I was gifted this book for Christmas, and while I’m more a fan of the earlier time periods in which Flames of War is set, it’s nice to have a look at what happens with the monster tanks, insane artillery, and other such hardware which appeared towards the end of the war. It’s also handy to have another gaming option on hand for when (or if…) I ever complete the old Mid-War collection!
Overview
D-Day is a compilation containing four previous releases, the D-Day books German, Waffen SS, American and British, as well as a scattering of new material (as I haven’t read the component books, I’m not exactly sure what the additional stuff is, though). Needless to say, this makes it an absolute beast of a book- being a hardback and coming in at 330 pages, it’s a hefty volume, so I’m glad that Battlefront decided to leave out the catalogue pages (a decision they chose not to make for the earlier compilation books, North Africa and Eastern Front). On the other hand, it’s always nice to look at shiny new miniatures; fortunately, Battlefront have included these missing pages as a 40-page softcover booklet, meaning that you can cart the main book around without needing to humph the extra catalogue pages with you. Nice one, guys!
Contents
So, as stated before, the book contains the combined content of four previous releases, plus some extras. This makes for an absolute mountain of formations and support, particularly for the Germans who have well over a third of the book devoted to them. As always, the book is well laid out and presented, with easy-to-find page references for unites in a formation, and lots and lots of beautifully painted miniatures, along with the standard painting guides for each country and the ever-helpful basing guides.
The last few pages of the book offers a range of thematic scenarios to replicate the fighting in both on the beaches and in the close terrain of the French countryside known as bocage. Also included are extra rules for fighting scenarios such as amphibious and airborne assaults, as well as full rules and points values for weapon emplacements and fortifications, as well as gliders and transport ships.
One final point: for the first time, this book contains a code inside the back cover which gives access to every single one of the formations and support options listed in this book. This means that although the book is huge, you’ll never need to cart it around to games, as all of the of points values and stats are available digitally. What more could you ask for?
Summary
D-Day is a really nice book, with everything having been well laid out on quality materials, and provides pretty much everything you’ll need to start playing Late-War Flames (okay, so you’ll still need the core rules, but the basics are available on Battlefront’s website, and every starter set comes with a free copy). Well worth the asking price, particularly when measured on the scale of other war games manufacturers.