Overlord is a company-level set of miniatures rules that game the Normandy Campaign of June - August 1944. The spiral-bound rulebook contains 45 pages of rules and another 22 pages of tactical notes for the British, American, and German troops in the campaign, order-of-battle data (useful), a sample scenario (well done!), a bibliography (well annotated, but without any publisher information:), and an index (yay!).

There are, in addition, 2 pull-out player charts and a sheet of damage, order, and information counters. Designed for 15mm/20mm figures, the scales are 1 = 10 meters, 1 turn = 2.5 minutes, and 1 figure/model = 1 troop/vehicle. Troops are mounted on firegroup bases of 2 - 5 figures per base for convenience.

The rules themselves are written in a conversational style which, though not as concise as they might be, do provide the reader with a better understanding of why some game mechanics work the way they do. Varying degrees of hidden movement may be used, ranging from double-blind refereed games to games with dummy counters. In a turn, both sides move leaders, then dice for initiative, which determines who (must) move first that turn. Terrain reduces movement, based on troop/vehicle type.

Players issue orders to all units (theredesignate overwatching fire before moving; said fire interrupts enemy movement. Combat comes after movement, with simultaneous direct and indirect fire. Fire is not range modified and spotting is probabilistic. Infantry fire includes beaten zones and attacker dice rolls are compared to target type on a CRT that results in target morale checks and casualties. Vehicle combat is quite simple - which seems reasonable because within the stated scope of the game (Normandy), most such combat takes place at near-point blank range. Firing weapons have combat values which are altered by various situational modifiers and added to a dice roll. The firer compares this roll to the target=92s defensive value (There are six target armor classes ranging from very light to very heavy) to determine possible damage. Indirect fire availability and scatter are both probabilistic. Damage is resolved identically to infantry fire.

Close assault comes after the fire phase. Chargers move a variable distance; it peters out before the enemy's contacted. Each side totals combat points from a table. The attacker then rolls on a CRT to determine who wins and how badly. The morale phase concludes a turn. There are five troop classes. These and a host of situational modifiers (leaders present, casualty levels, enemy presence, etc.) determine how a unit will react. Actually, this chart felt a lot like something out of the WRG 6 ancients rules!

I pushed some troops around solo - these rules are straight forward but feel somewhat chart-driven. The game includes a basic point system for scenario design. They seem at first glance to be reasonable. A relatively simple set of rules - not groundbreaking, but quite playable within the confines of the 1944 - 45 NW European campaigns. I got my copy from my local game shop for $14.95. - BLLL RUTHERFORD

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