Game of the Week, Sep 30 to Oct 6

Hi everyone,
It’s time for Game of the Week!

This week’s Game of the Week is Panzer Campaigns – Scheldt ‘44.

Tomorrow, October 1^st, is the 80^th anniversary of the start of the battle of the Scheldt. This campaign chronologically followed and included the aftermath of Operation Market-Garden, the push to capture bridges over the Rhine River. Though overshadowed by Market-Garden, the Scheldt battles were critical to clear the port of Antwerp and associated sea approaches so the Allied logistical lines were shortened. Antwerp was so important that it was the primary objective of the German Wacht Am Rhein operation (Battle of the Bulge) in December 1944.

It is a little bittersweet putting this title up this week. We are on the cusp of releasing version 4.05.1, but we need some further time after the release of Panzer Campaigns: Smolensk ’43 to make certain there are no unintended bugs introduced. We also plan to include a few more features beyond what was released in Smolensk ’43 as we get further feedback. You can expect a patch to be available very soon.

Panzer Campaigns – Scheldt ‘44 was the first full title from Mike Prucha & Dave Michas. Mike & Dave had previously collaborated on the revamp of Panzer Campaigns - France ’40 and the massive expansion of the campaign to include all the Netherlands and more. Mike is one of our most innovative designers and took a range of new rules that had been created for the First World War Campaigns engine and applied them in Panzer Campaigns – Scheldt ‘44. The inclusion of all the resistance forces using the new irregular unit types allowed the team to create scenarios that covered the very first battle of this campaign, the fall of Antwerp to the Belgian resistance. Mike published a fascinating article on the Resistance forces included in game, their roles, and battles they fought in. It is well worth your time looking over to understand more about these local forces here.

Panzer Campaigns – Scheldt ‘44 is the current 4.04 version, released in late May, and our product description encapsulates this campaign well:

On the night of September 25th-26th, the survivors of 1st Airborne Division were ferried to the south bank of the Nederrijn in a torrential downpour. Operation Market Garden had failed and Allied hopes for a speedy conclusion to the war in Europe were dashed. With a long winter ahead, Allied leaders had to grapple with the worsening supply situation in Northwest Europe. The lightning advance from Normandy and the rapid build-up of forces on the continent had placed immense logistical strain on the Allied Expeditionary Force and shortages of fuel and ammunition threatened to stall further Allied action. The massive deep-water port complex at Antwerp, delivered from the enemy intact by the Belgian Resistance on September 4th-5th, alone could remedy Allied supply woes, but this inland port was useless so long as the Germans occupied the Scheldt Estuary. Issued the unenviable task of clearing the Scheldt and opening Antwerp to Allied shipping, the men of 1st Canadian Army embarked on a miserable campaign against a determined enemy that was to be characterized by dismal weather and knee-deep mud…

Scheldt ’44 explores 21st’ Army Group’s actions in the autumn of the 1944, focusing on the Battle of the Scheldt, the Maas Salient Campaign, and the Channel Ports. Other actions in Belgium and the Netherlands are also represented, including Operation Market Garden in an all-new campaign scenario.

There are 46 Scenarios included. Below is a list of the major engagements available, many with multiple scenarios:

• The advance to the Dutch border: September 7-12, 1944
• The Channel Ports Campaign: September 17-28, 1944
• Operation Market Garden: September 17-25, 1944
• The Scheldt Campaign (early): October 1-17, 1944
• The Scheldt Campaign (late): October 20 - November 8, 1944

The longest campaign scenario is 117 turns, with most being a very playable sub-100 turns. Observant readers will note that there is a Market-Garden campaign included. This is only the campaign and not a replacement for Panzer Campaigns – Market-Garden ’44. It is a totally new scenario on the campaign with a larger map and the most recent research. Panzer Campaigns – Market-Garden ’44 is still relevant as it has a range of smaller engagements that are not included in Panzer Campaigns – Scheldt ‘44.

The master map (66,400 hexes) covers the Atlantic coastline from Boulogne to the Hague. The channel ports of Calais and Dunkirk, as well as Antwerp are featured.

Panzer Campaigns – Scheldt ‘44 includes the aforementioned playable scenarios and campaigns as well as a Getting Started scenario to introduce new players to the game system. The included scenarios are a good mix of small (division), medium (corps) and large (army) engagements.

Of the three included Order of Battles, the largest includes over 3,300 units from the German, Allied, and Resistance forces that participated in the campaign.

We included a lot of historical documentation and notes with this title, you can review each by clicking on the links below. The Designer Notes in particular are worth your time.

Getting Started Guide

Designer Notes

Planning Map

Informational resources

There has been a range of books covering the battles in the lowlands in 1944. Following are some representative books for anyone that would like some more background on the campaign. You can click on the book images below to be taken to the Publisher or Amazon, if applicable.

It Never Snows in September: The German View of Market-Garden and the Battle of Arnhem, September 1944. Written by historian Robert Kershaw, this book has a range of accounts from the German perspective during the Allied attempts to cross the Rhine River.

Terrible Victory: First Canadian Army and the Scheldt Estuary Campaign: September 13 - November 6, 1944, by Mark Zuehlke. The battle that raged until November was Canada’s bloodiest of World War II, costing more than 6,000 casualties. The Canadians, with little respite after Normandy, were left to lead the Scheldt campaign. Severely depleted in manpower and in many cases using raw recruits, the Canadians had to grind out a ‘Terrible Victory’.

Autumn Gale - Schwere Heeres Panzerjager-abteilung 559, Kampfgruppe Chill and the German Recovery in the Autumn of 1944 by Jack Didden. An amazing book described as follows: A truly momentous study based on Allied, German and Dutch records, many of which have never been looked into before. It paints a vivid picture of how a small battle group slowed the Allied momentum at a crucial stage of the war. After the collapse of the German front in France the end of the war in Europe seemed within grasp, but the German recovery, dashed the Allied hopes. This title provided a range of information that fleshed out a number of order of battles.

Attack on the Scheldt: The Struggle for Antwerp 1944. This is a good general history to understand the overall operation and the various forces involved.

The Eighty-Five Days: The Story Of The Battle Of The Scheldt. Another solid general history described as: draws on a range of sources, including official records, personal accounts, and interviews with veterans who fought in the battle.

WALCHEREN: Crossing the Scheldt (Battleground Europe). A focused title from the very good "Battleground Europe" series, covering the landing on and taking of Walcheren island, critical for opening up the port of Antwerp.

Now for video content:

Smart Wargames has reviewed Scheldt ’44, here.

The Mack introduced Scheldt ’44 here:

The Mack also has four videos related to the Battle of Moerbrugge scenario. The first part is below:

Leigh58 also highlighted a number of play-throughs. Here is the fall of Antwerp scenario:

 

Screenshots

Following are some in-game screen shots of what to expect. Each image can be clicked for a full-sized view.

As mentioned, the build we are making available today is a the 4.04 version that was released in June. A range of new features were included, and you can read the Changelog here. All new purchases will be this latest version and will be  upgradeable to version 4.05 when it released.

If you don’t already own this title, what are you waiting for? You can buy it directly from the dedicated product page.

We hope you enjoy this week’s Game of the Week. We thought it was important to showcase this truly unique title on the 80^th anniversary of the titular battle. Like all WDS titles, there is a lot of game play included at a very attractive price.