The Longest Day (game)

Last updated
The Longest Day
Cover of The Longest Day wargame.png
The Longest Day front cover, cover art by Rodger B. MacGowan
Designers Randall C. Reed
Illustrators Rodger B. MacGowan, Randall C. Reed
PublishersThe Avalon Hill Game Corporation
Publication1979
GenresMilitary simulation
Players2-8
Setup time8-10 hours or more
Playing time3-15 hours for regular scenarios, 50-90 hours for campaign
ChanceHigh
Age range12+
SynonymsTLD

The Longest Day is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1979 that simulates the Allied D-Day invasion of June 1944 and the subsequent Normandy campaign during World War II until August 31st, 1944.

Contents

Background

In early June 1944, Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. Although German forces were not able to eliminate the beachhead, they were able to contain Allied forces within the Cotentin Peninsula for almost 8 weeks. The Allies finally broke out with simultaneous attacks by British and Canadian forces (Operation Goodwood) and American forces (Operation Cobra).

Description

The Longest Day is a "monster game" (one having more than 1000 counters) for 2–8 players (or two teams) that covers the Allied Operation Overlord from the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, to the Battle of the Falaise Gap in August 1944. Wargame Academy rates the game's complexity as 6 on a scale of 10 and estimates that a campaign game would take 30–50 hours to complete, [1] while Avalon Hill rates the game's complexity as 8 on a scale of 10 and estimates that the game would take 50-90 hours to complete. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Components

The large game box is 14.25 inches x 11.25 inches x 2.5 inches, [6] weighs nine pounds (4 kg) and contains: [3]

Gameplay

The Longest Day map is composed of multiple boards combined together to play the full campaign game. TLDBoardswithSections.png
The Longest Day map is composed of multiple boards combined together to play the full campaign game.

Each turn uses the following sequence: [7]

This completes one turn, which represents one day.

Scenarios

The game includes five scenarios that range in playing time from 3 to 12 hours and increase in complexity with the addition of new rules for each scenario: [7]

  1. Normandy Beachhead (6 June-8 June) (Played with every mapboard)
  2. Fall of Cherbourg (19 June-25 June) (Played with mapboard "A")
  3. Operation Cobra (25 July-31 July) (Played with mapboard "A", "B", "C", and "F")
  4. Mortain Counterattack (6 August-9 August) (Played with mapboard "F")
  5. Falaise Pocket (17 August-21 August) (Played with mapboard "G")

All of the scenarios can be combined into a complete campaign game. [7]

There are also six hypothetical "what-if?" add-ons included that simulate events that historically did not happen but were considered at the time as possible strategies by the relevant commands. These include a second Allied airdrop (which would later become a part of the regular Campaign scenario rules), [8] Hitler abandoning the Channel Islands in order to reinforce Normandy, and moving German units quite close to beachheads before the invasion (General Erwin Rommel's original counter-invasion plan).

There are also three optional rules that can be added onto the Campaign Game, them being Counter-Battery Artillery Fire, Bridge Demolition and Repair, and Hedgerow Cutters. [7] [9]

Publication history

Randall C. Reed, the head of Avalon Hill's research and development staff in the late 1970s, was one of the first new Avalon Hill employees after the Charles S. Roberts era. Reed designed The Longest Day, including the counters and maps. [10] [11] The game was published by Avalon Hill in 1979 with cover art by Rodger B. MacGowan. [3]

The game was published with some counters missing. These were included in The General , Vol. 28, No. 6. [3]

Reception

In Issue 33 of the British wargaming magazine Phoenix , Geoffrey Barnard examined the historicity of the game and found that it was inaccurate in several areas. This included geographical errors (9 of 11 British/Canadian landing beaches were incorrectly named), rules that do not accurately represent possible actions, and strategic errors. Barnard nevertheless concluded, "It is worth playing and, even more so, it is worth studying [...] The game is, I feel, a valuable contribution to the advance of game design, even if just because it sets out to be, or at least seem, historically serious." [12]

In Issue 6 of Richard Berg's Review of Games, game designer Richard Berg noted that this was "not a complex game — there are no convoluted mechanics to learn, no tortuous CRT's to dissect, and no roster sheets full of minutiae to keep track of." Berg thought the first scenario (the Normandy landings) was the most interesting for players, given that the length of time to complete the entire campaign game "is an extensive proceeding that will appeal to few because of the time and energy required." However, Berg found "The set-up system is abysmal — there appears to be a fair number of holes and glitches in the initial set-up." Berg also found the set-up time to be overly long, writing, "It actually takes less time to learn how to play the game than to set it up ... [But] once over that formidable wall and into the game, most players will find the assimilation of the system easy going." Berg added onto this by saying that "...for those gamers for whom extended and difficult set-ups are a major bugaboo, TLD should be avoided like a Care package from Tehran." [7]

Other reviews and commentary

Related Research Articles

<i>PanzerBlitz</i> World War II board wargame published in 1970

PanzerBlitz is a tactical-scale board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates armored combat set on the Eastern Front of World War II. The game, which was the most popular board wargame of the 1970s, is notable for being the first true board-based tactical-level, commercially available conflict simulation wargame. It also pioneered several concepts that would become industry standards.

<i>Squad Leader</i> 1977 tactical board wargame

Squad Leader is a tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of the most complex war games of its time, Squad Leader is the natural extension of the trend towards greater realism initiated by several earlier games, including Avalon Hill's own PanzerBlitz and Panzer Leader. Those two earlier games were slightly larger in scope, with counters representing platoons and map hexes measuring 250 metres across, compared to Squad Leader's 40 meter hexes and squad sized units.

<i>Battle of the Bulge</i> (board wargame)

Battle of the Bulge is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill (AH) in 1965 that simulates the World War II battle of the same name. General Anthony McAuliffe (ret.), who had been commanding officer at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, was a consultant during the game's development. The game proved popular and sold more than 120,000 copies, but was dogged by criticisms of historical inaccuracies, and was finally replaced by a completely new edition in 1981. A third edition in 1991 was released as part of the Smithsonian American History Series.

<i>D-Day</i> (game) Board game

D-Day is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1961 that simulates the six months of the European Campaign of World War II from the Normandy Invasion to the crossing of the Rhine. It was the first wargame to feature the now ubiquitous hex grid map and cardboard counters, and was revised and re-released in 1962, 1965, 1971, 1977 and 1991.

<i>Air Assault on Crete</i> Board game

Air Assault on Crete is a wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1977 that simulates the Battle of Crete during World War II.

<i>Anzio</i> (game) 1968 board wargame by Avalon Hill

Anzio is a board wargame published by the Avalon Hill game company first in 1969 and again in 1971, 1974, and 1978. The title is misleading as the game is not an operational-level treatment of the Battle of Anzio but is in fact a strategic level game covering the entire Italian theater of operations in World War II from the autumn of 1943 to the end of the war in Europe.

<i>Arab–Israeli Wars</i> (game) Board game

The Arab-Israeli Wars, subtitled "Tank Battles in the Mideast 1956–73", is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1977 that simulates various battles during the Suez Crisis, Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War.

<i>Avalanche: The Salerno Landings</i>

Avalanche: The Salerno Landings is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1976 that simulates the nine-day battle for the beachhead at Salerno in September 1943 following the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Avalanche.

<i>Cobra: Game of the Normandy Breakout</i> 1977 WWII board wargame

Cobra: Game of the Normandy Breakout, originally titled Cobra: Patton's 1944 Summer offensive in France, is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1977 that simulates the 1944 breakout of Allied forces from Normandy following D-Day.

<i>Schutztruppe</i> (board game)

Schutztruppe, subtitled "East African Guerilla Warfare, 1914-1918", is a board wargame originally self-published by Jim Bumpas in 1975, then published by Flying Buffalo in 1978, that simulates the conflict between German Schutztruppe and Allied forces during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piercing the Reich</span> Board wargame

Piercing the Reich, subtitled "The Battle for Aachen, Siegfreid Line Campaign, September–October 1944", is a board wargame published by Moments in History (MiH) in 1995 that is an operational simulation of the Battle of Aachen during World War II.

<i>Barbarossa: The Russo-German War 1941–45</i> 1969 board wargame

Barbarossa: The Russo-German War 1941–45 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front of World War II. This was only SPI's second game produced during a preliminary round of "Test Series" games, and proved to be the most popular. Despite the title, taken from the German operational name for their initial invasion of the Soviet Union, the game covers the entire Eastern Front campaign from the German invasion in 1941 to the Fall of Berlin in 1945.

<i>Caesars Legions</i> (board game) 1975 board wargame

Caesar's Legions is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1975 that simulates various Roman campaigns in Gaul and Germany.

<i>Overlord</i> (wargame)

Overlord, subtitled "The Normandy Invasion", is a board wargame published by Conflict Games in 1973 that simulates the Normandy landings and the subsequent attempt by the Germans to prevent the Allies from breaking out of Normandy during World War II.

<i>Leipzig: The Battle of Nations</i> Board wargame

Leipzig: The Battle of Nations, subtitled "Napoleon vs. Europe", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the 1813 campaign of Napoleon in central Europe, including the Battle of Leipzig. The game was one of the first Napoleonic board wargames, and a number of innovative rules such as the effect of individual leaders on combat were adopted by other wargame publishers.

<i>Anzio Beachhead</i> (wargame) Board wargame

Anzio Beachhead is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the Battle of Anzio during World War II, when American amphibious forces landed at Anzio, seeking to open a second front in Italy. The game was designed as a supplement to the larger and more complex game Anzio that had been published the previous year by industry rival Avalon Hill.

<i>Atlantic Wall</i> (wargame) Board wargame

Atlantic Wall, subtitled "The Invasion of Europe June 1944", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1978 that simulates Operation Overlord during World War II, when Allied forces landed on Normandy beaches and attempted to break out into open country.

<i>Normandy: The Invasion of Europe 1944</i> Board wargame

Normandy: The Invasion of Europe 1944 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy, and the six days that followed as the German forces tried to prevent an Allied break-out. A second revised edition was published in 1971

<i>Breakout & Pursuit: The Battle for France, 1944</i> Board wargame published in 1972

Breakout & Pursuit: The Battle for France, 1944 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that simulates the breakout of Allied forces from Normandy during World War II, and their subsequent pursuit of retreating German forces.

West Front, subtitled "The Campaign in Europe, 1943–1945, is a board wargame published by Simulations Canada in 1985 that simulates, at a strategic level, combat operations in the European Theater during World War II. It can be married to another Simulations Canada game, Lebensraum!, which deals with the Eastern Front, producing a large game covering the conflict from England to Russia and Norway to the Mediterranean.

References

  1. "The Longest Day — Board Game Details — Meeple Mountain". www.meeplemountain.com. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  2. "Longest Day, The". www.boardgameprices.com. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Longest Day (1979)". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  4. McArthur, R. B. (December 1980). "Is It Just a Game?". Washingtonian . Vol. 16, no. 3. pp. 86–97.
  5. Dolski, Michael (2016). D-Day Remembered: The Normandy Landings in American Collective Memory. University of Tennessee Press. p. 258. ISBN   9781621902188.
  6. "The Longest Day (English edition) | Board Game Version | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Berg, Richard (November 19, 1980). "The Longest Day II". Richard Berg's Review of Games . No. 6. p. 1. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  8. The Longest Day Rules of Play (2nd ed.). p. 43.
  9. The Longest Day Rules of Play (2nd ed.). pp. 52–54.
  10. Perla, Peter P. (1990). The Art of Wargaming: A Guide for Professionals and Hobbyists. Naval Institute Press.
  11. Bisasky, Al (November 1976). "Forum: Randall Reed". Fire & Movement . No. 4. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022 via Yumpu.com.
  12. Barnard, G. (September–October 1981). "The Longest Day: New Standards of Historicity". Phoenix . No. 33. pp. 5–8.
  13. Grégoire, Henri (December 1981). "The Longest Day (Review)". Casus Belli (in French). No. 6. Paris, France. p. 18.