10 OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS OPERATION GRENADE Pulling the Pin on the Germans by Lee Enderlin The Victory in the West SV5i em, o f "N hi ch Grenade numbers in the left hand column are the "why and wherefore" of the first decisions is a part, was The resu lt of one of those crea ti ve im­ manpower values. The numbers across the the players will have to make. pulses for a unified approach to an interesting top are the combai values. The numbers OG was originally intended to cover the thea Ter of Worl d War TI',/o . It is a demanding c h a l~ where a row and column intersect indicate flank of the First Canadian and Second Bri­ lenge to subsequ ent eles igflRr s SinCR although the'! how many chits have their combat strength ti sh Armies to the north (Operation Ver­ are spared tii A prob lAm of fram ing the ba5 ic struc­ ture of the gallle, rhev are bv the saille token de­ printed on them. "Total" is the number of itable). In game terms, this is the area in the nied the flexibllty of making deSign decisi ons thaT chits in that row, and "Average" is self-ex­ vicinity of Geldern. elr ivA thA 'ymlfl in tilA elir p.c tion they w ish. Even planatory. Our A-2 unit has 2 chances in 39 South of Grenade was Operation Lum­ thou gh 'va llJ p. assig nlllp.nts and exclu sive rules of having a strength of 4; 5 in 39 of being berjack and this was the US First and Third a 110"''; some freed om, do ing a SVStP. lll-gJIllA is a lo t worth 9, etc. These charts are only for t.he ini­ Armies converging on Coblenz. Still further like 'Nritlf1 g d book with someone el s8 's charaCTers. tiaL full-strength combat value. The chits are south, the US Seventh Armv was to attack Tou gh Sl uft - Redmond back printed, so step reduction is built in. toward Frankfurt in Operation Undertone. As the game progresses , more and more The latter two are not at all represented in the units will be ass igned a combat strengrh and game .. owning players will be able to eliminate the It was also hoped that, the good Lord Late winter, 1945, was a particularly inherent "luck of the draw" of the first few willing, a bridge over the Rhine would be rough lime for the German armed forces. Game-Turns. However, unless a player has a captured intact, but that seemed to be a lot Units were surrendering en masse in the photographic memory, he'll never be able to toask. West, Allied airpower was overbearing, and remember exactly what his opponent has, so Grenade, then, played a pivotal central there was little fight (and often fewer sol­ the system is still important later on. role in Eisenhower's broad front strategy. It diers) left in the units that remained on the There are only two minor rules prob­ protected the flanks of two other major mili­ field. When a game designer attempts to sim­ lems with the game and both are of the "clar­ tary operations, but Veritable was specifically ulate this era, he does so at great risk. Rolling ification" rather than the "correction" planned to be in conjunction with Grenade. up a large pile of dead cardboard Nazis variety. Players with any knowledge of The British jumped off on schedule on usually makes for a very dull game. World War II hi story should easily be able to February 8th (an Englishman would rather There are, however, a few situations that interpret what the designer intended. die than be late), and Grenade was set to go can be successfully treated on the game map The first rule is 9.4, Divisional Integrity. the next day. However, the Germans blew up and Oper(ltion Grenade (OG hereafter) is The wording is slightly ambiguous about re­ two important dams (off the game's south one of them. ceiving this bonus on defense. You need to be map-edge), flooding the Maas Ri ver and adjacent to only one other regiment of the forcing an immediate postponement. At this The Game System same division to qualify. This means that a point, the game begins. OG is part of the Victory in the West division can lose one of its regiments in com­ The Allied Player system. The distinguishing feature of this bat and still provide divisional integrity on system is its unique hidden value rules. The defense, but no longer on offense. Units that The Allied player will usually have the players never know the exact combat value of are being attacked can disregard the diagram second decision of the game, that is, when to a regiment size unit until it engages in combat showing the requirements for divisional in­ attack. The German player will have already for the first time. Smaller units, including tegrity in the standard rules. This is for at­ decided in which manner he wants to flood cadres, have a fixed value, usually one. tacking units only. the riversides and the American must then Il v.'orks this way: Each unit has two val­ The second ambiguity is rule 25.0, Air plan accordingly. The German will probably ues printed on the front. One is a letter grade Points. The German player gets only a total of use a gradual flood (for reasons we'll discuss indicating morale: A, B, or C, with A the two for the entire game. While this seems ob­ later). If he does use a flash flood, the Ameri­ best. The second is a number indicating the vious to anyone with more than a passing cans have to attack right away on Game-Turn manpower of the unit: 1, 2, or 3. The larger knowledge of the history of the Luftwaffe, a One (February 17th), so there is no decision the number, the greater the manpower. The glib, "rules lawyer" type of player could to make in this case. A gradual flood, though, optimum, then, is A-3, the worst C-l. make a case for the German to receive two does cause problems. A large number of chits are provided in points every turn because of the wording of The Germans greatest ally is time and . the countermix to show the current combat the rule. Sorry, Herr Goering . the Americans don't have much of it. With a value. These chits are separated according There is only one mistake in the rules, gradual flood situation, the American player to the large number printed on them. This but it doesn't affect the play of the game. The will lose from one to seven turns waiting for number corresponds to the manpower num­ standard rules state that there are 200 count­ the water to recede. He must decide when to ber on the combat unit. Each chit also has ers in OG, bur there are actually 250. Design­ launch his attack. The sooner he goes, the three values printed on it to correspond with er Joe Balkoski got permission to use a 255 tougher the German defense will be, but the the morale letter. When a unit with a value of countersheet (5 are blanks in OG) because it more time he will have to reach his objec­ A-2 engages in combat for the first time, for didn't increase the size of the sheet ilself. The tives. Attack too late and he loses his surprise instance, the owning player draws a chit slip is unimportant, but if any of you noticed advantage as well as precious turns. from the container holding all the "2" chits, the discrepancy, at least now you know why A reasonable compromise is to attack then cross-references the "A" to obtain a it's there. on February 23rd. This is the last day the Al­ combat value between 4 and 14. lies will have their surprise bonus (a one col­ The chart accompanying this article Historical Background umn shift in their favor) and the Germans shows what values can be expected in OG. It is necessary to brietly touch on the his­ will be almost at their weakest. The race for The letter, of course, is the morale value. The tory of the battle in order to understand the the objectives will be close, probably lasting 11 right until the last turn or two. If the Ameri­ man forces will be weak around there if they attack is handled. It will take time and the can player is feeling lucky, he might try going exist at all. There are far more important fighting will not end after an Allied break­ on February 22nd. His losses will be greater, places to defend. through at the defense lines, but if the Amer­ but if he manages to breach the river line Optimum use of the 7th Corps is its role ican player can bring the 19th Corps up somewhere, he has saved a turn. He can af­ in clearing the southern river defe nse line and quickly enough and handles the attack prop­ ford the losses, but if he doesn't crack the de­ the area around Forst Hambach. Then it can erly, wasting a minimum of time, the German fense, he has wasted a good opportunity. At­ be sent where it is needed most, depending on player will be incapable of reacting. tacking between February 17th and 21st is the circumslan<.:es.