Under the Noel Trees

Christmas Day found the American garrison at Bastogne surrounded. The Germans marked the holiday with an assault on the hitherto quite northwestern perimeter – with Bastogne as the goal. Kampfgruppe Maucke split up at dawn, with the smaller element moving north to bypass Champs. It unknowingly …

1944-12-25

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Christmas Day found the American garrison at Bastogne surrounded. The Germans marked the holiday with an assault on the hitherto quite northwestern perimeter – with Bastogne as the goal. Kampfgruppe Maucke split up at dawn, with the smaller element moving north to bypass Champs. It unknowingly advanced to a collision with B and C Companies of the 502nd Parachute Infantry.

Champs, Belgium

The Siege of Bastogne was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize the roadways through eastern Belgium. Because all seven main roads in the densely wooded Ardennes highlands converged on Bastogne, just a few miles away from the border with neighboring Luxembourg, control of its crossroads was vital to the German attack. The siege was from 20 to 27 December, until the besieged American forces were relieved by elements of General George Patton's Third Army.

German

American

Scenario Type = Standard