normandy

Game turn 1:
Weather clear.
Responding to the invasion turn, the Germans manoeuvred locally to screen or fortify the cities while their reinforcements started moving to the front. For their part, the Allies tried to push further out from the beachheads before the Germans could organise. At Omaha, The Americans captured Formingy following a hard fight.

notes - The Americans only just managed to capture Formingy, the attack would have failed without the +1 combat modifier that the Allies get for clear skies.

Game turn 2:
Weather overcast
Enjoying the protection from allied aircraft that the cloud cover offered, the German reinforcements were able to travel a little faster. Panzer units arriving at Caen launched a counter attack to reduce the British potential for outflanking the city. The attack suceeded but the Germans were unable to hold the ground and they fell back to their starting positions. Elsewhere, the Germans held firm around Omaha and at Montebourg (part of the Utah sector), the American attack stalled and then forced into a limited retreat.

notes - The overcast weather increases German movement allowances and limits Allied air support.

Game turn 3:
Weather clear.
The German defences continued to firm up with armour moving into Bayeaux and infantry arriving at Carentan. Risking containment if they did not act, the Allied commanders of each sector launched powerful 'breakout' attacks on narrow frontages. The Omaha attacks were the most successful but too few follow up troops had been put ashore (they had been diverted to the Utah sector following blockages at Omaha), and now with both sides critically short of formations in that area, the race was on to reinforce and gain the advantage.

notes - Ganging up is a useful tactic but it becomes more difficult to find suitable targets as the game progresses due to both sides receiving a steady stream of reinforcements.

Game turn 4:
Weather clear.
Though the Allied attempts to break the German line had brought some forward movement, it had failed to actually rupture the enemy line. This continued cohesive defence denied the Allies access to the target cities and road hubs that they had thought would have already fallen. To make matters worse, the Allies were suffering a shortage of formations to feed their expanding front. The British still had substantial strength tied down at Bayeux which had still not fallen.

notes - Defenders of a city are really hard to unseat as they can convert all retreat / exchange results to 'no effect' unless they are surrounded. Without capturing cities, the allied player cannot win the game. the British and Canadians have launched some very big attacks (Operation Goodwood perhaps) but these have resulted in the enemy retreating - the Allies need to actually break into the German line so that they can cut retreat paths and convert retreat results to eliminations instead.

Game turn 5:
Weather clear.
The British attempt to outflank Caen by driving past its western flank towards Carpiquet ended in disaster. The poweful collection of panzer formations that had been gathering in this area launched a two prong attack and cut off the head of the British advance. The Germans totally recovered their flank and destroyed two British formations in the process. A combined British and Canadian counter attack recaptured Carpiquet, destroying the German forces there but their own offensive potential was now much reduced. With the greatest allied advances being made behind the Omaha beaches, Allied high Command decided to shift the main effort of the attack onto that part of the front. The drive to St, Lo and beyond to Coutances were now the priority.

notes - The German reinforcement schedule brings a lot of armour into and around Caen, these are particularly strong formations, giving the German a fair offensive capability in this sector if the British give them the chance. Allied reinforcements arrive at the beachheads and must remain there for a full turn upon unloading. This delay can make Allied reinforcements less responsive than German reinforcements - though initially, the German reinforcments often have further to travel.

Game turn 6:
Weather storms
As heavy storms hit the region, the Germans wasted no time in bringing in strong reinforcements into the St. Lo area (via St. Lo and Caumont L'Evente). They launched a powerful attack, aimed at the flank of the American forces that had captured most of the woods and were now threatening the Caen - St.Lo road. Amazingly, the American line held but any prospect of further American progress towards St.Lo was out of the question. Elsewhere, on the left, the British were still trying to secure Bayeux, while on the far right, the U.S. units that had pushed out from Utah Beach were tied down at Valognes.

notes - The weather is rolled for each turn, a '6' gives storms, '5' gives overcast, otherwise it is clear. Storms are never good for the allies but striking randomly, they can be particularly cruel. They prevent all allied reinforcements from landing while speeding up all German reinforcements by one turn. In this game, this has meant that two turns worth of strong German reinforcements have suddenly been made available to support the vulnerable, St. Lo area. The storms also ground the Allied aircraft, removing all restrictions of German movement - so those German reinforcements easily made St. Lo. This was the last turn that the German player could attempt to bring the Channel Isle Garrison back to the mainland to help defend Cherbourg, they failed to throw the required '6'.

Game turn 7:
weather clear
The Germans renewed their attacks on the Americans units in the woods near to St. Lo. Now surrounded, they feel easy prey to the multi-directional attack and were shattered. Good news for the allied command was now thin on the ground, they did manage to chase the Germans out of Tilly-sur-Suelles, making encirclement of Bayeux a possibility.

notes - At this stage of the game, all the allies can hope for is to liberate the cities that they already have under seige (Bayeux & Valognes) and preserve their own beachheads. Surrounding cities is difficult so the next best thing is making high odds attacks and hoping that 5 or 6 is rolled.

Game turn 8 (final turn)
Weather clear.
The strategic situation had become something of a stalemate, the Germans were content with their effort of containment and the Allies had all but lost their offensive capability. Bayeux and Valognes still eluded Allied capture.

notes - The Allies tried attacking both cities again and on a par with their luck in the rest of this game, they rolled a '1' on each assault. Considering the number of attacks made during play, the eliminated box contained only 4 German units worth 9 combat points and 5 Allied units worth 12 combat points. With the allies contained early in the game, neither side really got much opportunity to trap units to convert retreats into eliminations. As for victory, the Allies need 16 points to win. They get 1 point for each beachhead (Omaha has 2) so that's six points gained but they failed to capture any cities (2 points each, Cherbourg and Caen are worth 5 apiece), giving the Germans a victory. I have played the game twice now with each side winning once.

Comments.

Uses a very friendly system to calculate how well the initial landings go by rolling on an invasion table for each beach. The results will show how far the Germans retreat if at all and how far the Allies can advance if at all - so a result of G2/A1 would mean the German units around the beach retreat 2 hexes while the Allied units attacking out of the beach hex can advance 1 hex.

The game last for 8 turns and victory is based upon the number of cities and beachheads held by the allies at the games end.