Games Workshop have long been in the business of seeing games across a wide range of interests. . Now they have gone into software production with the aid, in this case of 'Demented Den, The Major, Macabre Mick and Einstein' and the corporate members of Dagenham Design Cell.
D-Day is a sophisticated wargame set in the Second World War for two players. It contains four scenarios, each accessed via its own loader. These are The Landing, The Breakout, Road to Arnhem, Arnhem Landing. The loader asks to play, and then loads the appropriate Deployment program. In this stage the two players (Germans and Allies) deploy their forces' start positions on a map. The screen has two windows, map on the left, units and numbers to be on the right. A cursor selects the unit, while a set of cursor keys then move two white arrows over the map terrain to where you want the unit placed. When all the units have deployed, the second player deploys his or hers, and then the main program for the selected scenario is loaded.
In play, the same screen layout is used, with messages and prompts appearing in the right window, units being moved by selection and the cursor system. The map of each scenario is quite large, the window only displays a small area, with the map scrolling over the total area as the cursor is moved. The map contains several terrain features such as, trees, rough ground, sea or lakes, grass, roads, buildings, sand, marshes, hedges and bridges over rivers. Logically, units may only be deployed or moved into terrain that is suitable, and the program takes account of movement speed depending on the terrain.
To win a scenario, you must defeat the enemy's forces. There are three values related to destruction - Attack, Defence and Range. These three affect how effective a shot on the opponent will be and can result in four states - Undamaged, Damaged, Wreck or Destroyed. The distinction between wreck and destroyed is that a wreck, though out of the action, is not removed and so prevents another unit from occupying the square, whereas destroyed objects vanish altogether.
In firing, logic is employed. A unit may fire if nothing blocks its way like towns, trees or hedges, and if it is within range of the target. If all the parameters are met, then the cursor is placed over the firing unit and confirmed, before moving the cursor to the unit being fired upon. The graphics actually show the attack and resulting explosion. The damage report is then displayed. Howitzers and mortars are allowed to fire on targets even if terrain intrudes, because of the high trajectory of shot.
Since ships are very important in landings and on rivers, lakes etc, there is a large section devoted to them in the manual. As they make a large difference to the outcome of any game, it is worth reading this section carefully. The four scenarios each have different conditions for winning and varying amounts and types of units.