005 Stavelot Express

Details: Written by: Fantasy Flight Games; Category: Western Front; Published: 17 January 2021; Last Updated: 09 January 2026; Hits: 3226

Victory Results:

0 %

100 %

Total plays 1 - Last reported by censur on 2026-01-09 00:31:06

On December 17th, Lt. Col. Jochen Peiper of the 1st SS Panzer Division broke through the American lines and started his race to the Meuse River. By 1600 hours his advance units reached the outskirts of Stavelot. The town was jammed with supply trucks trying desperately to flee when Peiper’s tanks started shelling the town.
At dawn on the 18th, after penetrating the U.S. anti-tank defenses, Peiper’s armored units move through the town and seize the bridge. The Americans withdraw, but not before the 526th Armored Infantry Battalion is able to blow up the fuel dump that is vital to Peiper’s advance.

	American	German
Division 1	7 Squad Bases - 23 Regular Infantry - 1 Officer - 2 Mortar Crews 6 GMC CCKW 353s 4x AntiTank 3x Concealed	4 Tiger Is 6 Panzer IVs 2 Opel Blitzes
Division 2	8 Squad Bases - 25 Regular Infantry - 1 Officer - 3 Machine Gun Crews 4 M3A1 Half-Tracks 2x Engineer 1x Medic 1x Concealed	6 Squad Bases - 4 Regular Infantry - 12 Elite Infantry - 2 Officers - 3 Machine Gun Crews 6 SdKfz 251 Half-Tracks
Strategy Decks	Supply 1 Morale 1	Ground Support 1 Command 1
Starting Strategy Cards	3	3 Also, the Germans start with the "Rapid Mobilization" card from the Command 1 deck face up in their play area.
Operations Cards	008 Lay Smoke 002 Heavy Fog (shared) 013 Desperate Defenders 052 Lay Mines	009 Tank Ace 002 Heavy Fog (shared)
Deployment Zone	Division 1: maps 1A, 3A and 2A. Division 2: maps 8A, 10B and 11A.	Any hex with a gray border.
Starting Initiative
Objective	The nation with the most VPs at the end of game round 7 wins. Each GMC CCKW 353 that exits the board from one of the blue shaded hexes on maps 9B,4A, or 8A scores 2 VPs. Each M3A1 Half-Track exited after game Round 3 scores 1 VP each 1 VP per destroyed or heavily damaged German Tank	The nation with the most VPs at the end of game round 7 wins. Each tank that exits the board from one of the blue shaded hexes on maps 9B, 4A, or 8A scores 2 VPs. The Germans must exit a minimum of 5 VPs in units, and 4 of those VPs must be tanks. Each SdKfz 251 half-track that exits the board from one of the blue shaded hexes on maps 98, 4A, or 8A scores 1 VP. Each Opel Blitz is worth 1 VP when it exits any of the blue hexes on 9B,4A, or 8A. Each Opel Blitz is worth 3VP if it reaches the VP marker on 10B by game round 6, but only 1 VP each if arriving in game round 7.
Rounds	7
Actions per turn	3	3
Reinforcements	Round 3 (Status Phase): 2 M-10 Tank Destroyers	-
Special Rules	American Trucks may not move until round 3. At the end of the Status Phase of round 3, remove the "Heavy Fog" Operations card. The blue shaded hexes represent exit points for the retreating American transports and the advancing German armored forces. A vehicle on a blue shaded hex must spend 1 movement point to exit the board. Engineer units only need to spend 1 movement point to place a smoke marker in their hex (instead of 2 movement points indicauxi by the card).	-
Terrain Features	• 4 Entrenchments • 3 Tank Traps Americans may place the above obstacles anywhere in their deployment zone. • The stream is Flooded.

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Posts in discussion: 005 Stavelot Express

censur replied the topic:

#1526

1 month 4 days ago

The most fun scenario I have played so far. The US won and use excellent tactics to win. Where you place your 3 tank traps is going to have a huge effect on the game. The US tactic should be to escape with all trucks and half-tracks. Forget about destroying tanks, focus on killing the enemy half-tracks and trucks. For the tanks, you need to focus on delaying them so that as few as possible reach the exit hexes. You can do this by placing tank traps on key locations such as bridges, as they have to stop when adjacent, then stop when moving in, effectively robbing them of 2 turns! Make sure to keep your bazooka troopers in cover, preferably in forest hexes with entrenchments for +4 cover. Use concealment until they are in range to fire. Target the trucks and half-tracks. Use your engineers to lay mines in and near all exit hexes but keep 1 hexes clear for your trucks and half-tracks to leave (and M10 to reinforce). When they are gone, mine it. Mine's will also force the enemy to stop when entering, and if you are lucky they might also make it heavily damaged. They usually kill half-tracks. If you draw only cards from the supply deck you should be able to get 2 more engineers for a total of 5. If you are lucky and get those engineers early, you will be able to build around 15 minefields in the whole game, which will make a big difference. Keep machine guns in strategical positions with opportunity fire, supported by the mortar squads and standard infantry to keep the enemy infantry back. Stay away from buildings (goes without saying)

alecrespi replied the topic:

#1071

2 years 8 months ago

Scenario Overview by Evil Knivel @ BGG
boardgamegeek.com/filepage/64961/toi-scenario-overview

"This one's very much about gaming the system."
Favors: Germans
Fixes:
(a) shorten by 1-2 turns
(b) or ignore the concussive rule (+ 3 vs buildings)
(c) It's important for the Americans to abandon any idea of a front line, they need to defend in depth using their anti-tank squads to scavenge among the lighter German armour.

alecrespi replied the topic:

#702

4 years 3 weeks ago

Posting here some comments found online.
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/43192/tide-ir...yer-comments-balance

The Germans are the unstoppable force. Fix: shorten by 1-2 turns the scenario to press the Germans and not let them fire except on the move, or ignore the concussive rule (+ 3 vs buildings).
The Germans have the advantage but it is winnable for the Americans. The more experienced or better player should definitely play the Americans. ( www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/311819 )
The Germans need to press ahead as quickly as possible to maximise their VP count.
It's important for the Americans to abandon any idea of a front line, they need to defend in depth using their anti-tank squads to scavenge among the lighter German armour.

alecrespi replied the topic:

#563

4 years 5 months ago

I cannot see any reinforcement hexes on the map.
Where do american reinforcements come from?

OK, I've just found the answer on BGG.
American Reinforcements enters from the blue hexes!

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