Recently Game Designers' Workshop issued an extensive revision of the Conflict game Overlord. While John Hill designed the original version, this new reissue has been extensively changed by Frank Chadwick. The game covers the months of June, July, and August of 1944 in the Normandy peninsula. The struggle for the Allies in enlarging their foothold on the European continent and their building up a strong enough force to effect a breakout is well brought out in this simple yet fun game.

In the several playings of this game with a very helpful Steve Abernathy, we found the rules to be solid and we only had a few rules disagreements which actually bordered on variant ideas.

One area concerned withdrawing units. In one game Cherbourg and Utah beach were cut off from Omaha beach. Cherbourg was about to fall to the Allies which would open the game up for them, but it was time to withdraw the U.S. paratroopers. That spelled disaster for the Allied cause. Also, players often check to see what will be withdrawn and then proceed to lose those units in combat instead of others.

What I suggest is that for each turn Allied units are not withdrawn, then the game is shortened by one game turn. I also suggest that if the actual units cannot be withdrawn, for the German player, then combat factors equal to those units not withdrawn be removed instead.

There is a small quirk in the supply rules. For the Allies to receive the benefit of Cherbourg's ability to give unlimited attack supply, those units receiving that benefit should be able to trace a direct supply line to Cherbourg. If they cannot trace a supply line, then their attack supply should revert to their ability to draw beach supply (four attacks per turn if three beaches are controlled, etc.). Finally, in an exchange, air factors should not count and neither should naval defensive factors for losses.

Combat Factors

The combat factor situation on turn one is quite interesting. The Allies begin the game with 183 attack factors and 135 defensive factors on the game board while the Germans have 82 attack factors and 88 defense factors. Both sides receive reinforcements that change that total to 189-141 for the Allies and 119-120 for the Germans on turn one. The Germans never pull ahead and even with the Rommel plan they do not outnumber the Allies to any substantial degree. So from the start, the German player is playing a defensive game while the Allied player must constantly attack.

Let us first examine some options open to the Allied player. That player must clear the board of German units. However, one has many turns in which to achieve that goal. The goals for the Allied player during June are fairly straightforward. Avoid the loss of a beach (or two!) from German attack, as it is important to expand your beach perimeter as quickly as possible. The capture of Cherbourg is the key as that allows supplies for unlimited attacks, and linking up all beaches into one continuous front puts maximum pressure on the Germans.

How to do this? Utah beach, and the American army there, is the primary factor in the early capture of Cherbourg. I like to unite the 82nd airborne into a strike force on turn one and strike towards Cherbourg by attacking near Valognes or hex 2309. On turn two the 101st can also join this direct advance on Cherbourg. It is quite hard for the German player to reinforce this area quickly, and with the use of naval gunfire and air attack factors one can gain good odds in this area. A DE result can achieve a breakthrough which will carry the Allies, often enough, to the gates of Cherbourg.

An alternative strategy is to drive across the neck of the peninsula so as to cut off German supply and reinforcements. This indirect approach can be quite effective though it may take a few turns to develop its full potential. In one game, the Allied player cut off my 2nd SS in such a drive. But it rebounded on him as I threw enough big German armor divisions to get the 2nd SS out and then went over on the offensive in that sector to recapture Utah beach and Cherbourg in early July.

Such an event should point out the importance of Carentan. While an attack to capture Cherbourg is of primary importance, a limited drive for Carentan should be undertaken on turn two or three from Omaha beach as well as from Utah. The "Hell on Wheels" 2nd Armored Division should spearhead this advance. The Allied position is stablized with the capture of Carentan and an advance into the bocage near St. Lo (hexes 1611 & 1612). This will allow the Allied player to shift troops along his entire front and will relieve him of worry for his beaches.

Omaha Beach

On turns one and two the main thrust for the British and American troops on Omaha is to clear the area immediately to the front. Capturing the positions around Bayeux and throwing back the German 352nd is important. This is the weakest area of the German line, the hardest to reinforce quickly, and early moves here will get the Allied player into the bocage near hill 91. It also relieves threats to your beach positions.

It would be nice to capture Caen, but it is unlikely. Quite often I retreat my commandoes and paratroopers from east of Caen. This makes it less likely that they will be cut off. The river line that bisects Caen is a good defensive position. Remember, if German pressure gets to be too great, just fall back under the support of your naval defense batteries. That way the German 6-1 attacks quickly become less dangerous 2-1 attacks.

Allied Strategies

Two strategies in dealing with the Germans have occurred to me once the beaches and Cherbourg are secured. One is to go head to head with the German armor and use soak off attacks to make big SS divisions not nearly as imposing. Your own armor will suffer but numbers are on your side, and "God is on the side of the big battalions." I think too that it is demoralizing to the German commander to see his best units constantly facing massive Allied armor formations with the eventual result being that the German divisions get whittled down and must go completely over to the defense. To sit there and watch your forces get crushed while being unable to do anything except fall back leads to early concessions.

The other strategy is an indirect approach. Attempt to create as much of a bulge as possible, so that the German line is long. The German player does not have all that many units and is usually on the exterior lines anyway. Next, and the Allied player should be doing this from turn one on, attack the German infantry. At some point, as German infantry losses have mounted up, the German player will have to put armor into the line in defensive roles. From that point on initiative lies totally with the Allied player. One danger in this strategy is that the German player is left with very mobile line units and the German player can go quickly over to the offensive for a turn or two though other areas are left naked of units.

Attack, attack, and attack, and get through the bocage as quickly as possible. If a DE result can be achieved that will get a potential of a big advance after combat; then by all means put everything into it. The threat of such an event should force the German player to keep units behind the lines so as to stop possible advances after combat.

Allied Tactical Hints

Three tactical hints follow. First, use your Commando units to advance through enemy ZOC. Preserve them and use them. Secondly, always try to have an attack on a sea flank happening so that no naval factors are wasted. Finally, save the Carpet Bombing attack until the late part of each month so that its threat forces the German to disperse German armor units.

German Side

I believe the hardest side to play is the German side in Overlord. It is demanding because you do not have enough units and you are facing enemy units virtually as mobile and capable as your own, if not more so. The German's main advantage is the ability to concentrate massive armored divisions that strike hard. But even these units have their disadvantages, their Achilles' heel. Before turning to unit use let us glance at the strategies open to the German player.

Offensive-Defensive

While the basic German stance is one of being on the defensive, a static defense will spell doom for the Germans. As George Patton once wrote, "In war the only sure defense is offense, and the efficiency of the offense depends on the warlike souls of those conducting it." The German player must be willing to attack and must know where and when to attack.

In the first and second turn of the game the main problem confronting the German player is bolstering the Cherbourg Peninsula area and the central front around hill 91. Panzer Lehr and the 17th SS should be thrown into this area and a maximum effort should be made to hold onto Carentan. A slow retreat into the bocage between St. Lo and hill 112 is justified until sufficient reinforcements arrive. The river line and city of Caen should be held at all costs but only 1522 need be held, not both city hexes.

I do not recommend, except on turn one, attacking Allied units within range of their naval gunfire factors. However, a massive offensive effort directed at Utah beach or Omaha beach can be quite useful and worthwhile, in spite of the danger of seeing 6-1 attacks converted into 2-1 attacks due to naval gunfire factors.

Always be willing to fall back to shorten your lines when situations look desperate. Throwing a strong garrison into Cherbourg is sometimes not a bad idea either. Static divisions (1-2-2s) are good units to garrison your rear areas with so that an enemy breakthrough pushing down your roads will not get far. The key units are your big armor units.

After turn number five, the German player will have on the board three, and shortly six, big armored units. Try to keep each division concentrated, or at least in the same area, if in defensive positions, and ready to strike. Preserve these units, too. To do that, in advance- after-combat situations, try to advance infantry if the Allied player will counterattack, so the Allied counterstroke hits those units instead of units from the 1st SS, or the like. Secondly, if the fear of carpet bombing is present, advance part of your division after combat so that a big tempting stack of the Panzer Lehr or 1st SS is not all in one hex during the Allied turn.

Use these units to keep the Allied player off balance. The only area you must hold at all costs is the Falaise gap and it is naturally strong. Therefore, use your mobile reserves to strike into the bocage and the west coast while hill 213 to hex 1825 is defended with your strong infantry and some armor unite. I do not believe that the German player should keep attacking one particular area, but should, instead, strike here for a turn or two, and then shift forces across the front to another area.

The only exception to this is if the Allied beaches can be split into two parts and one can be overwhelmed, especially Utah and Cherbourg. Then let out all the stops and go for it.

As a final tactical hint, try to have units arriving on the board as reinforcements fulfill some role on the turn they arrive. For example, the 1st SS arrives on road 6 which means it can be placed (or attack) in the Caen area on its tum of arrival. On its second turn in the game shift it over towards St. Lo, which is where you want to post it.

All in all, Overlord is a fun game and good for an enjoyable aftemoon. Its short rulebook and large pieces and hexes make for a relaxing, yet challenging encounter. It also allows one a choice of several strategies to use in achieving victory.