From: "Mark R. Hatlie" Subject: Longest Day Greetings Comrades and Allies! Looking for fans and fanatics of THE LONGEST DAY. Please contact me at your convenience! Now, a quick game-narrative. We (I and three real Germans) played the Rommel defence variant this weekend. It only took us until Saturday night (after six game turns/days) to decide to quit. German units normally available on map at game start: 1st flak regt. 352 Inf div 716 Inf div 91 Inf div 243 Inf div 709 Inf div 21 Pz div With only elements of the 352, 716 and 21 partially able to engage allies on June 6. With Rommel defence all of the above start on map, with the 21st nearer the coast and able to attack in strength on June 6th, plus: 12 SS Pz div 130 Pz Lehr div (the best in the Wehrmacht) 2, 3, and 4 Flak regiments 7th Nebelwerferbrigade all near the coast able to engage by the 7th at the latest. In addition, the 17 SS arrives on the map several days earlier than usual, reaching the map on the 8th and the front a day or two later. To understand the catastrophe as I describe it, you must know the following: Each landing beach is divided into beach hexes of 2 km each (2 for Sword and Utah, 4 for Juno and 5 for Omaha and Gold). The number of beaches the allies control _and have never lost since gaining control_ determines the unloading capacity of additional allied units. In other words, a beach hex lost is a permanent loss of reinforcements and a beach lost can never be re-established as a landing area. I played the British. Here's what happened: June 6 The landing goes off fairly badly and large sections of Omaha and Gold beach do not fall to the Allies. German coastal guns reap higher-than-mathematically-probable casualties everywhere along the beach. The British paratroopers land on top of the 4th flak regiment and proceed to die en masse (a process which takes several days to complete). The Allies plan a massive carpet bombing strike for the area north of Bayeaux, between Omaha and Gold, for the 7th. The 130 Panzer Lehr division moves into position between Omaha and Gold, the 12th SS assembles south of Utah beach and rolls east toward Omaha. The 21st Panzer division attacks and takes half of Sword beach, the second and third flak regiments begin to hem in the other British zones far north of the usual line. June 7 Cloudy weather delays the carpet bombing, saving the 130th Panzer Lehr division. It attacks into the eastern flank of Omaha and takes one hex of beach. Sword beach falls to the 21st Pz div, but the forward elements of that division are surrounded by British troops, including the remnents of the paratroops who managed to cross the Orne back into the main landing area. The Allies clear their other landing zones, save a small section of Gold beach. Most coastal guns fall to British troops, meaning that the British unloading area is smaller than usual, but totally safe from German coastal guns. The Americans are hemmed into Omaha with elements of the 12SS only 4-6 km from the unloading zones, supported by the 7th Nebelwerferbrigade, and the 130th directly adjacent. Behind Utah, the Americans trash more coastal guns than is usually possible and score a coup by taking Carentan, south of the landing zone, despite German opposition. (The city usually falls on June 6th because of the conditions of the game setup. This time, the Germans should have been able to hold it but didn't.) June 8th Despite a one-third chance of clear weather (and hence carpet bombing) and only a one-sixth chance of storm weather, the storm comes. This means: two days of no air, no shore bombardment, no carpet bombing, no new units or supply. The British launch an offensive toward Omaha and surround some elements of the 130th, but a German counterattack easily pushes the front back toward Gold and liberates the units. British offensive south from Gold destroys entire 2nd flak regiment. The Germans attack Omaha beach in force, taking an additional beach hex. 17 SS approaches Utah beach up the western coast of the Normany peninsula. June 9th The storm continues. German attacks reduce Omaha beach to three pockets: the main pocket, with the main part of two divisions and the corps artillery, is west of the landing zone near Pointe du Hoc with its back to the water. Because it is not on an operative landing zone or with access to one, it can be neither evacuated nor reinforced. The other two pockets are two seperated landing hexes defended by reduced battalions. British offensives wain. Battle of attrition sets in along British front. The storm damages both mulberries, delaying their completion for 5 days (one in six chances, both times, both hit!) from the 20th to the 25th. June 10th Clear weather! (It was only fifty-fifty that the storm didn't continue! The previous day's weather always influences the current weather roll.) The carpet bombing finally catches the 130th Pz Lehr, but more dispersed than would have been the case on the 7th. Despite a five-in-six chance, the 130 HQ unit (upon which the entire division depends for supply) survives the attack! Omaha beach landing hexes are crushed, dooming all hope of holding any front between Gold and Utah. Excepting the small, doomed pocket of men in and around Pointe du Hoc, there is now a 50 km gap between the allied beaches. The unloading capacity of Utah is such that Cherbourg can never be taken without uniting the beaches. The 12 SS, 21 Pz and 130 Pz Lehr and 7th Nebelwerferbrigade prepare for the last offensive against the British beaches. 17 SS engages the Americans south of Utah. The only hope for the allies is the British mulberry, which is a safe distance from the Germans and can be defended by the withering fire from the Royal Navy. June 11th British retreat to river line south of beaches. Americans fighting off 17 SS near Carentan and pushing slowly north toward Cherbourg. German lines there solidifying, however. As the Germans far outnumber the allies at present, and it will be another three game weeks until the mulberry is finished and the allies can gradually _start_ to gain the upper hand, but a German attack on the British has no hope of crushing the landing within the time span of the rest of the weekend (if there was a chance at all), we pack up the game and go out to eat. As you can tell by the narrative, the allies had shitty luck. Not only the coastal artillery and the weather, but even the attack die rolls were consistantly better for the German side. Nonetheless, this seems only to have effected the timing of the disaster. (Although the American player maintains that Omaha could have been held without the storm, this is disputed by the German player.) A compitent and aggressive German player (as ours was) can win with the Rommel defence - by the usual victory conditions (delaying the allied breakout) often if not always, by destroying the landing utterly sometimes. Omaha beach is very vulnerable; even with the historic setup the allies have their largest problems there. It can be isolated and pinched off like a zit in with Rommel's deployment. We agreed that the Rommel defence was an interesting variant and are glad we finally tried it out after talking about it for years. We will probably never play it again, however, as the attrition phase of the battle, the least interesting phase of the campaign which starts gradually after the initial war of manuever, comes much faster than with the normal setup and, of course, the victory conditions are thrown way off track. Our curiosity has been satisfied. It was a great and glorious weekend for the Krauts. Der Sieg ist unser. Mark R. Hatlie Vrag budet razbit - na ego territorii.