Overview

Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge is a two-player World War II strategy game recreating the 1944 German Ardennes offensive. One player controls the Axis (Germany) attempting to capture cities and towns worth 24 victory points, while the other controls the Allies (United Kingdom and United States) trying to prevent this by the end of turn 8. The game uses a hex-based map of the Belgian/German border region, supply tokens to fuel attacks and movement, and a unique combat strip system for resolving battles. Weather plays a key role: aircraft cannot fly during the first four turns.

Components

• 1 Game board (hex map of the Ardennes region)
• 12 Twelve-sided dice
• 1 Turn marker
• 1 Victory point marker
• 1 Axis reinforcement chart
• 3 Allies reinforcement charts (Northern, Southern, Western)
• 2 Reference charts
• 6 Combat strips (Infantry, Tanks, Artillery, Trucks, Supplies, Air units)
• 36 Front line markers
• 110 Supply tokens (100 ones, 10 fives)
• 135 Plastic chips (125 gray = +1 unit, 10 red = +5 units)
• 58 Axis playing pieces (gray): 20 Infantry, 16 Tanks, 12 Artillery, 6 Trucks, 3 Fighters, 1 Bomber
• 80 Allies playing pieces: 29 Infantry, 14 Tanks, 13 Artillery, 12 Trucks, 9 Fighters, 3 Bombers (mix of tan/UK and green/US)

Setup

1. Choose who plays Axis and Allies. Axis sits near the eastern edge, Allies near the western/southern edge.
2. Place units on the board as indicated by printed silhouettes on each hex. Gray chips under units indicate additional units.
3. Place the turn marker on the turn track and victory point marker on the victory point track.
4. Place units on reinforcement charts as indicated (each row corresponds to a specific turn colour).
5. Allies start with 3 reinforcement charts, 5 Trucks, 3 Bombers, and 9 Fighters in off-board area.
6. Axis starts with 1 reinforcement chart, 2 Trucks, 1 Bomber, and 3 Fighters in off-board area.
7. Place front line markers along the starting front line printed on the board.

Turn Structure

The game lasts up to 8 turns, each identified by a colour: Red (1), Blue (2), Green (3), Yellow (4), Black (5), Gray (6), Purple (7), White (8). Each turn has 4 phases:

Phase	Description
1. Air Combat	Skip on turns 1-4 (bad weather). On turns 5-8, deploy and resolve air combat
2. Ground Combat	Players alternate attacking hex-by-hex, paying Supply tokens per attack
3. Movement & Reinforcement	Move ground units (costs Supply), bring in reinforcements via Trucks
4. Board Upkeep	Update front line markers and victory point track

Actions

Unit Types and Combat Values

Unit	Attack Dice	Movement	Special
Infantry	1	1 hex	Zone of control
Tank	2	1 hex off-road or unlimited on connected roads	Blitz (extra 1-hex move for extra Supply); can’t cross rivers
Artillery	3	1 hex; can’t cross rivers	Zone of control
Fighter	1	Placed in any hex, no Supply needed	Dogfight; removed at end of air phase
Bomber	4	Placed in any hex, no Supply needed	Dogfight; removed at end of air phase
Truck	-	Unlimited on roads	Carries 6 Infantry/Artillery/Supply tokens; non-combat
Supply Token	-	Cannot move on its own	Fuel for attacks and movement; carried by Trucks

Zone of Control

Infantry, Tank, and Artillery exert a zone of control in a 1-hex radius. Enemy ground units entering or leaving a hex in an enemy zone of control must stop. Units cannot retreat into enemy zones of control.

Ground Combat

1. Choose attacking hex that hasn’t attacked this turn.
2. Choose target hexes (adjacent hexes containing enemy units).
3. Pay Supply tokens (1 per target hex, drawn from attacking hex or adjacent friendly hexes).
4. Prepare combat strips matching defending units.
5. Roll attack dice equal to total attack power (Infantry=1, Tank=2, Artillery=3). Each result of 6 or less is a hit.
6. Assign hits by counting boxes on combat strips to the die result number.
7. Resolve hits: 1 hit on Infantry/Tank/Artillery = retreat; 2 hits = destroyed. Any hit on Truck or Supply = destroyed.
8. Pass initiative to the other player. Combat continues until both players decline further attacks.

Air Combat (Turns 5-8 only)

1. Roll for initiative; winner chooses who places air units first.
2. Both players place all their air units (Allies: 3 Bombers, 9 Fighters; Axis: 1 Bomber, 3 Fighters) regardless of prior losses.
3. Resolve dogfights in shared hexes (simultaneous, using air combat strip, hit on 6 or less).
4. Anti-aircraft fire from ground units (1 die per unit type in hex, max 5 dice).
5. Air units attack ground units.
6. Return all air units to off-board area.

Movement & Reinforcement

• Pay 1 Supply token to activate all ground units in a hex for movement.
• Trucks move for free along roads. Trucks carry up to 6 units/tokens.
• Reinforcements arrive per the reinforcement chart row matching the current turn colour.
• Free Trucks on board may return to off-board area before movement begins.
• Stacking limit: 4 combat units per hex.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• Axis wins by controlling cities and towns worth a total of 24 victory points at any point.
• Allies win by preventing the Axis from reaching 24 victory points by the end of turn 8.
• The historical Axis advance captured 23 VP worth of territory, so the Axis player must do slightly better than history.
• Victory points are tallied at the end of each turn based on cities/towns on the Axis side of the front line.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• First turn surprise attack: On turn 1 (Red), only the Axis player attacks during Ground Combat. The Allies cannot attack.
• River barriers: Only Infantry can cross river barriers (including when retreating). Tanks and Artillery cannot.
• Blitz: Pay an extra Supply token when activating a hex to give all Tanks in that hex an additional 1-hex move after their normal move. The blitz move can be on-road or off-road and can enter/leave enemy zones of control.
• Stacking limit: Maximum 4 combat units (Infantry, Tanks, Artillery) per hex. Trucks, Supply tokens, and air units do not count.
• Retreating: Units that take 1 hit must retreat 1 hex. If unable to retreat (zone of control, stacking limit, river barrier), the unit is destroyed instead.
• Rolling more than 12 dice: Roll all 12, assign hits using chips, then reroll remaining dice as needed.
• More than 6 defending units: Count hits first, then reroll just those dice to assign them on the expanded combat strips (up to 12 boxes).

Optional Rules

• Ongoing Campaign: Continue playing beyond turn 8.
• Custom Setup: Players set up their own units instead of using the printed setup.

Player Reference

Turns: 8 turns (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black, Gray, Purple, White)

Phases: Air Combat (turns 5-8 only) -> Ground Combat -> Movement & Reinforcement -> Board Upkeep

Attack dice: Infantry=1, Tank=2, Artillery=3, Fighter=1, Bomber=4. Hit on 6 or less (d12).

Supply cost: 1 token per hex attacked; 1 token per hex activated for movement

Victory: Axis needs 24 VP from cities/towns. Allies need to hold until end of turn 8.

Stacking: 4 combat units per hex

Weather: No air units on turns 1-4; air units available on turns 5-8