It’s the morning of June 6, 1944. As Allied forces prepare to storm Normandy’s beaches, the fate of Europe is in your hands! In honor of next year’s 60th anniversary of D-Day, Avalon Hill will release Axis & Allies D-Day, a new, stand-alone extension of the classic strategy game Axis & Allies. Axis & Allies D-Day will allow players to recreate the largest amphibious invasion in history.

Scheduled for release in May 2004, Axis & Allies D-Day will feature detailed game components including a new blockhouse piece, an extra-large game board, and original artwork commissioned exclusively for the D-Day game box. Other elements of this new Axis & Allies variant include a card deck with three card types -- Orders, Tactics, and Fortune -- to add depth and complexity to play. Order cards determine play sequence and break turns into distinct phases; Tactics cards offer players varied strategic opportunities; and Fortune cards add an element of unpredictability.

Axis & Allies D-Day begins as Operation Overlord, the invasion of German-held Normandy, is underway -- 130,000 soldiers of the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States are poised to assault Fortress Europe. You and your fellow world powers control their fates.

One player controls Germany, whose Axis forces have turned the beaches of Normandy into a near-impenetrable stronghold. Set to breach those defenses are the Allies: the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. The future of Europe and the world hangs in the balance.

Axis & Allies D-Day is designed for two or three players and can be played in two hours. Axis & Allies D-Day is the third Axis & Allies variant, following the successful Axis & Allies Europe and Axis & Allies Pacific, both of which were published in 2001.