D-Day

Joni Nuutinen

About this game

D-Day 1944 is a highly rated turn based strategy game set on the Western Front during the Second World War. From Joni Nuutinen: by a wargamer for the wargamers since 2011


General Eisenhower has stepped down, and you are in command of the Allied invasion force (tank, airborne, infantry, and air force units). The object of the game is to break out of the D-Day beachheads and liberate as much of German-occupied France as possible, as quickly as possible. To have a chance to seize the top spot in the Hall of Fame, you need to skillfully encircle German units commanded by Erwin Rommel while battling both the regular Wehrmacht divisions and the feared Panzer VI (Tiger I) tank units.

A wide variety of units under your command: Sherman M4 tanks, American, British, and Canadian infantry divisions, paratroopers, special units like the US Army Rangers and Royal Marines Commando Brigade, special crab mine cleaner tanks, and air force units. Meanwhile, the German Wehrmacht starts with coastal fortifications and very weak Ost battalions and static infantry units, but as the days pass, it is reinforced with regular infantry, Waffen SS, and Panzer divisions.

This game offers a nice, quick, small-scale map experience of the classic boardgame D-Day invasion at divisional level, which keeps the number of units reduced enough to allow turns to pass quickly, so you'll get your score into the Hall of Fame faster. A separate "Utah and Omaha" game models the American landings at the detailed battalion level, and the "Juno and Sword" game simulates the British-Canadian beachheads at the battalion level with a much larger map.

"I never saw so many brave men do so many brave things in one day."
- Richard D. Winters, U.S. Army Paratrooper


FEATURES:

+ Long-lasting: Thanks to in-built variation and the game's smart AI technology, each game provides a unique war gaming experience.

+ Competitive: Measure your strategy game skills against others fighting for the Hall of Fame top spots.

+ Settings: Various options are available to alter the look of the gaming experience: Change difficulty level, hexagon size, Animation speed, choose icon set for units (NATO or REAL) and cities (Round, Shield, Square, block of houses), decide what is drawn on the map, and much more.

+ Experienced units learn new skills, like improved attack or defense performance, ability to cross rivers without losing extra move points.

+ Historical accuracy: Campaign mirrors the historical setup of the real 1944 Normandy landings - including the divisions that saw combat during the D-Day and the following Normandy Campaign in World War II.


"D-Day was the greatest amphibious operation ever mounted in the history of the world. It was a triumph of planning, execution, and courage."
- Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Ratings and reviews

I'm pretty new to these type of games, but I was looking for a decent entry point, and this was pretty intuitive. Mind you, the game assumes you know what you are doing, and the explanation is almost like reading a manual on how to fix a car, but when you are in the moment to moment, trying to get your troops to storm deeper into Axis territory, it's awesome. My advice to Joni: Consider adding a small help/tutorial for beginners to this genre of game, with bullet points if possible. 😄

Old school turn based strategy game enhanced with a lot of details that would make a board game impractical but that here enhances and add realism to the game. One comment to the developer: consider adding an undo option applicable just to movements, not battle resolution, it is easy to make the mistake to try to select the next unit and end up commanding a move on the current selected unit, other than that very playable. Looking forward to get more games! Great job!

Good game and I really appreciate the author producing these. My main criticism that flanking is way too powerful. I have had several divisions, completely wiped out for being flanked by one weak unit. It just isnt realistic. The Allies start well, buten face insurmountable odds with dozens of German Panzer divisions. And unlike in the real campaign, The Allied air power just isnt powerful to compensate for German numbers. I would also prefer unit patch symbols rather than soldier/tank symbols.

What's new

+ Selecting a unit pop-ups any possible defensive battle results from the AI movement phase. Marked with red B1/B2 tag on black background on units. ON/OFF option
+ Rangers and Commando units have their own icon, reworked the airforce graphic
+ Setting: Confirm moving a resting unit
+ Unit Tally shows what percentage of combat did end up in: win/draw/loss/escape for the player (if there is enough data available)
+ OST and AntiTank gun unit types are more passive
+ HOF refresh