Hi everyone,
It’s time for another Game of the Week, and three months after the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, we thought it time to put one of our most popular titles in the limelight.
This week’s Game of the Week is Panzer Battles: Battles of Normandy.
The Battle of Normandy marked the return of the Allies to north-west Europe in June 1944, four years after the fall of France to the Nazis.
Battles of Normandyis the latest 4.02 version, released earlier this year, and our product description encapsulates this campaign well:
The Battle of Normandy evokes so many emotions. It was the beginning of the 'Great Crusade' in Northern Europe by the Western Allies yet was viewed as long overdue by the bloodied Soviets. Few realize that the casualties suffered in the three months of the summer of 1944 in Normandy rivalled the worst of the Eastern Front. The air and seaborne landings in Northern France were the largest the world has ever seen, with meticulous planning for D-Day, yet marked by a surfeit of clear goals once ashore. Both the bocage terrain and the dogged defense by the Germans resulted in the need for unexpected improvisation. Both sides had significant constraints; the British were nearing manpower exhaustion and would have to rely excessively on their armor arm, the United States had boundless resources but many of their divisions had never been in combat, while the Germans were short of everything and it was only through their ability to organize disparate troops into flexible kampfgruppen that they held the Allies for as long as they did. Ultimately, the Battle of Normandy resulted in the utter defeat of the Germans at Falaise with France and Belgium quickly liberated thereafter. The Allied advance would last till late September 1944, ending in the streets of Arnhem with Operation Market Garden.
There are 93 scenarios included, of various sizes. Below is a list of the major engagements included many with multiple scenarios:
- June 6th; D-Day Landings 14 scenarios
- June 7th; Hitlerjugend's counterattack 2 scenarios
- June 11th; Operation Perch 3 scenarios
- June 13th; Villers Bocage 2 scenarios
- June 13th to June 14th; Carentan 2 scenarios
- June 22nd; Cherbourg 3 scenarios
- June 25th; Operation Martlet 2 scenarios
- June 26th to June 29th; Operation Epsom 4 scenarios
- July 4th; Operation Windsor 1 scenario
- July 11th; St Lo 4 scenarios
- July 18th to July 19th; Operation Goodwood 6 scenarios
- July 25th; Operation Spring 2 scenarios
- July 26th to July 29th; Operation Cobra 3 scenarios
- July 30th to August 5th; Operation Bluecoat 7 scenarios
- August 7th to August 8th; Operation Lüttich 3 scenarios
- August 8th to August 9th; Operation Totalize 4 scenarios
- August 11th to August 12th; US 3rd Army breakout 2 scenarios
- August 19th; Falaise gap 1 scenario
- 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards Campaign 5 scenarios
- 2nd Armored Division (US) Campaign 18 scenarios
The Master Map covers 398,000 hexes covering the area of Calvados and the Cotentin Peninsula. 70 sub maps are included. The map area is four times bigger than the map included with Battles of Kursk – Southern Flank. 70 sub maps are included.
Battles of Normandy includes the aforementioned playable scenarios, as well as a Getting Started scenario to introduce new players to the game system. The included scenarios are a good mix of small (battalion/regiment), medium (division) and large (corps) engagements..
The Order of Battle with over 21,200 units from two Allied Army Groups and a German Army Group including units from Wehrmacht, SS, and Luftwaffe formations as well as United States, British, Canadian, French, Polish, Belgian and Dutch units.
We included a lot of historical documentation and notes with this title, you can review each by clicking on the links below.
There has been a range of books covering the Normandy Battles. Following are some representative books for anyone that would like some more background on the operation. You can click on the book images below to be taken to the Publisher or Amazon, if applicable. Please note, we are including the books previously shared in our Panzer Campaigns – Normandy ’44 Game of the Week, with a few additional reference works at the top of the list.
Informational
Richard Hargreaves book, The Germans in Normandy is the book to understand the German perspective in this climactic campaign. This book is from the point of view of the tactical chain of command and more importantly from the viewpoint of the individual fighting man. A perfectlevel to understand the fighting at ‘Panzer Battles scale’.
To the Last Man: The Battle for Normandy's Cotentin Peninsula and Brittany. This book covers one of the ‘forgotten’ campaigns in Normandy, the battle for the Cotentin peninsula and subsequent capture of Cherbourg. These battles are extensively covered in Panzer Battles of Normandy, and this detailed book underpins these scenarios.
Tank Tactics: From Normandy to Lorraine. Armor was the center of both sides’ offensive capabilities. This book focuses on the Allied performance as they had to quickly adapt to a totally different environment experienced in North Africa, Tunisia, and Sicily.
Operation Bluecoat: Breakout from Normandy. This book provided the operational background for what is one of the most interesting ‘big’ scenarios in Panzer Battles of Normandy. Both sides have a range on interesting units and with two versions of the 3-day, 144-turn scenario, (normal and variable victory point), this is a classic PBEM or multiplayer scenario.
Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy. A fascinating book, here is part of the Amazon description: Fields of Fire offers a stunning reversal of accepted military history. Terry Copp challenges and refutes the conventional view that the Canadian contribution to the Battle of Normandy was a 'failure': that the allies won only through the use of 'brute force,' and that the Canadian soldiers and commanding officers were essentially incompetent. His detailed and impeccably researched analysis of what actually happened on the battlefield portrays a flexible, innovative army that made a major, and successful, contribution to the defeat of the German forces in just seventy-six days.
Previously recommended titles:
Niklas Zetterling’s books have provided a lot of data for various WDS titles. The following was used when researching the Normandy Panzer Battles title.
Georges Bernage specialises in analysing photos and the stories behind them. He shas spent years visiting the battlefields and talking to the ordinary people caught up in this momentous campaign.
James Holland book is the general history of the campaign you need. See his latest video below as well.
Stephen Ambrose has a range of titles, including Band of Brothers, covering the American experience during the European Campaign.
The British Commonwealth weathered some of the hardest fighting with the bulk of the German Panzer Divisions facing them around Caen
Tim Saunders is an exceptional author with many books covering various engagements during the Normandy Campaign.
I was fortunate to attend a battlefield tour of Normandy with Tim in 2022. You can read more about that by clicking the image below. Keep in mind that this article compares Battles of Normandy to the actual positions on the ground.
Nuno over at Strategy and Wargaming has just released a list of Normandy titles. He voted Battles of Normandy his number one choice for Normandy games. Click the image below to see his article.
Now for video content:
The Mack has forty-four(!!!) videos relating to this title. See his dedicated playlist here.
Smart Wargames has a two-part video series covering, content, game play and his review.
Part 1
Part 2
British Armour in Normandy - July and August 1944 - With John Buckley on WW2TV. A fascinating look at the need and performance of the British armour during the campaign. Well worth a watch as this covers a number of the post landing engagements.
Following are some in-game screen shots of what to expect. Each image can be clicked for a full-sized view.
As mentioned, the build we are making available today is a new 4.02 version that was released earlier in the year. A range of new features are included, and you can read the Changelog here. All new purchases will be this latest version.
If you already own Battles of Normandy, please note that you will have a new installer available in your store account. There will not be an update available for existing Panzer Battles of Normandy installations.
If you don’t already own this title, what are you waiting for? You can buy it directly from the dedicated product page.
We hope you enjoy this week’s, Game of the Week. We thought it was important to showcase this title during the 80th anniversary of the largest amphibious invasion ever. Like all WDS titles, there is a lot of game play included at a very attractive price.
