With the Desert War pretty much nailed, the next step was Normandy, then onto the open battlefields of Lorraine and the Russian Front. This testing was mainly about refining the rules. Infantry battles in the bocage were tense, bloody affairs, and the hidden movement rules worked as well here as in the desert. Tanks struggled to find long lines of fire and were vulnerable to infantry anti-tank weapons. The benefits of using combined arms was highlighted – if you supported your tanks with infantry and artillery, they became a lot less vulnerable.
Once out into open country, armoured vehicles again came into their own. The Reserve rules morphed into their current form. For one Command Dice or Staff Order, a Command Group can enter the table with a triple move or enter as a Blind (again with a triple move). The main difference is that Blinds can’t fire, but can continue to move rapidly on subsequent turns. With troops arriving from off-table, it became important to cover strategic locations with infantry and anti-tank guns. After capturing a building or other location, infantry reserves could be rapidly moved in from off-table to hold the area.
