I have posted the first half page of three pages of designer notes. If you would like a copy of them all just follow the link to the D-Day to Berlin Downloads Page. It will download a 3 page pdf for you to read and hopefully find interesting. Your thoughts and comments are encouraged.
Chris
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Here you will find my thoughts about the rules and wargames in general in no particular order.
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ON DICE
When I started this project two-plus years ago, I was using six-sided dice. This was what KISS Rommel used, and that was my building block. Shortly into the development, I veered away from the multiple dice rolling of KISS and moved onto a single ten-sided die roll. I did this to keep the dice rolling down and for the added granularity of ten sides vs. six. After a long time of development, I decided that the ten-sided dice version didn't feel right for the game. I revisited KISS and moved back to using six-sided dice. To make up for the lack of granularity, I brought back the dreaded saving throw.
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THE BATTALION
This command level of the game calls for a larger unit. Most of the games on the market are what I call battalion level. Meaning the standard maneuver unit is a platoon. Sam Mustafa came out with his brilliant game, Rommel, a few years ago, and he uses company-sized units. I must admit that when I heard he was releasing a large-scale game using squares for World War Two, I was worried, but it turned out our games though one game level apart are night and day. I could see using DDtB as an almost-campaign game and fighting selected actions with Rommel.
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Going with battalion sized units allowed me to have an average of twelve units to a Division. I wanted a player to be no less than a Division commander. I have written the rules simple enough that I feel most gamers could control an entire corps and rarely even have to refer to the Quick Reference Sheet.
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DETACHMENTS
I have treated this type of unit as an optional rule. You can read any battle report at his level of command, and you will come across smaller units that had enough bearing on a battle to be useful. Many times a German Division will have a Tiger company or a US Division might have an anti-tank gun company attached. I wanted to reflect that minutiae without going overboard. I decided to give them the same bang as a full battalion; however, ramp up the damage when they take it. This tends to make them fragile and could easily be lost if they were not used correct.
Download all three pages >>> link
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My Website >>> chrisparkergames.com
looks at another D-Day: German set for Flames of War.
