Fallschirmjaeger: The Airborne Assault on Fortress Holland May 10 to 14, 1940, simulates the German May, 1940 capture of Rotterdam and The Hague (Den Haag).

In the spring of 1940, the German military machine turned west to convert the Phoney War into a real one. Fresh from his victory in Poland, Hitler planned a blow that would knock France out of the war. Key to this plan was a knife-like attack through the Ardennes to the English Channel which would split the Allied forces moving north to block the expected replay of 1914 and the Maginot Line forces immobile in the south. To add to the trap, the Germans planned the first massive airborne operation of the war. This attack would capture the hinterland of Holland, pave the way for subordinate German Armored thrusts crossing the Maas, and to continue to lure the Allies northward.

Fallschirmjaeger covers this bait. The German player plops down an airborne invasion force with the goal of fighting off all-comers until relieved by advancing ground forces. The Dutch, all but abandoned by their French and British Allies, put up a fight for the record books. The German air bridge held on by its fingernail. While the main German drive was never in doubt, these scattered paratroopers had the fight of their lives against a small nation unwilling to succumb without giving the fight everything.

In the end, the Dutch government had to be evacuated along with the Dutch Gold Reserve, to form a government in exile. They would return after liberation.

The player must do all these things, or smash the German paratroopers before they are rescued by the Panzers, to win. Any German player thinking he'll have an easy time, must be reminded his is not Nazi Germany's main effort and that he must make-do on a shoestring.

Game Scale:
Game Turn: 8 hours
Hex: 0.6 miles / 1 Km
Units: Platoon & Company

Game Contents:

• One 22 x 34" full color map
• Two dual-side printed countersheet (560 1/2" counters)
• One 8-page SCS version 1.8 system rulebook
• One 16-page Fallschirmjaeger specific rulebook
• Two 6-sided dice

Three Scenarios:
5.1 Introductory Scenario: Bridges at Moerdijk & Dordrecht
5.2 Assault on Den Haag
5.3 Air Assault on Fortress Holland 
 

Not final box art