World War II – October 2019

REVIEWS GAMES

WOLFPACK Usurpator AB, $34.99.

THE BASICS 3OD\HUJURXSVRIÞYHDVVXPHWKHUROHVRINH\FUHZ

PHPEHUVRQD*HUPDQ8ERDWLQWKLVFROODERUDWLYHFRPSXWHU

JDPHWKDWFRPELQHVUROHSOD\LQJDQGÞUVWSHUVRQDFWLRQ7KH

qFDSWDLQrGROHVRXWFRPPDQGVWKHqQDJLYDWRUrFRQWUROVWKH

ERDWpVVSHHGDQGUXGGHUWKHqUDGLRRIÞFHUrLVVXHVDQGUHFHLYHV

PHVVDJHVYLDDQ(QLJPDPDFKLQHWKHqGLYHRIÞFHUrHQVXUHVD

VDIHGHVFHQWDQGWKHqKHOPVPDQrVWHHUVWKHVXEPDULQH

THE OBJECTIVE *HUPDQDGPLUDO.DUO'ÓQLW]DVVLJQVPLVVLRQV

DFURVVWKH1RUWK$WODQWLFWKHFUHZpVJRDOLVWRSXUVXHORFDWH

DQGVLQNDVPXFKHQHP\WRQQDJHDVSRVVLEOHZKLOHGRGJLQJ

DWWDFNV7HDPVEHJLQHDFKJDPHZLWKIRXU8ERDWVRUqOLYHVru

LIDOOVLQNSOD\HUVPXVWEHJLQWKHLUPLVVLRQVDQHZ

HISTORICAL ACCURACY :ROISDFNLVKLVWRULFDOO\SUHFLVHGRZQ

WRWKHWLQLHVWGHWDLOV&UHZVRSHUDWHWKH8ERDWYLDSHULRGDFFX

UDWHFRQWUROV<RXZLOOKDYHWRXQGHUVWDQGWKHEDVLFVRIKDQGOLQJ

D8ERDWWRSOD\WKHJDPHVXFFHVVIXOO\GHWDLOVDUHRXWOLQHGLQ

DQLQVWUXFWLRQPDQXDO,I\RXGLYHZLWKDKDWFKRUWKHZURQJ

YDOYHRSHQ\RXpUHVXQNuERWKOLWHUDOO\DQGPHWDSKRULFDOO\

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY 7KLVLVQRWDVLPSOHSRLQW

DQGFOLFNJDPHLWUHTXLUHVDWHDPHIIRUW7KHUHpVDOVRDFRP

SOH[LQWHUIDFHWKDWVLPXODWHVFRQWUROOLQJDERDWVDFULÞFLQJHDVH

RISOD\IRUUHDOLVPWKLQNURXJKFXUUHQWVDQGZHDWKHUFRQGL

WLRQV:ROISDFNLVQRWIDVWSDFHGZLWKFRQVWDQWDFWLRQEXW

WKHUHLVVWLOOWHUULÞFWHQVLRQDVWHDPVWU\WRPRXQWDQDWWDFNRU

DYRLGWKHHQHP\

PLAYABILITY :ROISDFNWDNHVWLPHWRPDVWHUEXWLWVYDULHW\

RISRWHQWLDOPLVVLRQVDQGFDPSDLJQVPDNHVIRUDFRPSHOOLQJ

JDPH7KLVLVHVSHFLDOO\WUXHLIRQHFRQVLGHUVKRZWKH%DWWOHRI

WKH$WODQWLFFKDQJHGDIWHUWKH%ULWLVKFUDFNHG*HUPDQ\pVQDYDO

FRGHVPDNLQJYR\DJHVLQFUHDVLQJO\GLIÞFXOWIRU8ERDWV6LQFH

:ROISDFNLVDWHDPRULHQWHGJDPHSOD\LQJZLWKIULHQGVRU

RQOLQHSOD\HUVDGGVYDULHW\

THE BOTTOM LINE :ROISDFNpVOHDUQLQJFXUYHLVVWHHSuDWEDUH

PLQLPXP\RXpOOKDYHWRFRQWLQXDOO\UHIHUHQFHWKHJDPHpV

PDQXDOMXVWWRVWD\DIORDW%XWLI\RXpUHZLOOLQJWRVSHQGVRPH

WLPHJDLQLQJ\RXUVHDOHJVWKLVPD\EHWKHPRVWDFFXUDWH

8ERDWVLPXODWLRQ\HWu&KULV.HWFKHUVLGHLVDUHWLUHG0DULQH

DOLIHORQJZDUJDPHUDQGD3K'FDQGLGDWHLQ$PHULFDQKLVWRU\

AHEAD OF THE PACK

WORLD WAR II RATING +++++

NORMANDY ’44

D-Day and the Epic

77-Day Battle for

France

By James Holland. 720

pp. Atlantic Monthly

Press, 2019. $35.

As this comprehensive

book’s subtitle under-

scores, the invasion and

eventual liberation of

France did not begin and

end on D-Day. James

Holland chronicles not

only June 6, 1944, but

also Overlord’s meticu-

lous preparation and the

ferocious inland fighting

once Normandy’s

beachheads were

secured.

DUTCH GIRL

Audrey Hepburn and

World War II

By Robert Matzen.

373 pp. GoodKnight

Books, 2019. $27.95.

As an actress, style

icon, and humanitarian,

Audrey Hepburn carved

a distinctive path for

herself—one with

surprising roots. In this

thoroughly researched

volume, Matzen details

how Hepburn, at the

young age of 15, aided

the resistance while

suffering the deprivations

of life in wartime Holland.

SAIPAN

The Battle That

Doomed Japan in

World War II

By James H. Hallas.

592 pp. Stackpole Books,

2019. $34.95.
      Author Hallas deftly
      mines hundreds of
      interviews, oral histories,
      diaries, and unpublished
      sources to reconstruct
      the June 1944 battle of
      Saipan, when 8,000
      Marines and the U.S.
      Navy’s Fifth Fleet
      defeated tenacious
      Japanese defenders
      to secure a critical
      Allied foothold in the
      Marianas—a turning
      point in the Pacific War.

BOOK BRIEFS

74 WORLD WAR II