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Large, absorbing war game packed with detail

Never mind all those history lessons you can now re-enact D-Day for yourself - you can even be driven off the beaches and lose the second world war.

You command 33 combat formations which you have to deploy on the beaches of Normandy and use them to establish the beachhead from which you can strike inland. You have eighteen American unit which can be landed at Utah and Omaha beaches and fifteen British units to be landed at Gold, Juno and Sword beaches.

The Normandy area is represented by a map made up of hexagons on which are marked the terrain, forces, bombardment line and reinforcement entry hexagons - the units are indicated by small, rather unclear symbols.

There is only one landing point at each beach and this means congestion easily builds up if you don't move your forces quickly. Next you have to drop your three airborne divisions and allocate importance to fuel, general, combat, and amphibious supplies which your forces require once they have landed. You will also have to allocate 'air interdiction' which will hamper the movement of enemy forces.

Most of your time is spent moving your forces and either attacking or defending the Germans. This is the most important stage and victory or defeat will be determined by your combat points, fatigue, leadership, air and naval support and attack or defence strategy.

This main phase of the game is repeated with both sides battling for supremacy during the 24 day period of the campaign. The Germans can be computer-controlled or you can have two players fighting it out.

You are given the option to change the game ratings, but if you leave them as they are you will have to play the expert game.

To start with this wasn't as compelling as Combat Leader but my feelings changed once I got into it. Invading Europe to liberate France soon proved to be absorbing. The presentation, as with most US Gold titles, is excellent.

Being able to change the difficulty levels means you can go on for hours, or even days.

Dear Mum, glad you're not here. I'm on the beach near Cherbourg and under enemy fire. I'm no strategist and I know that soon I and all my units will die.

The controller of the German forces knows exactly what he's doing: at one point I thought I might have won the battle but my forces were soon overwhelmed by the superior opposition.

Why they put me, a novice, in charge of the invasion force I'll never understand, all I know is that I never stood a chance...

Presentation 86%
Long instructions, charts and helpful separate card.

Originality 50%
Oldest of scenarios but different implementation.

Graphics 42%
Confusing forces symbols but a clear map and colour scheme.

Hookability 44%
The complexities are daunting unless you persevere.

Sound 36%
Noises of engagement and alarms.

Lastability 83%
A single game can offer hours (or days) of absorbing play.

Value For Money 74%
Expensive but worth it for war gamers.

Overall 59%