Scheldt '44 Market Garden (expanded) Allied AAR - settled for a Draw turn 69

[ComradeP]

Elxaime asked if I wanted to play the Market Garden (expanded) scenario from Scheldt '44 (#0917_02a_Market_Garden "It Never Snows in September") as the Allies, and I was more than happy to accept.

The main difference between this variant and the main version is that the map is extended towards the west and more units are included. The setup is historical.

At first glance, it's not as difficult for the Allies as Market Garden scenarios for other wargames, but there are some mechanics that make it difficult for the Allies when studied more closely.

Scheldt '44 features high terrain/fortification firepower reductions ánd low average Allied unit quality. Any entrenched German unit in a Town or City is completely bulletproof when taking fire from a D quality unit. 100-(40+40+20)=0.

After Panzer Battles Normandy, this is the second title I own where units are rated for performance instead of having a more generic quality level based on the type of unit. German units will generally be better than they would be based on rating their organizational capabilities and unit type, Allied units aside from airborne/paratrooper units will generally be worse. As explained in the design document, Allied quality aside from airborne units is reduced by 1 level in September to represent Allied units being more reluctant to take risks due to believing the war is nearly over, combined with increasing levels of poorly trained replacements.

The recovery percentage for German units is 2%, which means B quality units recover 3% losses each turn when local supply is above 50. They'll recover fewer losses when local supply is below 50, but it's still substantial. The Fallschirmjaeger and SS units that start in a weakened state will thus quickly regain strength when resting. The same situation is amplified by many German battalions still having a fairly large maximum size. As Allied paratrooper battalions are small (~372-387 Men or so), that will make 1st Airborne's drop at Arnhem difficult to sustain. 

Unless you hold Arnhem (3000 VP's) at the end, it's likely you can achieve at most a Draw as the Allies. I'm aiming for a Draw, anything better is nice. I'm expecting to lose 1st Airborne.