Historical Background:
On the 17th of December 1944, the Kampfgruppe Von der Heydte was dropped in the Hohe Venn, near Malmedy, on the rear of Allied lines. This was operation Stösser with the aim to open the road of the tanks of the 6.SS Panzer Armee. The objective was to capture and to hold the crossroads of "Baraque Michel", but the German paratroopers were scattered on a large area because of bad weather conditions and poor training of the Luftwaffe pilots of Ju-52. With less than 300 soldiers and no heavy armament and above all no transmission equipment, Von der Heydte couldn't fulfill his mission. On the 21st of December, he decided to scattered his Kampfgruppe in small groups to withdraw towards German lines. Only one third of the German paratroopers reached their lines, most of the others were taken prisoners by American soldiers as colonel Von der Heydte himself.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.

Briefing:
Allied player [United States] : 6 command cards.
Axis player [Germany] : 5 command cards, you move first.

Conditions of Victory:
6 medals.
For the Axis player, use "Exit" token rules to the hexagon with an Exit token. Be careful, a retreat due to a flag is a loss and not an exit.
The crossroads of Baraque Michel is a temporary medal-objective for the Axis player.

Special Rules:
- On the first turn, the Axis player drop 10 figures in the same time without using any command cards. Use "Paradrop" rules (Action 20).
- Use "Specialized Units" rules (Troop 2) to the Axis units. These are Fallschirrmjägers.
- The Helle river is not frozen. Use "Fords and fordable rivers" rules (Terrain 41).
- Use "Limited Visibility" rules (Action 27).
- The "Air Power" card is not used in this scenario. If taken in the pile, use it to activate one infantry unit.
- If you have "Winter Wars" expansion, you can use the winter combat cards.

Scenario Bibliography:
- Album Mémorial Ardennes - Ed. Heimdal.
- 39/45 Magazine n°284 - Opération Stösser.

Official scenario of FFM44. Played during the tournament in Le Mans on the 26th of December 2011.

Warning:
Please note that this scenario was not approved by Richard Borg or Days of Wonder, so you have to check yourself about playability, potential gaming issues, etc.