Scheldt '44 Market Garden (expanded) Allied AAR - settled for a Draw turn 69

[ComradeP]

Great AAR, Comrade P. Really enjoying it. Would you not say that on balance it's playing out rather like the history, at least in terms of what is actually possible and what is not, given relative strengths?

A late reply phoenix, but: it's playing out in a reasonably historical manner in terms of the progress of XXX Corps but there are clear differences.

For starters: holding north of the Nederrijn for several days is very difficult if not impossible for 1st Airborne. Not to mention the odds of holding a single hex for several days whilst Isolated, like Frost's battalion would be in the game.

The odds of getting across the Waal in a way that allows you to move to Arnhem are also not that good for XXX Corps I'd say. I've used ferries to get across the river, but progress towards Arnhem is unlikely. The Allies simply don't have enough good units to make a lasting impression on entrenched defenders.

I'd say progress on the flanks is likely to be far more rapid than was historically the case, as the Germans don't have the units to protect the rather long canal/river lines in the area. I considered swinging one or two armour divisions behind Kampfgruppe Chill and advance to Tilburg, but that wouldn't allow me to capture more objectives.

That brings me to the main point I'm not particularly fond of aside from the high fire effect reductions: it feels like a "railroaded" campaign, heavily based on hindsight. It's Arnhem or bust for the Allies, without operational victory being possible by compromising the German position in the Netherlands or breaking through the Westwall. The focus on Arnhem is a flaw that the campaign shares with many other Market Garden scenarios.

As if capturing Arnhem, but not bridges across the IJssel river or reaching the IJsselmeer to cut German units in the western Netherlands off from the Reich aside from the road across the Afsluitdijk, would guarantee victory. The funny thing is that though the map is quite big, it's not big enough to represent all the strategic options available to the Allies. Things have to go very, very wrong for the Germans if the Allies want to achieve a minor victory without capturing Arnhem.

It's fun to play the scenario, but it's one of those scenarios where you know victory is very unlikely as the Allies.