Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge

A Board Game About One of the Most Famous Battles of World War II

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How to Play Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge is a 2006 release from Avalon Hill in the ongoing series of popular war games about World War II. Axis&Allies: The Battle of the Bulge depicts one of the most famous battles of the Second World War, Hitler's last desperate offensive of the conflict. The board game pits the Germans Wehrmacht against the combined forces of the United States and Britain.

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge Setup

It is December 1944. Allied troops landed in Normandy last summer and liberated Paris in late-August. The Germans have been retreating back towards the German border since, while Patton's tanks are nearing the Rhine. Allied forces have pushed into Belgium. Along the front, American soldiers are disappointed that the war didn't end by Christmas. But Allied generals and foot soldiers alike believe the Germans are defeated--that the push into Germany should be relatively unopposed.

Suddenly, German tanks burst out of the Ardennes Forest and attack the U.S. army at its weakest point, where only a few divisions are resting and relaxation at the supposed least active part of the front. Hitler has gambled everything on this last gambit, an attempt to break through the Allied lines, seize the port of Antwerp, split the U.S. and British forces, and ultimately destroy the alliance. It was a crazy plan, especially considering that the Germans denuded the eastern front against the advancing Red Army to hurl their last reserves against the western powers. But with cloud-cover keeping the all-important U.S. Army Air Force from intervening in the tank battle below, a giant salient appeared along the frontlines, giving the battle its distinctive name.

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge Instructions

At the beginning of the battle, the Germans have a large tank force arrayed against weak American units. The Axis wins if they can push through and seize Antwerp. The Allies wins if they can keep the German army from Antwerp and turn the tide of battle. In the real battle, the Americans stabilized the front as the German army began to run out of gas (they expected to seize Allied gas supplies for the push to Antwerp) and the cloud cover lifted to allow the American flyers to decimate the German forces. Patton's tanks made a 90-degree turn and relieved Bastogne in a remarkably short time. With the front stabilized, the Allies fought a month-long battle to push back the salient, though some have criticized Eisenhower for not trying to bag the whole army with a pincer movement, instead of simply beating it back into Germany. In either case, the German Army's reserves were depleted in the battle and Germany's final collapse began.

Setup takes about 15 to 20 minutes, which is less than some of the world scale Axis & Allies games. The combat board is hexagonal, which is a departure from many of the Axis & Allies maps you've probably played on. One annoying factor is the Allies don't have enough infantry units for the setup process. When you get casualties to your army units, be sure to place those last two infantry units you're allotted in the instructions.

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge Rules

The rulebook for Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge is about 25 pages. Like all the games in this line, you get a comprehensive set of rules with plenty of sidebars for examples and explanations of the rules in question. Because Wizards of the Coast tends to have plenty of mistakes in their rules, I suggest you take a look at the FAQ and errata posted online. These should cover any concerns or questions you have. If not, message boards exist for fans of Axis & Allies, so you should not be at a loss for what to do when playing Battle of the Bulge.

The rules for winning is straightforward. To win, the Axis player needs to collect 24 victory points. This is done by capturing cities with victory points, something which are easy to see on the game board.

The game has up to 8 rounds. Each round has four phases: Air Combat, Ground Combat, Movement/Reinforcement, and Board Upkeep/Scoring. Air Combat only takes place in rounds 5 through 8, to simulate bad weather keeping the air units out of the battle in its early stages.

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge Aerial Combat

Air combat comes in three different forms: dogfights, anti-aircraft fire, and attacking ground units. Air units can be placed anywhere on the game board, because their fly-over abilities in this smaller region. When the air phase starts, each side rolls a die to decide initiative. If both sides have air units on a square, this must be resolved in a dogfight. AA fire must also be resolved before attacking of ground forces. If your planes are in the same hex as an enemy ground unit, you can attack. The damage this offers to a ground attack is withering, so air power has a big role in the game (once it comes into effect).

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge Ground Combat

One major departure from most Axis & Allies games is you have no counter-attack in Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge. Anyone who's played these games knows that, most of the time, destroyed units still get a chance to make a final attack (if it's the same round they were destroyed). But in Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge, if your unit is destroyed, it's removed from the board and gets no chance to make a last attack. One hit only forces a unit to retreat, while two hits destroys the unit. To attack, you must spend a supply token, which simulates the dire supply situation that armies faced in the Battle of the Bulge (especially on the German side).

Movement in Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge

Movement is handled a little differently in Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge. Like the combat phase, you must spend a supply token to move a unit. This makes resupply incredibly important for both sides, while simulating the loss of momentum in an advance due to resupply issues.

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge Reinforcements

Reinforcements in Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge are handled with one reinforcement card for the Axis and one of three reinforcement cards for the Allies. This recreates the situation, where the superior Allied forces first trickle into the battle and then rush into the fray later. It also recreates a situation where the Germans suffer from a lack of strategic reserves. Like most Axis & Allies games, the Axis starts with a more powerful initial army, while the Allies have a better ability to reinforce and build up units later.

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge Strategy

Strategy in Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge is meant to mimic the real battle, though the ultimate goal is a little different. Hitler wanted to reach Antwerp, where presumably he would deny the Allies of their best resupply center for an eventual strike into Germany--this defeat also would somehow split the alliance against Hitler. In the board game, you must capture not just Antwerp, but other important cities. If the Axis can conquer enough cities to add up to 24 victory points, the Axis side wins. If the Allies keep the Germans from doing this by the end of the 8th round, the Allies win.