D-Day Overlord: A Bolt Action Campaign Book

The focus of Campaign D-Day: Overlord is the day, and battles that are some of the most celebrated, not just of World War Two, but of all military history. The 6th of June 1944 marked the opening of the second front in Europe and is recognised not only for its historical and military significance but also because of the iconic and cultural impression it has left.

When people think of bravery or sacrifice, they are imbued with mental imagery of the soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy, made all the more vivid by works of popular culture, education of our youth, scholarly works of history, and days of remembrance for our war veterans.

“The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive for the Allies, as well as for Germany, it will be the longest day.”

Field Marshall Erwin Rommel

Known by its planners as Operation Neptune (the first phase of the overall plan to liberate Fortress Europe), the landings were the result of a combined operation of truly gargantuan proportions, the likes of which we may never see again. It was the fruit of years of planning, training and preparation. A bringing together of the best military, scientific, and engineering minds to overcome what was seen as one of the greatest manmade bulwarks ever created; the Atlantic Wall. In the two years prior to D-Day the Allies amassed stockpiles of materiel in preparation for the invasion: aircraft, ships, landing craft, artillery, and tanks in the tens of thousands, five million tons of invasion supplies, while a million and a half servicemen were stationed in England ready to take on Hitler’s armies in France.

The logistics of the operation were astounding. The invasion fleets themselves numbered over 7,000 craft, while the tactical and strategic aircraft supporting the invasion were around 8,000 in number. The 150,000 ground troops carried aboard the ships of the invasion fleet as well as a further 20,000 involved in the airborne assault on D-Day, would pry open Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, creating a foothold the Allies would exploit with their superiority in materiel and manpower.

The Book

This book provides wargamers with a focus on the specific actions of June 6th 1944, injecting their Bolt Action games with theatre-specific flavour. The book is filled with the heroic deeds of the soldiers who battled to forge a second front on the day of June 6th 1944, and allows players to replicate the amphibious landings of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches as well as the nighttime landings of the US airborne and the German response. Such was the scope of the landings that this book is entirely concerned with the events of June 6th, with two further campaign books (D-Day: British & Canadian Sectors and D-Day: The US Sector) detailing events in the days after.

Scenarios

Campaign: D-Day: Overlord is crammed with 19 scenarios, covering everything from the diversionary operations undertaken by the OSS and SOE to the amphibious assaults on the five Normandy beaches!

Additional Rules

The book is loaded with additional units for British Commonwealth, German and US armies, many of which are concerned with Beach and fortification assaults. Full rules are included for amphibious assaults, and fortifications, with an appendix of additional pertinent special rules included for reference and convenience. These include campaign special rules, minefields, digging in, and air-landing reinforcements, amongst others.

With over 200 pages the Campaign Book, written by Robert Vella, allows players to take command of both Allied forces assaulting the beaches and inland defences and those of the Axis manning such fortifications. Packed with new, linked scenarios, rules, troop types, and Theatre Selectors providing plenty of options for novice and veteran players alike.

The book is also available in the following digital formats: EBook / PDF – These do not include the free figure.

D-Day Battle Sets

Our Bolt Action battle sets are designed to provide players with enough miniatures and scenery to give tabletop battlefields a complete makeover to reflect some of the most celebrated or well-remembered engagements of World War Two. There are few battles more well-known than those of D-Day; they dwell in the public consciousness thanks in no small part to the likes of The Longest Day, Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan on the silver screen, as well as the efforts of military historians and writers over the last 80 years. Thankfully, two famous actions are well represented with two of our battle sets!

The Longest Day

The Longest Day Battle set is packed with miniatures and scenery giving you all you need to replicate the amphibious landings of D-Day in Bolt Action, and many of the scenarios found in D-Day: Overlord. It contains:

Or take your games to an even grander scale with the Beachhead Assault! – Collector’s Edition version for even greater value. In addition to all the above, it includes:

Pegasus Bridge

In the hours before the Allied invasion of Hitler’s Europe was to begin at Normandy, a number of key points had to be neutralised lest the Allied troops be thrown back into the sea and to give the Allies the opportunity to disrupt German reinforcements heading towards the landing beaches. One of these vital targets was the swing bridge over the canal at Bénouville.

In the early hours of 6th June 1944, the men of D Company, 2nd Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, led by Major John Howard, landed by glider – the first British troops to land on D-Day. Their primary objective was to capture the two road bridges over the River Orne and the Caen Canal

The Bénouville bridge was guarded by machine gun posts, an anti-tank gun emplacement and a machine gun bunker, but the pinpoint glider assault caught the German defenders unprepared. After a vicious firefight, the highly-trained British soldiers captured the bridge and prepared defences for the inevitable German counter-attack, which they successfully repelled. The victorious British 6th Airborne Division could now protect the eastern flank of the Allied landings.

To recognise their bravery and sacrifice, the Caen Canal Bridge was renamed ‘Pegasus Bridge’ by the local population, inspired by the distinctive divisional badge of the 6th Airborne Division.

This remarkable laser-cut replica of Pegasus Bridge, along with scenery representing other key features of the battle site such as the Café Gondrée, gun emplacement, machine gun posts and bunker are all included in this superb battle set, allowing you to recreate the battle on the tabletop. Can your valiant glider troops take the bridge or will the Germans see you off before reinforcements arrive?

Pegasus Bridge contains everything you’ll need to refight this famous night assault:

The Ham & Jam Collector’s Edition includes all this plus: