For weeks following the D-Day Landings, the Germans had managed to keep the Allies contained within Normandy, but on 16th July 1944, the Allied breakout from the peninsula began.

Fighting through the bocage to get to the more open country beyond, the Allied plan was that they would strike out with the intention of bagging a significant part of the German army.

Those pincers would close at Falaise. The race is on, can the Allies close the door on the escaping Germans, or will enough of the German army break out of that looming stranglehold.

I have the 2019 boxed edition of the game that also includes a second map that allows the D-Day landings themselves to be included in the campaign.

The map section is here because it holds a special place in my nostalgic affections, being the first boardgame that I was ever exposed to (1977) and it gave a life-time passion for the hex and counter format.

One of which is Auerstaedt 1806. This map is taken from Didier Rouy's Vive l'Empereur series, now published by Legion Games.

These hexes are physically 1" across and represent 250 metres, so this game is tactical with units representing individual regiments.

It is quite a visual game, not only because of the map graphics (I like the 2D rendered building artwork; they look artist-generated rather than computer-generated), but also because the counters are oblong rather than the traditional square, and so units actually look like they are either in line or assault column.

I was playing the Avalon Hill version (by John Edwards) of this in the late 70's and here we are today with the much sought after recent 5th Edition as printed by GMT. The print run has sold out and the designer has not agreed to more being printed.

It is considered a classic and covers the WWII eastern front conflict from June 1941 through to the end of the war, played in full or via a series of shorter scenarios such as Fall Blau - May / June 1942 through to July / August 1943.

The new version has grown the hex size (1" with larger counters) so we now have a two map game as opposed to the original single board.

One of the main system features is that attacking is mandatory, so that all units currently in the Zone of Control of an enemy end up fighting.

Turns are bi-monthly, so before you know it, you are through good campaigning summer weather and into the harsh Autumn / Winter.

For the most part the map is understated but the tones and textures used make the whole thing very easy on the eye.

This belongs to the series of games by Mark Miklos in his Battles of the American Revolution Series.

My version has mounted mapboards and here we have the board dealing with Monmouth 1778.

Each hex represents 200 yards.

One of the interesting features of the system is that each side has an army morale track and when good things happen your morale marker moves up into the high morale part of the track and when bad things happen, morale reduces to the lower morale part of the track. If the marker hits zero, your morale has broken and you automatically lose the game!

I am showing this section of the map as it is so typical of the general map style with individual farms and local features named, plus fence rails, orchards and soft ground all shown - don't you just love that kind of stuff!