Embracing Lessons from the Frontlines of Defeat - Played on VASSAL
I am a big fan of Mark Simonitch fan and I particularly love the 40 series games. I currently own Salerno 43, Normandy 44, and Ardennes 44. I have Satingrad 42 and Holland 44 on P-500 and can't wait to get those games. The Zoc Bond games have a great system and for someone like me who loves Hex & Counter games, this is a great system. I found a Normandy 44 opponent on the GMT Discord board. This would be my first game of Normandy 44. I played the Axis and my opponent would storm the beaches as the Allies. We decided on the Seven-Turn Mini game. The game starts with the invasion on June 6 and ends at the end of the day on June 12th. Breaking The Beachhead was underway.
The invasion turn is outlined in its own Turn 1 sequence of play. This is the only time in the game that this sequence will be played.
After the invasion, the game has a sequence of play that is broken down into 4 little sections.
The Initial phase is where you determine Weather, which impacts air & naval support. Then you construct Mulbeeries when in play. Both players receive supplies and replacements and you finish this phase by getting certain units ready for the next turn. German Player Turn is next. You have a Replacement phase, followed up by movement, then combat. Then you have a German Reserve movement and combat phase. You then hit recovery and Supply. Next, you do the above but just replace the name German with Allies. This is the Allied Player Turn. The End Phase is next, where you conduct Airborne withdrawals and you check to see if anyone has earned an Automatic victory. After that, you go back and do it all over again for the next turn. The sequence of play is broken down well in the rules and it is pretty easy to follow.
We played the game on VASSAL and the module is very good. I also set the game up on my table as it was easier for me to see the global aspect of the game on the table. You can do that on the computer but it makes the playing area small. I am getting old and that small text makes my eyes hurt. haha!
The Zones Of Control in this game is one of the great things about this system. We are all familiar with ZOC but these added ZOC bonds are genius and allow for the game to have a smaller amount of counters. I love this about the game system.
Combat in Normandy 44 is straightforward when it comes to combat.. You add up combat values vs. defensive values, calculate a ratio, consult the easy-to-use combat resolution table, and then take action on the results fo the combat.
It is that easy. Another cool part of the game system is a thing called Determined Defense. You can use this to make a hold-at-all-costs defensive stand. This is a part of the game that I did not utilize as much as I should have. In the short scenario is all about slowing down the Allies from gaining certain objectives and Determined Defense can make this very hard for the Allies. I did not use it as much as I should have. I will know better in the next game that I play.
I should have paid more attention to the Victory Conditions and I paid for not understanding them. We made a few mistakes early with movement and some of the restrictions that were in place for the Germans. The replacement and reinforcement were a little challenging, but once we got a couple of turns under our belt it became easier each turn after that. We enjoyed Normandy 44 and I look forward to playing it again shortly. I lost in turn 4 when Caen almost fell and the beaches became connected. It was my fault for retreating too soon and not counter-attacking when I had the opportunity. In conclusion, if you have not played Normandy 44 you should get it on the table immediately. It is a fantastic game and after a few turns the game becomes very enjoyable. Go check it out at the GMT website.
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