Peter McCord - 01:27pm Sep 9, 1998 PST (#314 of 318)
Recent Games: Bloody 110, Proud Monster/Death and Destruction

The Current Dean-O Gram at the Gamers website lists the next 5 games,
although with only sketchy dates. If Danny Holte's game is accepted, it
is unlikely to appear by next origins, as it can't now be inserted into
the first batch (if I understand the system correctly). It will be at
best a second batch game, and there are alot of SCS submissions in
limbo, if you look at the latest ops...then again, a really good
submission is always worth inserting ahead...

Strange developments about Gazala...the Gamers took some heat for
"overcomplicating" or "over OCSing" Stalingrad Pocket II. So he made
Crusader truly simple, and took heat for that. Now there are supply
points in Gazala? Hmmm. I wonder if there are any second thoughts about
Crusader...

Danny Holte - 10:27pm Sep 9, 1998 PST (#316 of 318)

Well, since it was brought up, I guess I could elaborate... ;-)

The game is about ready. I am working on a couple of scenarios to make
it 5, and it will be finished. I've been working on the game for about a
year and only recently converted to the SCS system, since it seemed a
good fit. If it doesn't work into the schedule - No problem, other
publishers have hit me for it since last week's play. But I think it's a
good fit for SCS and that's what I'd like to see.

The description:

D-Day: The Last Crusade (working title)

- 2 maps, 1.5 km per hex. (1 map vertical to cover the Cherbourg
peninsula, the other laid flat and overlapping.) The map area is from
Cherbourg NW, SW Brehal, SE to ~13mi se of Thury-Harcourt, NE corner is
east of Sword. All beaches covered, of course

- Units are Bn/Regt; most combat units are 2-step Regts. About 300
combat counters.

- Turns are 1-day. Movement/combat begins on June 7th. However, the June
6th turn is handled by a secret placement of German resistance & Allied
support by the players. The end result dictates the condition of the
invading forces. The game continues through July 6th - 30 days.
Including detailed landing rules would have just created a whole slew of
rules for one turn; not quite "SCS-ish".

- The Sequence of Play resembles ARDENNES, and some effort was made to
keep somewhat of a "relationship" to that game. (Being same
front/series)

- Victory objectives are chosen secretly by the Allied player and kept
that way until the end (ala ARDENNES ala BATTLES FOR THE ARDENNES ala
WACHT AM RHEIN.) There is also a sudden death German victory condition
to keep the Allied player on his toes (..and watching his line!)

- Several variants are included: The 319th division & 11th Airborne
units, 21st Pz/17SS Initiative, "Rommel" Plan, Airdrops, simplified
Interdiction rules, etc.

- Rules are included for:

Weather
Allied Interdiction
Air Support (Allied)
Naval Gunfire (Allied)
Replacements
Artillery

The rules still come in at about 7-pages *total*, and that means
introduction, credits, etc., of exclusive rules (not including scenarios
or OOB, of course)

-Danny