Roundhammer 1943

About this expansion

Roundhammer 1943 is a two-player what-if war game exploring an Allied invasion of France in mid-September 1943.

At the start of 1943, Churchill and Roosevelt disagreed about how to conduct the war. Churchill favoured attacking Europe’s periphery through Sicily, while Roosevelt wanted to strike Germany directly through France and target the Ruhr, the heart of its war economy.

The proposed operations Round Up and Sledgehammer soon became one plan for the Anglo-American general staffs: Roundhammer. Historically, the Trident conference cleared the way for the invasion of Italy, while the Quebec conference later cancelled Roundhammer in favour of Operation Overlord in 1944.

This game asks what might have happened if the Allies had launched their invasion in September 1943. The Atlantic Wall was still barely started on many beaches, and many German divisions in France were training rather than operational. German panzer divisions also lacked the formidable Panther tank.

• Examine an alternate 1943 invasion of France.
• Account for limited US units and weak British reserves.
• Face insufficient amphibious capacity and incomplete Allied air supremacy.
• Use additional units, support markers, and Atlantikwall and D-Day markers with a distinct 1943 atmosphere.

Roundhammer 1943 is an extension of Liberty Roads, adding forces present in Western Europe at the time along with new supports and markers. Its central question is simple: with German coastal defences unfinished but Allied resources stretched thin, was this seemingly impossible mission worth attempting?