Originally published in Games, Games, Games, and republished with permission From: Peter.Card@jet.uk Subject: To The Far Shore Review To The Far Shore is a simulation of 1944 Normandy invasion, with 2 maps and 500 counters. It is the second in the "Battles for France" series from 3W, designed by John Schettler using his WestWar game system. Counters represent Corps and Division level headquarters units, subordinate combat units, and a range of markers. There is a Basic rulebook, common to the BfF series, an exclusive rulebook, including the scenario details, and an Invasion rulebook, together with several quick reference sheets with tables and charts necessary to play the game. The 2 maps cover Northern France, from Cherbourg to Le Havre and points east. There is also a strategic display, used for placement and movement of German off-map reinforcements. Production quality is generally good. There are a few errors on the counters, some of which were caught before 3W shipped the game. The map is attractive. The rules do a pretty good job of explaining the West War system, which contains several novel concepts, but suffer from sketchy development, which has missed, or even introduced, many errors and inconsistencies. The organisation into three separate rule books does not help. In the designer's notes, John Schettler suggests that players can refer to previous West War games to resolve problems arising, which is probably the new definition for chutzpah. The West War system confronts the players with the problems of controlling and co-ordinating their forces. Logistic support, the sinews of war, is abstracted as Command Points, which are required to conduct operations, when combat units move and fight. In To the Far Shore, the Allied player receives Command Points each turn, based on the capacity of the beachheads and port facilities he (or she) controls. For the German player, CP income depends on the Allied airpower devoted to interdiction. This tries to simulate the effect of the Transport Plan, by which Allied airforces isolated the battlefield in 1944, bombing bridges, railways, tunnels and so on. Bad weather may reduce Allied airpower and landing capacity. In 1944, a storm destroyed the Mulberry harbour off Omaha beach, putting a severe crimp in the Allied build up. The players bid for initiative with command points, then conduct spend them to conduct operations in an interleaved turn sequence that emulates the ebb and flow of attack and counter-attack that characterised the actual fighting. The player who won the initiative, hereafter referred to as the Initiative Player, will be able to conduct operations about twice as frequently as the Reaction Player. The Reaction player may also earn the right to interrupt an Initiative Player operation with a spoiling attack. This happens when the Initiative player receives to many adverse combat results. The time represented by a single game turn varies with the degree of activity, between 36 and 60 hours. To conduct an operation, a player selects a Corps Headquarters unit to command the participating divisions. Each division in turn carries out an order, such as Assault, which maximises the combat value of the subordinate combat units, or Manoeuvre, which allows them to move at full rate. This use of Corps HQs to control operations is explained in the Exclusive Rules booklet, replacing a completely different rule in the Basic Rules booklet, which refers to an Operation Support Table, that is, naturally, not to be found in the box, under the table, or behind the armchair. Using the exclusive rules to patch the game system is liable to confuse the players, and the reviewer. They also provide rules for beach fortifications and the specialised armour of British 79th Armoured Division (aka The Funnies), which is more reasonable, but it would have been better to integrate all the rules of play into a single rulebook, with a separate scenario booklet. As well as making life easier for the players, this would help the developer to ensure that all the loose ends were tied up, or sawn off. It would also be a good idea to number the various tables and cross reference them with the relevant rules sections. End of sermon. Combat resolution is slightly baroque. The first step is determine the combat strength of each participating unit, by cross referencing the combat rating of the unit, a measure of unit size, with the offensive or defensive rating of the controlling HQ on the appropriate table. Step losses inflicted on a division reduce its rating, and so the combat strength of its subordinate combat units. Even the top rated SS Panzer divisions will eventually be worn down by sustained combat. The relative combat strength of attacker and defender is expressed as a simple ratio, and cross referenced with the terrain type on the combat results table to find the column. Then a six sided die is rolled, and the result modified for air support, artillery hits, armour ratings, anti-tank ratings, the infantry assault bonus and specialised armour (those Funnies again). This is not a process for the faint hearted, and the relevant facts are scattered across two rulebooks and several quick reference sheets. TtFS contains historical scenarios for the D-Day invasion and the subsequent breakout from Normandy, but the heart of the game is free invasion game, where the Allied player can decide where and when to invade, exploring possible alternative strategies. John Schettler has been this way before, with the Italian Campaign games published in Strategy and Tactics, and Pas de Calais, his original West War game, dealing with a hypothetical invasion across the Straits of Dover. 3W did plan to reissue Pas de Calais as part of the Battles for France series, allowing the players to combine both games, extending the possible Allied invasion areas all the way to Dieppe and Calais. At present, this seems unlikely. In the course of my research, I decided to invade at the earliest opportunity, on 1st April, in and around Le Havre at the mouth of the Seine, with the objective of gaining a major port early on and anchoring my right flank on the Seine. There does not seem to be any good reason to delay the invasion, as the weather will not improve much, if at all, and the Germans will only grow stronger. Pausing for a reality check, an invasion in April would have presented the Allies with problems which are not represented here. Sealift capacity would have been reduced, and the allied air forces would have had less time to carry out the Transport Plan. Four infantry divisions hit the beaches north and west of Le Havre, with a commando brigade storming the port itself, and two airborne divisions dropping inland to cut off the approaches from the east. The Invasion Assault procedure takes into account the beach conditions, defending artillery, the tactical ratings of the assaulting units, and naval bombardment. Careful selection of the beaches and proper support with specialised armour and/or commando units is advised. The commandos assigned to Le Havre relied mostly on luck instead, and bounced the Germans out. The US 82nd Airborne were less fortunate, and the scatter die roll for their HQ dropped it into the briny with tragic results, an eventuality not covered in the rules. Without an HQ, the basically intact division would have been unable to function. Showing myself the flexible generosity of spirit that is absolutely necessary to play this game, I allowed them to swim ashore and take a step loss. The Allied forces were able to link up and form a coherent perimeter in their two subsequent operations, before the German counter attack got under way, using a Manoeuvre order to send the 12 SS Panzer division, baddest of the bad, to seize the vital bridges over the Seine, beating the foot slogging Allied infantry by a head. The moral here is simple. Drop the airborne divisions safely away from the coast, and right on top of vital targets like bridges. At this point I was bitten by the rules for sealift and reinforcements. The allied player can use up to 12 infantry divisions, or the equivalent, in the initial set-up. Mobile units, such as armour, count double. Up to 4 divisions can be held back as a floating reserve, to be landed in the first 3 turns as reinforcements or in follow up invasions. Unfortunately, the Allied reinforcements are restricted during this period by the landing capacity, which on the most optimistic reckoning would allow about half the floating reserve to come ashore. I decided to let them land anyway. The rapid fall of Le Havre raised other questions. The sequence of play allowed the commandos to grab the port before the defending garrison had a chance to attempt demolition. The moral is, always defend the major ports, Le Havre and Cherbourg, with something bigger than a coastal defence battalion. However, even if demolition succeeded, the rules for repair allow a port to brought rapidly back into service, given sufficient CPs. In reality it took several weeks after the capture of Cherbourg before the Allies could use the port. It is difficult to say much about the play balance from my limited solitaire play. It seems that an invasion that goes wrong, due to bad luck or poor planning, will fail quickly, while a successful landing, build up and breakout will take a long time to play out. If you are looking for a competitive game of the Normandy campaign, playable in an evening or two, then look elsewhere. Even viewed as a pure simulation, the grand scope of the game does not sit well with the fiddly mechanisms employed. However, if you have the time and space, and the inclination, it could be educational.