November 1944—rain hangs over Lorraine, the Moselle swells, and between the forts of Metz and the passes of the Vosges two U.S. armies prepare to break the German line. Traces of Victory puts you in the map room of an army headquarters: orders are scarce, weather is unforgiving, and every activation can tip the front. As Patton drives east and Patch feels for openings through the mountains, your sense of timing, supply, and risk decides the fate of entire corps.
A HQ chit-pull powers the tempo: when an HQ is drawn, you unleash regiments and battalions to force rivers, seize towns, and pry open fortified lines—Metz, the Maginot remnants, the Westwall. Allied air power cracks defenses or slows German movement with interdiction, but mud bogs armor and turns quick thrusts into grinding fights. Push your luck with Combat Intensity—shift the odds for a bigger punch at the cost of higher losses. What starts as a routine offensive can become the operation that ends with Strasbourg in Allied hands—or with your spearheads stuck in the mire.
Game Info:
Setting: U.S. Third & Seventh Armies vs. German forces in Lorraine/Alsace, November 1944
Players: 2 (optional multiplayer variant for 3–4)
System: Hex-and-counter; HQ activation via chit-pull; ZOC; supply; CRT with column shifts
Core Mechanics: HQ command radius, Allied Ground Support & Interdiction, weather/mud, fortifications, Combat Intensity, reinforcements and reserves
Scenarios: Patton’s Assault, Patch’s Advance, Combined Assault
In the Box
- Operational map with tracks & holding boxes
- double-sided unit counters (U.S., French, German) including HQs
- HQ & special chits (e.g., SHAEF, OB West, reinforcements, U.S. reserve, supply
- markers for weather, mud, air, VP, control & supply
- player aids with CRT/TEC
- rulebook.
