Paratroop

About this board game

Paratroop is a two-player World War II board game released in 1979, with an approximately 120-minute playing time. It contains three separate mini-games covering major airborne operations at Eben Emael, Crete, and Arnhem.

Each scenario presents a different scale and battlefield challenge. Together, they portray German airborne assaults and the desperate defense of key objectives by forces fighting far behind enemy lines.

• Eben Emael: Lightning Strikes Belgium — A squad-level simulation of the German airborne drop on the Belgian fortress in May 1940. German glider troops used hollow charges to penetrate the steel turrets across the underground fort. The map uses 100 meters per hex and 12 minutes per turn.
• Crete: The False Victory — A battalion-level simulation of the May 1941 battle between General Kurt Student’s German airborne forces and the multinational Commonwealth defenders. The map covers the northern coast of Crete at one mile per hex and one day per turn.
• Red Devils: The Massacre of the Gallant — A company-level simulation of the September 1944 battle around Arnhem. The British First Airborne Division fights German formations while trapped 100 kilometers behind enemy lines, attempting to hold the bridge across the Neder Rijn, or Lower Rhine. The scale is 600 meters per hex and 12 hours per turn.

These three compact historical simulations give Paratroop a broad range of perspectives, from close-quarters action around a fortified position to a large battle along Crete’s coast and a desperate struggle for Arnhem’s bridge. The distinct map scales, unit levels, and turn lengths reflect the different character of each operation.