Normandy is here, I am sitting among all the components, trying to sort everything out....

My first impression is very good, the mapboards are beautiful and the campaign rules look quite interesting. Only three things so far I do not like so much:

In my opinion, the Jagdpanzer IV has too much firepower. It used the same cannon as the late versions of the Panzer IV, so it should have the same firepower.

In my opinion, the StuG III G is too heavily armored. In ASL it has the same armor rating as a Panzer IV, so it should have the same armor rating. However, since the StuG III G has no turret, maybe the higher armor rating is supposed to represent the (much) lower silhouette and fewer moving (read vulnerable) parts...

There are two cards, one giving bunkers and one giving infantry "heavy gun support" with a firepower of 8 versus infantry and 4 versus vehicles. The description talks of heavy machine guns. In WW2, there were no machine guns capable of knocking out a Sherman or Panzer IV with one shot, even with a very lucky one... now there are... I wish they had called this "a combination of a light anti-tank gun and two heavy machine guns"...

But the rest is just nice ToI goodness... interesting new decks (I already love the weather deck), leader Cards (now you can have Patton or Rommel affect the game, Monty is in there, too) and many new scenarios...

Anyway, that is all for today, now I'm packing my gear and heading for the landing craft. See you on the beach!

Klaus

very nice is it possible for you to post some pics cause i would love to see them

KlausFritsch said:

Great News! You forgot to say "Lock and Load" right before you said "See you on the beach'!

What do you think about the M10? Stats and the actual piece?

Dear God Man!

DETAILS! (please)

7times7is49 said:

Yes, indeed!

DETAILS! Have mercy on us poor souls!

kaufschtick said:

The piece is nice. The M10 packs quite a punch combined with decent armor. No Concussive Firepower, though. I had thought it would be faster, but it has the same speed as a Sherman. What is most unusual about it is that it is vulnerable to suppressive fire because of the open top. That would mean it can be routed...

It also means that I have to revise many of the units in my experimental unit stats and give them the Open Top (dis)ability.

I have no camera, so I cannot take pictures, sorry...

Klaus

Some questions:

* How many map overlays are there?

* How many scenarios are there and can you give us an idea as to what some of them involve (for example, I assume there is an Omaha Beach scenario, a bocage scenario etc).

* How do the commanders work?

* Are there any new infantry abilities/pieces or does the set just include new vehicles.

Thanks!

Are there Any rules for hedgerows?

Thanks for the details. Without any previews or rules, I think we're all sort of salivating at the thought of even the smallest bit of information about this expansion. I know that I can't wait!

*What are the vehicle stats?

*Who or what do the campaign scenarios focus on?

muchos gracias mi amigo

TeufelHund said:

I have not counted the overlays, but there are many, including swamps and bunkers.

There are four stand-alone scenarios and four campaign scenarios for the 29th Infantry Division Campaign.

The beaches are covered, also Pointe du Hoc, the fighting in the bocage, the capture of Caen and the assault on the Siegfried line.

Commanders give you the option of swapping various strategy decks for slightly better command decks, based on the commander's personality and skills.

No new infantry or artillery.

bcpravel said:

There are rules for hedgerows. They are whole hexes, not hexsides as I thought they would be. Infantry movement cost is 2, vehicles cannot enter, except with hedgerow-breaking devices which then turn the hex into a clear hex.

Depending on the scenario and with enough firepower, buildings can now be turned into rough terrain...

7times7is49 said:

King Tiger: Move 5, Armor 6 (extra thick armor turns 2 dice into 6s), shoots like an 88, but with 6 versus infantry

StuG III and Jagdpanzer (a Jagdpanzer IV, judging from the mini and the pictures: Move 6, Armor 5, shoot like Panzer IV or Panther, respectively

M 10: Move 6, Armor 4, shoots like Panzer IV, but with better armor penetration, open top

The campaign follows a roughly company-sized infantry unit (10 bases) of the 29th Infantry Division from Omaha Beach via the bocage and St. Lo to the Siegfried Line.

I love that the M10 can be suppressed. Glad to see they are doing the hedgerows as I had hoped... and that buildings can be destroyed!!!!

What decks are there other than Weather and Leaders? Also, what does that Medal of Honor Op Card do?

Thank you guys for sharing.

7times7is49 said:

Leaders and Weather are the only new decks, but there are many leader decks.

The medals are used in the campaign for advancing troops in experience. Squads gain medals by winning and having two or more figures survive the victory. First they get the Bronze Star, then the Silver Star, and finally the Medal of Honor. There are several advantages to go with the medals.

Klaus

Hate to take you away from your new toy yet again, but what are the specifics with the medals? What are some examples of this clever new awesomeness designed by the geniuses at FFG? Also, what do the bunkers provide cover-wise?

I know you can't or won't type out all of the instruction booklet, but...

7times7is49 said:

Bronze Star: +1 cover, cover cannot reduced below 1

Silver Star: +1 cover, cover cannot reduced below 1, additional +1 cover versus Suppressive Fire

Medal of Honor: +1 cover, cover cannot reduced below 1, additional +1 cover versus Suppressive Fire, cannot be pinned (though can still be disrupted or routed)

Bunkers: whole hex, only one squad, no vehicles, cover 8

Only 1 squad for bunkers!!!??? Nuts!

There goes an easy Crucifix Hill scenario without modifications...

Interesting how the medals work out. Cover is so hit or miss...

Neat how they won't be pinned but can be disrupted or routed via the Medal of Honor.

You are a godsend Klaus!

KlausFritsch said:

I'm not a WWII equipment junkie, but I've got an idea why FFG gave the Jadgpanzer IV anti-vehicle dice equal to the Panther.

Initially, the Jagdpanzer IV was supposed to have the same gun as the Panther (PAK 42 L/70 if wikipedia is correct). There were shortages, however, and the first run of Jagpanzers in January of '44 were equipped with the older and weaker PAK 39 L/48, which was the same armament found on the Panzer IV. Later production runs finally received the more powerful gun starting in August, so it does make some sense that the Jadgpanzer has an equivalent in-game firepower to the Panther.

I know the Normandy Expansion should center around equipment available in June, but I don't think FFG wants ToI to be that focused when it comes to variant tank models. For example, ToI only has one set of stats for the Panzer IV for both North Africa and the Western Front, even though several different variants (with different anti-tank capabilities) were used during those campaigns. I can only imagine that when an Eastern Front expansion comes out, it will use the same stats for the Panzer IV that we have now. I'd bet the same can be said for the Panther released in the Days of the Fox expansion.

It seems to me that each tank in ToI is a generic representation of its overall type, and encompasses a wide spread of time rather than a specific (or sequential) increment in development and production. For this level of detail I believe ToI uses Operation cards. In this way, I think it would be easy to house rule a pre-August '44 Jagdpanzer IV as having the weaker gun and therefore weaker stats. Who knows, perhaps we will get a "Rushed to Battle" Operations card for the Eastern Front Panther to differentiate it from later-war Panthers.

Yipe said:

Correct - there is an operations card in Days of the Fox which simulates the short-barrelled variant of the Panzer IV.

I don't have any problem with this approach.

7times7is49 said:

I forgot to mention that squads in bunkers are immune to suppression.

There is also an Op card giving naval bombardment support, an impressive area attack of 8.

Yipe said:

Hello Yipe, thank you for the information, that seems plausible.

Any idea why the StuG has armor 5 instead of 4?

7times7is49 said:

There are cards which give that one squad in the bunker some impressive firepower, 8 versus infantry and 4 versus vehicles.

I do miss the bunkers with the heavier AT guns, though...

KlausFritsch said:

Again, I'm more of a gamer than a WWII history buff but combining what little knowledge I have of German armor and my understanding of ToI's game system, here's my guess:

The Stug III was built on the Panzer III chassis, so as a game designer I'd automatically give it an armor rating of 3 dice (same as the Panzer III from Days of the Fox). Then, as it has a lower silhouette, which makes it easier to conceal and harder to hit overall, and it has fewer moving parts to damage due to the lack of a turret, I would up it's armor rating to 4.

As for giving it 5 armor dice, personally I would only do that if the model has armored sideskirts like the Panzer IV model (I haven't seen what it looks like yet). If it does, then I think 5 dice makes sense. So from a starting total of 3 add 1 for the low profile and 1 for sideskirts.

However, if it doesn't have any sideskirts, then, err, well you got me! That means being turret-less would give a 2-point armor boost. Which makes me wonder... if the Stug III doesn't have sideskirts and FFG comes out with a Stug IV with the added plates, would it have an armor rating of 7 (4 for being built on a Panzer IV chassis, 2 for being turret-less and 1 for sideskirts)? My guess is probably not, and that the sideskirts on the Panzer IV model are more for show than anything else.

Sincerely,

Yipe

KlausFritsch said:

This sure makes more sense than the squad tokens in DoTF!

So, anyone have pics of whats in the expansion yet?