The Fields of Normandy - small and fast, while hard and deep
The Fields of Normandy (FoN) is a solitaire wargame... book. Yeah, I bet you didn´´ t see that one coming! Actually you did, if you are an experienced long time analogue wargamer. But myself, I´ m a newbie, so it caught me by surprise... And what a pleasant surprise that was!
The FoN game-book is made of 51 pages of WWII wargame scenarios of skirmish between axis and allied units. The rules are pretty simple: you roll dice (2D6) for one of your units (assigned in forward in the scenario) and choose from possibilities. You can advance, rally, throw grenades, shoot, scout and so on, depending on unit type. For example the mortars dont shoot, but if 2 hexes away from enemy, they give you a -2 bonus to hit.
The shooting happens with 2D6 rolls too. You add modifiers to the result and compare to the number you need to hit. Hills give you advantege, forest gives you +1 defense, villages count for +2. If you manage to flank enemies, or push them with more units, you also get -1´ s to hit.
The enemy doesn´´ t have such luxury options. The are hiding under questionmarks, until you scout them from 2 hexes distance or go forward and face them face to face (not a good idea). You roll the enemy type randomly for each scenario. There are riflemen, light and heavymachineguns, minefields, etc. Each with their own specific hit value.
In it´´ s core, FoN is a puzzler with wargaming flavor and a clever system of dice rolling and area movement. The 15 missions with increasing complexity and difficulty will keep you busy for a pretty long time, as you have to discover the best possible strategy for each scenario, considering also a bit of luck (modifiers help out). Also, there is a timer. If you dont destroy the enemy until time is over, well, game over! So there is really put a nice amount of pressure on the player in many aspects.
Did I mention, that 1 hit destroys your units morale, so it has to rally next turn or do only 1 from to possible orders, and 2 hits destroy the whole unit?
All in all this is a great little war game with unexpected depth for such a small "book". And Mike Lambo, the author, made already a whole series of them! You can check out the Vietnam conflict or dig dirt in trenches of WWI, or visit the Pacific front...
For everything FoN delivers it deserves maximum appretiation.
5 stars out of 5.