Rolling on the Beach
I overslept for D-Day. Got there two days late. “I couldn’t figure out what the ‘D’ stood for, Sir. I’ll catch up with you in Caen.” And so it happened that I had to storm the beaches on my own.
I’m not an Armchair General, pondering the situation at D-Day at Omaha Beach while sucking on my pipe. I’m not even a Lieutenant general, chewing my cigar while strategizing through D-Day Dice. I’m just an ordinary grunt, rolling tobacco in one pocket, rolling dice in the other. Quick and dirty, that’s me.
In the push-your-luck dice matching game D-Day Dice Pocket, you storm six beaches, each having six zones to conquer. You roll one Axis die on the landing zone, then add one every sector, until you roll six of them in the Bunker. You’ve got three tries to match the Axis roll with your six Allied dice. Also, if your final tally on a sector contains a “RWB” (the same symbol in red, white and blue), you can recruit a specialist. A specialist adds dice mitigation or some other bonus action for the rest of your game. Finally, every sector has its special rules.
1. Utah Beach
First landing. I was still not really awake and had to refresh some rules. Even for a game this simple. On my third try I remembered that you recruit a specialist for free at the beginning of a game in the Advanced Solo mode. Good. You need it. It took me four more tries, but then all enemies were killed and I was off.
2. Gold Beach
I started this session with a General, then recruited an Engineer in the first sector. This gave me so many mitigation options that I managed to recruit all included specialists. That was a first for me.
3. Juno Beach
Juno Beach, like Gold Beach, was won in one try. Even the German Kommandant could not stop me.
4. Sword Beach
Sword Beach was hell though. If you don’t recruit a specialist in section 5 (the Bluffs), you get pushed elsewhere. And it’s hard to recruit a specialist this far in on a beach, as you have to match 5 Axis dice at the same time. I managed to win in four tries, but don’t ask me how many times I ended up all the way back on the Landing sector again.
5. Omaha Beach
The Bunker of Omaha Beach is almost impossible to conquer. Your best bet is to try to recruit a hero somewhere along the way, and have him sacrifice himself at the end.
6. Pointe du Hoc
But nothing comes close to the horrors of Pointe du Hoc. It took me seven tries this time. Most valuable specialist: the General. I’m going to recommend him for a medal. Good job, Sir. Well done.