Review: Panzer Campaigns Scheldt 44- The Forgotten Campaign

By Mitch Reed

I have long been a fan of John Tiller and the newest release from covers one of the forgotten campaigns of World War Two, the campaign to open the port of Antwerp that took place in October and November 1944. The took place right after the failure of Operation Market Garden and before the Battle of the Bulge, so it does not get the rightful attention it should. In their new title Scheldt 44, the designers change that with yet another great addition to the Panzer Campaigns Series.

The Soggy Slog

This campaign has always interested me and I read a few books about the Scheldt, none better than Mark Zuehkle’s Terrible Victory that covers the action in incredible detail like most of his books that cover the Canadians in WW2. The battle had strategic importance in how the Allies prosecuted the war. Once they captured the port of Antwerp it was imperative to get it operational to ease the Allied supply chain.

While the Allies held the port, they had to clear the German forces on both sides of the Scheldt estuary in order to get shipping in the newly opened port. The Germans were well dug in and were determined to hold on despite being cut off from their sources of supply in Germany. The terrain was horrible, with canals and Dutch dykes which favors the defender. The fact that the weather was also terrible made the wet terrain in this part of Europe even more difficult.

What is new

The John Tiller Panzer Campaigns series covers many of the most interesting fights of the Second World War and even includes some what-if campaigns (invasion of Japan in 1945 and 1946) in their 24 titles. The game is focused at the Corps/Division level with most of the units being tank/infantry battalions and artillery batteries. In my opinion, this series is the best to refight the war on an operations level.

For many of us who have been long-time JTS Panzer Campaigns players have seen all of the titles in this series upgraded to the “gold” standard with improved graphics and tweaks to the game’s engine. Scheldt 44 comes with these updated graphics and new rules that cover patrolling, irregular units, and updated amphibious and engineering capabilities of certain units.

The game has 46 scenarios that cover not only the Scheldt battles but the fights to clear other channel ports that were bypassed by the rapid advance to the German frontier. The Allied forces in Scheldt are mostly the units of the First Canadian Army, with British, Polish, Dutch, and Belgique forces (9 in total) in support.

How it Plays
Each game in the Panzer Campaign series plays very differently and gives the player a unique set of challenges and stays true to the historical flavor of the battle it is supposed to represent. This title is no different. If you want to play tanks maneuvering across wide-open spaces, then this is not the game for you. The game shows the player the static and almost trench like warfare that resembled the Great War more than WW2. So far, I have played a bunch of the scenarios, always as the Allies and the game will challenge your tactical acumen. Grand maneuvers are just not possible, and you have to send your infantry forward, mostly on foot to close assault the German positions.

Supporting fires is critical in this game, you need your ample artillery and air (weather permitting) to weaken and disrupt the enemy before you can assault them. Engineering units are key for allowing your units to move forward, and you will have to use them to breach a ton of AT ditches and canals to open holes for your infantry to advance. It is slow going yet very enjoyable.

What I like most about this game that is forces you to think of logistics and supporting fires more so than any other title in the series. This brings you into the same operational context that the leaders in 1944 were in and you really get the feel of how operational to tactical level warfare works. One thing I enjoy that the maps are huge, yet you often do not have to move a lot of forces each turn which makes even the longest of scenarios go by quickly.

I know JTS has gotten beaten up a lot online about the programmed AI. I have never had any complaints with this but in Scheldt 44, having played the Allies for each of my games I have no complaints. The Germans can just hunker down and dare you to come to dig them out. One thing I did notice about the AI is that once you capture a victory location the German’s will try and take it back right away. I also noticed that once a defensive line was breached, German units would retrograde to their second line of defense, so whoever programmed the AI did a great job.

Some Tips
Bear in mind I play these games all the time but I cannot claim I am any good at them. However, in this game, I have noticed some things that may help you out.

Bombard, then repeat. Decide on what strong point you plan to attack next and use the patrolling function to unhide the units in the target hex and plaster it with as much air/artillery as you can afford. I play with the special rule “artillery strikes by the map” selected so I can even hit targets I cannot yet see. It is also good to move up artillery units as you advance so you can get more strikes on your next attack.

Disrupt the enemy. Only when a unit is disrupted you should assault. For a unit in a pillbox or fortified position, it is the only way you can get them out. Also, make sure you have an engineer unit with the assaulting force to knock down any ditches and walls that may prevent you from attacking.

If it’s in the open, kill it. While I use the “artillery strikes by the map”, it still may be worth using your recon aircraft to unmask units moving between positions. By doing this your strikes become more effective and it is way easier to disrupt units in the open as opposed to when they are in a defensive position.

Right-click on terrain: It is important to know how the terrain on each hex will affect both combat and movement. The game allows you to right-click on any hex and see the terrain of that hex in the window on the right side of the game screen. Moving at night in difficult terrain at night can disrupt your units in certain terrain so knowing how to move thru it, or waiting until daytime are options you should consider. You also need to know where all those impediments to movement are so you can move your engineers to help your infantry.

Overall
This is a great game that die-hard Panzer Campaign fans will love. It has a different flavor than other titles in the series and its challenges are unique and a lot of fun, despite your waterlogged shoes.