101st Airborne in Normandy

from Empire Interactive

Reviewed by Kenn Hart

This is a cracker of a game and is so realistic that it should be used as a military trainer, but more about that later.

You can choose from nine campaigns, each with 28 individual combat engagements along with 42 highly detailed maps. You can select your squads from 48 individual troops each with his own special skills, expertise and characteristics. There is LAN, Internet and Network connection capabilities along with some top class animation and sound effects.

Having decided on your mission you then next have to select the men for the task. You are allowed a stick of 18 paratroopers, which you select from the barracks. You then equip them at the Quartermasters Stores, board the plane and fly off into the night sky. This initial part can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it and at first I choose my men and their equipment with care and it really is very interesting and a novel experience. Then the gamer in me took over and everything was done by automatic selection, which saves time but is a bit sterile, however it does allow you to get straight on with the game.

Anyone, who has jumped, military style, will appreciate the atmosphere that is generated by the graphics and sound effects. Anyone who has jumped at night will realise just how realistic the parachuting sequence really is. Up until now you have complete control over the mission but from the moment your first man exits the plane you are in the hands of the gods! I don't want to spoil for those who are interested in small-scale W.W.II computer games by giving too much away but in order to give you some idea I will cover just a few relevant points.

Prior to leaving the UK you will be aware of your proposed Drop Zone (DZ) and the location and type of target you are after and it is important that you remember that. After your 18 men have jumped and you can watch each individual exit, descend, land or drift off as the case may be, it is time to count the first butchers bill. Not everyone will have landed perfectly and the Para who lands heavily and breaks his leg really gives me a shiver – brings back bad memories.

So out of 18 Paras how many of you got available to carryout the mission and more importantly where the hell are they! Once out of their chutes, scrambled down from trees or struggled out of hedges it is imperative to group them on a line with your planned route to the target. Not only by now will you have lost a few (sometimes quite a few men) but also you will undoubtedly have been dropped in the wrong place well away from the original DZ.

I found trying to decide on my location very tricky at times but there again I am supposed to be in enemy territory at night and on a couple of occasions started off in the wrong direction. This is most realistic and I remember a story I was told of, on one night drop some British Paras were to RV on an orange flashing light. The light could be seen prior to landing and everyone gathered up his chute and equipment and trudged under the considerable weight towards the light. A motorist had seen the brigade dropping, pulled over to watch and had left his indicator on! Had he been caught a few of the Paras would have undoubtedly been in trouble for GBH or something worse. It is extremely difficult to orient oneself in strange countryside at night.

With your remaining Paras together and hopefully marching in the correct direction, the next phase of the game kicks in and that is the use of correct infantry tactics. Blundering gung-ho across the countryside will result in disaster – I know I tried it! You must use the ground, position your men correctly and advance with caution, but speed is also essential because you will be against the clock. You will be ambushed, you may walk into enemy patrols and other interesting things may happen to you during your mission. You have to make a decision at the time whether to stop and fight your way through or cut and run, in order to complete your mission. It is a game of so many variables it is somewhat staggering, but that is what makes it so enjoyably realistic.

Certainly managed to complete a few missions also managed to fail gloriously on others but I find the game very intriguing and not a little compulsive. Two missions stick in my mind; in the first my scout spotted an enemy patrol and we went into ambush position and wiped them out – great tactics. In the second, we were dropped directly into and on to an enemy HQ making us fight from the inside out! It was chaos and although I eventually failed to take the position it was really a great scenario.

In summary this is a tough game and if you are after an easy life then this is not for you. However, if you are up to the challenge then 101 will give you many hours of enjoyment and I keep going back to it. I believe the game is so realistic that it could be used as an aide to teach young soldiers and officers combat conditioning in what was once called in the British Army, TEWTs (Training Exercises Without Troops). Yes, a wargame! If you think you know your section/platoon infantry tactics then put your money on the line because this is a good test of your expertise, nerve and small unit generalship. I have played this game on and off, over many months, and there is still missions I must attempt. Would have benefited from increasing degrees of difficulty, from easy to hard, so one could learn the game. So wish me luck when the Green Light over the plane door comes on and Happy Landings to you all.

[Scrawled long before I received Graham's column. Kenn]

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