the poor shooting results and the lack of timely rally in Turns 1 and 2 probably sealed the Allied fate in this game. In fact, I was lucky that the armor entered at all as this was the result of two lucky shots that happened near the middle of the game.

Scott’s defense was flawless. I appreciate the education as always in this type of game. I now have an idea of how I would play again in the future. Thanks Scott. Good game!

German Comments

The further the Allies advanced, the harder things got. They moved into the normal range of infantry, and the 88’s & PzJag’s fields of fire. The Allies suffered attrition and disorganization while fighting toward the German position and were unable to contend with increasing difficulties. Each hex forward was harder than the last. The SS forces are just too powerful and Dusk too blinding.

I believe the Allies were on the right path - Smoke. If they can smoke their advance to the Valkhoff they may be able to preserve their force and inflict the necessary casualties to clear the Valkhoff and eventually the bridge. Sending all the 7-4-7s to close combat the enemy there may offer a solution. They must be sure to cut-off their retreat too, no easy task.

This scenario has the dubious honor of membership in the “Least Balanced Scenarios”, along with “the Agony of Doom” and “the Road to Wiltz”. I commend Monty for a good battle against an unbalanced scenario and poor dice. Next time, better dice and more smoke may change the results.

RESOURCES

“Climax at Nijmegen Bridge.” G.I.: ANVIL OF VICTORY, Baltimore MD; the Avalon Hill Game Company; 1982.

https://storage.googleapis.com/archivesqlt/DAO00034A.pdf

“Operation Market Garden”. Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Market_Garden

“Battle of Nijmegen”. Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nijmegen

Keefe, Francis X. “Crossing the Waal River as I Remember It’. 504 paratroopers.

https://www.504paratroopers.nl/content/5

Dr Warren, John C. “Airborne Operations in WWII, European Theater”. USAF Historical Division, Research Studies Institute, Air University. 1956.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MQxwyxWkLjgcvvxNKtALMQahQGzzZdbS/view?usp=drive_link

The Tank Museum. “The Tanks of Market Garden.” Youtube video. April 4, 2025.