Below is the third in a series of articles about the “Dark” System from Ted Raicer. Parts one and two can be found here and here. Enjoy! -Rachel

The Allied campaign in Normandy in the summer of 1944 ended in an overwhelming Allied victory,  yet few campaigns of WWII have led to more bitter arguments over Allied generalship. Partly this is because if Victory has a hundred fathers many commanders wanted to claim paternity, and also because of the inevitable frictions between national components of a multi-national coalition. The latter was exacerbated by Monty’s need, then and later, to pretend the campaign he commanded ran exactly according to plan. But a deeper reason was that though the campaign shattered the German forces in Normandy and led directly to the liberation of France, it failed to inflict sufficient damage to end the war in 1944. The escape of the German remnants from the Falaise Pocket in August remains the great What-If of The Dark Summer.

Because of the unending controversies over the Normandy battles, reading a score of different historians can give you the feeling you are reading about 20 very different campaigns. Having read at least that many, along with many more covering Normandy as part of the larger war, and comparing the various game designs out on the subject, I decided I would choose one narrative as the backbone of the design. My choice wasn’t based on the idea that this one volume was right and the others wrong, but rather that it was plausible, and would provide a narrative that would work well with the Dark chit-pull system. So much of The Dark Summer rests on the ideas expressed in the book Clash of Arms: How the Allies Won in Normandy, by Russell A. Hart.

Without giving a book-review, I took several major concepts from Hart. First, while much ink has been spilled on the Allied artificial harbors and the oil pipeline across the Channel, they actually played a fairly minor role in the campaign, hence the absence of specific rules covering them.  (They are reflected in some of the Allied Victory Points.) Second, weather played a major role in the campaign, as it was the only factor that could truly limit Allied air superiority, or the flow of men and supplies from England. Third, and most importantly, Hart analyzes the tactical/operational effectiveness of the German, US, British and Canadian armies in terms of their ability to adapt to the unexpected problems posed in Normandy. He concludes that the Germans were most effective, despite the grave handicaps under which they operated, with the US quickly improving to become a highly effective counter to the Wehrmacht, and the Canadians and even more the British struggling throughout the campaign to catch up.

It goes without saying (though I’m saying it) that these conclusions have their critics, and again, I’m not claiming Hart makes a Case Closed argument. But he does make a persuasive one, and one that the Dark system is perfectly fitted to illustrate. In my first two articles I brought up the question of why the Action Chits in The Dark Summer give the Germans and the US more flexibility than the Commonwealth? The choice of Clash of Arms as the narrative spine of The Dark Summer is the reason why, and whether you ultimately buy Hart’s POV or not, it makes for interesting player choices and contrasts among the various armies.

On the one hand, the Americans, able to choose between Move or Combat with their chits, are more flexible than the Brits, who have the choice of Move or Combat determined by the luck of the draw. On the other hand, the US faces much tougher terrain. But on the other other hand, the British are generally up against the bulk of German armor. So the Allied Player has to learn to handle two armies that operate differently, as well as each facing unique problems. It makes for an interesting puzzle. The Germans have the advantage of their Reaction chits, allowing limited movement and combat. But the number of these chits varies with the weather, and when they are most needed Allied air means they are least available.

Now let’s dig down a bit into the design’s “chrome.” Overall Allied air power is built into the weather’s effects on the Activation Chit mix as well as the Terrain costs. But the Allies also have Tactical Air and Carpet Bombing Markers. The Allied superiority in artillery is shown both through a Prepared Combat shift of one column during the first Combat Round of Fair and Fair/Mixed weather turns.  (In this case the weather reflects the flow of artillery ammo into Normandy.) Allied Tank Destroyers are also represented by Combat Markers (similar to the Sturm Combat Markers in The Dark Valley) while the Germans have Nebelwerfers. Finally the Allies have Naval Gun Markers effective in open terrain near the Channel.

Something obvious from a glance at the map is that The Dark Summer does not include Cherbourg and the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula. This was done to allow me to get the August battles onto a single large-hex map.  Instead there is a Cherbourg Box, which begins with a considerable German garrison. The initial American goal is to cut off Cherbourg from the rest of the map, and then move a sufficient force into the Cherbourg Box to capture the port. The more force used, the lower the US losses, and the quicker the port will fall, but the less pressure immediately placed on the Germans on the main map.

There is also a Brittany Box, where the US can earn points exiting units to take Brest and the other Brittany Ports. Units can also return from Brittany to enter the south map edge threatening the Germans with the historical pincers that closed (somewhat belatedly) at Falaise. The Allied Player must choose between earning VPs for forces that remain in Brittany, and flanking the Germans in Normandy.

The Germans can win an automatic victory by capturing (or holding) Allied Invasion Beach hexes. It’s a long shot, but not impossible, and the Allies need to keep alert in the early turns. But the most probable route to German victory is to evacuate sufficient forces from Normandy. Unfortunately for the Germans, a certain political figure in East Prussia isn’t going to allow an early withdrawal. If the Allies control the map before mid-August, Hitler is unhappy, and the German Player loses the game, probably along with his head. So what might have been an organized retreat in July, is going to be a desperate struggle to avoid encirclement in August.

Though the smallest both in game length and physical footprint of my three Dark designs, The Dark Summer: Normandy 1944 presents as many challenges as its East Front and North African brethren. The Dark Chit-Pull system once again forces the players to deal with the Fog and Friction of war, in the context of a specific battlefield environment.  The three designs are thus not simply the same game on different maps, but model the very different conditions of these campaigns. It is my hope that players of  any of them will enjoy their journey into the Dark.

END

Articles in this Series: Part One  Part Two  Part Three

Author: Ted Raicer