Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge (1998)

About this game

Bitter Woods is a mid-complexity 2 player wargame on the last great German offensive in Dec 1944, commonly known as the "Battle of the Bulge". The map depicts the area of operations, the Ardennes area at the borders of Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxemberg. Prominent features like roads, rivers and cities are depicted. A hexagonal grid is superimposed over the map to regulate game play. Each hexagon is 2 miles across, unit size is brigade and regiments. Each turn represents 12 hours of real time. Game features include morale, prominent leaders, blitzkrieg tactics, German army boundaries, initial surprise, Allied air power and much more. Game components include one 22 x 32" unmounted map, 320 counters including markers, 16-page rulebook.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Strictly 2 players — no more, no fewer.
• Rules load. At 3.0/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 12 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.