By September 1944, American forces had crossed into Germany, and many believed the war would be over by Christmas. Yet by December, American forces were still struggling to break through the Hürtgen Forest. Their next objective was Hill 400, a vital height that offered excellent observation over the entire area. Unknownst to the Allies, the Germans were assembling forces nearby for the Ardennes offensive, making the hill’s loss a serious threat to their plans.
After repeated failures by other units, the 2nd Ranger Battalion was ordered to take the hill. Outnumbered and forced to clear part of the village of Bergstein before crossing open ground to a heavily fortified height, the Rangers still managed to seize Hill 400 and hold it for 48 hours against multiple counterattacks.
The hill later fell again during the Battle of the Bulge and was not finally secured until February 1945.
Can you, as the Americans, repeat the Rangers’ feat, against all odds?
Or, as the Germans, can you hold this critical ground?
“It was one wave of shouting, screaming Rangers!”
One of the participating Rangers
| American | German | |
| Division 1 |
6 Squad Bases 1x |
8 Squad Bases |
| Division 2 |
6 Squad Bases 2x
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5 Squad Bases 1x 1 Flak 36 *The SMG specialization represents a squad outfitted with the Sturmgewehr 44. This squad may choose to either act as a normal squad, when it comes to determining range and firepower, or to use the stats that come with the SMG specialization. Announce each time before rolling attack dice (or defense dice when defending against an assault). |
| Strategy Decks | Artillery 2 Assaulter Leadership |
Watchdog Leadership Artillery 1 |
| Starting Strategy Cards | 3 | 2 |
| Operations Cards | - No Surrender - Elite Formations (revised-official(!); Your squads gain +1 firepower and +1 cover) - Double time |
- Massive confusion |
| Deployment Zone | Div. 1: dark green hexes Div. 2: light green hexes |
Div. 1: on or adjacent to any building hexes on maps 29B and/or 26B (excluding green hexes). Div. 2: on or adjacent to any of the (wooded) hill hexes of Hill 400 on map 5A. |
| Starting Initiative |  |
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| Objective | If the Americans have at least one unit on the hex containing the Victory objective marker at the end of any round they win. | If they haven’t achieved their objective by the end of round 8, the Germans win. |
| Rounds | 8 | |
| Actions per turn | 3 | 3 |
| Reinforcements | - | - |
| Special Rules |
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| Important rule reminders |
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| Map Notes | • 1x double road overlay • 2x curved road overlay • 1x single road overlay • 1x T-junction • 1x building • 1x double woods hex • 1x single woods hex overlay • 1x 4-piece wooded hill • 1x single wooded hill • 1x pillbox • 3x entrenchments |
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| Special Terrain Rules |
Wooded hills: Blocking terrain* Movement cost: Squads 2; vehicles 3. It costs an additional movement point to move uphill. Cover: 2 Attacking units from a higher elevation gain +1 range * When determining LOS between units at the same elevation a wooded hill always blocks LOS (i.e. you cannot see through them); when determining LOS between units on different elevations, like regular hills, a level 1 wooded hill, creates two blind hexes; a level 2 wooded hex one. |
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Expert
Flamethrower
Medic
SMG
Suggested Deployment
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Azcv4gl_o8
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/taking-hill-400-army-rangers-vs-fallschirmjagers/
https://www.nationalreview.com/2012/12/final-order-patrick-k-odonnell/
https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty_2/Hill_400
http://home.scarlet.be/~sh446368/2nd-rangers-battalion-on-hill400-1.html
