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NORMANDYREVISITED bv Steve Llst

The original Test Series Game Normandy was,like many of its fellow TSGs, a rush job. It hasbeen considerably improved in the secondedition; yet it still suffers from a certain numberof moderately minor defects. Before discuss-ing the tactics and basic strategies available tothe players, I would like to use this article to goover some of the elements of the game.

The unit counters are very pretty, but they arebasically the original set given a face-lift by theuse of better graphics. As a result, some unitsneeded for this edition have been left out,while some unnecessary ones have beenretained. The two Allied 16-10 units (CombatCommands A & B, U.S. 2nd Armored Division)are never used, while a 6-10 tank battalion ismissing. The Allied 22-10 and 20-10 unitscannot break down simply because the smallerunits needed were not provided. Also, theAllied 12-10 units should be marked asbrigades, instead of battalions.

The rules suffer from some inadequacies,primarily incompleteness in regard to certainsituations. The following rule corrections andadditions were worked out with Bill Sullivanand Jim Dunnigan, and can be regarded asconclusive.

Combat: Due to an oversight, the usual clausewhich prohibits a player from retreating enemyunits into elimination when alternate routes areavailable was left out; it should be regarded asbeing in force. Units with a Movement Allow-ance of one may retreat two hexes, and unitsmay retreat across river or flooded hexsides ifthere is a bridge present across that side and noother rule forbids retreat.

Terrain: Units may entrench on any type ofterrain except fortifications. The fort hexes of0029 and RR 31 are also to be treated asbocage, i.e., armor cannot attack them, andbocage movement rates apply.

Miscellaneous: If, due to scattering, Alliedparachute units exceed stacking limits, invertthe excess units. As soon as the stack is insupply, the excess units must move; if theycan't move, they are eliminated. After movingoff, they are turned upright and can functionnormally. (The non-inverted units may moveoff the stack instead; this is equivalent tomoving the inverted ones.) Inverted units arenot counted in the Defense Strength of a stack,and are eliminated if the stack is eliminated,retreated, or involved in an exchange. In thecase of an exchange, the inverted counters arenot counted as part of the total.

Allied units may not use road movement rateson the first turn. They may, however, usebridges to the extent of crossing bridged riveror flooded hexsides at the movement costdefined by the terrain in the hex being entered.

The items above pertain to actual mistakes oromissions in the game. There are, however,some aspects of the game which I disagreewith. The comments and recommendationsbelow are strictly my own. The readers mayadopt, ignore, or rnodifv them as they see fit.

VICTORY CONDITONS: If the German usesOrder of Battle E or F, he can get, by the rules,no better than a marginal victory, no matterhow well he does. To counter this, use therelative casualties to determine a weightingfactor and use it to modify the total of AlliedVictory Points. Count the losses for each sidein terms of the strength points of thecomponent battalions (e.g., a 7-6 regimentcounts only 6 points) with German tank andrecon units counted double. If Allied casualtiesare the greater, subtract one Victory Point forevery five casualty points in excess of theGerman total. If the German casualties aregreater, add to the Allied point total in thesame way.

THE ARMOR RULE: Combat Case J statesthat armor units must be stacked with anon-armor unit in order to attack or to use itsfull strength in defense. This is somewhatunrealistic, especially since the companionnon-armor unit isn't required to take part in theattack. I would suggest that armor units onclear hexes can defend at full strength, nomatter what they are stacked with, and can,while unstacked, attack a clear hex at fullstrength (exception - half strength if thedefenders include a Flak or anti-tank unit).Whether players use this rule or not, I feel thatFlak or anti-tank units stacked with armorshould have no effect on the armor's ability toattack.

At any rate, the large Allied armor units shouldbe exempt from any form of the armor rule,(except attacking into bocage hexes), as theywere not pure tank units. A British armoreddivision contained two brigades, one of whichcontained three battalion sized tank "regi-ments" and a motorized infantry battalion.This is similar to the independent armoredbrigades also used by British and Common-wealth forces. Thus, the 22-10 and 20-10 unitscould break down into three 6-10 tank unitsand a 2-10 infantry battalion. The other brigadeof the division contained three motorizedinfantry battalions. The British 12-10 unitshould be replaced by an 8-10 unit which ismarked as armored infantry and breaks downinto three 2-1Os. The US 12-10 unit representsCombat Command Reserve of the 2ndArmored Division, and as such had no setTable of Organization. Assuming that it iscorrectly sized, it should break down into a6-10 tank battalion and a 3-10 armored infantrybattalion.

Combat: As the rules now stand, large unitscannot break down during the Combat Phase;an attacker could lose a whole regiment in anexchange with a battalion. I suggest allowingbreakdown during the Combat Phase for thesole purpose of extracting exchange casual-ties. In such a case, enough battalions must beremoved to make good the losses.

SCATTERING RULE: It seems to me that if aparachute regiment is scattered in a drop, itscomponent battalions would be unlikely toland close enough together to be in the same

hex. Even if they did, the cohesiveness of theregiment would be destroyed. To reflect this,whenever a regiment is scattered, the dieshould be rolled separately for each survivingbattalion. If three battalions should end up inthe same hex, they cannot combine to form aregiment until the Movement Phase after theyare first in supply. Glider units can also besubject to the scattering rule, with theexception that they can lose no more than onebattalion.

Normandy as a game has drawbacks which arenot correctable by massaging the rules. As itsays in the Designer's Notes, "you will quicklysee the importance of the first move. . theplans of both sides can often decide thegame ... what was committed before the gamebegan could easily decide the game." This,unfortunately, is all too true. It has the effect ofdividing the game into a "pre-game" and a"game proper" segment, with the addedpossibility that the decisive segment is thepre-game one. A player who finds himself in ahole as the first turn progresses has only fiveturns left to recover what may well be analready irretrievable situation. This detractsfrom the importance of the game itself and cansurely destroy a player's enjoyment of theremainder. Why not go all the way and justhave the players make and compare plans;then we could dispense with all that tediousunit moving and die rolling.

To quote the designer again, "it doesrecreate. the original situation. .That, ofcourse, is what the game is supposed to do."No. That is what a "simulation" is supposed todo. A game should be a playable and enjoyableexperience for all participants. This one can alltoo readily become a hell of a drag or acrashing bore, depending on how much yououtguessed or were outguessed by youropponent

Another defect of the game has no singlecause, but arises from the combination of itsshort duration, restrictions on movement, andthe Combat Results Table. The CRT hasthrown out Avalon Hill's hallowed "three-for-one-for-certain-victory" rule of thumb. Here, a3-1 is a 50-50 proposition unless the defender iscut off from retreat, while the higher odds areamply endowed with the (usually dispropor-tionately costly) exchanges. The best recoursein situations which discriminate againsthead-on attacks is to manuever. But the terrainand Zone of Control penalties hamper localmovement, while a reasonable competentopponent will not present much of a weakpoint against which manuever can be directed.Long term manuever is impractical in a gameonly six turns long. The isolated units on theboard at the start of the game are quicklywiped out or removed from danger. As theGerman reinforcements arrive, the situationbecomes one of two mongrels circling, eachgrowling defiance and too scared to startanything.

Despite all this bad-mouthing of the game, Ithink it is far from a total loss. Aside fromquarrelling with some of the mechanics, I thinkit is quite playable. My biggest beef is againstthe space-time scope and the design ap-proach; the game as it stands is somewhatpoorly conceived.

After all the above, I'll presume to make somerecommendations on playing. These do nottake into account any of the rule variants Isuggested above, that is, these pertain to the"straight" game. The use of the rule variants

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ALLIED LANDING AND BUILD-UP

Paratroops and Commandos are placed inindicated hexes. Infantry are placed inindicated beach boxes. Follow-up forces arelanded at each Supply Beach on Game-Turnshown. This particular build-up is designed toget armor on shore as quickly as possible atoptimum efficiency.

* = Supply Beach

= General route of march

••••••• = Alternate routes of marchdepending on German dispositions

ALLIED ORDER OF BATTLE/NORMANDYINVASION FORCE:

~

II~ on map

. 7-4 P = Paratroop

one each on SS 23, SS 28, TT 23, TT30, VV 26,H 17, J 17, K 16.

[rJ1C8:J on map2- 4 C = Commando

two on QQ 25, three each on 0 22, M 25

17~41one each on beaches 14, 15, 16, 17, 5, 6, 7, 8

16~O I"'0 each 00 beaches 5, 6, 7, 8

SECOND WAVE: use as required bydeveloping situation.

III II II III B XC8:J § @l ~ §

7-4 6-10 8-12 5-4 20-10x8 x1x2 x2 x2

III

~5-4

x~

7-4x1 x1

FOLLOW-UP FORCES:Game- Turn 2:m~

one each on beaches15, 16

Game- Turn 3:

~

I one each ~§ on beaches 5, 7 C8:J

6-10 two each on beach 7-416, one on beach 6

~

I two on beach 5 ~§ §12-10 one on beach 6 22-10

~

§ one on beach 7

20-10 (this unit may be landed laterand/or at another beach)

Game- Turn 4:

[fJtwo each on beaches 5, 6, ~C8:l 7,16, one on beach 15 §

7-4 one on beach 15 20-10

Game- Turn 5:

mtwo each on beaches 15, 16

~

6

should not markedly affect the validity of thecomments below.

Allied: The most obvious problem in determin-ing the invasion plan is uncertainty as to theopposition. This requires the Allied Playereither to be conservative in his goals, or to bebold and hope that he faces a weak German.The latter course can lead to disaster as well asto magnificent victories. I'll play it safe andoutline a strategy that should gross the AlliedPlayer a minimum of 28 Victory POints, whichwill leave him with 23 to 48 Victory Points(depending on the German OBI and at least amarginal victory.

The northwest corner of the map is the key. Byseizing Carentan, the Allied Player can cut itoff from the south and east, which are thesources of almost all the German reinforce-ments. The town is worth 2 points; a divisionoff the north edge (towards Cherbourg) by theend of turn 3 is 12 points; another division offto the west (to cut off the peninsula) is worth6; and penetration to hex ZZ 24 to cover thesecond division going west adds 2 points forpenetrating 8 hexes inland (only 2 points,because there is a second beachhead!. Totalso far is 22 points. To reach 28, we "merely"take Caen.

It would appear somewhat foolish to havesuch widely separated beachheads, but thishas the virtue of going right to the sources ofthe points. The German must contain bothlandings because a breakout from either wouldget too many points for the Allies. Caen is ajump-off point for the east edge (8 points),possibly for Falaise and the south edge (6points, plus 5 for penetration!. Forces from theUtah area could take Coutance, S1. Lo, thesouth edge, or even drive through to link thetwo beaches by road, which would double thepoints awarded for penetration.

The specifics are as follows. Supply beachesare marked by an asterisk ("):

UTAH BeachParatroops: one each on SS 23, SS 28, TT 23,TT 30, VV 26Commandos. two on 00 25First Wave: one 7-4 each on beaches 14, 15*,16*, 17

JUNO BeachParatroops one each on H 17, J 17, K 16Commandoes: three each on D 22, M 25First Wave. one 7-4 and two 6-10 each onbeaches 5*, 6*, 7*, 8

Notwithstanding that Juno has been alloted 3supply beaches, all the first wave armor and agood share of the infantry, the main effort inthe first 2 - 3 moves must be at Utah. It is vitalto get a division off at UU 23 by the end of thethird turn and to protect its supply line. Junocannot be neglected, though. The majorGerman counterattacks will come here: counton plenty of bloodshed. If you manage Utahwell, Juno can get full attention after turn 3. Becareful of an attrition battle. If the German hasa strongOB, he could win it. Don't be afraid torisk casualties, but be sure you cause enoughin return and don't over-estimate the lossesyou can afford. Confine the armor to the clearterrain in the east. Only recon units should goashore (if necessary) at Utah unless you planto drive to the east to link up the beaches.

German: There is no question but that the Hunhas a tough row to hoe in this game. The Alliedplayer can easily seize the points he needsbefore much in the way of Germanreinforcements can get to the scene. It is thenup to the German to take those points away. Ifhe has OB E or F, he'll just about have to drivethe enemy into the sea to get even a marginalwin, and if he has one of the weak OBs he'llhave to hustle to stay alive.

Incidentally, I believe the best overall GermanOB is A. It is numerically the second strongest(412 motorized and 100 infantry strengthpoints) and its use deprives the Allies of 5

Victory Points. Its chief drawback is that mostof the reinforcements arrive late in the game.OB E is nearly as strong (368 motorized, 143infantry) and gets the bulk of its forces onearly, but it has more infantry and awards 15points to the enemy.

Rather than try to tailor a German strategy foreach of the OBs, I'll lay on you some generalprinciples. The first is to be opportunistic.You'll have to scratch for advantagesanywhere you can get them, so a preconceivedand rigid plan could be a hindrance.

Generally, you must contain and, if possible,isolate each separate landing. If the enemydoes go for Carentan and the northwestcorner as I have suggested, he has alreadygained a huge bloc of points which he caneasily defend. Unless you feel lucky or fey,don't attempt to throw him out of there. Useas small a force as you can to contain him andconcentrate on flattening the other beach-heads. (Of course, there will be times whenyou have to counterattack in that area to win;lotsa luck.) Your best units are the large SStank regiments, and they won't do you anygood in the bocage or split into battalions.

Placement of initial units is a tricky problem.The temptation is to place them in fortresseson the grounds that they'll die anyway, andeven at 10-1 there's a 50% chance of anexchange. But the same advantages can behad by entrenching further inland. This allowsyou to cover roads, block off the beaches, takeadvantage of terrain, and get out of range ofthose pesky destroyers (light naval firemissions). If you get three hexes from thebeach, the Allies can't attack you on the firstturn, except by moving tank battalions ontoany paratroops who happen to be adjacent toyour forces.

No matter what your skill, however, it is basic-ally your opponent's luck and competencewhich will determine whether you'll win or lose.

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