There are problems with this scenario: it cannot be set-up using the standard terrain tiles of Memoir '44 and the selected extensions. There are too many terrains of one or more types. Please contact the author.
Historical Background: The largest airborne operation of all time, Operation Market Garden was a bold attempt by Field Marshal Montgomery to drop three entire Airborne Divisions behind the enemy lines, in German-occupied Netherlands. Their tactical objective: To capture and hold all the major water crossings along a narrow 60-mile stretch of highway and into northern Germany. British XXX Corps would then rush onwards from the Dutch-Belgian border and across the Maas and Lower Rhine to outflank the Siegfried Line and choke off the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland.
The daylight drops were initially successful, with the capture of the Waal bridge at Nijmegen, but German resistance was stronger than expected; the British 1st Airborne Division failed to secure the bridge at Arnhem. British ground advance was hampered by marshy ground. Eindhoven was eventually captured by a joint Airborne and Armor assault, but British XXX Corps failed to relieve the 1st Airborne Division. Despite the latter's valiant hold out at Arnhem bridge, the planned advance had to be abandoned and Monty wouldn't cross the Rhine until the spring of 1945.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.
Briefing: Axis Player [Germany] Take 3 Command cards.
Allied Player [Great Britain / United States] Take 13 Command cards. You move first.
During the game, the Axis Commander-in-Chief (CinC) increases his hand by 1 Command card, drawn from the top of the Command deck, each time the Allies lose a unit; and the Allied CinC simultaneously loses 1 Command card for each unit he loses. The cards lost are drawn at random from the Allied CinC hand by the Axis CinC, and immediately discarded. All cards gained or lost during the course of a turn are drawn or discarded as each unit loss occurs, not all at turn's end. Also the Allied CinC may never go below 2 cards, and neither of the CinCs may ever go above 13.
Conditions of Victory: All 13 town hexes form a single Temporary Majority Medal Objective worth 1 Medal for whoever holds a majority of them at the start of his turn.
Three bridges (the bridge over Wilhelmina Canal, the Waal at Nijmegen and Arnhem bridge) are Temporary Medal Objectives worth 1 medal each for whoever has uncontested control of them at the start of a turn. A bridge is under uncontested control when a unit is on the bridge or in an adjacent hex AND there are no enemy units in any hex adjacent to the bridge or on it.
The Axis player is in control of a majority of the town hexes and has uncontested control of the three bridges at the start of battle, thus starting with 4 (Temporary) Medals.
Special Rules: British Commonwealth Forces Command rules are in effect for British units (Nations 5 - British Commonwealth Forces).
In this battle, Armor units may only move 2 hexes and (possibly, depending on terrain) battle, not 3. However, if an Armor unit is on a road hex and stays on the road for its entire movement, it may then move up to 4 hexes and battle. Tiger Tank rules are in effect for the lone Tiger in the South (Troops 16 - Tigers). Place a badge on the elite German tank and infantry units to the North (Troops 2 - Specialized Units).
Allied 1st British and US 82nd and 101st Airborne units are Special Forces (Troops 2 - Specialized Units). Badges are not needed. Collapsible Rafts & Boats rules are in effect for the 82nd Airborne units with a Star marker (Actions 5 - Collapsible Rafts & Boats). When they cross a river, remove the Star marker; the unit no longer has any Collapsible Rafts & Boats.
Air Rules are not in effect. The Air Sortie cards are set aside and not used in this mission.
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Set-up Order |
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59  |
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17 |
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13 |
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14  |
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4 |
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1 |
 |
2 |
 |
3 |
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4 |
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24 |
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36 |
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7 |
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3 |
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3 |
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3 |
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