Operation Market Garden: Descent Into Hell

About this board game

Operation Market Garden: Descent Into Hell is a two-player wargame for 2 players, with an approximately 120-minute playing time, depicting the failed Allied airborne offensive of September 1944.

This is a double-blind land warfare game designed to keep both players uncertain about the opposing force’s disposition. At the start of the game, each side is kept in the dark through the use of two maps, creating a distinct information challenge within the game’s historical scenario.

The system does not require a referee. Instead, it relies on the honor system, making trust and adherence to the game’s procedures part of the play experience. This approach supports the game’s central focus on limited knowledge and concealed opposing positions.

• Designed for 2 players
• Approximately 120 minutes of play
• Released in 1985
• Double-blind play using two maps
• No referee required; the system relies on the honor system

Operation Market Garden: Descent Into Hell was one of three double-blind land warfare wargames released by GDW in the eighties. It belongs to the same series as The Normandy Campaign and 8th Army: Operation Crusader – The Winter Battles for Tobruk, 1941.

The game was later republished in issue #115 of Command magazine Japan in 2014. For players interested in historical wargames and the uncertainty of hidden opposing forces, Operation Market Garden presents a focused treatment of a pivotal 1944 offensive through its distinctive two-map format.