Hurtgen: Hell’s Forest

About this board game

Hurtgen: Hell’s Forest is a two-player grand-tactical simulation of the Hürtgen Forest campaign, with an estimated play time of 2,400 minutes. Set in the early fall of 1944, it covers the First US Army’s struggle against German defenses and reserves on the road toward the Rhine.

The game includes three main scenarios representing the offensive periods of September, October, and November. A smaller learning scenario follows the US 28th Infantry Division’s attempt to reach the Roer River dams, while a continuous campaign can run from September through the first week of December for almost 300 game turns.

Players command a detailed mix of US, German, British, and Belgian formations. The 2,240-counter mix—listed in the description as actually containing 1,960 pieces—includes infantry, armor, engineers, reconnaissance, assault guns, artillery, rockets, paratroopers, rangers, glider units, and headquarters.

• Two map sections depicting the battle area at one mile per hex
• Infantry and artillery represented at battalion level, with armor at company level
• Extensive supply, weather, and air power rules
• Level-two entrenchments for fortified German towns and cities
• “Lull” periods that compress three daily turns into one during relative inactivity

The maps are based on 1944 German staff maps and 1943–1944 US Army sources, showing roads, trails, terrain, settlements, creeks, and rivers relevant to movement and defense. Updated combat, artillery, and supply systems portray the Americans’ logistical difficulties and the improvised nature of the German army.

In Hurtgen: Hell’s Forest, the Allied challenge is to reach the Rhine months ahead of the historical date and potentially shorten the war, while the German side seeks to hold the advance and preserve its defensive line.