Relive the exitement of The Battle of the Bulge in the eight turn 33.Tournament Scenario of BITTER WOODS, the last, complete board war game published by Avalon Hill. Contributions by past Bulge game designers, Bruno Sinigaglio and Danny Parker, have ensured this Bulge game will remain state-of-the-art for years to come. Rules which include: mechanized exploitation movement, Kampfgruppe Peiper breakout, Skorzeney infiltration, hidden fuel dumps, individual leaders, artillery bombardment and random events all add to the game's realism. Typically, the Germans make a successful penetration of the Allied defense all along the front line as the meager American forces attempt to minimize their losses prior to the arrival of the first Allied reinforcements. The Allied player must keep an ever watchful eye out for the chance of a German mechanized breakthrough and attempt to provide a defense in depth whenever possible. The key to an Allied win is the judicious use of artillery. The power of American artillery is appropriately reflected in BITTER WOODS. How the Allied player uses it will
stongly influence Allied success. THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE '81 Tournament scenario is entitled "Race to Bastogne," because the town usually falls within the eight-turn time span. In BITTER WOODS, Bastogne can be a tough nut to crack. The addition of a leader unit to the town's defense gives it a very real "staying power." Since its capture is not necessary to win the game, the German player is often torn between maintaining forward momentum towards the Ourthe River Bridges or diverting a Panzer Corps to besiege and capture the famous town. A game between two equal players is usually decided on
the last or penultimate game turn. Would be Pattons are encouraged to solitaire the scenario prior to tournament play and record those hexes best suited to the defense.

The following official errata will be used in all BITTER WOODS play:
"Leader's Influence" is the number of battles a leader may affect in any player's turn.
The ER on the reverse(reduced) side of the U.S. 2nd and 9th Infantry Divisions should read 5 vice 4.
15.2 Allied Movement Restricitons - Change third sentence to read, "Allied Artillery units have a movement factor of 1; units of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division have a movement factor of 3(due to veterans' status), and other Allied non-artillery units have a movement factor of 2.
15.3 Allied Artillery Restrictions - Change first sentence to read, "Allied artillery have a movement factor of 1, and may not fire offensive ground support on the 16AM turn."
15.5 German Movement Restrictions - Change last sentence to read, "These units may not move during the 16AM turn."