I am a Canadian History buff and I was in Bastogne last June. I drove from Luxembourg through to Bastogne and on through Belgium. Even after 75 years, the roads were narrow, the hills step and the valleys deep. Would have not expected a German assault through there.

1:35 You could walk from where you're standing to where some veterans of the Bulge are buried. My grandfather's brother Sgt. Edward Charnosky was a Purple Heart veteran of the Bulge, and he is buried at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.

“I wish we had more time in this video”. 😂😂😂 if only there were a way you could’ve lengthened it.

enjoyed Steve's humour in this. "I'm going to miss Hans and Gunther," was a classic.

“I really hope my kids aren’t watching this,”-Tom

“Bolt Action” could’ve been a good choice as well. It’s a little closer to company level.

To understand where the name 'Two Fat Lardies' comes from, check out the old UK cookery show 'Two Fat Ladies'. Similarly, 'I ain't been shot mum' derives from the UK WW2 sitcom set in Burma 'It ain't half hot, mum'. They're all references to popular UK TV shows.

Good Show love "Chain of Command" and will be interested to see the comparison of CoC and "Disposable Heroes" . The attack on Foy is only one of the many things that Ambrose misrepresented in his book.

Just found this channel and what an amazing video. Not just a battle report but also a great history lesson. Awesome. I’ve hit the subscribe button and look forward to watching many more of your terrific videos. Regards James from across the pond. Cool Motörhead t shirt too. 🤘🏻

Great video guys! Looking forward to the rules comparisons!!

Great video gents, really enjoyed the format!

“Bugler, Blow Assembly”.... Good Lord, I love this channel!

Would love to have seen this using Battlegroup by Plastic Soldier Company

Another great video! Love the history lessons as well

Great job! I really like your format. Could add a bit more gameplay but it’s still awesome!

Great video and awesome miniatures!

Great video. Glad you liked the Gap. Visit the museum when you get a chance. It's by the modern BLC barracks in preserved ww2 barracks block.

Great production guys!

2:34 the tank hasn't smashed the tree ? SOOO anticlimatic XD

I loved the “gap”, spent time there attending the NCTC free courses as a CID agent.

Our Historical group on Tuesday night showed up at Tabletop Hobbies in K.C. Kan. to fight and looking at the table layout and everybody said "FOY" from Band of Brothers ! It was a fun tactical battle which played pretty fast so we had time to change sides and play it twice before we had to go home (store closed and some had to go to work the next say ) !!! :-)

Found this channel the other night and I'm pretty excited on what I've seen so far. I like the variety of the games being played, Cold Wars interviews and even the rules review. As a big fan of Chain or Command, I especially enjoyed this video. I'm actually pleased with the format of the game play. I can follow on the game flow as I've played many of the game. Some folks who are not as savvy may want to see more of the game mechanic explained and/or played out. I like the cut ins with the players explain their vision, hopes and realities of their decision and how the game unfolded. One item I would recommend is showing what the force composition were. Example would be the American Airborne guys...from out of the core rule set, or a modified organization for this particular scenario? The German force structure - again out of the core rule booklet? What about the armor and the 88 Flak gun...which player controlled that team? Was there any special movement rules for moving through the snow and what about weather? These are just a few elements I think would add more to your video. I do have a few other questions; were the two forces balance out with the force morale points? What additional support options were bought...if any? Where can I find a copy of the order of battler you guys used? I would like to re-create the game you guys ran. Thanks and looking forward to your past and future vids. Oh...last thing I really enjoy this channel as you guys speak American English!!!

Just found you guys - this is brilliant. Keep up the good work.

Motorhead T-shirt - hell yeah !! :D

Another great video chaps. If I had one wish it would be a bit more game play in the videos.

Great episode thank you :)

Nice video. Speirs only was called in AFTER the Easy assault was bogged down and he went in with the final reserves (in the form of cooks, typists etc...). The battle actually lasted for 18 hours. The 88mm was a Pak 43, not a Flak 36. ;) Also, US communications were ordered radio silence because the mortar detachment suddenly got orders to STOP firing. After they sent a runner to Sink, he quickly realised their communications were compromised, making the assault an even bigger shitstorm. However, Dike being shot is nothing more than a rumor. I've heard it as well, but several veterans mentioned he just broke down and had to be replaced, the breaking down due to ... well, alot of the above. But again, a very nice and enjoyable video!

Quality gentlemen well done

Love that winter table

Very enjoyable watch and a game I plan to recreate any the club and at home.

Honestly these videos would not be worse if they were double the lenght... This feels like a tiny tease at best.

Would like to see a Disposable Heroes 2 gameplay, if possible! There's not a single battle report on KZfaq about that game!

Yes I always felt that the treatment of Dike was a little unfair and troubled me in what was otherwise a generally thoughtful TV drama. If Dike really did break down, BoB gives a very unsympathetic portrayal of what was quite possibly a man suffering from what was termed 'combat fatigue' or PTSD as we'd call it today. Granted this put his command in extreme danger but the guy can hardly be blamed for a nervous reaction which he had no control over. The man was clearly not a coward, he advanced over an awful piece of open fire-swept ground leading his men pretty much from the front. It takes some guts to even attempt that; a mission which comes close to suicidal. I'm guessing the Germans probably had that area zeroed in too. Perhaps the answer for the scapegoating might be to deflect from the fact that Winters had ordered his men to into a needlessly risky manoeuvre which did not go to plan.

1958..additional smoke rounds on the roofs of the buildings, possible incendiary effects, "smoke out" German MG and rifles in cover.

very enjoyable video

Enjoyed the history lesson. I agree with some of the other comments, gameplay could be at least 10 minutes longer. Regardless keep up the great work

First time I've ever watched one of these board games quite interesting I'm a ww1 ww2 modeler myself

This is so much fun I miss playing with my soldiers.

Great video! Another rules set I would recommend is Bolt Action by Warlord Games

Great vid. Amazing table and the minis all looked well painted. But I did not get a good sense of the size of the two opposing forces. Maybe next time a little better introduction of the two armies?

Really cool!

Maybe the Lieutenant got a worse rap than he deserved. As they said, the guy had just seen a hell of a lot of action shortly before Foy. That's alot of stress and you can be tough as nails, but a nail is gonna break if you put too much pressure on it. I think he just finally broke, but he broke at the worst possible time.

3:58 The legend top right shows - Bastogne January 1944. But still good stuff, ty.

Great video , sub'd

also, been a table top figure war gamer for years....

The shooting part, totally blocked by youtube ad of next video. I really hate they do that.

Chain of Command is a fun system. Even their I Ain't Been Shot Mum (IABSM) is fun. Good video...😁

Love the humor

You could t drop the mortars he shells on top of the 88 and MG? Or did you just have smoke? Or did I miss something in the vid?

You didn't mention one major factor and that was the supplies stockpiled in Leige.

Had Capt. Sobel remained in command of Easy Co., this type of attack could very well have been experienced on D-Day itself. I respect Sobel's early training of Easy -- he toughened-up the guys way beyond what the men themselves thought possible -- but dislike his martinet-style leadership style.

I wish I was in your war club it would be a dream to do war games with you guys

Do you guys pick your scenarios and then build and paint the armies for that game?

Nice H.G. Wells reference.

Great table. I have to agree about Disposable hero,s they have been our go to rule set for our 20mm ww2 games for over 10 years now.

Is that Orson Welles narrating the film clip.

good show

What is your opinion of Avalon Hill Squad Leader 1977

Where do y’all get the pieces?

Looks like the map from Red Orchestra Darkest Hour.

what model company do you guys use in this video? or do you use multiple?

Love to see a DH Battlerep. Have always been interested in picking it up.

What a strange idea to assault a town through an open field and not even trying to reach and seize the closest building but run diagonally through a 88 gun line of fire...

If Dike really did fall apart then maybe it was Combat Fatigue? He had been in combat before & done well. It does happen. Other point is who ordered such a crazy direct charge across open ground - in the snow? Nuts methinks!

Hi guys great presentation. It is interesting that his contemporaries paint him as a coward yet his war record says something to the opposite. I see two possibilities. 1. Everyone has a breaking point no matter how bad ass they are and this was it for him. 2. He had broken a cultural taboo within the company and the results of those infernal politics drives the others to try to destroy his reputation. Statements like "pissed his pants" and others to me sounds like internal politics rather than what really happened. Although you need to play this scenario several times to arrive at the probable outcome the game you played suggests the US forces will stall just short of Foy. I knew commander may have been one way to get a stalled attack going again. That is that the boys will not risk their lives for a commander that they don't trust perhaps because he broke an internal taboo. Injecting a commander that they did trust would explain the sudden come back and the attack is on again. I am not claiming that this actually happened. I am suggesting another angle to consider. This was the first video of yours that I have watched and was very impressed with you presentation.

11:33 half french half english pronounciation, interesting.

The sad truth about the US in the war was that our Army commands were unimaginative strategically and coordination between armor and infantry was terrible as a rule. The result was massive percentage of casualties were unnecessary

If Dike failed making this attack, who was the genius who came up with the idea of launching an attack across an open field against a fortified enemy assisted by panzers? I would try maybe a night attack, or screen the attack with smoke, or sneak in along the side of the village, or call in heavy artillery to rubble the village...or almost anything other then what was attempted. Winters certainly beat up on Dike , but was the stupid attack plan thought up by Winters?

Steve ya better grow a beard man, it'll keep ya 2 degrees warmer, guaranteed

I wonder whether the real fault lies with those higher up the chain of command who ordered only a single company to take Foy with minimal support whilst the Germans were supported by tanks and a flack gun. Such an action would warrant a couple of companies, and more artillery and sniper support at least.

Bois Jacques = JAMES Wood 😉 Awesome series btw 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I suppose you could say the entire thing was mute as the Germans had zero chance of success winning the Battle of the Bulge. Without fuel, the attack was fated to fail. US fuel depots could not have refueled the German tanks in any reasonable amount of time before counter attacking divisions were showing up. 20/20 hindsight wouldn't change the overall result.

Bolt action minis?

Agreed that Spiers was a badass but he was also a war criminal.

Getting some coffee, Oh yeah you buying? No.

Would you consider coming to Barrage to report on the HAWKs’ two day convention. It is 28-29 September. See www.hawks-Barrage.org.

Indeed, it is pronounce 0:36

Really? Do you not have Winter Camo Minis?

Why did they not go around the village and flank it.

Keith, the living rule writing legend.

Lt. Sobel: "Malarkey's slang for bullshit, isn't it?"

It's interesting to think about is the Germans would have had all those men and all that equipment to defend the Rhine

Mortars and WP smoke for the Paratroopers..

Just my two cents here. I am a avid wargamer and I find it hard to belive that the german guns would have fired as late as they did. I know from the comments that this was a game system thing. But still that is not how it should work at all. If your in the open and units are in a buliding observing the field then there should be no reason at all they are not firing right then and there.

Biggest blunder? That should fall into either German hands for falling for all those Soviet ruses, or to Japans for not blowing up those fuel depot in Pearl Harbor.

3 times the manpower and fire superiority 6:1 the book says otherwise you don't make it. If they got away with it that means Germans with a low morale level which is understandable if you realize the war is all but lost.

TV is real, shut up Keith!

Band of Brothers is a great TV show, but fundamentally flawed historically.

I found this to be quite entertaining. I believe that there are some valuable history lessons as well as some leadership decision to be learned from these exercises. On the other hand, I was disappointed to hear the repetitive comments deriding a soldier in battle, regardless of the sources quoted. I am not confident that the players depicted in this episode have spent much time in a boxing ring, let alone in combat. They even seem to be a bit stressed over the flow of the game...a game. To besmirch a man who has done in real life what others only experience vicariously is certainly a human frailty in my opinion.

Patton was the only one who predicted the German offensive

I also hope my kids weren’t watching this.

I personally believe it was one of, if not, the worst failure's of military intelligence in American military history, but on the German end of things, it was (obviously) initially successful, but in the end, nothing really happened to the German's benefit in the outcome of the war. So I consider it a massive failure. Maybe not Barbarossa levels of failure, but one of their larger blunders during the war for sure (all my opinion).

Don't call it. fight down to the last man lol

"Captain" Dike..."Lieutenant" Dike. The U.S. Army has posts. The Navy and Air Force have 'bases". You folks still make interesting content, and thanks for that.

Dont think nazis think....wermacht? I dont think i was a ss panzer division at foy was it?

Love this. Ive bin to ardennes many times. See my video.

Re. Foy - Too Fat Ladies is derived from a British TV cookery programme called Two Fat Ladies, referring to the fact that the rules authors tend to over-indulge. I am also inclined to the view that not all Germans were Nazis and don’t like the way the terms are used interchangeably in an indiscriminate fashion. After all not all Americans serving in Afghanistan are Republicans.

You've wasted half the video on shoulda woulda coulda.

Interesting that your "Allied Military Planners" @114 photo was a grop of US generals only.... But I forget, the US won WW2 all on its own (of course)!

Nice battle report and overall video. Would you like to use Combat Patrol as one of your sets of rules to compare? If so, let me know, and I can send you copy. See www.bucksurdu.com/Buck_Surdu/Combat_Patrol.html and facebook.com/CombatPatrol/?ref=bookmarks