D-Day: The Beginning of the End

D-Day: The Beginning of the End description

According to most English and American historians, the decisive front of world war II was, of course, Western. Well, based on this, shall we say, original point of view a turning point in the war was the allied landings at Normandy that began June 6, 1944. It is not surprising that this is the topic of many Western books, movies and computer games.

One such game is D-Day - the game is very good and, unfortunately, overlooked by many fans of the genre strategies. The lack of popularity was partly caused by not very dynamic gameplay and certain monotony, partly due to the presence of strong competitors games (including Dune II). Of course, D-Day is not the best example of its genre, but between "excellent" and "bad" is "good", which relates to the game, and also very (very!) like her other strategy - The Blue & The Gray, a story about the civil war in the United States.

In D-Day you can fight against AI or against another human (but one computer). There are two large campaigns for the allies and for the Germans, and the separate historical scenarios that actually are small companies.

The goal: for the Anglo-American troops – to defeat Germany, and German – to destroy all enemy forces on the continent and not allow them to land reinforcements. On the strategic map, both sides give orders in turn: recruit military units will move and attack the enemy. All orders, however, are processed not simultaneously but in the order of priority moves, that is, first, the allies attack on the fixed part of the enemy, then they attack them. The main branches are the land forces: infantry, tanks, artillery. Aircraft could strike ground targets or attack enemy aircraft – the result of these steps is largely determined by randomly; warships are only used to support ground troops. For the transport of military units there are trains, and the allies and even transport ships.

The main and crucial part of any campaign or scenario is a battle on land. They happen in real time, and to give orders, there are pauses that you can do at any time. This form of combat is recreated in the game is very realistic, and reflected everything: strategic features of the Normandy landing operation and the properties of the troops. For the allies it is important to secure the coast, and further promotion is already a matter of technique, the Germans, on the contrary, one cannot prevent the establishment of a base of the enemy - they should destroy it in parts.

Tactically each branch has its own unique differences and in the right hands can be very dangerous: infantry easily defeat any enemy, but only in melee, tanks can shoot at the enemies, keeping some distance and staying invulnerable; artillery could inflict great damage and demoralize the enemy's part, firing a small space.

Each unit on the tactical map has a certain number (depending on the total number of soldiers involved in this battle) and a number of other necessary data. The efficiency of action of all these forces is influenced by the terrain. In short, the tactical battles deserve special attention, especially since the graphics in them for its time very good. The outcome of these fights to solve the automated calculation and focus only on the strategic part of the game, but – in my opinion - is much less interesting.

Of course, D-Day has features that not everyone likes, and the main one is a combination turn-based and real-time modes. This combination may cause a negative reaction from fans of dynamic RTS, and the followers of thoughtful and leisurely TBS. There is no point to argue which is better: a step-by-step or real mode, or a combination of both – here everyone decides for himself, but D-Day in any case - an interesting strategy, and is worth if you do not play it, then at least familiar with it.

Enjoy playing D-Day: The Beginning of the End online, it can be played on your browser and is free.

Source: Archive.org, Mobygames.com