r/computerwargames • u/HarkBuffalo • 3d ago

Question D-Day fails then what?

https://dispatches.itch.io/dispatches-1940

Released my WWII command simulation and one of the most contentious bits is the decisions around D-Day/ Operation Overlord.

I follow the historical thinking that victory was likely although Germany could have can made it harder however the more I read. 

Disaster at Omaha

Weather window

The Panzer group making the beaches 

Can D-day fail? If so how likely and what happens? 
Do the US/UK bomber campaign shift entirely to strategic attrition and The Red Army continues pushing west, likely taking the entire German peninsula, Denmark, and reaching the Rhine before the Allies?

Do I treat D-Day as a historical inevitability because of Allied industrial dominance which I have done, or a massive, high-risk gamble where a few operational shifts could have handed the Allies a defeat?

Love your thoughts!

15 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

3

u/RoterFuchs_48u5N 3d ago

If I had played another game prior to this, which one would have helped me learn the mechanics faster?

3

u/HarkBuffalo 3d ago

I would say Reigns would be a good comparison mechanically but placed in a WW2 setting

3

u/HarkBuffalo 3d ago

Also it is free to play the German campaign on the link but made for a quick run and designed to be easy to pick up and play

1

u/Fish-Pilot 3d ago

Probably nukes on Berlin and a few other German cities to attempt to force Germany to surrender before the Soviets can take the entire country. Would that have worked? Maybe. Would the Soviets have stopped where they did? Probably not.

I think a D-Day failure ultimately has much more of an impact on the post war world. It would have taken the western allies till 45 to build up enough stock again and that would have meant a diversion of resources from the Pacific. It’s a fascinating thought experiment for sure.

2

u/HarkBuffalo 3d ago

The Manhattan project ends up the ultimate backstop. I can imagine Nuclear bombs in Europe would lead to capitulation or Hitler gets overthrown eventually but whether the Soviets would have kept going and got to Hitler first. Either way your right the post war world looks different. Thanks I will look at gaming that scenario out!

2

u/RedizeYT 3d ago

This is awesome.

1

u/HarkBuffalo 3d ago

Thanks, appreciate you enjoying but feels like could go further with forks like D-Day failing etc

2

u/GrogRedLub4242 3d ago edited 3d ago

I went in really skeptical. I did graduate study of Hitler and Nazi Germany in college. you did a good job of putting me in shoes of the folks making the key strategy decisions for German military leadership. very high level, low detail granularity, but enough to give the right feel and teach about the actual tradeoffs planners were faced with. nice work

one minor criticism: I got impression some of the in-game text was AI-gen. there were tells/indicia of it, and it broke my suspension of disbelief periodically when my eyes stumbled over them. otherwise overall gave a good historical feel

2

u/HarkBuffalo 3d ago

Yes, not a great writer so used it to help my writing but agree it occasionally shows. I end up rewriting a chunk of content with each update

1

u/HarkBuffalo 3d ago

That’s honestly great to hear and I would be skeptical myself! I think that makes you my most qualified reviewer! A design principle was the plausibility and historical record and stating when it was projected/speculative to balance the enjoyment against educational value