Black Swan #26 - Peiper PBG

So what battle has been wargamed the most?

Most people would pick one of three--- Waterloo, Gettysburg, and Bulge.

Yes, even in a world war with stories like Stalingrad, Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Battle of Britain, there's something about the mix of shock, desperation, and enormous tanks at the "Battle of the Bulge" that grabs the imagination.

Bulge is much-traveled territory. How would we do something different?

How about using Against the Odds' "Pocket Battle Game" format, but instead of just ONE "post card" sized game, they could have FOUR.

Each one must be playable independently, but could they construct a system clever enough so that they could all be combined as well?

They challenged Paul Rohrbaugh and he picked carefully... reducing the whole battle into the Schwerpunkt the critical core for an entire battle. While the 1st SS Panzer Division was the spearhead for the offensive, the tip of the spear was Kampfgruppe Peiper, a hodgepodge organization that was, for its size, the strongest unit in the entire battle. Their job was to punch a narrow hole through the Allied formations, all the way to the Meuse River bridges. Their tools included a full battalion of gigantic "Tiger 2" or "Royal Tiger" tanks, backed by Panthers and virtually every other top weapon the Panzerarmee could field.

Not only did Kampfgruppe Peiper provide the situations for four interesting games (with four groaner titles) but combined into a long strip of games, it might be the best look at the key scenes of the Bulge.

It's the first one of their Pocket Battle Game sets and collecting the whole set has been a challenge for gamers.

Now they will make it easy-- you can just BUY the set!

Here is what you get!

Paying the Peiper - US forces are badly bloodied as Kampfgruppe Peiper erupts out of the Ardennes! Yet the day will see Col. Peiper frustrated more by his own friendly forces in front of his spearheads, blocking the way forward, than enemy resistance.

A Dash of Peiper - Two days later finally sees Peiper break loose and madly plunge west to the Meuse! Only "Those damned engineers..." stand in his way.

The Bagged Peiper - Another day and now outnumbered, low on fuel, and surrounded by alert enemy forces, Peiper faces his harshest test! Can he still crash through?

Just a Peiper Dream? - So close! The easy rolling terrain and the nearby Meuse crossings still beckon Peiper on. Can an iron will even the odds against him?

The Peiper PBG Pack includes:

Map - 4 postcard size playing maps

Counters - 40 full color 1/2" die-cut pieces

Rules length - 1 page for each individual game, 4 pages for the campaign game

Cards - 1 deck of playing cards

Charts and tables - 1 cardstock sheet

Complexity - Low

How challenging are they solitaire? - Average

Playing time - Up to 1 hour for the individual games, up to 4 hours for the campaign game

Designer - Paul Rohrbaugh
Development - Steve Rawling
Graphic Design - Craig Grando and Mark Mahaffey