From: Brian Lawlor Subject: Longest Day player notes These are the factors I consider important in planning a strategy for either side. I shall move from east to west in my analysis. Firstly it is vital to ensure the Orne Bridgehead is not only captured but held. We can assume the 6th Abn HQ will be eliminated immediately by defensive fire but Pegasus bridge must be captured as soon as possible and all counterattacks beaten off. The bridgehead requires the Germans to deploy a lot of resources into defending the perimeter. Also if that bridgehead did not exist the Germans would have a very powerful defensive line which they could hold with light forces. The forces saved would naturally appear behind the rest of the front adding to the depth of the defense and the severity of the various counterattacks by allowing several Panzer units to concentrate. Both sides stand to gain much from holding/crushing the bridgehead. For the German it is a natural place to concentrate for a counterattack on the British and put them under considerable pressure. For one thing the Germans can replace their units more efficiently on this part of the invasion front than anywhere else. The terrain is not great for the British to defend and German reinforcements are constantly coming on close by. The pressure may for example cause the U.S. Army to halt it's offensive on Cherbourg by diverting substantial Corps Artillery units to the area. There are two Allied ways of dealing with this problem. The threat of carpet bombing is always a great fear to a concentrated German and he will ignore it at his peril. It will cause delays and buy the Allies time to beef up their British Corps artillery. It's still a close thing. The other help to the Allies is their navy, which can disrupt several stacks of attacking units each turn. Given enough attacking units the Germans will rotate their units, but it will still tie up more attacking units. Caen is the next area. Look at the victory conditions and you'll realise that as Allies it is important to capture at least one hex of Caen and hold it or, depending on what other cities you have captured, you may lose the game by sudden death criteria. Generally there is a standoff outside Caen with an attritional artillery battle going on with the Germans generally getting the worst. Bit by bit the Allies will grind down your best infantry units and even your precious PAK 88mm. Too bad. If the Germans put in weaker units they'll lose them quicker and even open themselves up to British attacks. Save supply as the German and rotate your units. West of Caen. On landing the Allies generally clear up the bits and pieces in front of them and then realise that the front is wide open. I consider it a mistake to advance too far into the open. It's very important to protect the beaches and keep a continuous front. I once advanced towards Bretteville and Panzer Lehr caught 51 Div out in the open and destroyed it's HQ. Bye bye 51 Div because they couldn't retreat fast enough. Although it appears a great oppurtunity the Allies don't have the strength to hold it and as time goes by they will be outnumbered slightly in the buildup race. Great caution and protection of your HQ's is required. After the Allies become strong enough defensively it's tempting to push here. The problem is it leads nowhere fast and can result in a salient which will almost certainly invite counterattack and unnecessary losses. Tactically however it is nice to prevent the German use of the main road which speeds lateral communications for them. From the German point of view I hold this area using infantry and field fortifications in some depth. The latter provide a ZOC and unless eliminated the unit is not required to retreat. Basically this tactic allow the front to be held until reinforcements arrive. Omaha and Bayeau. Here the Germans should have to be pushed away thereby hedging the US Army in, and cramping their mobility at an important time. Force the British to fight for Bayeau. The possibility of serious counterattack on Omaha is remote as it is difficult to support operations there due to terrain and the threat of Allied expansion at Orne and Caen. The US Army should make every effort to link up with Carentan which means capturing Isigny. This is important as the landing capacity of Utah is suitable for supply and replacement only. I generally like to land US 2 Armour on Omaha but push them through Isigny/Carentan and help in the drive on Cherbourg. Isigny/Carentan/St Lo. The terrain around here is open and difficult to defend for both sides. There are few towns to build field fortifications and if you have to hold here, your casualties will be heavy. Normally Carentan falls on D-Day and can be recaptured should it fall to an immediate German counterattack. The difficulty is the Allies don't have the strength to advance into the bocage until early July and if the Germans want to they can mount a significant offensive in this area. The US infantry divisions can be heavily attritted in holding the area but make sure not to lose many steps of US armour. It's scarce and very slow to replace. Later when Cherbourg has fallen, St Lo becomes a logical target due to the road net and victory conditions. Unfortunately by this time the Germans will have a considerable defense in depth and strong Panzer support. Carpet bombing and massed Corps artillery is the only way to go if this is the route you choose. An alternative route might be down the west coast of France. One of the major difficulties facing the German is the further west he deploys, the less able he is to replace his losses. Whole divisions will be ground down in horrendous Allied offensives and eliminated. An infantry division should last at most three days when resisting in the path of the Allied advance. The supply situation can be cobbled together by units swopping their supply units and slowly sending them west. There is little that can be done with this situation and ultimately will cause the German to break. (Historical). The will to win, coupled with as deep a defense in depth that can be mustered is required. Happily there are many hills in this area so even the Ost battalions can be very useful in stemming any breakthrough. Carentan peninsula. On landing at Utah the Allies will initially have a tough nut to crack. The coastal artillery is defensively strong and one battery in particular is behind a riverline which will be defended by good German infantry with tank support. Forget about expanding to the west to cut the peninsula. Keep your units concentrated to use the divisional artillery to maximum effect. Drive down the east coast of the peninsula, using carpet bombing if necessary, and drive on Cherbourg. It takes two weeks to get the momentum going. Great care is needed to avoid too many steps of armour being lost in the bocage. The threat of Panzer attack south of Carental/Isigny is real and requires armour support to slow down - no armour support, no defense. However after two weeks US Corps artillery will continue to grow to damaging proportions and ultimately shatter the defense outside Cherbourg. It's up to the player at this stage (late June) but if you halt the drive on Cherbourg you can choose to cut the peninsula. The German will ultimately let go of his tenacious defense as he sees more and more of his divisions being chewed up. By the end of June he should have formed his new line at the base of the peninsula in some depth. Supply is an area of the battle that deserves special treatment. For the Allies it's management will control the pace of the game. There are two basic offensive choices: either blow it all on massive attacks over a five to ten day period and then save up again for another big push, or continue the attrition without let up. For the latter it is important to know who has the initiative so you don't end up reacting to German moves; every so often a major attack may be required to draw in his reserves/use up his supply. Basically if he is hoarding supply and has spare divisions (especially Panzer!) then you can expect some offensive action on his behalf. From a defensive point of view NEVER make front line units unsupplied by spending/giving away their supply. Only the Allied player can really afford to have units unsupplied and then only when his reserve of divisions has grown huge. Closely associated with supply expenditure is the use of artillery. The Defensive Fire Phase is really the main killing phase. As a general rule I keep the Corps artillery firing every turn, unless saving for a push. It is vital to concentrate your artillery either on offense or defense. For the Allies this means deciding what direction your attacks will go and concentrating from two to four(?) Corps of artillery, plus the free divisional units of adjacent divisions. Maybe spend a turn or two softening up the German position with at least 5:1 attacks, taking out the anti-tank units and then concentrate on his infantry. Avoid using the artillery all at once, ie. both in the Defensive Fire Phase AND in the Combat Phase, because this leaves a gap for the enemy to recover. Generally aim to use the Corps artillery in Defensive fire and the Divisional artillery in the Combat Phase. When the defense starts to solidify or you run out of supply, by all means shoot your Corps artillery in both phases, unless he's going to counterattack you. Because the German has different weapons and doctrine, he should fight accordingly. Nebelwerfers have to be concentrated VERY close to the fighting so be extremely careful of breakthrough attacks which can destroy them. Carpet bombing can wipe them out easily so be prepared to run away and disperse every time they threaten you. The Flak units can be used on frontline defense when Allied artillery is not present, but even then they are fragile. They are best used on attack as they have very low stacking and some have high attack factors. They are best deployed in bocage for extra protection. Although the Germans are certainly the weaker, they cannot afford to sit back and take a purely defensive posture. In fact they should attack as much as they can, trying to disrupt Allied efforts to concentrate against them. German combat values can be very high and if concentrated can eat up Allied divisions alarmingly quickly. Always attempt to kill as much of the Allied armour as possible, especially the US battalions. Try to ensure success in any attacks made from bocage because the multiple losses will make you cry! Watch for Allied attacks that end in long, thin salients; cut these off near the base and then eliminate the battalions at the tip. Very satisfying. ALWAYS watch for oppurtunities to break into weakly held lines and destroy HQ's. Do this more than once and you can erode the other player's morale, as he watches his now out-of-supply units being chewed up and destroyed. Please note that when I play I use the amended landing rules in The General. I also make it impossible for coastal artillery to destroy HQ's on landing (disrupting them for a turn or two instead). Also I prohibit storms until the Allied beach landing capacity is reduced to one per beachhead. The amended rules require the Allies to exit three divisions at two-thirds strength by August 15th to win/draw so my house rule gives the Allies a chance. In return I give the Germans the 319th Division from the Channel Islands. Anyway that's the flavour I like and everybody's different. Regards, Brian Lawlor.